Customer service or customer aggravation?

FROM MY FRONT PORCH

Sam Houston is the publisher of the Hood County News. He is also an actor, author, playwright, performer and entertainment producer/promoter.

It is so time consuming and costly for a business to acquire a customer, so the last thing a prudent business wants to do is to fail to effectively deal with a customer’s problem.

Many years ago, I managed the customer service department for a Fortune 500 company. The company mantra was pounded in my brain, again and again: “Be sure to take care of the customer.” Even if we did not make an error or mistake, listen to the needs of the customer and solve their problem.

I found this sentiment to be a good business attitude to maintain. Once they feel as though someone has truly listened to them, many agitated customers walk away feeling appreciated and valued. Frankly, the best way for a business to earn a customer “for life” is when a customer has a problem. Businesses that are in the game for the long haul understand and appreciate these strategic opportunities, and make sure the customer feels good about how they were treated.

Just this past week, I had a most distasteful situation with a company. I look after a 91-year-old, and she is like another mother to me. She depends on me for handling her finances, looking after her, and seeing her needs are being met. She is a resident of a wonderful, assisted living facility located in another town, and they take great care of her. She has made friends with the staff and administration, and she loves her apartment. The problem she has been experiencing is with the cable company.

I won’t mention the company’s name, but Miss Jayne was very unhappy with some aspects of her cable service and asked me to reach out to the cable company and resolve the issue. Until a year ago, the cable company had a local office. I had a friend who worked there, and it was always convenient to pay a bill, move service to a new location, or solve a problem. Unfortunately, in a cost-saving measure, the cable company closed the office, fired the staff, and left customer service to a toll-free number.

Knowing I was tilting at windmills a la Don Quixote, I made the call to the cable company’s 1-800 number. I had Miss Jayne’s account number, access code, Social Security number, phone number, email address — and just about every other form of identification — ready and in hand. The last thing I wanted to do was fail to have information ready, in order to assist in solving the problem.

When my call was answered, I got a computer who in a very friendly “voice” started asking me questions about my needs and letting me know the cable company was very interested in making me happy and satisfied. When the computer asked me to identify what I needed, I simply responded, “I need to speak to a human.” The computer responded by providing all sorts of options to handle the matter electronically, telling me the customer service agents were very busy. The computer asked if I needed to pay a bill, move my service, if I was having technical difficulties, and a variety of other questions. Again, I responded by saying, “I need to speak to a human.”

The phone clicked and a recorded voice told me I was being switched to a customer service rep. Now I was getting somewhere! Unfortunately, the next computer voice told me my wait time to speak to a human would be an estimated 16 minutes.

I did not enjoy the elevator music which played in my ear for what seemed like an indeterminate amount of time, but I was rewarded for my patience by finally getting a human on the line who asked me what they could do to help. I highly suspect the person who answered was in a different country.

I explained my problem in detail, providing an endless amount of information including the account number, access code, address, date of birth, as well as my favorite color and how I liked my steak cooked. At this point I was willing to tell them anything to get the problem resolved.

The person I was speaking to could not solve my problem, but they would transfer me to another department that could. The customer service rep also doubled-checked my phone number so in case we were accidently cut off she could call back.

I again went on hold. This time an electronic voice told me the wait would be 12 minutes. Good deal, I said to myself, I am making progress! Twelve minutes is less than 16.

I anxiously tapped my fingers on my desk, as I watched the minutes go by, and then there was a “click” on the line as the call was terminated. I waited for an hour for someone to call me back as had been promised, but no one from the company ever tried. I had to start all over again!

After crawling naked through sandburs, and sticking a fork in my eye, I did manage to finally get Miss Jayne’s problem resolved. I am now older, missing hair, blood pressure elevated, and I am in the process of doing everything I can to find out a way to switch services to another company. Why couldn’t the cable company simply have had a way to help customers in need, rather than trying to save a few bucks making everything automated?

I am hoping the cable company calls me to ask why I changed service. I am going to tell them I am going to have to put them on hold and it will be 32 minutes before I can respond. Serves them right.

Thought for the day: Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.

Until next time.

sam@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 260