LIFESTYLE: Better Business

Despite complaints and criticism, penn student agencies just tries to keep doing better The concept sounds ideal. It's an entirely student-run organization which offers convenient services to students at affordable prices. But according to many students who decided to take advantage of the convenience of Penn Student Agencies, the reality has not matched the concept. PSA, which provides products and services as well as employment to hundreds of University students, has come under fire in the past for poor service and sloppy mistakes. The company provides a linen and laundry service, a student travel agency, newspaper subscription services, special deliveries, University paraphernalia, student commissaries and a publications agency which publishes the student directories, Penn Calendar and Penn Planner. According to Brandon Levin, manager of the linen and laundry service, very few complaints are filed, considering the large number of students which his agency services. He added that most of the problems reported to him are simply "misunderstandings," of which 75 percent are quickly corrected. "Most of the problems are caused by people who drop off their laundry late and their bag is not where it should be," he said. "I get frantic phone calls, but usually, everything is worked out." But those customers whose problems are not quickly remedied are often left with damaged or missing laundry. "Once, I got back my stuff and it was still wet," said College freshman Pallavi Sharma. "Another time, I took it in on a Monday and I didn't get it back until the next Monday. But I'm going to keep using it because I'm too lazy to do it myself." College freshman Mike Suskind agreed that there have been problems, but argued that overall, service has been good. "Sometimes, they put someone else's laundry in my bag, and one day they were a day late," he said. "But other than that, they're not too bad. They're good for lazy people." But several students complained of stains and washing errors. "My roommate had a pair of jeans pretty badly shrunk," said Wharton freshman Jason Yellin. "I really haven't had any problems with it, though. I mean, I don't send anything nice -- I just send T-shirts and stuff -- but it's been pretty good." Ira Hillman, manager of PSA, contended that service is as efficient as can be expected considering the number of customers. "As with any service agency, it's hard to reach 100 percent customer satisfaction," he said. "But I'm personally striving to get closer." He stressed the fact that students have a customer service representative available to them from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on all weekdays. "Since we're entirely student-run, the individual managers can't be in the office every day," he said. "But the next time they're in [the office], they'll call back and find out more about the problem. "And I'm there full time so I can handle problems in a more immediate fashion," he added. "Overall, though, I think students are really pleased." And many students have, indeed, been pleased. College freshman Christina Albanese said she has been very satisfied with her New York Times delivery to the Quadrangle for the past semester. "I've had no problem," she said. "I've heard there were problems in the past, but with Quad pick-up this semester, there has been no problem." College freshman Kevin Huang said he plans to continue his linen service in the future. "I ordered a full set," he said. "They've been really really good about it." Nicole Larossa, a College freshman agreed. "It doesn't seem too bad," she said. "It was my mom's idea. It's convenient and I don't have to deal with washing my sheets. "The only thing that sucks are that the sheets aren't fitted," she added. Levin said each student receives a laundry bag and may have their laundry washed "as frequently or infrequently as they like." "It's washed by a professional company and customers can pick up their laundry two days later," he said. "It is washed and folded and it's only 95 cents a pound." But convenience and affordability may not be able to compensate for mistakes, students have said. Newspaper delivery has improved dramatically since its beginnings with PSA in the fall of 1991, according to many students. Last year, approximately 300 students had newspaper subscriptions with PSA. "Service sucked when I was a freshman, but its fine now," said one College senior. Issues are placed in drop boxes each morning and students who purchase subscriptions are given the combination to the lock so that they may pick up their copy. Several students complained of occasional undelivered issues and stolen copies. But occasionally, the lock combination has been changed without adequate notice to customers. "I stopped using PSA for newspaper delivery," said College junior David Robinson. "I used it my first two years, but they often weren't delivered. "The day after the '92 elections, it wasn't even delivered -- and that was the issue I most wanted to read all year," he added. "It just wasn't worth the money." But the biggest problem that most students cite is the lack of alternatives to PSA services. "I know there are [other options]," Sharma said. "But I don't know much about any of them." Engineering and Wharton sophomore Matt Finkelstein said he used PSA because it was the easiest choice. "It seemed really convenient," he said. "The problem is they only do [the laundry] once a week, so if you forget it, you're stuck." But, Hillman said, most individual agencies have on-campus competition that students can opt to use. "For the commissaries, competition is the WaWa on 38th [Street] and the new convenience food stores," he said. "But we look at our option as a safer alternative. "As far as linens, I don't believe anyone else does rentals," Hillman added. "And we have the largest laundry service on campus -- plus we're more centralized and more convenient." He said that he has also received glowing comments from parents. "Many of our customers are actually parents," he said. "They can still send something to their students -- even when they're far away." Levin said the other main advantage of PSA is unrelated to the company's services. "We have many non-work study jobs available to students," he said. Hillman said the more than 150 students working for PSA can "gain valuable business experience and business development skills." Each of the various PSA agencies are supported by financial and marketing departments and customer services. Currently, students are weighing the pros against the cons of using Penn Student Agencies' services. In the case of most of the agencies, though, the general trend is toward better service and increased number of customers.