In this column, we address customer service skills and issues all the time, but it is pretty unusual that I spend a lot of time personally interacting with CSRs. However, recently, I ended up having customer service conversations with two major US companies about two separate issues on the same day. I have to confess, these experiences leave me convinced that we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to customer service.
Early in the morning of "the day in question," I discovered a problem with an online transaction where it seemed pretty clear to me that this company's software system had experienced some kind of glitch that dropped a transaction off my account and cost me money. After wading through the annoying gauntlet of call routing queries, I finally was able to speak to a live person. I calmly, carefully explained what had happened - focusing primarily on the fact that the software had inexplicably dropped my transaction. Then I suggested that the company owed me a reimbursement, to which the live person replied, "No we don't."
I was a little bit stunned. I know this major US company very well, and I know that they spend huge amounts of money training customer service reps - their whole business revolves around customer service - yet, instead of offering empathy or making any attempt to clarify or understand my issue - this person jumped straight to NO! I spent the next five minutes trying to explain the unique nature of the transaction failure, and all he would say in return was that I accepted a risk by doing business on their site and they couldn't be held responsible if something went wrong! Of course, the more emphatic I got, the more defensive he got. Finally, I asked to speak to his escalation manager, to which he replied, "Fine with me, but he is just going to tell you the same thing."
As it turned out, the manager did not tell me the same thing. He listened carefully.
