Tag: Customer service

Hey Business People This Upsets Me

I called three times, finally threatening to cut off my service. It was only then I got a response.

Hi business people. Hope you’re doing well. I understand from John Boehner you’re the jobs engine of our country. Cool beans!

There is one thing you do that really upsets me. Can we talk?

If you can’t service my account please don’t tell me how busy you are… how behind you are… how inundated you are. I know there was a hurricane. I saw it on TV.

Until you give me a buzz (and a discount) when you’re doing well I don’t need to hear when you’re swamped. That shouldn’t be my problem.

I will spare you the details, but a service we use wasn’t working correctly. I called three times, finally threatening to cut off my service. It was only then I got a response. My earlier calls weren’t even returned by this company that gets my cash on a regular monthly basis!

It’s all settled now and the company has stepped up and taken responsibility for their actions, but why did it come to this? Didn’t they realize they had already run the count to strike two?

Verizon Adds Insult To Injury For Dead Soldier’s Family

The customer service agent’s job isn’t to fix problems. The agent’s job is to make the person complaining go away! Of course something could be done and was done once this story saw the light of day.

If you’re Ivan Seidenberg, CEO of Verizon, what’s it worth to you not to see this headline on Consumerist?

Verizon: Die Fighting In Afghanistan, Pay $350 Early Termination Fee

I’ve written more than once about customer service and the value of employees being given some latitude in fixing problems. Here’s a perfect example of what I’ve been talking about.

What’s the opposite of warm and fuzzy?

The story was originally reported by CBS13 in Sacremento. Thanks to the Internet it’s been seen worldwide. Time wounds all heels!

The family says a Verizon customer service representative told them that “nothing could be done” about the termination fee.

The customer service agent’s job isn’t to fix problems. The agent’s job is to make the person complaining go away! Of course something could be done and was done once this story saw the light of day.

Is there anyone who believes any party involved in this story didn’t know the right thing to do immediately? Words like “nothing can be done” represent the training customer service agents receive and their total lack of discretionary power.

This wrong decision was the inevitable outcome of the system as it now stands.

Maybe it’s time Sprint or T-Mobile (both desperately trying to regain their footing in the cellular marketplace) gave their agents a little latitude and then screamed it in their ads? Considering the typical customer reaction to cell carriers it just might work.

The sad truth is bad customer service is not bad for business when your competitors are doing the exact same thing.