People Hanging Up On Call Centers

from the just-can't-take-it dept

It really is a pain to try to call in anywhere for customer support these days. Hold times seem longer. The horrible front end menus are impossible and the people you speak to tend not to be very helpful. A new study has shown that more people are hanging up rather than going through the whole process. One reason why, though, is that people are calling "on the go" from their mobile phones -- and if they reach their destination before they talk to someone, they just hang up. Also, the study found that offshoring and outsourcing have very little to do with the trend. The problems are pretty much the same across the board. Instead, the real problem is a serious lack of training for those who work in call centers, meaning that those individuals are unable to help callers with their problems. This is a massive problem, because, while callers may be hanging up, many of them will be calling back again and again until their problem is solved -- and that's costly for the company. Those who give up completely will make sure it's widely known how bad the product is, which can be very damaging for sales. What's amazing, still, is that companies treat existing customers so bad. Someone should do a comparison and see how long it takes a customer service rep to answer compared to how long it takes a sales rep to answer at the same company.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Primus No More, 18 Feb 2005 @ 9:12pm

    Primus Canada is the worst offender

    I recently tried to cancel my long distance with Primus Canada. Each time I phoned customer support, I was greeted with the lie "your call is important to us...blah blah blah...due to current promotions, you will have to wait over 1 hour to get through...please be patient"

    This went on for 2 MONTHS! I was cancelling because they instituted a "network service fee", but because I could never get through they actually charged my two more times!!

    I wrote them an email, and a written letter, but no use. I wasted over 6 hours of my time waiting with no luck. FINALLY they called me in response to a letter.

    I had to threaten to write a letter to the CRTC before they finally decided to let me cancel.

    What a bunch of BOZOS.

    I hope they go out of business.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 22 Feb 2005 @ 7:57am

    Re: Primus Canada is the worst offender


    Primus,

    The easiest way to get them to respond is to just stop paying the bill ( grin )

    Works EVERY time for me ...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    yoski, 29 Mar 2005 @ 9:34pm

    Re: Primus Canada is the worst offender

    I had exactly the same situation. I called numerous times, emailed and wrote 2 letters. Finally, for 2 months in a row, I sent them their bill back with a nasty note written on it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Christine C., 1 Nov 2005 @ 10:26am

    Re: Primus Canada is the worst offender

    I wish that were true...

    I tried cancelling my long distance with Primus for over 6 months to no avail. In addition, to my surprise and fear I just moved to Pickering from Scarborough with a new (905) number (through bell Canada) and believe it or not Primus sent me a bill on my new line. Some how Primus attaches itself as a long distance provider to new telephone numbers. I am a little freaked out. I am writing a letter to Ted Chislett, President and CEO of Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. at 5343 Dundas Street West, Suite 400 Toronto, ON M9B 6K5. I hope I receive satisfaction in terms of being able to cancel my service without having to pay a long distance bill, which I tried to cancel six months ago.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2007 @ 7:30am

    no coment

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.