I understand the desire to want someone to blame, and/or to hold accountable the person who actually screwed things up, but most of the time in this world, we just don't get to do that. Whoever actually screwed up isn't findable, usually, in a large company or etc., and just yelling at whomever happens to get in your path instead is not acceptable behavior.
8a - if the postal service is involved, please stop trying to blame the company for the fact that your item hasn't arrived yet when they have confirmed that it left on time.
The customer service person is an expert. If you could fix the problem yourself, you would. Instead, you called somebody who fixes this stuff eight hours a day, and has more experience than you do with the problems that can come up.
So don't tell the support person what can be done. ("Sir, your DSL is out because the power is out in your area. I can't do anything about that." "YES YOU CAN!!!!") Don't ask for a man because "this is complicated stuff that a girl couldn't understand." And when the support person asks you to do something, try it.
Pay to play. Really, nobody should have to be told this. But if you want the service, and you aren't willing to pay for it, please don't call customer service. Just go soak yourself in tabasco sauce and find a dragon to eat you.
(I read customers_suck once a week or so. I've learned a few things.)
Re: Other notes:phillip2637March 27 2009, 16:58:59 UTC
"The customer service person is an expert"
Well, as much as I applaud the intent of this thread, evidence suggests that this is a rare case for technology-related support. I have *once* called my ISPs customer service and had the person who answered the phone understand and deal with the problem. ("Yes, sir, someone here arbitrarily changed all the passwords for users with names beginning with 'P'. No, I don't know why either.")
But still, I understand that it's not the fault of the person on the phone that they're untrained, and the company is understaffed, and that their department only exists so that marketing can put 34/9 support on its advertisements. :)
I've had really, really annoying problems involving the customer service person (actually, pretty much everyone in the customer service toolchain) knowing a lot less than I did about the problem in question (I've also, FWIW, had really good experiences with customer service where they knew a lot more than I did
( ... )
Also, sending fifteen emails doesn't do anything but increase your blood pressure and annoy the people who have to help you.
Depending on the system, it can do worse than that, such as getting 15 separate claims opened and 15 separate reps (or even three) working on it. If that sounds good, you haven't considered the resulting confusion occasioned by multiple people all poking at your account, calling/emailing you back, etc. Not only does it make the entire email queue take longer to process if this happens, it makes your problem take longer as the reps step on each other's toes. (If the system is good, the duplicates are caught and this is avoided, and you merely get one - as noted, probably annoyed - rep. But you could've done that without the annoyance with one email, so please, stop with one
( ... )
When someone is wonderful, send the company a letter and say so.
A few months ago I talked to a customer service rep who was friendly, helpful, explained all my options to me, etc. It was a really pleasant experience. At the end of the call I asked to be transferred to his manager, and told the manager just how impressed I was.
A few weeks later I found out that just about everything the helpful person had told me was actually wrong. I was still impressed by his helpful manner, though. *grin*
This - I spent half an hour tracking down the right person at a multi-office towing company so that I could rave about the guy who was incredibly nice to a bunch of musicians in Chicago whose car broke down somewhere in Michigan. AND my piper spent the same amount of time tracking down the right people at AAA to tell as well.
The people who consistently screwed up our hotel reservations and told us that if we complained again they didn't want our business got a lovely call from their bosses after I escalated my issue to their corporate office, but the towing people were AWESOME.
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AngelVixen :-)
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I understand the desire to want someone to blame, and/or to hold accountable the person who actually screwed things up, but most of the time in this world, we just don't get to do that. Whoever actually screwed up isn't findable, usually, in a large company or etc., and just yelling at whomever happens to get in your path instead is not acceptable behavior.
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So don't tell the support person what can be done. ("Sir, your DSL is out because the power is out in your area. I can't do anything about that." "YES YOU CAN!!!!") Don't ask for a man because "this is complicated stuff that a girl couldn't understand." And when the support person asks you to do something, try it.
Pay to play. Really, nobody should have to be told this. But if you want the service, and you aren't willing to pay for it, please don't call customer service. Just go soak yourself in tabasco sauce and find a dragon to eat you.
(I read customers_suck once a week or so. I've learned a few things.)
Reply
Well, as much as I applaud the intent of this thread, evidence suggests that this is a rare case for technology-related support. I have *once* called my ISPs customer service and had the person who answered the phone understand and deal with the problem. ("Yes, sir, someone here arbitrarily changed all the passwords for users with names beginning with 'P'. No, I don't know why either.")
But still, I understand that it's not the fault of the person on the phone that they're untrained, and the company is understaffed, and that their department only exists so that marketing can put 34/9 support on its advertisements. :)
Reply
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Depending on the system, it can do worse than that, such as getting 15 separate claims opened and 15 separate reps (or even three) working on it. If that sounds good, you haven't considered the resulting confusion occasioned by multiple people all poking at your account, calling/emailing you back, etc. Not only does it make the entire email queue take longer to process if this happens, it makes your problem take longer as the reps step on each other's toes. (If the system is good, the duplicates are caught and this is avoided, and you merely get one - as noted, probably annoyed - rep. But you could've done that without the annoyance with one email, so please, stop with one ( ... )
Reply
A few months ago I talked to a customer service rep who was friendly, helpful, explained all my options to me, etc. It was a really pleasant experience. At the end of the call I asked to be transferred to his manager, and told the manager just how impressed I was.
A few weeks later I found out that just about everything the helpful person had told me was actually wrong. I was still impressed by his helpful manner, though. *grin*
Reply
The people who consistently screwed up our hotel reservations and told us that if we complained again they didn't want our business got a lovely call from their bosses after I escalated my issue to their corporate office, but the towing people were AWESOME.
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