Is customer service that hard?

[Tedd]

Required reading: GOLD - Own a Business? Answer Your Damn Phone @amp0193

This is gonna be a rant on how customer service sucks at major corporations! So bad that I was at the receiving end from two companies in a week.

Here we go.

I'm changing my medical insurance provider and this supposedly international bank that prides itself of Highly Servicing all Banking Customers(!) had an insurance programme that suits me. So I call and as you'd guessed, I'm greeted by the automatic voice over asking me to press various numbers, by the time I got to speak to a real person, it was 15 freaking minutes of waiting on phone.

That's not the end of all, the agent cannot provide enough details because the 'Retail Banking and Wealth Management' manager (her words) is the right person for answering policy enquiries.

How wonderful?

and then she proceeded me to get my email and promised to follow up as soon as the aforementioned manager returns.

Heck, I even got an email acknowledgement mentioning a ticket has been raised concerning my enquiry.

Turns out that asap means no follow up.

I tried contacting them again after a couple of days and had to go through the random number button pressing on the phone gain. But this time, another agent takes my call and the whole debacle starts over again.

Till now, no follow up, no acknowledgement, no apology for a week!

That isn't enough of customer service torture for me apparently, though.

Here's the second 'experience'

I needed to get some health supplements online and this Buy our InnOvatiVe ExtraordinAry products has a checkout page that never stops refreshing and not allowing me to complete my order.

So I search for the contact us page, which was somewhat buried deep inside their site. I tell them, 'Hey, you checkout page isn't working, you gotta fix that to complete my order'. I get an automated response and someone will reach out to me.

Aa day later I get this message to add my credit card details on my account page in the web site and they'll complete my order. So I try adding in my payment details - easy peasy, Tedd!

Not so fast!
It didn't work and so I write to them again, get the automated response. But this time no one reached out to me and it's been a week!

I send a damned email.



No response!

Like their customer service department has vapourised! WTF!

How hard is it to maintain an ecommerce site, especially for a company that ships all over the world? Ironic the HQ is based in Scottsdale, AZ!!

In both cases, here I'm waiting to hand them over my money and possibly more since both are repeat businesses - insurance and health supplements, and possiblility to recommend them to my friends or relatives.

Would I come back again?
Do you think I would recommend them?

To both questions: my answer is a resounding NO!

 

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[JAJT]

Right now the easiest (and best) competitive advantage you can strive for is customer service.

I worked for a company whose technology might as well have been held together with Popsicle sticks and glue but we answered the phone in every department, returned emails promptly and manned our chat tool most hours of the day. No scripts, no bots, no automation, just people.

The result was that we siphoned customers by the truckload from the #1 player in the industry, flew to the top rankings of basically every comparison chart and ultimately this company got bought out by that same major player about a year after I left for millions.

First thing they did post buyout? Fired most everyone not required for the transition and transferred control of all incoming communications to their pre-established (terrible) network. Some companies never learn.

 

[Tedd]

Thought that #1 player would learn and institute the best practices on how that company got hold of their customers after the acquistion. But it's the reverse that had happened. What a tragedy!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Thought that #1 player would learn and institute the best practices on how that company got hold of their customers after the acquistion. But it's the reverse that had happened. What a tragedy!

Customer Service was one of the lynchpins that helped me grow my company. Each time I sold the company, it was the first thing that went down the tubes.

IMO, it's not that customer service is hard, it's just that investors don't think it's worth the investment vis-a-vie profit, whether it is time or manpower.

 

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[JAJT]

Thought that #1 player would learn and institute the best practices on how that company got hold of their customers after the acquistion. But it's the reverse that had happened. What a tragedy!

What very likely happened was that the buyout was for the purposes of customer (re)acquisition and brand.

They likely didn't care about the technology (they had their own), customer service (they had their own), or what made the company great (who cares). They likely thought like this:

(# of customers) X ($ monthly) = huge number.

It's a shit way to treat customers and actually subtracts value from the market this way but it's a really effective way to boost profits and revenue and market share and a number of other really nice spreadsheet items. And until your marketplace reviews start dropping like a stone, any disgruntled customers with your main brand will go flocking to the new company you just bought so you still retain those customers.

 

[3things]

Here's a flip-side story to yours, on how it should be done.

So i'm looking for a dewalt drill set, i find one super cheap on home depot website. $137, marked clearance, from $470-odd. I order it. I post it to redflagdeals here in Canada. By morning, people have piled in, and the web page is gone. Day or so later we all get emails saying our orders are cancelled, it was an error etc. Ok meh, disappointing, whatever.

15 mins later, we all start getting emails from their customer support team apologising for the error and saying they're sending everyone a Home depot gift card for the value of the item - $137. So a whole load of people ended up getting $137 gift cards for free.

Now initially this seemed a bit daft to me - I could go buy the same drill set in store with the gift card for $80 now - why didn't they just fulfil the orders? But it's not a daft as it seems...they instantly created a whole bunch of super happy people, who have since told a whole bunch of other people about their great experience with Home Depot, how they looked after us, etc etc. If we'd all just got the $137 set shipped to us, no one would've told anyone anything, there was no longer-term value for HD to do that.

I was blown away tbh, it was such a refreshing change and a wonderful surprise. I sent a thank you email to their CS - credit where credit is due, they handled this brilliantly really.

 

[amp0193]

So a whole load of people ended up getting $137 gift cards for free.

I was blown away tbh, it was such a refreshing change and a wonderful surprise. I sent a thank you email to their CS - credit where credit is due, they handled this brilliantly really.

That's not good customer service, that's stupidity, and a mismanagement of funds. They didn't cause you anywhere near $137 worth of inconvenience.

I bet my customers would refer all of their friends too, if I put a $50 bill in each package.

 

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[G-Man]

Here's a flip-side story to yours, on how it should be done.

So i'm looking for a dewalt drill set, i find one super cheap on home depot website. $137, marked clearance, from $470-odd. I order it. I post it to redflagdeals here in Canada. By morning, people have piled in, and the web page is gone. Day or so later we all get emails saying our orders are cancelled, it was an error etc. Ok meh, disappointing, whatever.

15 mins later, we all start getting emails from their customer support team apologising for the error and saying they're sending everyone a Home depot gift card for the value of the item - $137. So a whole load of people ended up getting $137 gift cards for free.

Now initially this seemed a bit daft to me - I could go buy the same drill set in store with the gift card for $80 now - why didn't they just fulfil the orders? But it's not a daft as it seems...they instantly created a whole bunch of super happy people, who have since told a whole bunch of other people about their great experience with Home Depot, how they looked after us, etc etc. If we'd all just got the $137 set shipped to us, no one would've told anyone anything, there was no longer-term value for HD to do that.

I was blown away tbh, it was such a refreshing change and a wonderful surprise. I sent a thank you email to their CS - credit where credit is due, they handled this brilliantly really.

I don't know the law in Canada, but this sounds like something they did not for customer service, but probably for legal reasons. My guess is you're seeing the end result of a foul up on data entry, followed by someone in compliance requiring that customers be compensated to avoid some sort of bait and switch liability with the Canadian equivalent of the FTC

 

[V8Bill]

I sometimes have to wonder if websites were real shops they'd leave their doors wide open but have no staff. If you do come across a person they would silently point to a board of information describing the product. If you wanted to pay they'd refuse to accept it and point you to a cash register where you can check out yourself. If you had to ask a question they'd give you a pen and paper and ask you to write down your query and problem and someone might write them a letter some day. It would be a silent and horrible experience.

This is why I have live chat on my websites and I monitor it all day via my PC or mobile app so if anyone wants me I'm right there. When I take an order I make the phone number mandatory where possible so I can send them an SMS thanking them for the order and sending them updates. They love it and it's not hard, it's a pleasure. If someone gives me money I want to help them then thank them. If not personally then digitally asap and often.

It's not hard and I'm with the OP - I hate bad or uncaring service. I remember once I went to a customer care course for the Australian Institute of Management. These guys take customer care very seriously. I remember one of the tips was "if there's a complaint, go overboard to fix it, over compensate and instead of apologising (was it your fault? if not, why are you apologising?) you must use empathy and reinforce that they should feel bad or upset because what happened to them is unacceptable. When people complain they don't need an apology, they need to know they have a valid complaint and having their time wasted is a bad thing. If possible make it sound like you even more upset than they are! It makes them feel like they have a person on the inside "sorting it out" for them.

Then, once fixed and happy, give them a free coffee (I was a manager at a pool and snooker centre) and offer a few free vouchers for their family or school...etc I turned many complaining customers into long term clients. I knew their names, greeted them personally and even winked as I offer them a free coffee on the house every now and then. It costs almost nothing but the value is immense.

All people want is respect and a real person to be taking care of them and for the business to be (even just a little) grateful for my custom.

I remember around year 2,000 someone said it was going to be the decade of "service"...pffft, fail. C- we can do better.

 

[Tedd]

But.......... @MJ DeMarco @JAJT isn't customer service the key "execution" of ALL businesses?

(I was a manager at a pool and snooker centre) and offer a few free vouchers for their family or school...etc I turned many complaining customers into long term clients. I knew their names, greeted them personally and even winked as I offer them a free coffee on the house every now and then. It costs almost nothing but the value is immense.

All people want is respect and a real person to be taking care of them and for the business to be (even just a little) grateful for my custom.

@V8Bill that's a SUCS , if only every company follows suit (wishful thinking, I know)

 

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[RHL]

Customer Service was one of the lynchpins that helped me grow my company. Each time I sold the company, it was the first thing that went down the tubes.

In my experience, people become brand evangelists via customer service more than any other cause. Sure, a good price and a decent project start your love for a company, but what really sets you apart in people's minds is when something fails and you go completely above and beyond to fix it. I actually think that this is the oft-overlooked "secret sauce" of Uber. It's not just more convenient and more transparent, but you get to sit in a clean, modern car with USB charging ports, tissues, sometimes candy, etc., get to pick the music, and so on, instead of in a dirty 18 year old Ford where the driver barks single-clause sentences at you, won't tell you the prices up front, and then subjects you to whatever temperature or music he wants for the duration of the very expensive ride. That was my experience the vast majority of the time I took traditional cabs. That, too, is customer service.

 

[biophase]

Here's a flip-side story to yours, on how it should be done.

So i'm looking for a dewalt drill set, i find one super cheap on home depot website. $137, marked clearance, from $470-odd. I order it. I post it to redflagdeals here in Canada. By morning, people have piled in, and the web page is gone. Day or so later we all get emails saying our orders are cancelled, it was an error etc. Ok meh, disappointing, whatever.

15 mins later, we all start getting emails from their customer support team apologising for the error and saying they're sending everyone a Home depot gift card for the value of the item - $137. So a whole load of people ended up getting $137 gift cards for free.

Now initially this seemed a bit daft to me - I could go buy the same drill set in store with the gift card for $80 now - why didn't they just fulfil the orders? But it's not a daft as it seems...they instantly created a whole bunch of super happy people, who have since told a whole bunch of other people about their great experience with Home Depot, how they looked after us, etc etc. If we'd all just got the $137 set shipped to us, no one would've told anyone anything, there was no longer-term value for HD to do that.

I was blown away tbh, it was such a refreshing change and a wonderful surprise. I sent a thank you email to their CS - credit where credit is due, they handled this brilliantly really.

I grow my business with customer service and quality. But sometimes when a factory is making 10,000 widgets, a few of them are going to be bad and of course, those are the ones that will post bad reviews or complain. I always do a refund and send them a new one, sometimes I even add more stuff for them. Someone writes a bad review? I send them a replacement. Sometimes I don't even tell them, one just shows up at their house. Many times they don't change the review, but that's ok. There shouldn't be any strings attached to great customer service.

 

[Michał Kóska]

This is what differentiates my business from other real estate businesses- awesome customer service. Some of the companies don't ever dare to call back. I can get a customer in a couple of words

 

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[rollerskates]

Customer service is hard. Not for me, but it's hard because usually, the person providing the "service" has no incentive whatsoever to make the customer happy. You would think people would want to help others and fix things because it's the right thing to do, but noooooo. On Etsy and eBay, I've seen a lot of instances where the seller needs to right, at all costs, even if the cost is $5.00.

The customer might even be wrong, but they are still the customer.

ETA, the other things about CS is that CSRs often either can't think on their feet fast enough or they are prohibited from doing so. When I worked in govt, I found a solution to a problem in a case that my agency handled that would have resulted in them being reimbursed for thousands of dollars. I was told not to worry about it, they wouldn't fix it because it would have cost someone on a higher level some ACTUAL WORK TIME. Imagine.

 

[amp0193]

On eBay, I've seen a lot of instances where the seller needs to right, at all costs, even if the cost is $5.00.

My dad has been this guy on eBay for 15 years.

However, he doesn't have a business, just sells random stuff, flips things, picks up things on freecycle, whatever. I think there's a good number of people on eBay that would fit into this category.

 

[amp0193]

I know it's considered good customer service to bend over backwards to every customer demand. I do it, many of you posting in this thread do it.

Here's a different way to do customer service, that heads off customer bullshit upfront in a humorous, yet firm and practical, way. They save money on the bottom line, without sacrificing the brand's reputation.

This is from Saddleback Leather's site (leather rucksacks/bags):



"Your 30-Day Money Back Guarantee
Buying online is tough, you can’t hold it or touch it or try it on. So, if you get it and it’s too big or small or heavy or uncomfortable, then contact us within 30 days and as long as it’s in like-new condition, then no big deal. The return shipping will be on your dime. It’s just part of the business of doing business online. If you answer NO to any of the following:

1. Did you get what we said you would get? The color was what you thought it would look like. The look was fine. The weight was acceptable. The functionality was there. If NO to this question, then, right away contact us. and we’ll get you all set for in-store credit for an exchange, or refund you for the product as long as it’s in like-new condition.
   1. Did an accident happen to it? A paint spill, a sticky conditioner was applied, a toddler drew all over it with a pen, a skunk sprayed it, a motorcycle dragged it for miles etc. If YES, then start working on your story, because people will be asking you.
   2. Did you irreversibly modify it?Burn your name into it, cut off part of it, remove something from it or modify it in some way or in any other way make it so that we can’t sell it again for full price? If YES, then eBay may be a good option for you.
   3. Are you just plain bored of it?You’re tired of waiting for it to break in or you want to try something new. If YES, then try trading it for something to someone who will enjoy it. It’ll be fun.
   
   Does it seem right to let someone exchange a belt because they gained too much weight and now it won’t fit and they want to send back a belt that we can’t sell so they can have a different size? What about if someone gets a bigger laptop and it won’t fit into their good old bag and now they want to return the old bag so they can get a new one?
   
   
   A relative of mine, who my sister said that I couldn’t mention by name, once told me that he was going to “borrow” an air mattress from Walmart for his guests. I’m not sure if he understood that by doing that, he took at least $50 - $100 out of the bank account of the store and manufacturer because of the cost of receiving, repackaging, shipping back to the manufacturer, storage and then selling it used at a big discount. There’s just something that doesn’t seem right about that. Legally, I believe it’s called fraud. What’s the right thing to do?"

 

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[rollerskates]

This is from Saddleback Leather's site (leather rucksacks/bags):

Saddleback is an awesome company.