Bad customer service or just bad customers.

subboy2

crispy_chris wrote: »

Biggest lie amongst customer service staff? "I/someone will call you back in X minutes/hours/days)".

I'd say there's about a 25% chance, based on personal experience, of that phone call ever coming.

I've now just started saying I'll hold. I'm usually told "oh but it'll take quite a while - are you sure you don't want me to you back?".

Normally at that point I'm just honest and tell them I simply don't believe they will call me back and while the rep I'm speaking to might take offence, at least I get my issue resolved.

I'll call you back is just another way of saying I'll put some notes in the system so that in a few days when you call back, somebody else can sort it out.

You sound like one of those unnecessarily rude arrogant customers whose sole purpose it seems is to get worker's backs up.

Get a life.

Morglin

I have never sworn or shouted at a customer service bod (no point).

If they are being inefficient, stupid or rude, I just take their name and wish them good day.

Then, I write to the CEO of their company.

Works every time - issue gets resolved without fuss and having to argue with dippy call centre staff on minimum pay.

Lin

System

Morglin wrote: »

I have never sworn or shouted at a customer service bod (no point).

If they are being inefficient, stupid or rude, I just take their name and wish them good day.

Then, I write to the CEO of their company.

Works every time - issue gets resolved without fuss and having to argue with dippy call centre staff on minimum pay.

Lin

presumably you are never in the wrong !

kaflinkle

The problem is that as consumers (I believe we are consumers now, we stopped being thought of as citizens a long time ago) we are told that we are special and we can have what we want. We deserve it!

I remember when I was younger that when you bought something, it wan't so easy to return it, if you made a mistake, shops said "sorry, but there's nothing wrong with it so you can't return it", now if you make a mistake or just plain don't want it anymore (because you've realised you've made a mortgage sized payment for a damn phone), the store will just take it back. Therefore we're not really careful what we buy, because they're no consequences.

Because we are treated like spoilt children, we have become spoilt to the point where we think we can just talk to retail or customer service staff like crap. Why, because we are made to think we are special, we are always right because we are the consumers.

no1catman

CHRISSYG wrote: »

presumably you are never in the wrong !

And, how does he know they are on 'minimum pay'!?
Or is that just a dismissive assumption!??

System

no1catman wrote: »

And, how does he know they are on 'minimum pay'!?
Or is that just a dismissive assumption!??

Exactly ! We get customers like this sometimes who think they are gods gift to retail ,they get the exact same treatment as everyone else ,but for every "perfect" one there are some genuinely nice and pleasant ones.

Morglin

CHRISSYG wrote: »

presumably you are never in the wrong !

Well, I do actually check the facts etc., before I phone!

Little point in ringing at all if they are in the right.

Obviously, people wanting refunds/compo unreasonably are a pest.

Lin

Money-Saving-King

Morglin wrote: »

Then, I write to the CEO of their company.

Works every time - issue gets resolved

Resolved in what way? I can imagine in reality very little if anything happens you just get a nicely worded letter making you think it has.

MacMickster

crispy_chris wrote: »

I've now just started saying I'll hold. I'm usually told "oh but it'll take quite a while - are you sure you don't want me to you back?".

I've been doing this for a couple of years now. A convenient time for me to speak to someone to resolve matters? Now of course - that's why I phoned now.

I appreciate that staff taking calls hate someone asking to speak to a manager from the outset, but the options open to first line customer service staff to resolve issues are almost always less than those open to management or retentions staff.

It must irritate staff who trot out the line that "my manager will only tell you the same thing" only for that manager to then offer further solutions that the initial rep wasn't empowered to offer.

Of course the best businesses actually do fully empower their front-line staff to resolve issues from beginning to end. I suspect that their staff tend to enjoy their work far more than those where staff are targeted to get the customer off the phone as quickly as possible and actively discouraged from demonstrating initiative.

crispy_chris

Indie_Kid wrote: »

They can't drop everything to deal with you.

Err yes they can, if it's their offer to call me back they can bloody well act on it.

subboy2 wrote: »

You sound like one of those unnecessarily rude arrogant customers whose sole purpose it seems is to get worker's backs up.

Get a life.

No, I'm just one of those customers who is fed up of being promised callbacks that never come.