The Lack Of Service In Customer Service
from the where-are-the-humans? dept
We're supposed to be a service based economy with so many people employed in service jobs. If that's the case, many are wondering, why is it so damn hard to get a human being on the phone when you call customer service? Everyone has stories about insanely long hold times, being cut off, touch-tone menus that don't make sense, being trapped in IVR-hell, and my personal favorite: simply being told to call back some other time when they aren't so busy. The thing is, technology should be used to make the customer experience better. Instead, it's mostly being used to make supporting customers less expensive. Companies need to realize that customer service is not a cost center - but it's how they build loyalty and repeat customers. This isn't an anti-technology rant. There are certainly customer service technologies that do make the customer experience better. However, most companies don't seem to think through that aspect of customer service, and are only looking for ways to cut costs.
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No Subject Given
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Counter-trends
As a counter-point, when I complained about a mystery charge on my credit card (which later turned out to be OK), it seemed to have flagged my account on their end, so when I made an unusual purchase (enrolling for an IEEE conference), human operators called me up to ask about it. Something similar happened before too when I bought a new suit.
This month, I had a HUGE credit card bill because of moving expenses and Berkeley tuition, but nobody has called to ask about it, since I guess enough time has passed since the complaint about the mystery charge.
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Re: Counter-trends
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Outsourcing telecommunications
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No Subject Given
Nor do we care that you wait forever.
My solution is to set the phone down and walk away.
I may not get service, but I've assured I've added to their 800 # costs.
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Re: Outsourcing telecommunications
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My 2c
First, the metoos:
If my call were so important, then I agree: pick it up.
If a company outsources to India, please make sure that the rep who phones my phone can understand my regional accent, and that their accent is clear enough for my region as well.
When I'm yelling into some third-world MBNA rep who can't figure out that I'm not Jon Watney and that maybe I shouldn't be hearing about his credit history, I think that the outsourcing to India has gone too far.
But hey, what are we, the apathetic sheep consumer going to do about it? It's not like we're going to up and move all of our accounts, are we? Are we going to start some movement that rates banks in terms of hold times and milkshake-thick accents, and actually try to get people to abandon those banks that are the worst? Banks only hold our money in accounts as a half-courtesy, these days - look at the (dis)interest - and really don't care if we up and leave, and most of us either have decade long loans or have our money tied up on some bank's mutual funds.
We can't easily move, and most of us instead just dread the long hold times and the painful part where we actually talk to someone. This, to us, is less work than migrating our stuff, which we should do as capitalists.
In fact, capitalism rather depends upon us immediately voting with out feet, every day, and we don't, because it's just too painful. In this respect, and after seeing the state of our country leaders, the RIAA and the medical system, capitalism has oh, so soundly failed.
We just don't see it yet - how do we express our distaste for society? Join another? Yeah, like we're gonna move to Mexico, but that's the thought.
In short, then, this all may appear to be capitalism not working for us, but really it's us who doesn't work for capitalism.
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Re: My 2c
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Re: No Subject Given
The reason companies do this is sheer economics. It sucks for us consumers but just whining about it without understanding does not help.
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Re: No Subject Given
Where do you get your 25% figure ?
Its so stockholders can be paid higher dividends.
And its because Sheeple like yourself have been brainwashed into believing you deserve less than decent customer service.
And since most of the customer non-service jobs are being farmed out to India it means that corporations are paying substandard wages to others helping to drain $$$ out of the USA.
You have little to no understanding of sheer economics and your post points this out.
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Re: My 2c
Your credit scores are seriously affected by jumping from one credit company to another.
Damn us uppity Sheeple !
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Re: My 2c
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I've got a technology that will help...
You can 100s of people on the phone for pennies on the US$ (at least for a little while longer) for the cost of a voice menu system, first tier support to screen the idiots and a competent core of folks who can actually help.
Sorry if the news is depressing... but you need to hear it anyway.
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Re: Counter-trends
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No Subject Given
A huge percentage of calls are a waste of time that the customers should have either: 1) have known better, 2) could have figured out on their own with a tiny bit of effort, or 3) could have figured out on their own by visiting the support site.
Not to mention the calls from customers who are trying to use the software or service for something it wasnt even intended for and assume that since it doesnt work that it's broken.
From my perspective if you want to help with this epidemic of being on hold for help, make sure you've helped yourself as much as possible first. If everyone would do that, then the call centers of the world would be freed up with actual problems that would require a 3rd party person to assist.
Running a call center is extremely expensive operation that people just assume should be built into the system nowadays. Imagine for a second if the automobile industry worked this way, you're car would NEVER get fixed if you called someone each time something happened and expected them to assist you in every step of the way to repair it.
And also remember, I highly doubt a lot of 80 year old grandmother's read TechDirt, so the reader's opinions on this site are slightly skewed to the geek side and trust me, those 80 year old grandmother's are hogging up about 90% of the call center's time and effort.
So the moral of the story is, close your web browser, pick up your phone, call your 80 year old grandmother and fix something broke on her computer. ;)
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Re: No Subject Given
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The IVR Cheat Sheet
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