Customer Service Nightmares

[usmc_nam_vet]

Who has the worst and who has the best customer service / tech support.

 

[Fumz]

I stopped bothering with customer service departments about a decade ago.

 

[garysgold]

Customer service seems to be a joke (on us) these days.

Gary

 

[damocles]

Same, never use it -

Who need customer service when we've got the brilliant people here to help sort things when it all goes to pot.

 

[Dwarf]

I agree. Ring them up, sometimes free, sometimes have to pay Premium Rate! Automated message saying "Your call is important to us. Please wait.". This repeats several times, interspersed with annoying 'music'. When you get through, another automated message giving options, usually too quickly to enable you to register which one you should select. Finally, after another delay (because you have not made a selection) and some more 'music', you are finally put through to an operator at a call centre. These call centres are usually situated in India and other countries in that region. This provides more problems as we have difficulty in understanding what they say and they have the same difficulty in understanding us. No disrespect meant to those members (and visitors) of the forums who come from the Indian sub-continent and can understand the way that they talk, but it would be far preferable to speak to someone in a call centre in your OWN country, regardless of whereabouts in the world you are. By the time that they have understood your query and, likewise, you their response (after having to repeat both several times to make sure), you finally realise that the information you required was there in front of you all the time. Your manual and the Internet (Google, Yahoo!, etc) are generally all you need as someone else has probably already had your problem (or a very similar one) and has found the answer.

 

[usmc_nam_vet]

I personally would like to thank customer service. I figured out long ago that they were going thru a manual step by step. Don't skip to what your problem is because they won't hear you and just go to the next step. Because of this long ago before everything was outsourced to India, I began to repair and upgrade my own computer. This led to working on friends and family computers, and finally I took the plunge and started building system for friends and family. Without the lack of quality customer support that is out there, I probable would not be able to do what I can now.

 

[Joan Archer]

I agree with Dwarf it's a nightmare over here to call any company regardless of who it is plus they always use numbers that cost a fortune to call, so of course they have too many options to go through which just adds to the cost.

I will say though that the help line for my new Vista machine, although having options to use, is very quick and the 2 times I've phoned them, which was before I even got the machine, I spoke to a very nice man who was actually in my country and spoke my native language.
I only phoned to clear up some points in relation to my purchase

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

If y'all want to see a customer service nightmare see this thread.

http://www.vistax64.com/general-discussion/171339-interactive-services-dialog-detection.html















Later Ted

 

[roy69]

I called a centre of OC uk and was very happy with the response. My PSU had blown up(sparks and everything), they had a coureir the next day, got it to the factory and 3 days later after testing I had a brand new one from manufacturer. It depends on what your problem is as to how the call centre works. Another call centre I called we shall call it Talk Talk, managed to miss sell me something and totally muck up my account. It took five phone calls to sort it out and cancell the offer that was miss sold.

 

[Oskari]

Customer service should be a given. Because it's one of the main selling points of businesses these days (banks, etc) it is definitely something they lack. Customer service suffers when employees become faceless entities.

The best customer service - the type that should be copied and supported - is found at your local shops (butcher, baker, candlestick maker).

 

[Adrian Wainer]

I regularly speak with customer service centers in India and I don't have a problem with their understanding what I say or with my understanding what they say, okay their accents can be different to those of say native Londoners or New Yorkers but accents and the ability to speak a language are completly different things. I am not making any criticism of any of the posters here, because it is very possible they have spoken to a call center in India or another foreign country, were the staff were not fluent in the English language but I have been on other forums and the posters have been complaining about the staff being unable to speak English and I have spoken to the same customer service center myself and had no problem understanding what they are saying and them understanding what I was saying. On the other hand, the fact that a service might be staffed by persons for whom English is a first language, is no guarantee that one will not receive rude, unhelpful and downright aggressive treatment although a fantasy that an in-country service center would automatically provide good service is often presented as fact when criticism is being made of outsourced and in particular Indian based call centers. As for the idea, that the local trader will give good service, it is entirely possible that they will and it is entirely possible that they will not.

Best and Warm Regards
Adrian Wainer

 

[Lightning Speed]

Best customer service I had was from NCsoft.

Worst is our ISP etisalat. I have to keep in the line for 30~45Mins till they answer my call. Crazy isn't it?

 

[Barman58]

I think I agree with the consensus here and will normally manage to solve any problems myself using the internet.

When I have to speak to someone, if for example I have solved the problem and have to arrange a replacement item of hardware, what really annoys me is the person on the other end of the line who will not listen and just reads their script.

They refuse to listen to you and the fact that you probably have a little bit more experience than they do and have already checked the basics.

I can support Roy69 in his experience with Talk Talk , ( or should that be Talk , Don't Listen), who kept me on the line for an hour at a clients to arrange replacement of a "DEAD" modem. I eventually escalated the call explained to the supervisor the tests I'd completed, ( took about 1 minute ), gave the delivery details and received the replacement in two days, So I'd just say to anyone starting out in the support business "use your ears first"

OK rant over D

 

[Joan Archer]

That is so true Nigel, you can just imagine them sitting there reading away while you try to explain things to them, nothing will deter them :huh:

I'm glad I've not had to talk to TalkTalk as they took over my landline buying out Onetel, still a damn site cheaper than BT though

 

[Barman58]

Yes Joan,

We have quite a few IT Call centres in the area and so you see the job adverts with "No Experience Required", "full training will be given" A basic technician course will take at least 6 months, not the couple of days that these poor saps receive. I'm sure the first line people answering the calls are well meaning but if they won't listen, are not properly trained, and therefore take too long to transfer to someone who can help, even on a freephone call, time is money.

As for Talk Talk all I can advise is if you do ever have to deal with the help line find yourself a comfy seat, a nice cup of tea, (or a G&T) and prepare for a long chat :D you obviously have a good deal of patience with your cross stitching I'm afraid you'll probably need it