Customer service!
Discussion
Have automated systems ruined customer service?
I have never solved a problem via automated systems, chat lines etc .
In ancient times a problem was usually sorted with a brief phone call .
Now it's usually trying the system several times because you get cut off and the choices don't cover your problem,then you eventually get through to a foreign call centre where they run off a script identical to the automated choices that you have previously negotiated several times .
A tip for any company thinking of installing a system, get your older relatives to trial it without training or prompting and see if they get any satisfaction.
Yes it's been a frustrating few days !!
I have never solved a problem via automated systems, chat lines etc .
In ancient times a problem was usually sorted with a brief phone call .
Now it's usually trying the system several times because you get cut off and the choices don't cover your problem,then you eventually get through to a foreign call centre where they run off a script identical to the automated choices that you have previously negotiated several times .
A tip for any company thinking of installing a system, get your older relatives to trial it without training or prompting and see if they get any satisfaction.
Yes it's been a frustrating few days !!
Its delay tactics to slow people down from getting into call queue waits - it makes their customer service response times look better.
What I really dislike is the online chats were clearly the person at the company/service is speaking to boatloads at the same time and there is often 5+mins between messages.
What I really dislike is the online chats were clearly the person at the company/service is speaking to boatloads at the same time and there is often 5+mins between messages.
grumpy52 said:
Have automated systems ruined customer service?
I have never solved a problem via automated systems, chat lines etc .
In ancient times a problem was usually sorted with a brief phone call .
Now it's usually trying the system several times because you get cut off and the choices don't cover your problem,then you eventually get through to a foreign call centre where they run off a script identical to the automated choices that you have previously negotiated several times .
A tip for any company thinking of installing a system, get your older relatives to trial it without training or prompting and see if they get any satisfaction.
Yes it's been a frustrating few days !!
It does reduce the number of complaints.I have never solved a problem via automated systems, chat lines etc .
In ancient times a problem was usually sorted with a brief phone call .
Now it's usually trying the system several times because you get cut off and the choices don't cover your problem,then you eventually get through to a foreign call centre where they run off a script identical to the automated choices that you have previously negotiated several times .
A tip for any company thinking of installing a system, get your older relatives to trial it without training or prompting and see if they get any satisfaction.
Yes it's been a frustrating few days !!
I'm in the middle of a formal complaint with talktalk, it's torture. When everything is running smoothly with them it's OK, but if for any reason you need to contact customer services it all goes to s
t. South African based call centre for starters with a mix of SA's and Asian call handlers but that isn't the worst of it, no, that would be the 5+ second time delay on the line. A call centre is the first human to human contact a person will have with a large corporate and so it's the first impression they will get of the company and for talktalk that is utterly atrocious. For a business who was set up for the purpose of telecommunications to have a 5 second delay on a line in the 21st century is laughable, haven't had that since trying transatlantic calls in the 90's.
Not to mention of course the usual 20/30+ minutes to actually get to speak to someone. Do the CEO's ever actually try and call their own customer services to test the quality of it? Obviously not. Beyond woeful.
t. South African based call centre for starters with a mix of SA's and Asian call handlers but that isn't the worst of it, no, that would be the 5+ second time delay on the line. A call centre is the first human to human contact a person will have with a large corporate and so it's the first impression they will get of the company and for talktalk that is utterly atrocious. For a business who was set up for the purpose of telecommunications to have a 5 second delay on a line in the 21st century is laughable, haven't had that since trying transatlantic calls in the 90's.Not to mention of course the usual 20/30+ minutes to actually get to speak to someone. Do the CEO's ever actually try and call their own customer services to test the quality of it? Obviously not. Beyond woeful.
Mr-B said:
I'm in the middle of a formal complaint with talktalk, it's torture. When everything is running smoothly with them it's OK, but if for any reason you need to contact customer services it all goes to st. South African based call centre for starters with a mix of SA's and Asian call handlers but that isn't the worst of it, no, that would be the 5+ second time delay on the line. A call centre is the first human to human contact a person will have with a large corporate and so it's the first impression they will get of the company and for talktalk that is utterly atrocious. For a business who was set up for the purpose of telecommunications to have a 5 second delay on a line in the 21st century is laughable, haven't had that since trying transatlantic calls in the 90's.
Not to mention of course the usual 20/30+ minutes to actually get to speak to someone. Do the CEO's ever actually try and call their own customer services to test the quality of it? Obviously not. Beyond woeful.
I have also noticed that the systems used by the telecom companies are probably the worst of them all . It doesn't give you any faith does it ?t. South African based call centre for starters with a mix of SA's and Asian call handlers but that isn't the worst of it, no, that would be the 5+ second time delay on the line. A call centre is the first human to human contact a person will have with a large corporate and so it's the first impression they will get of the company and for talktalk that is utterly atrocious. For a business who was set up for the purpose of telecommunications to have a 5 second delay on a line in the 21st century is laughable, haven't had that since trying transatlantic calls in the 90's.Not to mention of course the usual 20/30+ minutes to actually get to speak to someone. Do the CEO's ever actually try and call their own customer services to test the quality of it? Obviously not. Beyond woeful.
I found that trying to contact them around the billing date was a total waste of time as their system usually told you the service was unavailable.
My heart sinks whenever I have to make a call to a customer "service" centre.
Firstly there is the endless messages about things I'm not interested in and GDPR withy no bypass. By the third call it is very wearing.
Secondly there is the now obligatory "we have a high call rate" message. The problem isn't the call rate, it is your level of resources!
Thirdly is the long wait before anyone answers, whilst being told how important my call is.
Lastly are agents who are hard to understand on poor quality lines, who don't have the empowerment to address the issue
I'm much happier working online and doing things myself, but the online services are often woeful with big gaps.
I just want to make a call, speak to someone capable and empowered within 5 minutes and get issues resolved.
There are some bright lights, my bank don't do any of the above, and recently our national telecomms provider has been good when we had problems getting fibre laid in (I expected this to be hard work but it wasn't).
Firstly there is the endless messages about things I'm not interested in and GDPR withy no bypass. By the third call it is very wearing.
Secondly there is the now obligatory "we have a high call rate" message. The problem isn't the call rate, it is your level of resources!
Thirdly is the long wait before anyone answers, whilst being told how important my call is.
Lastly are agents who are hard to understand on poor quality lines, who don't have the empowerment to address the issue
I'm much happier working online and doing things myself, but the online services are often woeful with big gaps.
I just want to make a call, speak to someone capable and empowered within 5 minutes and get issues resolved.
There are some bright lights, my bank don't do any of the above, and recently our national telecomms provider has been good when we had problems getting fibre laid in (I expected this to be hard work but it wasn't).
I'm head of a contact centre so I can see it from both perspectives. IVR (which is press 1 for this, press 2 for this) is only intended to direct your call to the right department, i.e. who have the right training to answer your questions.
If you hang up during this time, that's reportable and the higher the dropped calls, the more work is needed on it to prevent so many dropped calls.
If you hang up during this time, that's reportable and the higher the dropped calls, the more work is needed on it to prevent so many dropped calls.
One of the biggest problems is most of those you are in contact with aren't connected directly to the business or industry you are having the problem with .
Usually a remote call centre that often cover several different types of business.
Nearly as frustrating as getting through to a ' real ' person only to get their answerphone/ message program with the promise of a return call that never happens.
Usually a remote call centre that often cover several different types of business.
Nearly as frustrating as getting through to a ' real ' person only to get their answerphone/ message program with the promise of a return call that never happens.
p4cks said:
I'm head of a contact centre so I can see it from both perspectives. IVR (which is press 1 for this, press 2 for this) is only intended to direct your call to the right department, i.e. who have the right training to answer your questions.
If you hang up during this time, that's reportable and the higher the dropped calls, the more work is needed on it to prevent so many dropped calls.
Except the options on any call are never what you actually want, and it is never as straightforward as simply pressing a single number and you're through to someone who can actually help you.If you hang up during this time, that's reportable and the higher the dropped calls, the more work is needed on it to prevent so many dropped calls.
I spent 30 minutes on an online chat with O2 last week, at the start of the chat I said, "I have a 30 day rolling contract which I want to end please", "Let me take some details" said the person. 30 minutes of questions, confirm this and that, am I returning any devices, to be told, "Please call this number who can arrange the cancellation", I was fuming. If they can't cancel on the chat, why go through all the faff, just tell me at the start. Also annoying you can't do this via your account online either, they force you to phone up, which involves half hour on hold.
It is a much better system that when you call, you immediately get a message telling you: "You are person n in this queue", then you get a countdown each minute. If n is low I hang around, if it's high I'll call back later so the queue to a degree self regulates.
Scrap all the other crap about my call being important, gdpr, new product, try the web site, blah balh.
Scrap all the other crap about my call being important, gdpr, new product, try the web site, blah balh.
Edited by Scarletpimpofnel on Wednesday 8th March 15:41
If dealing with a government department or the local authorities, when you eventually get through to a person and vent your frustration and get a warning that abuse of staff is not tolerated. Sorting your system out would end most of the abuse .
I am sure that many in government departments and local authority departments make it up as the go along . The classic is usually that information is no t available or no longer available, they actually mean that they haven't got the authority/ clearance to access that information.
The classic was the young lady that informed me that council emails are deleted after 12 months !
I am sure that many in government departments and local authority departments make it up as the go along . The classic is usually that information is no t available or no longer available, they actually mean that they haven't got the authority/ clearance to access that information.
The classic was the young lady that informed me that council emails are deleted after 12 months !
grumpy52 said:
If dealing with a government department or the local authorities, when you eventually get through to a person and vent your frustration and get a warning that abuse of staff is not tolerated. Sorting your system out would end most of the abuse .
I am sure that many in government departments and local authority departments make it up as the go along . The classic is usually that information is no t available or no longer available, they actually mean that they haven't got the authority/ clearance to access that information.
The classic was the young lady that informed me that council emails are deleted after 12 months !
Username checks out.I am sure that many in government departments and local authority departments make it up as the go along . The classic is usually that information is no t available or no longer available, they actually mean that they haven't got the authority/ clearance to access that information.
The classic was the young lady that informed me that council emails are deleted after 12 months !
grumpy52 said:
If dealing with a government department or the local authorities, when you eventually get through to a person and vent your frustration and get a warning that abuse of staff is not tolerated. Sorting your system out would end most of the abuse .
I am sure that many in government departments and local authority departments make it up as the go along . The classic is usually that information is no t available or no longer available, they actually mean that they haven't got the authority/ clearance to access that information.
The classic was the young lady that informed me that council emails are deleted after 12 months !
Although not likely to be the case now, a few years ago, I was aware of more than one council where this was actually the case. I am sure that many in government departments and local authority departments make it up as the go along . The classic is usually that information is no t available or no longer available, they actually mean that they haven't got the authority/ clearance to access that information.
The classic was the young lady that informed me that council emails are deleted after 12 months !
It was partly due to trying to limit the storage used by their email system, but the main driver was their information governance policy. The thinking went along the lines that the email system shouldn't be a permanent repository of information and that relevant information relating to case notes etc.. should be instead saved in the information system (such as their Sharepoint implementation). In order to encourage this, an automated script was run which did indeed firstly move emails over 12 months (or another set period of time) so that the normal council users couldn't access them, and then ultimately deleted them.
Sounded like a sensible idea in theory. In practise, however.....
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