Does no-one answer the telephone anymore?

[deniser]

This week I have been trying to call:
1. our Payment Processor - they have answered the phone promptly for years - now can't get through at all - spend 15 minutes at a time holding on and then give up
2. a bathroom company about delivery - again, just continuously on hold with no indication of when someone might answer - again, after 20 minutes I give up
3. BT - eventually get through after about 15 minutes on hold. They admitted that our bill was completely wrong - a debit was applied instead of a credit - they would call back - no-one has called within two days.
None of these companies answer emails either. These are the only three companies I have had to call this week. So infuriating!

 

[Emma Fryer]

Partly why we set up our business

Perhaps the Payment Processor has a phone issue?
I can't comment about the bathroom company
and BT well.......................

 

[beasty]

I agree with this.. why the hell should we wait

If our call is so damn important, get more staff

A phone company not answering inside of 1 minute should not be accepted, it should be breach of contract, i am sick of press 1 for this 2 for that, hold for this etc..

 

[Paul Norman]

This is one of the (many) bees in my bonnet.

It is becoming much harder to contact and discuss your requirements with a person. Process has replaced actual customer service, which makes it very difficult to get anything fixed if it breaks. It works fine whilst all goes to plan, but step one inch outside the plan with, for example, BT, and you are going to get zero help.

I really dont like it. Not one bit.

 

[No Missed Calls]

They need us

It is frustrating not being able to get through to a real person in a timely manner, if at all in some cases!

 

[UKSBD]

Sometimes there's a reason

http://www.cmob.co.uk/handyman/news/

 

[Twinkle Toes]

That's big business for you. Couldn't give a flying about what the customer wants. You try getting away with what they get away with.

Take Sift and the new fo....................... sorry couldn't resist

 

[cjd]

It's frustrating, particularly if the machine is saying that your call is important to us. But customer support is very difficult, very expensive and doesn't scale. And most people want to buy the cheapest yet expect great customer service no matter what they pay.

Having said that, I've worked in very large companies that talk a great game about service but are deliberately and callously sh1te at it. It seems to always get the most cuts and have the least influence at board level. It's considered a cost centre so it's managed down to bare bones.

People do not buy customer service, but they leave a service that is poor so the business model for it always looks unconvincing (because nobody admits to having poor service). But we've found that the better we get at it, the more profitable we become.

 

[Wavecrest Ltd]

Don't get me started on this subject

I'm in the freight business and it seems that every shipping line we contact nowadays has automated answering. Press 1 for imports, press 2 for exports...

Then when you eventually get through to a human being they ask you to send them an email!

It's as though they are allergic to speaking to their customers.

Another idiotic situation is when the shipping line insists you book a container on their web site. You spend 15 minutes ticking boxes on their online booking firm. Book a container to load on a specific date and time.

Then, during the night you get an automated email telling you the date and time you booked the container for is not available.

IF you had been able to speak to someone on the phone you would have been able to ask whether the date and time you wanted was available...

Progress?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

We will answer proper quick cause we proper old fashioned.here ! We still use all they wipads and compuders and stuff the cool kids uses ,,, but we loves to answer the telephone proper quick

 

[glenwheeler]

I must admit, the best form of communication for me now is live chat systems. I am always at the computer so sitting and waiting around for a live chat window is a lot easier for me. It's also free and you also get a record of the chat.

I've spent enough time waiting around and being passed from pillar to post. If a company has a live chat service I would recommend using it.