Have You Been Subjected to Customer Dis-service? Share your Experience
All of us have horror stories about the medieval torture we've endured when we called a company's customer service department. The endless voice prompts, the messages which tell us that it would be better if we serviced our selves on the (much faster) web site, or if we are not so bright and have nothing else to do, by all means we should continue to hold, because after all, our call is so important...
And isn't it interesting that those same folks were so easy to contact, with such a short hold time and so helpful when it came to taking our money? Just one of life's little mysteries.
In spite of all the announcements in the business press regarding "Customer is King", "CRM" or "Customer Relationship Marketing", nothing has changed in the area of customer service call centers. Customer Dis-service is still king.
Actually, per our 2006-2007 Customer Relationship Marketing Research things are getting worse.
So, now it's 2008 and we deserve better than this shoddy treatment.
I have an idea for how to get companies to change their approach to customer service. It requires your help. I would like to ask readers of the Huffington Post to share your experiences.
The findings from this survey will, among other things, help quantify the impact of experiences with customer service call centers on three critical areas: willingness to purchase from the offending company, willingness to recommend the company and perception of that company's brand.
These factors are the lifeblood of a company's financial success. If the research data indicates that poor customer service is negatively impacting these business indicators, we can use this data to compel companies to change these practices.
Results will be published in this blog. HuffPost readers will be able to use the research findings to educate companies where you work regarding the financial damage they are self-inflicting by cutting costs in the area of customer service.
So please speak out and share your experiences.
As soon as we get a good sample size, we will tabulate the data and present the results in this blog.
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I do have to make one positive comment about Wal-Mart.
Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, they were one of the few entities showing they were fully prepared and ready for such a large scale disaster, and rolled into the devastation zone just hours afterward with quantities of free water and ice. They did what FEMA and the Red Cross was supposed to be doing.
It's interesting that Geico, Red Lobster, Capital One and WalMart have come under fire in this comments section, since these companies (particularly Geico) advertise nonstop in the hopes of attracting more business. I've said Geico could dang near give you insurance for free if they didn't constantly advertise on every radio and television station in America.
I live in a small town in North Carolina, and while most of my local WalMart employees are pleasant and get the job done reasonably well, the "customer service" desk has become, for all intents and purposes, a bank. The CSRs are so busy cashing checks, selling prepaid debit cards, accepting payments for utility bills, crediting deposits and opening accounts that they don't have time to deal with your exchange or refund.
I have to confess that some of the most helpful and courteous people I have dealt with in recent years have been.....gasp......government bureaucrats at Social Security, Social Services, and even the IRS. I have also been treated quite well by Progress Energy and Embarq (though I wish Embarq wouldn't always try to sell me more services when I call with a question --when I'm annoyed at my bill is not the best time to suggest I buy more from them).
I forgot American Airlines....absolutely the worst airline.
Vanguard
Travelocity
HSBC
Seriously even when they have your money their sevice can royally suck.
oh and the worst:
Citibank
About a year ago I received an inheritance check. It couldn't have come at a better time, as mu balance was nearing zero and I used the $200 made available immediately to pay some bills . Two days later I check my balance on line and the $200 available balance had been removed and in its place were over $150 in "convenience charges" for exceeding my balance. Calling the bank I find out that since it was unusually large deposit based on my normal activity it had been selected for verification by their fraud department and could be held up for 7-10 days with the $200 available erased without warning. I had to spend 1/2 a day figuring this all out because the letter informing me what had occurred didn't arrive until a week after everything was resolved. They had to contact the bank the check was written on and my grandmother (who had written the check) before anything else could happen. My Grandmother was incensed by the situation and called her banker. The check had cleared, and my bank had the funds, the day after it was deposited - before they even selected the check for "verification". They reversed the "convenience" charges, but no apologies were ever offered - actually the woman in the fraud department was rude, dismissive and flat out told me the situation was my fault for not reading the "fine print". I now have another bank.
America West Airlines, Spring 2001.
I arrived at the airport almost five hours early for a return flight. As I went through security, I was paged by AWA and told to proceed to the gate "immediately." I was informed my flight (departing four hours later) had been canceled, and that if I did not get on the flight boarding right then, I would not make it out until the following day.
All this was told to me in an extremely rude manner, as if it were A.) my fault, and B.) it was a -huge- hassle to the gate agent.
I was then told I had to have a supplementary security check because of late boarding (!!). It took the female TSA official more than 15 minutes to arrive. In the meantime, the gate agent informed the pilot in a -very- snotty voice that the delay was caused by a LATE passenger.
The TSA official left all my belongings strung out on the table, and the agent was furious that I took the time to put them back in my bag.
When I finally boarded, on top of everything else, I heard this by an irate passenger: "This wouldn't happen if you had gotten here 3 hours early like you're supposed to!!"
I haven't flown America West since. It wasn't the canceled flight; it was the rudeness from the gate agents.
Companies provide no way to contact them if you are upset by any of their policies. They seem to want it that way. They don't want any customer feedback because they don't give a damn about what the customer thinks or wants. It's arrogance at its worse. They are saying F*** You to the customer and than than they wonder why their sales are declining.
True customer service is athing of the past. My wife and I like to go out for dinner once or twice a month. We like the chain restuarants mostly. The service at the major chains is far from satisfactory. Chili's, and Bob Evans are the worst. Olive Garden I would say is the best. The absolute worst one time service at one of these chains was at Red Lobster. The service was so bad, and the manager was so horrible we have never gone to that Red Lobster or any other one because of it (seven years) The smaller family owned places are better, but not imune to bad service. We often say to ourselves that there should be a national school for waiters and waitreses.
There is. It's called South Louisiana, where excellent food and good service are still the norm.
Just stick to the local joints, of which I'm happy to report, still greatly outnumber the chains.
-My vote for worst industry overall: Airlines, no doubt. I've also received exceedingly awful treatment from medical practitioners who have no respect for their patients' time.
-Unavoidable places that make my blood boil: U.S. Postal Service facilities (all of them!)
-Second-worse governmental "service": The DMV of any state I've ever lived in. You can get a passport easier than a driver's license in most.
-Places I won't shop again: Anywhere that makes me wait 20 minutes to pay. 20 minutes and I walk and don't come back. (I've black-listed Sears, Wal-mart, several supermarkets, several mall-type stores ... and Home Depot, you're next.)
-Saddest slow death in the world of commerce: The independent book store.
-Trend I find odious: Pretentious naming of products (a la Starbucks ... I don't speak Italian, let alone fake-Italian).
-Weirdest city I've ever spent money in: Tucson, Arizona. How about some service at shops and restaurants after 8 p.m.?
-Best service I ever get: At hotels when I'm on a corporate expense account.
-Second best service: My hairdresser, but I tip to deserve it.
Airlines!
When the talking heads tell us about another increase in fares, additional fees, diminished service and overbooked flights, WHY don't they tell us the CEO salaries??
The worst experience I ever had was American Express clerks in Florence, Italy. Three of the most rude, sloppy, ill-informed, indifferent, unhelpful, unkind, callous, cold and uncooperative clerks I've ever encountered anywhere. That was several years ago. The memory of those encounters (more than one at that office) stays with me and makes me very glad that I cancelled that American Express card immediately upon our return home. Will never ever use an American Express card again. Absolutely awful.
Real American people are usually very helpful. Well, they weren't after the beginning of the Iraq war, but this was a special temporary freedom fries moment ;-)
What sounds amazing to me is when there are young guys at the entrance of the shops paid to ask you "how are you guys doing today ?" I used to answer "fine, thank you, what about you ?" but they looked puzzled. So once I stopped and asked the guy if this was his job, to ask strangers about the quality of their current life. And he said that yes, he had to, even if he didn't give a sh*t really, and nobody never answered him anyway, and it was weird that I did answer.
However I find it very hard to ignore the poor lads, so I've decided that I'd rather sound weird than feel bad and disrespectful, hence I always inquire about their well being too when I'm asked.
The only negative comment that I have to write is about Alamo. The clarks can hardly speak English because they're from India or South America, and I can't understand them. And they can't understand me. So I rent Hertz or Avis, where they're great.
Wells Fargo Bank people ? They're wonderful.
Social Security guy who received me ? Wonderful guy.
Immigration officers ? Wonderful guys in all airports except in Atlanta.
Customs officers ? Wonderful guys who let my wine and cheese go through for my American friends.
The meanest and most frightening American guys I ever met are the ones working at the Visa office in Paris. But you won't ever have to deal with them, so never mind ! Nevertheless, they deserve the lemon price for their arrogance and nastyness. But I'm sure that they've been sent abroad to us because you wanted to get rid of the worst of your citizens. I wouldn't be surprised to meet Bush and Cheney in the Paris Visa office after January 2009 ;-)
See Ernan Roman's Profile
Thanks to all of you for your responses.
Please ask your friends to complete the survey. We need as many responses as possible so we have a solid base of data.
We will analyze the results and create an objective set of findings which quantify the impact of poor customer service on your willingness to buy from companies.
We hope these findings and the financial implications, will get companies to change how they view the value of good customer service.
I will publish all results in my Huff blog so you can use them to help bring about change as well.
Have a lovely July 4th.
Comcast is fortunately gone from where I live (replaced by Roadrunner) but when they were here, they were impossible to deal with.
The Internet (through their connection) was routinely down, it took forever (calling Customer Disservice) to get anything more than a busy signal, then, getting through after wasting many minutes in 'phone trees', I'd reach someone who knew nothing, get put on hold, then get shunted from one idiot to the next , often to offshore CSRs whose native language was not English, whose 'English' when they tried to speak it was incomprehensible, and who, in any case, were only reading from scripts, i.e., who had no essential knowledge of computers nor local conditions halfway around the world, logical enough, but if they didn't know what was going on here, why did Comcast send me to them?
I feel, in fact, that all CSRs should be in the country the calls originate from and native speakers of the languages of the countries customers call from. We need the jobs in the US. It's absurd to be exporting any jobs whatsoever. Dealing with overseas reps like these is enough reason for me to seek a company which doesn't use them, which employs only US citizens whose native language is English.
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