customer service

[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