Customer service is dead?

[Obscura]

Has anyone noticed that customer service for several busnesses( both small and large) seems to be non-existant?

Actually it seems like it's dead, buried, re-animated as a zombie, had it's head cut off and burned.

What have other people found as bad customer service? What have you done about it and what resolution was made?

[rage2]

Try calling customer service for tech companies. You'll be talking to some crazy dude in India. I've given up on customer service and tech support... long live google!

[RickDaTuner]

especially at the dealers, they seem to be the worst..


i thinkoneof the major reasons is because theres basically no distinguishing amrkers taht seperate differnt classes now, everyone is viewd the same, weather customer or employee

[Melinda]

Haha I thought customer service was bad here...then I went to the UK for 2 weeks and was amazingly shocked at the lack of any kind of service there. It's actually non-existant. I've learned not to complain so much here, cause it's considerably not bad compared to other place in the world...still not what it used to be though...

[BokCh0y]

Originally posted by rage2
Try calling customer service for tech companies. You'll be talking to some crazy dude in India. I've given up on customer service and tech support... long live google!

:werd:

i had to contact dell today.....what a nightmare.

[Khyron]

When you're buying a product, how many look at the level of service? How many are willing to pay more for it? Not too many. Thus the age of Wallymarts and Techtronics.

Khyron

[DarkDream]

Originally posted by BokCh0y


:werd:

i had to contact dell today.....what a nightmare.


Yah they really suck.... dell outsources their cust service to India... so its really hard to understand what they are saying.....

But Werd on google... i usually search for forums to answer my concerns

[Davetronz]

Maybe if customer service personnel were paid a decent hourly wage with benefits and good working conditions people would care about the business they work for and the people they serve...

[Chim]

Originally posted by FastDak318
Maybe if customer service personnel were paid a decent hourly wage with benefits and good working conditions people would care about the business they work for and the people they serve...

:werd:
Last summer I was getting paid minimum wage to listen to people bitch nonstop at the customer-service desk. Not to mention how they took away our breaks whenever possible. You always have to see both sides of the situation. The customer service staff talk to hundreds (I think my record at crappy tire was 400 customers in 1 day) of people each day, and that gets very monotonous. It got to the point where I saw the customers as numbers/sheep rather than people. Even the most chirpy customer service staff can get very tired out and grumpy by the end of the day.

If you want customer service, you gotta go to a place which actually cares about your business. Not somewhere that pays someone minimum wage, slaps a number on your forehead, and expects you to keep coming back.

[BokCh0y]

Originally posted by DarkDream



Yah they really suck.... dell outsources their cust service to India... so its really hard to understand what they are saying.....

But Werd on google... i usually search for forums to answer my concerns

the fools i've been talking to lately work for the dell edmonton call centre.......sometimes i'd rather deal with the guys outsourced through india. their english is not the greatest but at lest it isn't good enough to tell you off!!!!!!!!!

dell edmonton call centre - sucks imo.

[AcuraTl]

you gotto learn self reliance...csr is getting expensive and companies are getting rid of it :(

[Mckenzie]

Write letters when the service is bad AND when the service is good if it is somewhere you plan on shopping again in the future.

So far I have gotten situations rectified at AB Sound, Soundsaround, Silverhill Acura and Ciantes restaurant through letters. These are bad siuations....all turned out to work in my favor once I showed diplomacy and understanding of their situation.

I bought a very expensive guitar from MSC and revcieved exceptional service about two years ago. I wrote a letter thanking the owner and sales associate who helped me and from then on have received unsurpassed service and the lowest prices in town without a doubt. On top of that, they have become my friends and will always remember the letter I wrote them because it is hanging on the wall in their floor room.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by rage2
Try calling customer service for tech companies. You'll be talking to some crazy dude in India. I've given up on customer service and tech support... long live google!
LOL yeah man I've had to call Linksys a few times. It's an absolute joke. Every person there is indian which is fine, the problem is they cannot speak english and I have to ask the idiot to repeat himself 4 times. Call centers really scare me, they are going to be the demise of man kind. It's sort of freightening to think that a company can basically screw you over however they see fit and then hide behind a call center. Face to face business is no more and it will only get worse as technology progresses.

[Ben]

Originally posted by FastDak318
Maybe if customer service personnel were paid a decent hourly wage with benefits and good working conditions people would care about the business they work for and the people they serve...

This is a huge factor, I did help desk for a company and the pay was definatly appropriate, other places I've been, you seriously are not paid enough to care with what you have to put up with.

Another is actually hiring intelligent persons. I've seen some people that get hired on that I just shake my head at. It's absolutly messed up.

Companies also need to place less emphasis on EFFICIENCY STATS, NUMBERS, and the Bottom line. Making your reps into call pounding robots may make things more efficient, but without customers, who cares, you're sacrificing customer SERVICE in favor of company FINANCES. With the lack of customer service issue plaguing todays society, it would be nice for companies to just lay back a bit on numbers and call times, and look at first call resolution stats, and customer contentness after the call is complete. if I can fix a problem on 1, 10 minute call, that is IMO better than the customer having 5, 2 minute calls over the course of an entire day, this pisses people off, and leaves the customer with a bad taste in their mouth, because it seemed like such a chore to clear the issue with the company they pay for products/servicee, as well as most companies have an automated system they have to navigate through every time they call in. A happy customer is PAYING CUSTOMER. Having them on hold and giving them rushed, incomplete service/support a little bit at a time is just creating an extremely unhappy customer base.

This is my rant having been a customer of, and working for, large corporations.

[hampstor]

At my work, customer service is always # one in the owners' eyes. If we get a customer service complaint, there are like 5 people instantly who are involved and someone will contact the customer to make the customer happy.

Customer service is taken extremely seriously. For retail computer stores, the only thing that pretty much distinguishes one company from another today is service. However, everyone looks for price and in the end get screwed over because they tried to save $5 :banghead:

[oddjob]

I have been working at Dell for years now, our customer service has been rated top for quite awhile. There is a rule that the customer is always right... that kind of makes me mad but whatever.

You guy should hear some of the complaints and problems people report. Its hard not to laugh in their face.

[civic_stylez]

what makes customer service bad is the fact that most of the people that are calling are already irate and pissed off about something, a person can only take so much crap before they stop caring. once the customer service reps are mad, when a normal person with an average problem calls, the rep is already pissed..if the people with the problems would go about it in a civilized manor, service would be more efficient. not to say that everyone calling is pissed off or rude but anyone who works in a service industry knows what dealing with rude people is like.

[Def_3]

Originally posted by civic_stylez
what makes customer service bad is the fact that most of the people that are calling are already irate and pissed off about something, a person can only take so much crap before they stop caring. once the customer service reps are mad, when a normal person with an average problem calls, the rep is already pissed..if the people with the problems would go about it in a civilized manor, service would be more efficient. not to say that everyone calling is pissed off or rude but anyone who works in a service industry knows what dealing with rude people is like. :werd: corporate sales is no different, it seem that the more money I deal with,the bigger the headaches

[Davetronz]

Originally posted by Def_3
:werd: corporate sales is no different, it seem that the more money I deal with,the bigger the headaches
I have found that our corporate clients are quite needy... They demand a high level of service and a high level of quality... The one thing that I noticed that isnt the same as retail is that corporate clients are willing to pay a lot more to get better service...

[TrevorK]

People expect that "the customer is always right" so they'll pull shit like try to purchase things for the sole purpose of using it once and returning it after.

The waste that large companies go through is unbelieveable - since a lot of stuff they just toss away.....

[Official Hoser]

Originally posted by FastDak318
Maybe if customer service personnel were paid a decent hourly wage with benefits and good working conditions people would care about the business they work for and the people they serve...

Nah, that wouldn't solve much. Look at government agencies and how shittily they serve people, even though their workers sit on their asses all day, get evenings, weekends and holidays off, and get paid a cushy wage. Most people are just lazy regardless of how much money they're making - if you don't have to put in extra effort, why should you?