nytimes.com — REMEMBER the days when, if something went wrong with a product you ordered, you picked up the phone and there was a live person on the other end? Wait, there is more. You asked for customer service and were transferred — to another human! And that person perhaps even solved your problem.
May 25, 2008 View in Crawl 4
mrsmith34May 26, 2008
I would love to digg this 5 or 10 more times just for the relevancy of the article. I've been on both sides of Customer Service. This is one of the reasons why 90% of the decision makers and managers go through customer service at the place I work.
Closed AccountMay 26, 2008
Dear DirectTV voice 'recognition' system,I hate you. I hate you and your creators and everything you stand for. I hate your 'we have no set word phrases, so tell us what your problem is and we'll connect you to the wrong department' system. I hate that the only solution to connecting to the right department is to hang up and pray it works the second time, or to keep pressing random keys until the janitor picks up the phone. I hate you so much that a tiny particle of my soul burns with anger whenever I turn on my television. Dear God, how I hate you.Sincerely,Every goddamn customer who has ever used your new and improved automated system.Ps. The reason you lose customers... even though you're cheaper than most other services? This is it.
bloodmoneyMay 26, 2008
Not sure why the other guy is getting dug down but I agree. Customer service wins. I will pay more to get better treatment.
jessehaddenMay 27, 2008
Having worked in jobs that required customer service, there is definitely another side to the story. There is a significant portion of the American population who subscribe to the philosophy of "the squeaky wheel gets the oil." I can't tell you how many hours I had to endure of blatant lies, uncalled-for insults, and general temper tantrums from grown adults who just wanted to get one over on me. Consumers continue to demand lower and lower prices, and reward anyone who gives them, but will then demand the same level of service & support (and complain when it is absent). Many a modern consumer will go to Best Buy for the absolute lowest price possible for the cheapest computer on the market, then return to angrily demand free technical support from the overwhelmed non-commissioned wage-slave salesperson (talking from personal experience). I've been a web developer for 10 years, and I will (without hesitation) say that working in retail (for measly pay) was far harder than anything I've ever done in the professional world. If you want customer service, choose the company that offers it. It's gonna cost more than the el-cheapo company that opened up solely to compete on price. And for goddess' sake, don't treat those people like they have targets on their foreheads, or like they can get you everything for free if you just ride them hard enough.
drph0biusMay 27, 2008
Its great that you guys say youll pay more for good customer service, but that is not representative of a majority of consumers. People go to where things are cheapest and then bitch when they get bad service... its a fact of life.
kburlysMay 29, 2008
live Customer service for certain industries are a must!!