Some people are more equal than others - or: my short-lived adventure at EA Germany

Hello, everone,

so I decided to pay EA Germany headquarters at Cologne a visit. It's the next town to where I live so why not ? Plus I really wanted to know where they have their headquarters now - in 2005 or 2006 or so I applied there for a job as a beta tester, and they had their offices in a different part of the town, within the top of a hotel structure. Huge building.

Google maps still shows (at this very moment at least) the fresh ground upon hich the offices were built on much later : http://maps.google.de/maps?client=op…ed=0CCsQnwIwAQ

I don't know how to activate Street View there, so this is open for imagination.

They have their offices within a black building - so black as if it was built of monoliths like the one from Stanley Cubrick's "Oddyssey 2001" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_(Space_Odyssey)

The whole building is black and shiny, so to say, "shiny" in the sense that the surface looks like polished black stone … I don't know how to describe it better.

Within the whole building there are a few more much smaller companies, and at one end of the building there's the "EA Sports Bar", a real br, but I don't know whether it is accessible for mere mortals - or for the average Joe (or Joe Public, however you might call him).

Ehich leads me to my short-lived adventure there :

I had a couple of question, but the ONLY way to interact with EA DIRECTLY is - via the telephone.

And I don't want it.

So I went to that building, asking there.

I was looking for the entrance - and there are two of them.
One rather for the smaller companies (but for EA as well),
and one for Ea only.

I was ringing at the door bell.

A thing was in the wall looking like a today's version of the "entrance eye" of Jabba' Palace in "Return Of The Jedi". No joke, it actually strongly reminded me of that …

A female voice asked me what I wanted.

I said that I had some questions but didn't want to use the telephone to contact the customer service, so I walked the way to here - to ask personally.

The female voice said something I couldn't acoustically understand.
Therefore I asked if she could reply what she just said.

She replied that this entrance was only for business customers.

Instantly I felt insulted by the fact that I was not regrded worthy enough for face-to-face nterview with someone of the customer ervice. I felt insulted by EA's apparent policy to let ONLY business men in and talk to the staff personally,
but NOT average humans, who - I had thought so - should be treated as normal people by any company interested in them as customers …

… These average humans are being treated - that's how I felt at this very moment - like rats, like a plague, like a disease, which should be left outside the building by all means and NOT be allowed to let in at all costs !

Businessmen are allowed to talk personally at thm.
Customers are not allowed to do so.

High social status = personal talk
Low social status = no personal talk

Some people are more equal than others.

B2B is more equal than B2C.


And that's how I felt at this moment, intuitively, instantly, although I could put it into words only much later.

And therefore I decided to let my enragement flow.

I replied : "But this is just … shit !" *

Then I heard the sound of a telephone snapping in.

End of story.


Lesson learned : EA isn't actually interested in customers.
They are interested in business people, however.


I left the building instantly. There was nothing to do for me anymore. And their reputation had dropped on a scvale of 1-100 by at least 50, if not more.

I spent the rest of the day in Cologne, doing a bit reseach, retrieved shops I only knew from maps, and talking to several very polite bookshop employees.
In the end, I had found enough for myself to let this bad experience become outweighed by good ones.

But I'll never forget,
an I'll never forgive.

Alrik

P.S. : I might put this story on my blog tomorrow, too.
I want people to learn from my tiny "adventure".


* I should have rather said . "But this is impolite towards honest private customers who merely want to get a few questions answered personally and who do not want to use a rather impersonal telephone for that.
I feel treated like a second-class citizen by your company's policy of not allowing private customers to talk to employees odf Electronic Arts Germany.
If you are allowing business customers to talk to you personally, so why not private customers, too ?"

But - in these moments my brain just shortcircuits, and I therefore tend to use the fastest answer possible for my brain …

ed: I misread your post as job related.

That building still looks like its housing pure evil though.

That arrogance I know it well. And not only comes from the economic, financial and market sectors but from other places like for example politics.

I can feel your anger. It gives you focus… makes you stronger…


It's not just EA, and it's not just the customers who are treated like s**t. More than enough corporations also treat their employees like something that fell off a dog's butt. If you work your ass off, chances are they'll just rip you a new one.

Well, I think everyone here know how much I dislike EA. But….. to their defense in this case. Imagine all the people buying their game going there personally for help…. that would not be manageable. If one got in perhaps more people would try it.

An explanation and some politeness would be better than the way that woman said it though.

Nothing like unbiased anecdotal accounts.

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
But….. to their defense in this case. Imagine all the people buying their game going there personally for help…. that would not be manageable.

I agree. But on the other hand - who goes there, personally ? This place is almost devoid of parking space of cars, and the next tram station is several hundreds of metres away …

If one got in perhaps more people would try it.

Okay, I can see your point nd … in a way I must agree to it.

But on the other hand … The are already reacting like a castle. No-one comes in, and communication is only don via telephone calls.

Only the aristocrats are allowed to enter the (this) castle.

But - what about the "exception of the rule" ? Since no-one comes o this place - why not make n exception ? It would be a boost in terms of reputation from them.

Had I been allowed to be let in and talk to them (or whoever, at least I wanted to send agreeting message to community manager of dtp of 2006 or 2007 who now works at EA Germany), my anecdote could have been completely different. I could have been actually talking of how friendly the people were there - on a personal level !

An explanation and some politeness would be better than the way that woman said it though.

I can only guess that she was just too much surprised, embarrassed and overstrained (right word ?) by my sudden appearance. Nobody trained her to take care of a suddenly appearing hobbit … err, customer …

Plus : There's a huge difference between corporate agendas and rules - and the persons behind them. Perhaps she even felt kind of sad because she wasn't allowed to let me in ?

Then the anger should be directed at those customer-unfriendly morons who developed this rule in he first place !

Originally Posted by Jaz
It's not just EA, and it's not just the customers who are treated like s**t. More than enough corporations also treat their employees like something that fell off a dog's butt. If you work your ass off, chances are they'll just rip you a new one.

That's why I like the smaller companies.

For example, the people at Radon Labs were really nice,
and doing that week of testing at Larian's was just fun !
(Although more for them than for me bcause I can't understand neither french nor flemish/dutch languages ! )

Their customer service, in reality, is most likely a call center in India. That's why.

Actually I don't think you could walk up to the HQ of many big companies simply saying: "I have a couple of questions.. please let me in so I can talk to, well, SOMEONE".

I mean, what should the poor receptionist do? She doesn't know what your questions are about so she don't know who to direct you to. She also doesn't (understandably) want to just pull people out of meetings just to talk to a complete stranger. The guys in there are probably busy with technical and business stuff. To be honest, an email would probably have been a better way to contact them

But you *definitely* score points on the initiative. What a wonderfully wierd and spontaneous thing to do!

As a next adventure try going to the FORD HQ (in Cologne as well I believe?), ring their front door and say: "I have a couple of questions about my car.. please let me in". I would be interested in hearing how that goes..

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
Their customer service, in reality, is most likely a call center in India. That's why.

I already feared something like that.

Originally Posted by KasperFauerby
I mean, what should the poor receptionist do? She doesn't know what your questions are about so she don't know who to direct you to. She also doesn't (understandably) want to just pull people out of meetings just to talk to a complete stranger. The guys in there are probably busy with technical and business stuff. To be honest, an email would probably have been a better way to contact them

Yes, but EA does NOT hve any e-mail contacts !

And I don't want to use their forums either - because no-one of EAs staff looks into them, I suppose … So no-one would be able to help me … I ear that I'd only get PR blurb there …

Originally Posted by KasperFauerby
As a next adventure try going to the FORD HQ (in Cologne as well I believe?), ring their front door and say: "I have a couple of questions about my car.. please let me in". I would be interested in hearing how that goes..

If I had such a car, I would definitively do so.

To me, this is becoming the ultimate test regarding customer friendlyness.

Well, maybe I should even start writing a book filled with these anecdotes ?

A long-term candidate on my list is Ubi Soft, by the way …
They have their German Headquarters in Düsseldrf, not too far away either …


By the way, that's why I prefer fairs (like the CeBit) and conventions (like he RPC) : There I can talk to the people *directly* …

Things like the Games Com, however, aren' that good for these talks, because there re mstly clueless and untrained people there … No-one I could talk to personally … This is far better possible on the CeBit …

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
Well, I think everyone here know how much I dislike EA. But….. to their defense in this case. Imagine all the people buying their game going there personally for help…. that would not be manageable. If one got in perhaps more people would try it.

An explanation and some politeness would be better than the way that woman said it though.

agreed… i can't imagine 200-300 people going there with their laptops or even desktop computers looking to get technical assistance or just to complain and whine.

You would be turned away here too. There is a proper way to get an appointment in big business, and walking up to the door isn't going to fly. Actually, here, you would be escorted away by security. They would be very courteous to you, but they'd make sure you were off the campus. There must be some type of screening before anyone is allowed in the building. It's just a fact of life.

It comes down to what employees they pay for and where.

A large company like EA has several offices. The one in Germany I believe is primarily business. Their Customer service office is elsewhere, although not necessarily in India.

Now, in regards to their business office, should they have let you in? In terms of good business sense, no. Dealing with random customers in a workplace is and always will remain a major disruption. Planned tours and PR talks are bad enough, and those are planned and prepared for.

Now, it sounds like the receptionist could have been nicer, although them hanging up when you started cussing at them is a warranted response.

The days where your average company waits on people hand and foot are over, and there frankly is no sense crying about it.

Maybe if it was 30 years ago, probably things would be different.
This corporate arrogance is comparatively young.

Talking about corporate arrogance last time I went to bank to draw money because my bankcard was broken I was told "You shouldnt come here". But with banks its of course different because they have my money. In the news I read som guy went to the same bank with axe to get his money when the bank was having internet/bankautomat problems due to merger with danish bank. The bank lost lots of customers due to the screw up.

Well, when I had applied there for a job several years ago I found everything much more "clear", much nicer and more … open. They indeed had a special entrance for … well, people who are arriving there. A real desk !

At least that's what I remember. It could be, however, that I was met by the responsible person (responsible for the job applications) before … at the bottom of the building, going up with the elvator after that.

But that building was much more … "open" even from the outside … Not such a monolithic block …