customer service

[borzoimom]

you know- I hate to complain, but this reallllllllly is going to pot lately. Every single company you have to contact you get this " your call is important to us- please continue to hold, press 1 for more options.." or the topper is " press 2 to leave a message, and a representative will call you back.." ( uh huh- well hell freezes over we think..) What happened to getting a real person? What happened to being able to speak so someone you didnt have to ask them twice or more how to spell their name... etc etc etc- I am sure you get the point.. AND THEN you finally get someone- and they state they will take care of the problem, then it gets worse in the days to follow.
What is this?? are call centers run by morons or is it the help or is it the system in place??? Ever tryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to call dell for example? How about your large chain bank????? Orrrrrrrrrrrr an large insurance company?????
I want a real person- someone I can spell their names- I mean my spelling stinks as a secondary major in music in singing in foreign languages use to phoenics, but give me a extension- someone to be accountable for if things turn wrong- and DONT TELL ME you will call me back, while I sit at the phone alllllllllll day, carrying it in my pocket as I take the dogs out, or get in wood for the fire or running the vac- give me a real human being.. Something with a pulse- NOT A CUBICALE!!!!! ( AS pronounced to me tonight... ) jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez..
I JUST WANT what I called for- nothing more- but NOTHING LESS.. .. jeeeeeeeeez.....!!!!

[RedHedd]

I hear ya, all the help centers have moved to India. They really don't give a flying .... it's all about the mighty $$ and saving a few at our expense. I know our time is precious, but THEY don't seem to understand that .... press 1 for more options

[borzoimom]

I SPENT 5 DAYS talking to every pin head known to man kind- and told countless times i was in the wrong department- AND IT WENT THROUGH JUST AS I SAID on the first conversation.
Retired or not, and I am only 46, my time is value to things. I have things to do and dont have timeeeeeeeeeeee for such nonscense. I think we should alllllll look for small companies- a few bucks more would be worth it to me if I got a real person when I talked.
Number one- from the getgo ask their extension and ask them to spell their names
Number two - ask who their immediate supervisor is FOR YOUR RECORDS.. etc etc etc..

[Freedom]

Oh gosh, if I had seen this first I would never have sent you that PM, this nerve has already been scorched today!

On our local evening news tonight, the investigative report was about this same thing in the state capital. "Ever try to reach those in command," is what it was titled. At one point, the peron on the other end HUNG UP on the investigative reporter, WHO HAD ALREADY IDENTIFIED HERSELF AS SUCH! This was not someone in India, this was someone right here in our state capital, who has probably watched this reporteer on the evening news every night for 12 years~

I DON'T call my "big bank," anymore. I go to my local branch of same. Got to know the asst manager ( the manager is often out at corporate meetings, so that person is not going to be too helpful) and got her direct line. Now I call my big bank branch. (If I call the main number for "big branch," I get sent to some phone bank somewhere, AND THEY BILL ME FOR THE CALL.)

I hate calling for Dad's prescription refills (he has 17 presecriptions, and keeping up with it all is part of my full time job!) Most of them come through the VA (Veterans Administration; Dad earned the right to those benefits in WW II). Add government to the customer service thing. I have hung up after hearing a message tell me, "you are caller number . . . 37." What, I am supposed to hang on the phone for 1.5 hours? I drove over and make a fuss in person. It took 5 trips, but now Dad's meds run MUCH more smoothly. And the other veterans, well, I feel so SORRY for them if they are trying to handle this themselves. You don't feel well, and you didn't grow up with this technology and you have to deal with it? Poor people.

I like your idea of using the local company when you can.

[Vela]

The other day I called to cancel a book order I kept NOT receiving, and I was actually YELLED at by the "customer service" lady for trying to cancel the account. I still have never ever received the books to send back, I guess I had better call them again tomorrow, hope i don't get the same lady! I ended up hving to talk to a supervisor because she was such a WITCH, and I even started out trying to be nice to her.

[kimlovescats]

Don't get me started~!!!!!
What ever happened to "the customer is always right"??? That's how I was trained when I first started working way back when ... LOL!
Now if you complain about an employee to the management ... they take up for their employee and make you feel like a problem customer!!! It's absolutely absurd! At the very least, the management just shrugs it off with a simple half-hearted apology, and the employee goes un-reprimanded!!!

As far as the eternal answering machine selections ... I'm just waiting for 911 to have them ....

"911, please listen to the options and choose the one that is most appropriate"

#1 - If you know the extension of the party you are trying to reach, please press it now, and then listen to the options on their recorder.

#2 - If you don't know the number of the party you are trying to reach, please hold until the next available operator can help you. Estimated wait time is 30 minutes on a slow night.

#3 - If you feel that this is a life threatening emergency, please hang up and go to the nearest emergency room.

#4 - If you feel that your house is on fire, please go outside.

#5 - If you feel that your life is in danger, please hang up and call 911.

#6 - To repeat the options, press 0

[borzoimom]

Freedom- you are just fine honey.. .lollllllllllllll... It wasnt you- it was one company for several days...

[Blue_Frog]

Wow - sounds like you had a really cruddy time in the customer service hades (trust me, I have tons of horror stories about calls i've had to make to companies)

I've worked in a couple of fairly large call centres , so i've posted some of the reasoning behind some of the points you brought up -- Note that this doesn't in -any- way excuse how you were treated by customer service.

-= stupid long book-like posts I make - sorry about that, got to writing and it just kept going ... =-

Number one- from the getgo ask their extension and ask them to spell their names
Number two - ask who their immediate supervisor is FOR YOUR RECORDS.. etc etc etc..

Always get the person's first name (write it down, they generally won't give a last name as policy for security reasons), and ask for your Ticket Number. This is your incident number, that they are logging into some kind of ticketing/tracking system, and can be useful for when you have to call back. Not every place will give you a ticket number however, but its a good piece to have. Record the time and date that you called (and called back etc.) as well. Asking for the supervisors' name may not be all that useful - a lot of call centers will have numerous supervisors or 'leads', and it often depends on what day and time you call in as to who is on duty.

Sometimes call centres don't have a direct incoming extension for their representatives, but theres NO reason why a rep should not be able to call you back. Its called accountability - if they started with your issue, then they should have some ownership and work with you until the issue is resolved. Not all call centres follow this however, and reps are only responsible for the call at hand, and not with any followthrough.

I want a real person- someone I can spell their names

I've had the response from customers before on the phones "thank god you speak english". Theres nothing more frustrating than getting someone online who doesn't speak the language - they can be as nice as can be, and technically skilled, but if they can't speak the language then it doesn't do the customer on the phone any good. However, being able to 'spell' the name doesn't mean that they aren't qualified - i've worked with many skilled people who spoke perfect english and had 'different' names.

One of the tricks of the Indian call centres though, is to take on 'Americanized' names for the phones - i've dealt with a few call centres that i -knew- were in india, and talked to Susans and Davids, and I can guarantee that those weren't their real names (yes, i've asked)

I JUST WANT what I called for- nothing more- but NOTHING LESS.. .. jeeeeeeeeez.....!!!!

I completely agree with you on this. There is NO reason for someone not to call you back - again, accountability. However, a reason why they might not call you back has to do with some of the policies in Call Centres, namely that They have to take a certain # of calls, within a certain time per call throughout the day. If they don't meet these numbers, they get 'written up' and eventually fired. This can impact you getting a call back, as calling you back takes them away from incoming calls.

This is NOT an excuse. This is why writing -everything- down is key:
• Get the reps name
• Get the ticket number
• Write down the time you called
• Get a commitement on when you can expect a call back from them

When they DONT meet this time, call back and immediately ask to be 'escalated' (one of the key call centre words) to the supervisor, lead or senior on duty. Repeat above (get the Supervisors name etc.). Get angry if you have to with the second level, usually angry people get the best service on the phones but not OFTEN with the first level reps -- if you're really nice to them, they will often go out of their way to help you more. If this person fails to do what they say, escalate again - ask for the call centre manager, director, etc. Keep going.

Something with a pulse- NOT A CUBICALE!!!!! ( AS pronounced to me tonight... ) jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez..

I'm not sure if this is meant as a slight against working in a cubicle (almost all call centres are set up this way), but unfortunately they can't help the environment they work in. Theres no privacy, a lot more noise and distraction, and not the best working area. I'm sure everyone would like to have an office with a closed door, however call centres will NEVER have this. The burnout rate in call centres is really high, often with this as part, from being yelled at all day by customers angry with a company's policies, procedures and products -- depression is very high in this kind of environment. I'll leave the 'with a pulse' comment alone.

are call centers run by morons or is it the help or is it the system in place???

Yes, quite often call centres are run by Morons, who are hired to meet certain criteria (the system), who push the staff to meet criteria (length of calls, time on the call, amount of time on the phone), which are mandated by the company. The Morons only get their bonus if the 'underlings' meet all call stats, so far too often customer service falls by the wayside in exchange for the almighty dollar. Again, not at all a good thing to be doing to a customer base.


So, hope that helps understand what goes on in a call centre a little - by no means am I making any excuses for what goes on -- most of the things that happen in call centres are sooo completly stupid its unbelievable, and its always the customers that suffer.

Cheers!
Alison

[borzoimom]

That was very good information. I got upset about people swearing they would call me back, and then didnt- and the next one do the same..
YOu know allstate has a commercial about your real representative. I think all companies need to take that approach. IN a effort to save money, sometimes we put ourselves in the position of dealing with these companies that really have the poorest in service.
I took a week to resolve this issue we had. And I was recupperating from surgery so this pattern of customer service, or should I say lack of customer service was even more aggravating!!!

[Blue_Frog]

Yeah, thats the most frustrating thing - not having someone call you back when they said they will, especially if they're calling to your home phone and not a cell.

3 things I always did when I was still on the phones ...

1. "Ok, I need to get you that information, it should take me about X long. What would be a good time for me to call you back"

2. Write down the customer name, ticket number, phone number, and TIME to call back on a Sticky Note, and attach to computer monitor.

3. Call back WHEN I said I would, even if I dont have a resolution to the problem - "I'm very sorry personX, but I haven't been able to get you that information yet, but I am still working on your problem. Could I call you back at the same time tomorrow?" *create NEW sticky note, and update the Ticket information*

I really wish other customer service / tech support people would do the same.

[borzoimom]

Man I wish I had you the last few days.. It was getting like head banging time on this end! lol
Tell me- we are debating writing a descrip letter to the main office. Would that do any good???

[Blue_Frog]

Ooo thats a good idea since talking to them doesn't help ...

Go to the website, and get the name of the important people and send to all of them -- something like ...


Dear ______,

I am writing to you today to voice my displeasure with the service I have received at your ______________ office, located in _______________.

I have been experiencing issues with , and placed a call to your support line on . I spoke with your customer service agent , who at that time was unable to resolve my issue. I was then promised a callback for , so I remained at home awaiting your response. I did not receive a callback at the specified time.

A second call was placed to your support line on , at which time I spoke to , who again promised me a callback with a resolution. Again, I did not receive a callback. *repeat with additional details*

I find this level of service to be unacceptable. I would like to have my issue resolved without any further delays by your customer service group.

(etc. etc.)


-- or if the issue has been resolved, then leave out the part about wanting a resoution. Mention that you are considering other services after the experience that you had with this particular issue. A good company will try to make ammends, and a bad company will let you go -- then you tell 10 of your friends who never use their service again either

[borzoimom]

GOD BLESS YOU! I copied and added information to it... Thank you soooooo much!!!

[Blue_Frog]

No problemo

[kimlovescats]

Blue Frog ... thanks for sharing your trade secrets!