C.J., we understand your disappointment. Thank you for reaching out and the opportunity to respond.
One of EdTA's core values is "people matter." We measure that as treating everyone with the same responsiveness and consideration, assuming positive intentions, listening and showing respect. In that spirit, I would ask you to consider the current customer service setup through a lens of positive intent - the goal is treating every member with the same responsiveness and respect.
During this busy end-of-school-year season, EdTA receives hundreds of incoming calls and hundreds more emails each week. Our small customer service team is unable to answer live calls while working through members' issues within the response time our members need for their induction ceremonies, graduations, and ITF deadlines.
We assure you the staff are working to get you a timely response and will be in touch soon.
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Allison Dolan
Chief Content Officer
Educational Theatre Association
OH
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-28-2024 12:02
From: C. J. Brock
Subject: Customer Service
I have never been as frustrated and disappointed in EdTA and Thespians. After 20 years of working with these groups with honors and Festival, I now feel like just a source of profits. There was a time that you could pick up a phone and talk to someone in the EdTA office. A real voice and a real ear to listen to and help solve the problems that would arise over the years. Now, you do get a pleasant sounding person that answers your call, but only as a gate keeper to take your info down and give you an expected 3-5 business day timeline for any response, usually expected via email. The mere suggestion of emergency or importance falls on deaf ears with a pleasant "we will get back to you, usually with email because it's more expedient".
We are in a business of communication and community, yet one of our few organizations that is supposed to help support and advocate for this phenomenal art form can't be bothered to maintain personal customer service. Unfortunately, I can't really blame EdTA for something that is happening systemically across the world, and I'm just an older wheel in a changing space that is not really changing for the better, but is definitely changing. The worst part about this is that I will simply come off as a "Karen" wanting to talk to the manager. I don't actually want to talk to the manager, I just needed to vent and say my peace. I am well aware that this is not something that actually matters to most people these days.
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C. J. Brock
Langham Creek High School
TX
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