Why Is Customer Service Such A Chore Now?

[Bobbisox1]

It starts off with
“ we are taking a high number of calls right now so it may take a while to answer “

Then there’s the not taking responsibility...
I’m talking my long going saga with B&Q, too long to even put in here only I’ve still got 2/3rds of my kitchen done ...
If only companies could take responsibility , they don’t
End of rant !

[Apc2604]

Rant away Bobbi. Go and have some Grey Goose.

[Bobbisox1]

Not during the week Apc, I’ve had a day from Hell with phone calls , I’ll make up for it on Friday :0)

[bednobs]

Customer service has always been a chore. Especially for those who work in it!

[Bobbisox1]

I did Bednobs but at least then you could get through to one person and they would deal with it

[Buenchico]

"Customer service" is what appears on badges worn by people who haven't got a clue about what it means ;-)

[Bobbisox1]

How right you are Chris

[andy-hughes]

It's undervalued in this country, and as a result, a lot of companies make a loud noise about it, while simultaneously utterly failing to deliver it adequately.

It is misunderstood, badly trained and delivered by the wrong employees and no-one grasps even the basics of how it works and how to deliver it properly.

I worked for BT for forty-three years, believe me I know what I'm talking about!!

[Bobbisox1]

I knew we had summat in common Andy , so did me and Mr B work for BT , me as an operator and him as a TO , my brother was a manager on UG as well

[theshedman]

Iv'e had the one you mention many times “ we are taking a high number of calls right now so it may take a while to answer “ but not usually if you go to a payment line, then they answer almost straight away. These days I always get the name of the person I get through to and the call center they are at as often when you make a second call after they haven't done what they say they will on the first call and say they have no record of the call. This often helps as most record messages so they can then look back to see what was said.

Saying this I have recently had furniture from HSL and their customer service has been the best I have had. Couple of issues with the furniture and each phone call has been answered within a couple of rings and they have called back within 2 hours to arrange someone to come a put right the faults, even coming out on a Sunday to do the work. Couldn't ask for more. Credit where it's due.

[emmie]

sadly my doctors have adopted this call system, you are no 11 in the queue, as i was the other day, 25 or so minutes later i finally got to speak to someone.

[theshedman]

Our doctors use same system, getting to speak to someone takes a while but getting to see a doctor well that's another story.

[Bobbisox1]

I feel they read from a script that must widely printed off and used as part of them eventually answering a call

[ladybirder]

As a general rule I find smaller companies much better at customer service than the large ones. I had an excellent example of this last week from a shoe company when a lady answered the phone immediately and couldn't have been more pleasant and helpful. I got what I wanted and more and of course I shall use them again so it's paid off for them as well as me.

[ladybirder]

Oh and my doctors have a system whereby you can leave your name and number and they call you back when you are near to the front of the queue. Surely my doctors can't be the only ones doing this?

[Bobbisox1]

You’re right LB, it’s the big boys you have the trouble with and like shedman says,I always ask who I’m speaking with but rarely get that person agin anyway ,here’s an example
“We’re all working from home just now and Karen logged off at 4pm , then...
I’m sorry Karen has just left the office and won’t be in till Thursday?
Eh?

[emmie]

i don't trust the doctors getting back to me LB. When i did get through, I was told that i couldn't get a telephone consult for three weeks, as they were all booked, i insisted i might add that i needed to speak with a particular doctor, one who has been keeping on eye on me for months, suddenly the receptionist found a slot and i got my call.

[Milo2]

Yesterday, I had to wait 40 minutes for a call to be answered and as suggested earlier, I kept getting the message about a high number of calls. The person that I spoke to couldn’t resolve my problem but has said that she will ring me this morning with an answer. We shall see!

[ummmm]

I find customer service so much better since we can take to the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

I don't actually need to speak to someone to get an issue resolved. They are just grateful I sent a PM and not on their wall.

[Bobbisox1]

Same here Milo, watch this space :0)

[theshedman]

On some phone calls to doctors etc I have noticed that if you press the hash key when they are giving all the rubbish at the beginning of the call it will cut all this out and go straight to the next bit like it ringing the actual number or going to the queue bit.