- Voice recognition
- Endless menus
- Scripted dialogues
- Last ditch efforts to save a customer
Customer Service?
Call it what it is: Customer Dis-service!
Do they really value our business? They tell me just that every time I get a human at the other end - it's in the script. But do they mean it? HAHAHAHA
I called Earthlink to cancel my employer's service with them. It took me 16 minutes to go thru what really should have taken 5 to 8 minutes max.
How is it that they can still bill a credit card for the monthly service - yet when I call to cancel - they need me to give them the last 4 digits of the credit card used when service was started? This particular credit card had expired in 2002. That's 6 years ago! If I didn't get them that information - I wouldn't have been able to cancel service. Really?
Luckily I keep good files, and I found the 2002 box and grabbed the file, gave the correct numbers. Done, right?
Newp... how many ways can I say "cancel effective immediately"?
- we now have cable modem
- we don't use dial-up
- no thanks - we don't need emergency dial-up back up
- my computer guy set us up and told me to cancel
- my (her) husband pays for the cable modem - he told me to cancel
- we don't use earthlink
- can we just cancel already and end this call?
- no I don't want the free service for a month (which will start charging the following months)
- Thanks - I'll take my chances.
Jeez! I called to cancel - and I'm forced to listen to all the desperate attempts to keep me as a customer - at first politely - but by the end, I was so frustrated I wanted to chuck my phone out the window and into the pool.
Next was AT&T home telephone & internet services.
Perhaps it was a mistake to do this call immediately after. It took me 4 separate calls to finally get a human.
1st call
Patiently navigated the voice recognition service. It took 2 minutes to get routed to the proper phone bank. The phone was ringing (to take me to a human?) but it stopped ringing - they disconnected me!
2nd call
Voice recognition became a nightmare as my impatience and frustration led me to all the wrong departments... neither did I get a human, nor did I get to the right place. I hung up and started again
3rd call
Again, my frustration led to the voice recognition service telling me "I-I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that". Who did that narration? If I ever came face to face with that woman... pow - to the moon! Not only did I not get to the right department, when I entered the phone number in question, it didn't recognize the number! I couldn't get out of that menu. It was a dead end.
4th call
I took a deep breath. I was forced into submission. I had to listen to everything and waited to speak until after the stupid lady narrator finished giving me her list of options. It took me over 2 minutes to get routed to something - anything that would get me a human. Used to be you could dial zero or 9 to get to an operator. Finally got a human. It took less than 3 minutes to cancel that service (at least it wasn't like pulling teeth with the Earthlink person).
But seriously - after all that, It added up to over 30 minutes. And I must focus! If I zone out and don't hear the correct option, then I'm forced to listen to the list of options again. No multitasking.
Are these companies really trying to keep costs down? No - they want to hire fewer employees so that they can maximize profits to their senior executives and their shareholders.
End result: fewer people employed domestically with these companies - fewer people making honest wages. No health care benefits. Crappy customer service. And people who waste your time speaking from scripts.
These 2 calls should have lasted me less than 10 minutes combined!!
Customer service? HA.
I HATE YOU EARTHLINK AND AT&T!
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