I couldn’t agree with you more. I have even canceled credit cards and bank accounts because it was impossible to talk to a real person. I don’t think simple human connection is too much to ask for. I understand pinching pennies in this tough economy is a necessity, but unless you offer some sort of customer service you will not be receiving a penny from me.

Whether it is a grocery store, winery, hospital, or coffee house, I expect to be greeted with a smile and for the company to do everything that can to make my experience memorable. If this is achieved, I am a customer for life. I understand these seem to be high standards when it comes to customer service today, but simple courtesy and friendliness will go a long way with this consumer.

Thank you for the rant!

Once the company reached the target customer base, they exchanged the human customer service with “dial 1 for …” In the end, the great customer service was really a marketing tool and not meant to be long term. I’m not sure what the long term results were, but it was a crafty technique. My guess is that even in this economy, companies that want to grow will spend money on customer support..

I usually find pressing 0 repeatedly helps (more often than I thought)

What I find even more aggravating is that lack of care or concern that is displayed by real people, especially in the retail environment. There’s a particular electronics chain that I visit about once every 24 months. Why so infrequently? Because when I walk inside, I feel invisible. Last weekend I made my biannual trip and within about three minutes of being in the store, I remembered why I had not considered setting foot inside in more than a year. Standing at the customer service counter, waiting for someone to give me their attention I noticed at least seven other employees who seem to be just standing around conversing or too deep into their own thoughts to notice me. I stood there for 10 minutes waiting, looking around, and watching others look in my direction. Not one person came over to ask if I needed assistance. I walked over to two chatting employees and kindly asked if they could get some assistance at the customer service desk…. The response was delayed, just as was getting an actual person to walk behind the customer service desk and answer my question.

This situation makes me think, would I rather deal with an automated customer service team or take the time to go through online FAQs instead of waiting for the assistance of a real human? It might take more effort than just standing and waiting, but at least it allows for one to avoid the humiliation of being purposely and completely ignored. I believe that across the board, those employed today need to value their employment. Personally, I feel that I cannot afford to be lazy and careless and I struggle to understand why others do not feel the same.

Perhaps there are more reasons than cost-savings for switching to automated and off-shore customer service teams….

I totally agree with you. In the name of saving a dollar, companies across the board have seemingly forgotten about pleasing their customers. I myself spent the greater part of two weeks dealing with technical support of my laptop manufacturer, which is based out of the Philippians I might add. I remember one particular day when the gentlemen I was speaking to took a break from fixing my problem to make a sales pitch to me. To my disbelief, he told me if I upgraded to the platinum warranty (an extra $125 a year), that I would be guaranteed to speak with a representative based out of North America each time I called and would not be placed on hold for any more than two minutes. Has it really come to this? Do we actually have to pay extra in order to receive decent customer service?

Keep up the good work Art!

I really do believe that a lot of these companies not only use automated systems to save money, but they purposely do so to be deceiving as well. They give you a try free for 30 days offer just so when you try and cancel on the 29th day they try to confuse you enough to put it off an extra day so they can charge you some outrageous fee. Sadly I don’t see customer service getting any better as technology evolves even more.

Given similar experiences from this summer I can’t agree more. I can understand cost-savings but there is something to be said about human to human interaction. With your example about canceling service it seems to me that some people might be canceling accounts given the economy. If people leave disgruntled the chances of them coming back to that company are probably lower than if they were able to leave fairly easy once they feel financially stable to return.

I look forward to reading more of your posts.

Kyle

Excellent post that brought to mind many of my experiences!

From my experience, automated systems are only good if you are looking to save time, such as in paying your bills (avoiding waiting on hold). I personally prefer automated systems for that.

However, once anything even slightly goes wrong, I need to hear from a person in order to resolve the issue. Last Christmas, I had some issues with the activation of a gift card. They only gave an email tech supoport option. They were not able to answer my question.

However, this week I had difficulty installing a CD from a textbook on my computer. The company gave me the option of calling their technical support (live) people or emailing them. I did not hesitate to call the real person. They resolved my issue quickly because thy understood my explanation in person.

With nearly every company having financial trouble, I understand your point about the cost of customer support personnel. I do think that offering knowledgeable in-person customer service would help these businesses regain profitability.

My personal work experience is that people get annoyed with any automated system if the slightest problem crops up, so it is better to have in person service to preserve customer satisfaction.

-Mark D. Cohen

Mark, thanks for the reminder about marketing. So true in many instances.

-Art

Great post we all can relate to.

My concern for Mary Jo is I am seeing companies go the wrong way, more automation in response to the goal of reducing head count.

Something that may surprise you is I feel one of the departments that have failed at your yet to be named service provider is Marketing.

If marketing was in the market, and not at the water cooler they would know common questions and they would provide tools proactively. If they were in the market, with those scary things called customers and users, they would understand how critical your need is for human service and drive efforts to solve those needs.

Mark Allen Roberts

No. You don’t talk to the FTC. You fill out a form on their CANN-SPAM webpage.

While the industry can site Nordstrom’s and other companies, I know there are more hidden gems out there. Will you please standup and be counted.