The Oatmeal has published a comic “Why I’d rather be punched in the testicles than phone customer service!” The sad part is, that it is accurate. Calling a customer service can be very traumatic.
My biggest complaint is they do not bother to read the customer profile. The profile is there for to help them and to prevent upsetting the client. My next complaint is they do not know the customer from Adam, therefore unless inviteed to do so by the client they should not call him by his first name but by his title. Why, because it is good manners and a sign of respect.
Remember, people call customer service mainly when something goes wrong, which means that they are already upset. People also hate to hold, so if the solution is going to take a while, offer to phone back. (and do so!)
Then there is the on hold music and the messages, either one that tells you, “Please hold, your call is important to us and we will be with you shortly.” (Ya right), or, ” You are number x in the que, please hold.”
At my last job, my colleagues would put any “on hold” call on speaker phone and carry on with their work until the call was answered.
Oh, and I never call a call centre from my mobile, except for my mobile vendor as that call is free.
So yes, the idea of a call centre is great, pity the people manning it are not!
Tags: Call Centre, Service
