Is customer service dead?

[Office Mover]

Over the last few months, on a personal level, I've had to deal with numerous issues with services and products I've purchased.
No one gets it right 100% of the time but surely customers deserve a human response of any complaint, and not have to make hundreds of phone calls to automatons who recite 'company policy'

 

[Paul Norman]

It is alive and well.

But you have to choose to do business with companies that still provide what you are looking for.

Amazon provides customer service. Using automatons and process.

Your local store maybe is different.

I still receive reasonable customer service.

 

[Deleted member 300159]

I'm a firm believer in providing good customer service, but it comes at a cost! Amazon are the exception to this - but, if you are like most consumers, you want your goods and services fast and cheap. Some of my customers sometimes tell me that we charge too much for broadband, for example. Sure, go and get your broadband for £10/month all in - but who are you to complain when it goes wrong and your call is put through to somebody reading from a script in India?

Companies are competing to be cheaper and cheaper to give consumers what they want, and unfortunately, they have to save the money somewhere. Customer service is often the easiest thing to chop. I'm equally to blame for this, by the way, I use comparison sites to buy car insurance, sort 'price lowest to highest', buy the cheapest one and then wonder why the service is crap when I need them!

Sad but true, but you get what you pay for!

Edit: Oh, and if you are paying a decent price and still getting poor service, there's usually someone who'll snatch the money up and do a better job!

 

[Mr D]

It is alive and well.

But you have to choose to do business with companies that still provide what you are looking for.

Amazon provides customer service. Using automatons and process.

Your local store maybe is different.

I still receive reasonable customer service.

When they are good they are very very good. When they are bad they are horrid.

Yes still great customer service around all over the place. And poor service (or simply a bad set of circumstances come together) exists.
Where I can identify problems I try and avoid that person in the company or bypass the issue though not always possible.
And certain companies I will not use because of poor service in the past.

Its sometimes the smallest things. A smile. A bit of politeness. A small hand with packing when got a lot of stuff.
Or the major things, speaking to a human on a line with confusing options and buttons to press.
Good customer service can pop up.

I like to think that as a business each time we have interacted with customers we have provided great customer service. Negative feedback suggests otherwise but at least some of that is by not following customer diktats. Like letting them keep an item that they say is the wrong colour (we never had the colour they wanted) PLUS giving them a full refund.

 

[Mike_Cartwright]

It's not dead at all.

But I understand where you're coming from. I also want to have a more personalized customer service. I don't want anyone that just recite scripts or policies. For me personally, three things that I look for in customer services are: personalization, quick, and easy.

I want it personalized and I want it tailored for me. Whenever I call or send an email to a customer service rep, I want them to know my details instantly. I also want it quick. I want immediate results and immediate help. Lastly, I want it to be easy. I don't want complicated steps and requirements.

 

[TomJ83]

I have noticed that customer service is something that businesses cut down on. Maybe it's the easiest thing to do for them when it comes to cutting down costs. But it affects customers. When it comes to automations it's like listening to a screen reader on a computer. They just repeat information that you can read on their website, they don't provide you with information that are tailored to the issues you have.

Then I don't know what is worse, automations or call center workers that are reading from a script. I will however have a more forgiving attitude to a robot as it's programmed to say what it says. But call center workers that don't know what they're talking about, that's causing a headache when you have to explain time after time how the situation is and they guess that a situation is in a certain way so they can refer to the script. Wow.

@Anthony Crowdie is making a very important point here. Nowadays we use comparison sites when we buy products and services. We want what's cheapest. The companies are also affected by this and compete with each other who can be cheaper. It's like a race to the bottom. When they cut their prices, they will have to cut other things as well and customer service seems to be an easy thing to cut down on.

 

[CharlotteS]

I'm not sure I agree my last few interactions with large companies have been very good - Vodaphone, the AA and Apple have been amazing, and you could tell the training was good. Maybe I've just been lucky though

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

I think generally, customer service is better than it's ever been. I remember the days where you had to prepare yourself for a battle if you ever wanted to return something, now most companies bend over backwards to help you if you have a complaint. Of course there will always be some that don't, but I think generally things are much better.

We're now all much more aware of our rights and customer service is something that companies are using to differentiate themselves from their competition. That can only be a good thing.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I would not say it is dead but the face to face or phone to phone dealings that were the only way to do business in the past are often lost in the modem age

E mails and live chat give people a big boulder to hide behind .

I would also like to highlight price Are you paying for good customer service ! ?
I will highlight my own industry If you pay a parcel company to move your box from Manchester to London £6.25 You should only expect £6 .25 worth of customer service

If your pay a same day courier £250 to move your high value consignment from Manchester to London You should expect a high level of customer service .

I never expect more than I am paying in customer service

 

[Deleted member 59730]

I have noticed a distinct slip in service over the past year. Companies that I had dealt with over many years have now become lax.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I have noticed a distinct slip in service over the past year. Companies that I had dealt with over many years have now become lax.

Sorry Bob I will try harder next week

 

[OuterbridgePen]

I think one of the problems is that a lot of transactions are done at arm's length, so there's no chance to develop rapport. A good example of this is web hosting; most people buy it online, so they never get to meet the person that looks after the most vital aspect of their website. They have no chance to build trust by having offline conversations. We love doing business with people we actually meet, and this gives us a chance to get to know what they like, understand what their business is all about and give them outstanding (& personalised) customer service. However, it does cost more because face-to-face transactions and high quality products will never be a low cost model.

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

I think one of the problems is that a lot of transactions are done at arm's length, so there's no chance to develop rapport. A good example of this is web hosting; most people buy it online, so they never get to meet the person that looks after the most vital aspect of their website. They have no chance to build trust by having offline conversations. We love doing business with people we actually meet, and this gives us a chance to get to know what they like, understand what their business is all about and give them outstanding (& personalised) customer service. However, it does cost more because face-to-face transactions and high quality products will never be a low cost model.

Why do we need to develop rapport? I've got a few hosting packages, they're with good companies and they work. On the rare occasion I've had an issue, I've emailed them or raised a ticket and they've fixed it within the hour. That's great customer service to me. I don't need to meet anyone, talk to anyone or know anything about them. To be honest, I don't want to.

Of course, some businesses require a more human touch (such as my own) but what I'm saying is good customer service doesn't necessarily have to be personal in many businesses, it just has to work.

 

[MBE2017]

I think customer service is better now than ever before, but, many companies have a standard response in many areas which seem to ignore the problem raised, ebay is one example.

I had to return a new mobile purchased recently for my daughter, the camera took out of focus pictures. I was told I could not return it under the companies approval scheme since I had opened the box and turned it on. It took approx five emails and several phone calls, and eventually a terrible review, to get the company to understand the item was being returned as not being fit for purpose, since they described the phone as taking stunning quality photos.

I had mention d the reason in all my communications, but the staff seemed unable to either understand or read the emails. All sorted now, and unfortunately a terrible review for the company which I refuse to amend apart from update.

 

[Office Mover]

Thanks for the input everyone-some very good points have been made.
I will always give feedback where I get good service, and I do wonder who is driving the push for lower prices which may give poorer quality items or service. As a 'more mature' member (in age only!) I do like to speak to someone on the telephone who has some idea of what my problem is. It seems that many websites now hide any contact number. Also I cant quite understand why someone can do 'live chat' but not answer the phone!

 

[Mr D]

Why do we need to develop rapport? I've got a few hosting packages, they're with good companies and they work. On the rare occasion I've had an issue, I've emailed them or raised a ticket and they've fixed it within the hour. That's great customer service to me. I don't need to meet anyone, talk to anyone or know anything about them. To be honest, I don't want to.

Of course, some businesses require a more human touch (such as my own) but what I'm saying is good customer service doesn't necessarily have to be personal in many businesses, it just has to work.

Agreed.
Some stuff you just want done.

 

[OuterbridgePen]

Why do we need to develop rapport? I've got a few hosting packages, they're with good companies and they work. On the rare occasion I've had an issue, I've emailed them or raised a ticket and they've fixed it within the hour. That's great customer service to me. I don't need to meet anyone, talk to anyone or know anything about them. To be honest, I don't want to.

Of course, some businesses require a more human touch (such as my own) but what I'm saying is good customer service doesn't necessarily have to be personal in many businesses, it just has to work.

Horses for courses; some people will prefer this approach. I'm glad you have found a hosting company that you are happy with. Can you mention them so that others can benefit from their good customer service?

 

[ecommerce84]

Horses for courses; some people will prefer this approach. I'm glad you have found a hosting company that you are happy with. Can you mention them so that others can benefit from their good customer service?

I’ve always had exceptional customer service from Vidahost for my web hosting. Nothing I’ve asked has ever been too much trouble.

I helped a friend set up a website who had their hosting with the big one that does a lot of TV advertising and the product was overpriced and poor and he customer service abysmal and really made me appreciate how good Vidahost are.

 

[Kev2017]

I am glad to share I had an excellent experience of customer service recently. I get my toner cartridges from Germany. We ran out. My fault. I ordered them straight away from the usual German supplier. Because of holidays etc the fastest delivery time was 9 working days. Ok.

I contacted a local firm just to get a black toner ("K" In Rocoh terms) just to complete the current printing tasks. The toner was promised for next day and was reasonably priced. Next day, said toner arrived! Unfortunately the printer did not recognise the toner. I had to send it back. I called the company who could not apologise enough, immediately refunded me and sent by email a freepost label for returns.

Customer service is out there somewhere. I would do business with the company again, despite the toner issue.

 

[cjd]

Customers are complicated things.

They say they want good customer service and they say they'll pay a bit more for it. But most of the time most of them will buy on price, then be disappointed when they get poor service.

They will tell you that despite your fabulous service and impeccable record with them that you aren't the cheapest and they're forced to look elsewhere. This price difference will normally be totally immaterial to their business.

They also swear that when things go wrong they'll pay more and go elsewhere but then they get over the immediate pain and look at the price elsewhere, they decide to chance it again.

If you doubt this, explain Ryan Air to me.

But one of the few things small business can do well that big business seemingly can't is customer service so doing it well will differentiate you if you're able to compete on the base product.

One thing I have learned is that everyone expects great customer service now regardless of how much they pay - this is a problem if you have no margin and strong low cost competition. The only saviour is that they also have extremely low expectation of ever getting it, so if you can be a little bit better than the industry average, you'll stand out.

 

[Mr D]

Sometimes customer service is the only way to cope with strong low cost competition.

 

[360iconsulting]

I'm a firm believer in providing good customer service, but it comes at a cost! Amazon are the exception to this - but, if you are like most consumers, you want your goods and services fast and cheap. Some of my customers sometimes tell me that we charge too much for broadband, for example. Sure, go and get your broadband for £10/month all in - but who are you to complain when it goes wrong and your call is put through to somebody reading from a script in India?

Companies are competing to be cheaper and cheaper to give consumers what they want, and unfortunately, they have to save the money somewhere. Customer service is often the easiest thing to chop. I'm equally to blame for this, by the way, I use comparison sites to buy car insurance, sort 'price lowest to highest', buy the cheapest one and then wonder why the service is crap when I need them!

Sad but true, but you get what you pay for!

Edit: Oh, and if you are paying a decent price and still getting poor service, there's usually someone who'll snatch the money up and do a better job!

Customers are complicated things.

They say they want good customer service and they say they'll pay a bit more for it. But most of the time most of them will buy on price, then be disappointed when they get poor service.

They will tell you that despite your fabulous service and impeccable record with them that you aren't the cheapest and they're forced to look elsewhere. This price difference will normally be totally immaterial to their business.

They also swear that when things go wrong they'll pay more and go elsewhere but then they get over the immediate pain and look at the price elsewhere, they decide to chance it again.

If you doubt this, explain Ryan Air to me.

But one of the few things small business can do well that big business seemingly can't is customer service so doing it well will differentiate you if you're able to compete on the base product.

One thing I have learned is that everyone expects great customer service now regardless of how much they pay - this is a problem if you have no margin and strong low cost competition. The only saviour is that they also have extremely low expectation of ever getting it, so if you can be a little bit better than the industry average, you'll stand out.

Hi folks
I am new to the forum, I work with lots businesses to improve their customer service I actually move them from delivering customer servcie to delivering fantastic Customer Experience. Last year poor customer service costed UK businesses 37 Billion this is massive and it doesn't cost much more to provide a WOW service
Best regards
Alex

 

[Noah]

move them from delivering customer servcie to delivering fantastic Customer Experience

Yes, there's a real buzz about this.

 

[TomJ83]

Hi folks
I am new to the forum, I work with lots businesses to improve their customer service I actually move them from delivering customer servcie to delivering fantastic Customer Experience. Last year poor customer service costed UK businesses 37 Billion this is massive and it doesn't cost much more to provide a WOW service
Best regards
Alex

Would you mind sharing an example of how a business can offer a WOW customer service?

 

[ilya]

Would you mind sharing an example of how a business can offer a WOW customer service?

Yeah I would like to hear more as well.
The person's reply even had a terrible typo, that doesn't sound like WOW service

 

[japancool]

They say they want good customer service and they say they'll pay a bit more for it. But most of the time most of them will buy on price, then be disappointed when they get poor service.

This.

There is a reason Ryanair is so successful, and it's not because of its great customer service.

 

[japancool]

delivering customer servcie to delivering fantastic Customer Experience

I don't want fantastic Customer Experience.

I want Fantastic Customer Experience.

Capitalising the words makes all the difference,

 

[360iconsulting]

This.

There is a reason Ryanair is so successful, and it's not because of its great customer service.

Yes Ryanair is successful they focus mainly on profit, let me explain when you only offer cheap price there is no value for the customer apart from the cheap price, people that are always looking for bargains are NOT loyal, they will always look at the cheapest so if they found a cheaper deal somewhere else they will not do business with you any more , now if you provide value it’s a very different story.

 

[360iconsulting]

Would you mind sharing an example of how a business can offer a WOW customer service?

Hi Tom
I apologise for the late reply I was away working with a client in the State. I recently worked with a small chain of hair salon, they focus was in cutting hair. However when talking to they customers it appears they could do more:

• Make their customer feel special
  
  
• Gain new customer
  
  
• Beat they competitors
  
  
• Create loyalty
  
  
• Motivate referral
  

We developed and implemented a plan for them, they will ask their for email, phone number, and birthday without the year, why? I will explain soon



We also ask the staff to record they hair cut style, colour if they had one, hair type (dry, greasy etc), who cut they hair and if they had a drink how they take it, do you see where this is going?



So when customer called to book an appointment, staff where able to say X hairdresser cut your hair last time do you want them to do your hair again, do you want X style and colour (if applicable) again, when they where coming in the salon customers could be addressed by their name and your tea is it still white 1 sugar (example) that made customer feel special.

2 weeks before customers birthday staff now send a message that says “ please come to see us on your birthday so we can make you feel special on your birthday,we will offer you a FREE glass of Prosecco, bring your friends along with you so they can also enjoy a FREE glass of Prosecco” ( this message is an example) on average customers bring 3 to 5 friends if you have 10 customers doing this, that is an extra 30 to 50 new customers so while you make people feel special you are generating new business. If you want to know more PM me your email and I will be happy to explain further.