what is customer service?????

[primetime]

i work for a wireless phone company (not saying which one) and work in the collections department. of course i deal with the people who find it challenging to pay for something they used. i could write a novel the size of War and Peace on the crap stories and brainless people that i deal with everyday. but the one thing that bugs the living hell out of me is when i am basically telling someone "NO", they claim i am not giving them customer service.

i thought customer service was helping customers with their problems, but NOT GIVING AWAY THE FARM. i am a fair person. i will do what is good for the company and the customer. if a person DESERVES a credit for example, they will get it. if it was a million dollar error, i will credit a million dollars. no problem. but it is when people start asking for UNDESERVED credit that annoys me. whenever i issue credit (which is rare considering i usually catch people in their lies), i will give a JUSTIFIABLE amount of credit. for example, if a person's check cleared by us, and they provide us with a copy of front and back of check, if they ask, i will issue a credit for the cost of retrieving the check. usually 20.00 at the most. however, when they start asking for let's say 50.00, i say "NO", then they get upset and complain about their pain and suffering and such. then they say i'm not giving them "good customer service".

they also tell me this when i TAKE credit away. sometimes someone will overcredit the account, and if the account is closed, then it will create a refund check. people get pissed when i say they are not going to get a refund, because they were overcredited. they didnt overpay us, so why should they get a refund? i've been dealing with that logic a lot recently. again, i'm not giving "good customer service".

so i ask all of you, what do you consider customer service? i always thought it is to solve problem, not give away the farm.

oh yeah, please keep this in mind. if a company makes a mistake, you have the right to vent. however, also keep in mind that the representative you speak to is a human being with emotions too. if you come in yelling and screaming, guess what? that person usually loses any empathy for you and hopes you break your leg. (you are supposed to be laughing 😀 ) but seriously, speak with the representative in a calm manner. you can voice your displeasure in a civilized tone, and the rep is more likely to try and help you more so than if you were yelling. another key thing is to LISTEN to what the rep is saying. a lot of times i give concise, CLEAR, instructions on what needs to be done to correct their problem, and all i get is them yelling about what are we going to do to correct it. in other words, they're not paying attention.........ah, my job.....

so, i would like to hear what people think what "customer service" is. i am curious...feel free to reply.

oh yeah, and also keep this in mind, the customer is NOT ALWAYS right.

 

[qjakal]

Service with a smile..;-)

I thought all you CA peeps were just laid back and chilling types? As for customer service, it's the same as any service industry....in the restaurant biz we assumed a 10% "idiots" factor, and dealt with them as the individual case called for. As middle management, I often had to review subordinates decisions in that area, and having worked my way up from an asst. mgr position, I had a fairly realistic perspective on when the customer exceeded even our liberal standards. I assume you have training manuals and operations guidelines, but I certainly also understand and hear you when you talk about the fact that sometimes you may not go out of your way for certain people who try to abuse a situation. Best advice, when it gets to the point where you hate the damn job and getting up to go to it becomes a job in itself, it's time to move on.....meanwhile, attempt to be fair and let that % of morons slide off your back as best you can. Q

 

[HeBeGeeBee]

Wow...when you told me you would smear me on the internet if I didn't pay my bill, I thought you were only joking. Guess you were serious. The check's in the mail.
Actually, this is a very good topic...one that I think about regularly. The people of the USA have become a bunch of whiners, expecting something for nothing. If the McDonald's kid gives them a medium fry instead of a large, based on their reaction you would think it was a matter of life and death. Unlike in my business, (healthcare) if we do the wrong lab test...it REALLY can be a matter of life and death. People need to keep things in perspective and realize what's really important. Having been in some form of customer service for several years, I can relate to what you go through. On the other hand, I've dealt with some pretty shitty customer "service" (note the quotes) reps in my day. But I have a very long memory and choose not to patronize companies who do not care whether or not they have my business. On the other hand, I've had other experiences with customer service reps who end up turning a complaint into a very positive experience. Those are the companies I choose to give my business...and I expect my staff to give that type of service every day. In the immortal words of Bill Clinton, I feel your pain. But...hang in there.

 

[TicklingDuo]

When I call customer service for something, I expect that the person I speak with will have the knowledge to solve the issue (whatever it may be) or at least know who they can pass me on to who will be able to do so.

If I call with a complaint, I try to be clear that I know it's not the fault of the person I'm speaking with. Have I spoken with reps who are obnoxious and refuse to help? Sure...several times. We don't check our personalities at the door when we go to work. But, the vast majority of those with whom I've spoken are just trying to do their job the best they can given the training they've had.

Recently, I had need to call a company with whom we do business for technical assistance. Over the course of two weeks, I'd spoken with half a dozen different reps, each of whom had a different solution to the exact same problem. None of the solutions solved the problem. My thought? These people have NOT been properly trained. So, rather than bitching at the reps, I asked for the supervisor, explained the situation and suggested that they may want to retrain their people and do it properly next time.

Ann

 

[primetime]

i can agree with you posters have put. i have no problems with people having problems with a company, i guess it is a matter of perspective. believe me, i KNOW there are boneheaded reps out there and it really makes me wonder why in the blue hell they were hired. i remember just having a discussion with someone in our customer service department about a simple math problem with a bill. (i.e. if a customer pays there bill twice, causing a credit balance on the account, and then the "extra payment" is removed, the credit balance disappears. simple right?) so i can feel the customers frustration with that.

like i said, i am a fair guy. but i do work in the collections department, so i get to hear a bunch of lies everyday. remember people, when you call in after we turn your phone off, and tell us you mailed the check "yesterday", we dont fall for that. the whole thing about the cell phone is for your business? stop lying because if it was that crucial, then you would not be past due, in danger of getting it turn off. you think McDonald's skips out on the food supplier bill?

as you can tell, i have a lot of fun at my job. all i ask is people use their common sense. that goes for reps too. but what i dont get is why customers say they are not getting good "customer service" when THEY are in the wrong.

 

[UnclStevel]

I agree with the statements about consumers being whiny. I have had friends like that, and it embarasses me!

Customer service for a telephone bill, and customer service in the technical field are different, and equally as frustrating. I wish they would give you the option of "press 9 if you know more than the first person likely to try and assist you today." It gets very frustrating calling a tech help department, asking for someone who can assist with a specifically defined "complicated" problem, only to have the person say, "oh, well I can assist you" while you know damn well they just started there last week, and have no clue because they put you on hold when you ask them how to spell "computer" so they can go look up the answer in "the book." I'll go ahead and propose a 3 level system, which determines the tech by the complexity of the answer:

Question: How do I connect to the internet safely?

Level 1 answer: Get AOL.

Level 2 answer: Just configure your DSL to use this DNS IP in your proxy settings.

Level 3 answer: Go to ietf.org and read every single RFC about every protocol including TCP, UDP, IP, SMTP, FTP, SNMP, etc. Learn everything about security exploits in UNIX based systems and Windows. After all of that, master a language like C++ and learn how to use Raw Sockets and manipulate the IP layer as you see fit. Study kernel based functions and TCP wrappers. Learn how the Internet works in terms of IP routing. Download the source code to nmap, traceroute, and TCPDump. Then figure out how they work. Afterwards... learn how the NFS, RPCINFO, and NETBIOS all work. The answer will reveal itself.

This would make customer support sooooooooo much easier. Everyone could easily get the information they need, from the person most qualified to give the answer. Love at last. I'm going to bed 🙂

Steve

 

[Dave2112]

I now work the 11pm-7am graveyard shift at a Mobil truckstop a mile from the Canadian border. (Don't cry for me yet, I actually get paid pretty well for this.)

I have learned that the customer is almost NEVER right, at least at 3 in the morning...

Customers are NOT right when:

They pump $200 worth of diesel into a rig, and then realize that they are not an approved station for thier company.

They are 16 and hang outside all night bugging people to buy them beer.

They simply cannot figure out that you lift the little handle and then the magic gas comes out.

They are Hacidic Jews (who we have a lot of around here, but strangely only at night) and decide to use your dining area as a revival hall or Mecca or whatever the hell they call it, and then inform you that you're going to hell for telling them to leave. Every single night.

They are Hatian Canadians (yeah, a lot of them, too) who know nothing about the New York lottery, so decide to learn about all 10 friggin'games while there's 20 people in line behind them. (Another daily thing.)

They insist that the law has changed since the last time you told them you can't sell them beer at 4am Sunday morning.

They use your shower stalls as shelters.

They spend 30 minutes crowding around your counter (the Hacidics again), wind up buying a keychain, a lighter and a pack of gum. And pay for the items separately. With a credit card.

Ain't retail fun? Oh, and I gotta provide security, too...
🙄

 

[Haltickling]

Same in the tourist business… Actually, we had some professional tutoring on dealing with difficult clients, so here are a few less well known rules on how to treat them:

- A customer may not always BE right, but it's your job to make him FEEL right.
- If a customer disagrees with you, don't argue with him. Say he's completely right, then convince him to adopt YOUR view of the situation. Ask him what he would do if he were in your shoes.
- Extremely indecisive customers WANT you to decide for them.
- If husband and wife disagree on the vacation destination, you should confirm the wife's side (but cautiously!). A discontent wife can ruin the whole vacation (resulting in various complaints), while hubbies usually are more complacent.
- How to get rid of bored people who only PRETEND to be customers (just to pass the time): Switch to aggressive selling, i.e. pester them with all sorts of extremely expensive business offers. They will leave in a hurry.
- Annoying and aggressive clients will usually leave you alone if your treat them with an obvious overdose of politeness.

The situation becomes more difficult when you're a tour guide with a group, as you'll be with the same bunch for quite a while, and 16-18 hours a day. You're personally responsible for every raindrop and every oversalted meal. But you may disregard all complaints shortly before lunch. They usually vanish afterwards. Pick an especially dry and boring topic for your after-lunch explanations on the coach; sleeping people never complain.

In case of necessary program changes, always convince the clients that the new version is actually an upgrade. Delays or quarrels are best solved with alcoholic drinks to keep the general mood up (we should introduce this to TMF, LOL).

But client handling can be a lot of fun, too. I even wrote an booklet on the most comic situations of my career. A sample? Once I had a series of 3 punctured tires within 2 days on a VIP tour through Scotland. Changing a coach tire takes about an hour, and we were in the middle of nowhere. What to do? The driver had a pair of binoculars with him, so I showed the old British tradition of bird-spotting to my clients. As I didn't know half of the correct birds' names, I invented some particularly impressive ones: the Spotted Moorhen, the Highland Rainpiper, the Caledonian Grass Snipe etc. My clients were happy, and the birds even more so when we left… 😛

 

[qjakal]

Hey...

I recently bought a HighLand RainPiper...the guy said they were exceptionally rare too! Does this mean....oh...oh my...good thing I still have that RedTufted KingsLark for my retirment fund. Nice description Hal....similar to the restaurant biz, where our motto was "No 2 people like any damn thing cooked the same way anyway, so wtf?"

Q

 

[BigJim]

Q your'e lucky.LOL Last time I had a problem with customer service, the "customer" nearly ran me over. Of course I was on traffic duty at the time.😀

 

[JoBelle]

Customer Service....with a smile.
The GRAND experience.
Never let them leave with a frown.
DELIGHT them.

BLERG! LOL
Those words meant something to me well into the 2nd year of working in a casino. hehe...then.....it's a blur!(My favorite job life to pull a story from!)

This is an industry where you are dealing with a most precious posession. One's CASH! Add to that a little booze and WOW! You're talking about a fun place to be for sightseeing!

When I first started working in the casinos, I was a cage cashier. You know, the nice lady who gives you tokens and cashes in your chips. 😉 On more occasions than I can count, I was asked for a "REFUND" because the patron did not have a good time. 🙄 Then you have to explain to them that casinos don't have a guarantee that you'll win. YIKES! WHO KNEW? Do this while you have a pissed off high roller in the back of the line bitching because his Rolls Royce is waiting to take him to the next casino and you're holding up his luck with your drivel. GRRRR.... Then there are the old women who think customer service means issuing them a credit line of ten thousand dollars because they are there for th first time. Hello? Did I mention the very large man who just lost 5 grand on the roulette wheel? (Who plays roulette anyway??) and he's pissed....and wants YOU to make him feels better. Now you know why I went into the audit department. 😛 Try explaining to Joe Schmoe that you won't give him his jackpot money until he produces some ID so you can take out the federal taxes. (TAXES???? WHAT TAXES???) Yes, that's it...did your eyes just glaze over???

Each situation had to be dealt with in a way to meet certain objectives.

A) You have to be realllllly careful what you tell a customer in a casino. You might bebreaking the law if you're not.

B) You want him to NOT throw a martini in your face. (Yep, I told a man he couldn't have a credit increase and I was wearing gin and vermouth)

C)You want Security's phone to NOT ring.

D) You want the customer to not only come back....but you want him all to willing to donate to your paycheck the next time.

Hence....in the casino...customer service means..."I'm so sorry you are upset with this situation. Can I give you a comp for a meal and a couple drinks?"

All joking aside, I generally believe that a little respect goes a long way in any situation.

As far as my personal work (ie gallery or private), I just tell 'em to "bite me" if they don't like it. Tempermental artist bitch. 😛
Joby

 

[BigJim]

As far as my personal work (ie gallery or private), I just tell 'em to "bite me" if they don't like it. Tempermental artist bitch. 😛
Joby

Way to go! You certainly have more restraint than me Joby-Wan. If I'd been the cashier the day he threw a drink at you, the next person to see that glass would have been his proctologist! I don't care how professional I'm supposed to be, no-one acts like that! Not unless they want a mag-light torch shoved where only customs men dare to probe.

 

[primetime]

i'm glad you guys feel me!!! customer service is a tough job. but i do have to admit there are always those customers who are cool. when you help resolve their problem and the delight they have that YOU were the one to solve their problem is wonderful. too bad those are so damn rare.....

just today i dealt with an idiot. look, people need to use their damn brains just ONCE. i had a lady upset that she had a past due balance, and wanted to know why when she paid us. she said "i got a bill for 250.00, then i paid you 122.00 why do i still owe money?" i was speechless.....she insisted that she didnt owe anymore money. that conversation lasted 15 minutes.

ah, those idiots that run amuck out there.. another one was when a guy insisted that we cashed his check. he faxed a copy of the check. it was payable to his cousin, it was endorsed by his cousin, but yet, he says we got the money. i asked him does he see our company name ANYWHERE on the check. he says NO, but his brother the bank manager told him that we got the money. he says his cousin says he never got the money. i just wanted to reach through the phone and choke him because he wasted a half an hour of my time listening to this crap. why are there people who's brain is more like silly putty?

 

[qjakal]

Because....

as Lords and Ladies of All We Survey, we need foolish subjects to lord it over and torment? Just my theory... King Q

 

[HeBeGeeBee]

Another real-life story from yesterday:
I called my (former) ISP to cancel my internet "service" (note that service is in quotes). We had already signed up with another provider and just wanted to put these dorks into my past. I was told I had to call a "special disconnection number" today before 4:00pm. (What kind of customer service department is only open until 4:00pm???) Anyway, that meant I had to call from work and I spoke to a woman who refused to accept the fact that I lived at my address. It seems they have another unfortunate person who uses their internet "service" with the same name as mine. It took me a couple of minutes to open her mind to the possibility that there might be two people in the world with my name. I finally suggested she ask me my phone number...and all of a sudden she had an epiphany that I really was who I claimed to be. After all, it's not like I was trying to take money out of someone's account...All I wanted to do was cancel my &^%$#@! service! She then said, "Oh, since you want to cancel, I need to transfer you to our technical area"...which she did before I could ask why I needed to speak to the "technical area". Especially since I had already called the "special disconnection number". I then sat on hold for (no lie...my phone at work has a timer on it...six minutes, before I got fed up and hung up. Actually, I was fed up long before that, but I wanted to see how long these pukes would make me hang on the phone...just to cancel my service. As of this moment, I assume I'm still not cancelled, but will have no way of knowing unless I call them back...which I'm NOT going to do. But if you have to go through all of this crap to cancel your service, I figure I'm better off than KEEPING their "service".