24 April 2010

A Week In "Customer Service" Hell


According to my phone logs in and out - this week I have spent more than 22 hours of time "interacting" with Customer Service operations. These ranged from technology companies to financial services to airlines and hotels.

What a thoroughly unpleasant experience. I have come to the following conclusions:

After more than 15 years of full on internet - Customer Service has ceased to exist either by phone, chat and online.

Users have no choice but to use the web as the human customer service is so universally awful.

The damage done to brands is largely self inflicted.

The basic tenants of human decency have been replaced by fake concern and routine lying

Lying is an art form and comes in so many ways.

Perhaps I should have come to earth at a different time. Because the whole experience of talking to these people has been universally bad.

I realize I may not be the easiest person on the planet but trust me on this one - I tried all sorts of different tactics - being nice, being dumb, being assertive, it really didn't matter.

Of the more than 25 people I have spoken to - there was JUST ONE - who actually listened to my problem/issue and then worked with me to resolve it. But she was clearly off her script by that time. But thanks to her - something that had taken days to not resolve with some of her colleagues - she worked at it and (heaven forbid) even called me back to make sure it still worked.

So to all you customer service managers - or Chief Customer Contact Person - YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES.

Cheers

With SPECIAL thanks to Orange (subsidiary of France Telecom) for the image from their article on how to complain.

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