I had a problem with my water bill, and called the customer service number. Of course, instead of getting a real human being, I got an automated response. First, it told me about all the ways I could conserve water by getting a low-flow toilet, a new water heater and restricting outside watering to every other day in the summer. Then, it cautioned me to listen carefully to the service prompts because they had been changed recently. Now, I thought this was interesting because I have never called the water company before and wouldn’t recognize if the prompts had been changed.
Next, it went through a long list of prompts for the various scenarios and departments for the water company. I had a question about the reading on the meter since we had been on vacation and it seemed like our bill was unusually high for that time period. I listened to all the prompts, and had to choose between billing errors and meter readings. I chose meter readings and hit #4. I then got another series of prompts and selected one of those.
A nice voice came on and told me that they were experiencing an unusually large number of calls and I the wait would be long. So, instead of placing me on hold, they said thanks for contacting us, and goodbye! No call back time, no holding pattern with snappy music to listen to, no please leave a message and we’ll return your call as soon as possible. Just goodbye and a click!
This to me is the worst of automated customer service lines. When you call customer service, it’s reasonable to expect that you will get some kind of service before the call is over. Even if you never get to talk to a real person, there should be some sort of relief, information or resolution for your efforts. A “goodbye” and a hang up clearly communicates we don’t care about your situation or your business. It frustrates the caller because they are unsure that if they do call again, they will receive assistance or another hang up.
If companies are going to take the time and money to put in an automated system, they should be configured for the benefit of the customer, not the company. The water company may have a lock on water service, but I have experienced this with other companies as well. In those cases where the customer has a choice, they can simply call a competitor who is friendlier and more interested in pleasing the customer.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for Customerservicejobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and helping clients discover what they love and spend their life on it. You can read more of her blogs at http://www.csjobsblog.com/ and view additional job postings on Nexxt
Next, it went through a long list of prompts for the various scenarios and departments for the water company. I had a question about the reading on the meter since we had been on vacation and it seemed like our bill was unusually high for that time period. I listened to all the prompts, and had to choose between billing errors and meter readings. I chose meter readings and hit #4. I then got another series of prompts and selected one of those.
A nice voice came on and told me that they were experiencing an unusually large number of calls and I the wait would be long. So, instead of placing me on hold, they said thanks for contacting us, and goodbye! No call back time, no holding pattern with snappy music to listen to, no please leave a message and we’ll return your call as soon as possible. Just goodbye and a click!
This to me is the worst of automated customer service lines. When you call customer service, it’s reasonable to expect that you will get some kind of service before the call is over. Even if you never get to talk to a real person, there should be some sort of relief, information or resolution for your efforts. A “goodbye” and a hang up clearly communicates we don’t care about your situation or your business. It frustrates the caller because they are unsure that if they do call again, they will receive assistance or another hang up.
If companies are going to take the time and money to put in an automated system, they should be configured for the benefit of the customer, not the company. The water company may have a lock on water service, but I have experienced this with other companies as well. In those cases where the customer has a choice, they can simply call a competitor who is friendlier and more interested in pleasing the customer.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for Customerservicejobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and helping clients discover what they love and spend their life on it. You can read more of her blogs at http://www.csjobsblog.com/ and view additional job postings on Nexxt
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