September 7, 2010 70 Comments

It Won’t Matter

Frank Eliason from Comcast

My point, and I will make one, is that it doesn’t matter if you’ve got great social media presence if you don’t fix the basics.

I’m so frustrated right now, for something very simple. I received my first Comcast bill for my business Internet service. Oh, I noticed that it’s sending the bill to the service address, not my business address. I’ll just run in and change that on the account via their website. So far, this should be simple, right?

No.

I go to make an account. The account doesn’t take. I try again. That also doesn’t take. I click their “contact us” thingy and put in all kinds of information so that I can chat with someone on the site. After about 11 minutes (might have been less, as I really didn’t use a clock, in full disclosure), they tell me that because I’m a business account (which was the 3rd thing I said to the chat person), I have to call some toll free number.

Well, okay. So much for an online world.

Now, I call the first number. It says something like, “you’re a business customer and you have a very special number. Call this.”

Wow! I’m thinking, I’m going to get this resolved in no time. No. A new phone tree. A bunch of button pushes. A request that they can SURVEY ME after the call before they’ve even come close to resolving my issue, and I’m writing this post while I’m on hold.

Let’s review: This is to set up a stupid online account so I can change a stupid mailing address.

Frank Eliason is Gone

Frank Eliason, if you don’t know that handsome man in the picture up top, was the voice of @comcastcares for a few years. He got the company more ink for his innovative customer service while they were otherwise drowning in a sea of negative press.

Let the record state that all of Frank’s online employees are tweeting my face off while I’m writing this. They’re being SUPER helpful.

But they shouldn’t have to be.

Comcast Needs to Shore Up Service

Social media is not a crutch. Just because you’ve now received high marks for being responsive via Twitter (and thank the sweet blessed customer service fairies for that, because the mainstream methodology still blows, but if your standard web flows and call flow still stink, you can’t rely on the social media side to fix it up.

Quality customer service trumps PR and it trumps social media outreach. It’s the basics. Please, Comcast, this was a really really simple transaction that ate almost an hour of my day, got my riled up, and earned you a negative blog post (because bloggers are whiny, I’m willing to admit).

Wouldn’t this merit a reconsideration of your delivery methods.

I used to run call centers for the phone company back in the way old day. Call me, if you want. I won’t make you press buttons.

Related posts:

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  2. Names Matter
  3. Numbers That Matter
  4. Moments That Matter
  5. The Matter of Scale

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  • http://twitter.com/mogulati mogulati

    “Quality customer service trumps PR and it trumps social media outreach. It’s the basics.” Could not agree more Chris. I find it mind boggling as well. My guess is that Comcast has the two units completely isolated and managed by different groups of people. This type of think should be unified.

  • http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/ Rob Mangiafico

    Great way to take an unpleasant experience and turn it into a “call to action” for any business.

    I’ve been there with the Comcast Business vs. residential problem. Same thing. Special #, more phone trees, finally think we’ve got it resolved, and the bill still goes to the wrong address. Agonizing to make a simple change…

    This is where SMBs can excel. Make the basics, the simple things, run smoothly, and people will pay a premium when you make their day to day lives easier.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      There’s actually a business in here, if someone was looking for work.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      There’s actually a business in here, if someone was looking for work.

  • http://www.jasonyormark.com Jason Yormark

    All too common with large companies who have layers upon layers of management and process getting in the way of progress. It’s like trying to move mountains when it comes to getting with the times and taking advantage of technology to improve situations like this. And in this case it’s even more ridiculous as it could be simply avoided by enabling the consumer through the web to manage their own issue.

  • http://twitter.com/peterkim Peter Kim

    Social is emerging from the closed-loop space of online and it’s not pretty. I’ve had similar service arbitrage experiences with Time Warner Cable and AT&T recently. Might be hard to believe, but the grass may be a bit greener in Boston…but maybe because the constant 100+ degree heat in Austin has turned it all brown.

  • Larry Irons

    My guess about what is wrong distills to two words, “outsourced services.”

  • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

    Yeah, for all the good experiences I had from Frank and his team, they couldn’t keep me as a Comcast customer.

    When they changed to their “every TV must have a box and we are going to make this a pain in the ass for you” at the same time that FiOS rolled into town, I left and never looked back.

    You can have all the goodness and friends online, but if your product or customer services sucks that won’t save you.

  • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

    Yeah, for all the good experiences I had from Frank and his team, they couldn’t keep me as a Comcast customer.

    When they changed to their “every TV must have a box and we are going to make this a pain in the ass for you” at the same time that FiOS rolled into town, I left and never looked back.

    You can have all the goodness and friends online, but if your product or customer services sucks that won’t save you.

  • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

    Yeah, for all the good experiences I had from Frank and his team, they couldn’t keep me as a Comcast customer.

    When they changed to their “every TV must have a box and we are going to make this a pain in the ass for you” at the same time that FiOS rolled into town, I left and never looked back.

    You can have all the goodness and friends online, but if your product or customer services sucks that won’t save you.

  • http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

    Yeah, for all the good experiences I had from Frank and his team, they couldn’t keep me as a Comcast customer.

    When they changed to their “every TV must have a box and we are going to make this a pain in the ass for you” at the same time that FiOS rolled into town, I left and never looked back.

    You can have all the goodness and friends online, but if your product or customer services sucks that won’t save you.

  • http://cashwithatrueconscience.com/rbblog Ryan Biddulph

    We’ve all had similar experiences with any big company. As long as people are involved there will be errors, mistakes and customer dis-service.

    I do agree that until you take of shop window dressing won’t cut it.

    Ryan Biddulph

  • http://mydarabell.com/ Dara Bell

    I agree with CC Chapmans last sentence. Do you know in the city I went to school and university in there are only two Customer Service courses. One had stopped when I rang to see if they still run it. This is Edinburgh it recieves the highest number of tourist traffic after London. Its like tourist central! I think this is widespread and endemic problem, the bright stars can hardly light the way for the darkness that exists for the customer and in the world of customer service.

    Happy to say BT Care seems to have learnt something from Frank. I get direct messages if I complain on twitter. My broadband service does seem to go funny, often, but the service chat makes up for that. Everyday thousands are complaining about companies on Twitter, that seems to make up about half the chatter on any given Twitterday

    I wonder how much listening is really being done. I think they should be ringing NML for some advice.

  • http://mydarabell.com/ Dara Bell

    I agree with CC Chapmans last sentence. Do you know in the city I went to school and university in there are only two Customer Service courses. One had stopped when I rang to see if they still run it. This is Edinburgh it recieves the highest number of tourist traffic after London. Its like tourist central! I think this is widespread and endemic problem, the bright stars can hardly light the way for the darkness that exists for the customer and in the world of customer service.

    Happy to say BT Care seems to have learnt something from Frank. I get direct messages if I complain on twitter. My broadband service does seem to go funny, often, but the service chat makes up for that. Everyday thousands are complaining about companies on Twitter, that seems to make up about half the chatter on any given Twitterday

    I wonder how much listening is really being done. I think they should be ringing NML for some advice.

  • http://mydarabell.com/ Dara Bell

    Afterthought
    This leaves Tony at Zappos to do some “major” damage, if Frank has left.

  • http://stephenpickering.com StephenPickering

    But in my mind here is the problem. Comcast is a monopoly, at least in my town. But its an “unearned” monopoly, meaning they made a deal with the city government at the time to be the only cable provider before they would make the investment. Now one may say the problem goes further than that. It could be that Companies demand to be monopolies before they invest in infrastructure because of so much regulation in Telecom, especially the Telecom Act of 1996, which forced companies who had invested in connectivity to give their services away for no margin, to upstart telecom players. Either way, we have a terrible problem in the connectivity market or lack thereof. We have an almost infinite amount of backbone fiber, but a dearth of connectivity to it. Beyond that, when you have an unearned monopoly such as Comcast, they simply don’t “care” nor do they really have to care. They’ve actually gotten a lot better here in my town. They used to treat us down right with contempt and meanness. But anyway, that’s beside the point. If we truly had a free market in connectivity, I believe most of us would have fiber to the home, and great customer service to go with is. Call me a dreamer.

    • http://www.curiouslystrongcopy.com Collette G

      Stephen has nailed the crux of the problem. In my town, too, Comcast is a monopoly. And their alleged “customer care” is a nightmare and a very, very bad joke.

      I won’t go into detail about the series of screwups that resulted in a 3-week initial install, the repeated “billing errors”, the uninformed and mis-informing phone CS reps, the outright lies and bait-and-switch Comcast recently pulled with their “upgraded service” to HD, the fact that they outright REFUSE to allow you to speak with a manager on the phone (and tell you so!), the single customer business office allocated to a major western city, staffed with bored, surly desk agents and ridiculously long lines at any hour of the day, which has NO customer bathroom (by design).

      However, suffice it to say, if Comcast WASN’T a monopoly, they’d be toast.

    • http://www.curiouslystrongcopy.com Collette G

      Stephen has nailed the crux of the problem. In my town, too, Comcast is a monopoly. And their alleged “customer care” is a nightmare and a very, very bad joke.

      I won’t go into detail about the series of screwups that resulted in a 3-week initial install, the repeated “billing errors”, the uninformed and mis-informing phone CS reps, the outright lies and bait-and-switch Comcast recently pulled with their “upgraded service” to HD, the fact that they outright REFUSE to allow you to speak with a manager on the phone (and tell you so!), the single customer business office allocated to a major western city, staffed with bored, surly desk agents and ridiculously long lines at any hour of the day, which has NO customer bathroom (by design).

      However, suffice it to say, if Comcast WASN’T a monopoly, they’d be toast.

      • http://stephenpickering.com StephenPickering

        Hey thanks for saying I got it right. Makes me feel smart. Although all in all I wish the situation weren’t true. And what you are describing, of which I’ve been through similar, sounds a lot like dealing with the Government doesn’t it? These “unearned” monopolies, as I call them, forged from colluding with Government to write policy which eliminates competition, rather than eliminating competition through actually competing, tend to have bureaucracies that feel a lot like Government.

      • http://stephenpickering.com StephenPickering

        Hey thanks for saying I got it right. Makes me feel smart. Although all in all I wish the situation weren’t true. And what you are describing, of which I’ve been through similar, sounds a lot like dealing with the Government doesn’t it? These “unearned” monopolies, as I call them, forged from colluding with Government to write policy which eliminates competition, rather than eliminating competition through actually competing, tend to have bureaucracies that feel a lot like Government.

  • Anonymous

    I’ve had my share of Comcast nightmares, and the social media channel for resolution is about the only thing that keeps me as a customer. I had massive problems with my phone service which, for the moment, seem to be resolved. But any more issues, and we’ll be switching to FiOS which has finally come to the area.
    I wish I could say I had a great relationship with Comcast. But like with my electric company, I mostly want the service to work, all the time, because I’m paying for it to do so, and don;t get all that emotionally wrapped up in it until it doesn’t work.

    The phone trees drive me mad. I don’t need to hear about the special boxing event, thanks-or Shaq promoting a service I already have- yeah, Im a customer already, so stop pitching me- just get me to someone who can correct the problem because HBO is out, or my phone makes me sound like a robot, or whatever the problem is at the time.

    Your main point Chris, is the most important. If you take care of your customers, as well as offer quality products, you never have to deal with 911 emergency customer response.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      And what sucks the most is that you and I know how to navigate better than the average joe and we STILL get thwarted.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      And what sucks the most is that you and I know how to navigate better than the average joe and we STILL get thwarted.

      • Anonymous

        Agreed 100%. We know the secret password, but why is it necessary?

        What actually bugs me the most is that it encourages short cuts and gate jumping, secret handshakes that just shouldn’t be necessary to get the job done. Why should you have to have an inside track to get something to work? Yet every time I try to go through “the regular channels” with customer service issues, I end up with run arounds and endless loops that tell me all I should do is gate jump first and ask questions later.

        (I had a recent go-round with AT&T over microcell. The good thing is once the problem was solved, the thing works like a dream, but yet another example oif how twiitter solved a problem customer service could not.)

        Do they really want the social media channels to become their default first round of service? If so, just cut the 1800 phone cord and get on with it already.

  • http://www.grizzard.com/author/epratum/ Eric Pratum

    It’s a little funny…Amber Naslund had a post that seems so related to this go up on Brass Tack Thinking just a bit earlier. Sounds to me like you, like most any reasonable person, tried to work through the system, and the system just didn’t work. I’ve had similar things happen recently, which is part of the reason all 3 of my last blog posts have been about both horrendous and awesome customer service.

    I hope this all gets fixed up for you. It’s such a silly thing for a company to not be able to accommodate something so simple.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      That’s exactly it. I tried the real basic system and it failed. The social media system worked just fine. But that’s the issue. That’s not how it should work, and not sustainable.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      That’s exactly it. I tried the real basic system and it failed. The social media system worked just fine. But that’s the issue. That’s not how it should work, and not sustainable.

      • http://www.grizzard.com/author/epratum/ Eric Pratum

        Agreed. This reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a colleague, who was spending hours every week manually doing something that could be essentially automated with an hour or two of a programmer’s time. His problem? No programmers were readily available and acquiring one would mean getting new resources (no matter how small) allocated to him. Unfortunately, that was small picture thinking. Why not deal with the hassle of setting things up properly now instead of doing it wrong for the foreseeable future… In the same sense, why not set up customer service to be done right today instead of setting it up to be done wrong today and each day after?

  • http://www.sueannereed.com Sue Anne Reed

    I find that there is a horrible disconnect with large brands who are using social media to do customer service, including Comcast, and just a lack of continuity in customer service in general. I have not been able to get my media card working on my TIVO since I moved over a month ago. Even though I’ve done all the things Comcast has asked me to do, still not working. I’m so fustrated with how long phone conversations take with Comcast (mostly in the getting to the conversation part) that I’ve given up for awhile.

    Two weeks ago, my modem went offline. Because I’m a loyal customer and have triple play, that also meant that I had no phone service in addition to no Internet and problems with my cable. After unplugging some things, changing some wires, etc. I finally got the modem to reboot and get service again. Last week, same thing happened. I said something on Twitter and actually got a response, but there was no acknowledgment that this was the 2nd week in a row that this had happened and no real “help” other than “it should be working”. I did a bunch more unplugging and thankfully the modem started working again.

    But, there was no followup to see if things were working. It’s a total case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease and as long as you’re not squeaking, everything must be okay.

    And, to not have this be all about Comcast, I’ve also had similar continuity issues with Network Solutions and other companies. Network Solutions is very responsive on Twitter, but if I call their 1-800 about that same problem, I often have to start from scratch.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      Bingo on your last paragraph. Exactly it.

      As for modems dying and things, that totally drives me mental because I *know* what the phone call will be like without having to call.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      Bingo on your last paragraph. Exactly it.

      As for modems dying and things, that totally drives me mental because I *know* what the phone call will be like without having to call.

    • http://www.shashi.name/ Shashib

      Hi Sue,

      I work for Network Solutions, hope we resolved the issue if not pls let me know. I think Chris and you make good points on a company not having any issues and if they do having a great way to resolve them quickly. In a self-service world people do not want to call companies and both the Harvard Business Review and Author Barry Moltz have case studies to validate this.
      One of the ways that companies can make all customer facing channels better is to learn from each channel and have a process of continued improvement with the goal that the customer can reach us on any channel and have the same quick response experience and fix what seems to be repetitive. We have begun to share the knowledge from our social media interactions to learn why the customer had to call in the first place and hopefully will get better at this.

      Thanks,

      Shashi

  • http://kaplancopy.com/blog Jodi Kaplan

    Another blogger just switched her ISP – and was busy warning her readers there might be problems with her checking in, approving comments, etc. What’s wrong with customer service when the first thing we expect is more problems, rather than help, when we interact with a company?

    And what’s up with Verizon asking you to input your phone number, and then having the rep ask for it again when he or she gets on the phone? I just told you the number!

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      Meanwhile, I had a problem yesterday and my ISP fixed it via Twitter without any big stink raised on my point. They just noticed something and fixed it. (Yes, maybe it’s because I’m me, but maybe it’s because they’re fierce about customer service).

  • Andrew Richards098

    This post reminds me of a problem I am having currently with a restaurant. They have a good product, they have it at a competitive price, but they are also making it very difficult to enjoy their product which means I may not go there anymore. Good luck with Comcast. Maybe someone from the company will read this and do something.

  • http://twitter.com/maggielmcg maggielmcg

    I hear you…same thing happened to me with Sprint. Impeccable service via Twitter leading to my own personal VIP customer service rep…but my bill was still wrong every month and I didn’t feel like spending time trying to get it resolved each time.

    I think this disconnect is only going to get worse as more and more companies go for the marketing/PR gold that is social media/community management. Look how much great press Comcast has gotten because of Frank…but the company still sucks just as badly as ever. Same thing with Pepco in the DC area–the Washington Post did an article about their “Twitter guy”…but despite his best efforts the company is still getting slammed for being unresponsive (which they are, via other channels besides social media).

    Sadly, for all the work of evangelists like Frank, obviously the great folks at Comcast (and other companies too) care enough to shell out for some social media monitoring software, a few staff people…and that’s it–not enough to actually tackle the real problems and fix their deplorable customer service.

  • Anonymous

    Do you think you could have been just as effective by putting this into an email and sending to a couple of important people? As a business owner I’d rather be able to fix the problem after a pointed email rather than a post like this. I don’t like it any better than you do, and I am a Comcast customer.

    And I get your take home point about good service being ahead of outreach.

    I have always read your blog, Chris, and I put a lot of stock in what you have to say. I just wonder these grievances belong front and center in this kind of forum….regardless of how good your point is.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      No. I think it would be far less effective in an email and I’ll explain why.

      They are front and center because big businesses have NOT fixed the problem for decades and decades. They used the fact that everyone wasn’t the media to brush under the rug issues that we have.

      My post isn’t for me. It’s to signal to MANY COMPANIES and not just Comcast that they have to heed their customers.

      A letter is a great way to fix an individual’s problems. Blogging in this fashion is a way to provide proof internally and externally that can be discussed at meetings, that can be talked about and considered, and that can be acted upon or ignored.

      Google “Dell hell.” It’s a great example of such. Mine isn’t because my complaint is just a way to illustrate a point.

    • http://www.jasonyormark.com Jason Yormark

      Absolutely these grievances belong front and center! Do you think a company like Comcast will ever change their ways without the pressure to do so? Blogging and social media are incredible ways to change the tide and give consumers more power in making sure companies do their part in delivering quality customer service end to end.

  • Anonymous

    Do you think you could have been just as effective by putting this into an email and sending to a couple of important people? As a business owner I’d rather be able to fix the problem after a pointed email rather than a post like this. I don’t like it any better than you do, and I am a Comcast customer.

    And I get your take home point about good service being ahead of outreach.

    I have always read your blog, Chris, and I put a lot of stock in what you have to say. I just wonder these grievances belong front and center in this kind of forum….regardless of how good your point is.

  • Anonymous

    I agree with the problem and that social media is NOT the solution, but I don’t know what they can do to fix the problem… I’d be interested in your solution, Mr. Chris Brogan :).

    A BIG part of the problem is the whole net neutrality issue – with our current state of neutrality, ISP’s are competing primarily on price. When this happens in any market, customer service tends to be the first thing to go!

    I’m looking at this as a net neutrality thing… you?

  • Anonymous

    I agree with the problem and that social media is NOT the solution, but I don’t know what they can do to fix the problem… I’d be interested in your solution, Mr. Chris Brogan :).

    A BIG part of the problem is the whole net neutrality issue – with our current state of neutrality, ISP’s are competing primarily on price. When this happens in any market, customer service tends to be the first thing to go!

    I’m looking at this as a net neutrality thing… you?

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      Oh, I have a solution. It’s just for sale and not for blog posts. : )

  • http://dareesinsights.wordpress.com Daree

    Personally I despise the phone tree methodology because often, when I have to talk to a person, it doesn’t involve any of the 9 options available (and pressing 0 at the beginning often doesn’t work). I’ve always believed that customer service is one of, if not the top deciding factors in whether a company gets my business. Unfortunately nowadays, your options for utilities are often limited by where you live–not just because of service, but because of deals with cities and property owner associations, etc.

  • http://www.theinternettimemachine.com Itmdirec

    Every time I feel as though I am being put through the phone tree, I just rapidly and rather hard push 0 and many times it does the trick and connects me to someone. If only it were that simple right? Once again, much like your experience, no! This happened the other day when calling a shipping company for a pick up. I get the automated blah blah blah and hit 0. Luckily it tells me that I am being transferred to someone who can assist me. The csr picks up and immediately starts asking me all these questions that have nothing to do with my question to begin with. I get mad and then I am told by the csr “well you wouldn’t have to tell me all of this info if you would have entered it into the automated system”. I give up!

    • http://www.commissionexplosion.com/ C Service

      Then there are the systems where you DO enter all the prompt info, only to be asked by the CSR who eventually takes the call for the information again. Then, if you end up being transfered, you are asked again. Ridiculous!

  • http://www.slymarketing.com Jens P. Berget

    This is a very interesting story, especially since we’ve talked about it at the college where I work. We’re looking for a way to be present on all the major social networks, and we’re going to do all sorts of marketing stuff… but in the end, we need to figure out what happens when people contact us for the small things (not via twitter or facebook). I know that it can be really hard to get through on the phone and get answers via email.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      Exactly! And this is the most important takeaway. It doesn’t matter if you tweet, if your processes still stink.

  • http://www.DesertMountainHomesOnline.com CarmenBrodeur

    I’ve got an even better one for you…I canceled my Verizon account 4 months ago (I finally got jiggy with it and got an iphone) but Verizon keeps billing my credit card every month. I have called numerous times, gone to two Verizon stores, but they say that my account was canceled so I don’t even have an account number in their system anymore. Funny…they better tell Visa that! Sounds like Comcast is just about as good.

  • http://www.DesertMountainHomesOnline.com CarmenBrodeur

    I’ve got an even better one for you…I canceled my Verizon account 4 months ago (I finally got jiggy with it and got an iphone) but Verizon keeps billing my credit card every month. I have called numerous times, gone to two Verizon stores, but they say that my account was canceled so I don’t even have an account number in their system anymore. Funny…they better tell Visa that! Sounds like Comcast is just about as good.

  • http://www.kunocreative.com Roman

    If you can’t get the basic blocking and tackling of your business right, don’t even start to worry about your social media channels.

  • http://www.kunocreative.com Roman

    If you can’t get the basic blocking and tackling of your business right, don’t even start to worry about your social media channels.

  • http://twitter.com/susangiurleo susangiurleo

    Glad to know that BOTH Verizon and Comcast suck in this department.I literally start yelling into the phone when I get spinning in Verizon’s phone tree. And I still can’t figure out how to get an online account! But no bother switching service, which given that they are really the only 2 choices is probably WHY they don’t bother improving their customer service. Why put time and money into being better when it doesn’t matter anyway? They still get our business.

  • http://twitter.com/ChesterHull Chester Hull

    It’s amazing to me how many companies need to take a few moments to evaluate their Caller Experience. Simple fixes in this area gain a lot of ground with customers and callers! They are very happy to jump on the Social Media bandwagon, while customers are leaking away because of poor decisions in the existing customer service infrastructure!

  • Pingback: How stopping the leak in your phone system first makes your Social Media stronger | ProsoundUSA.com

  • http://twitter.com/Mastermenus Menu Masters

    I agree with the concept that basic customer service gets and saves you more business than just about any marketing opportunity. And for me, as a business owner and as a customer, it’s because it’s about building the relationship and respecting that relationship. I had a similarly bad experience with Comcast, and once spent 9 hours, yes hours, on the phone with Sprint. Every dissatisfied customer tells 10 others…

  • http://nancimurdock.com Nanci Murdock

    I don’t want to jump onto a negative band wagon and start a feed where we all complain, but if someone at Dell is reading this, please take note. If (based on years of past experience) it takes me three or four days to get up the courage to even phone you because I know that I will end up in tears, have to calm down and call back, you have a problem like the one Chris is talking about here. Having a customer service issue should not have to involve me needing to drink excessively in just the anticipation of your telephone tree.

    And no, I did not pay $6000 for an XPS gaming computer so that when it crashes you tell me that the extra insurance coverage I bought does not cover a visit and you will talk me through laying the 80 pound machine on it’s side, and can I please put you hold while *I* go and get a screw driver so we can take it all apart and, “check a few things”.

    For the past 7 months my computer crashes every few hours and I have an error message that states, “top LED cable is not connected”. Have I called you to have this fixed?

    No. I covered up the machine with a sheet and bought a MAC.

    Sorry for the rant.

  • http://nancimurdock.com Nanci Murdock

    I don’t want to jump onto a negative band wagon and start a feed where we all complain, but if someone at Dell is reading this, please take note. If (based on years of past experience) it takes me three or four days to get up the courage to even phone you because I know that I will end up in tears, have to calm down and call back, you have a problem like the one Chris is talking about here. Having a customer service issue should not have to involve me needing to drink excessively in just the anticipation of your telephone tree.

    And no, I did not pay $6000 for an XPS gaming computer so that when it crashes you tell me that the extra insurance coverage I bought does not cover a visit and you will talk me through laying the 80 pound machine on it’s side, and can I please put you hold while *I* go and get a screw driver so we can take it all apart and, “check a few things”.

    For the past 7 months my computer crashes every few hours and I have an error message that states, “top LED cable is not connected”. Have I called you to have this fixed?

    No. I covered up the machine with a sheet and bought a MAC.

    Sorry for the rant.

  • http://nancimurdock.com Nanci Murdock

    I don’t want to jump onto a negative band wagon and start a feed where we all complain, but if someone at Dell is reading this, please take note. If (based on years of past experience) it takes me three or four days to get up the courage to even phone you because I know that I will end up in tears, have to calm down and call back, you have a problem like the one Chris is talking about here. Having a customer service issue should not have to involve me needing to drink excessively in just the anticipation of your telephone tree.

    And no, I did not pay $6000 for an XPS gaming computer so that when it crashes you tell me that the extra insurance coverage I bought does not cover a visit and you will talk me through laying the 80 pound machine on it’s side, and can I please put you hold while *I* go and get a screw driver so we can take it all apart and, “check a few things”.

    For the past 7 months my computer crashes every few hours and I have an error message that states, “top LED cable is not connected”. Have I called you to have this fixed?

    No. I covered up the machine with a sheet and bought a MAC.

    Sorry for the rant.

  • http://nancimurdock.com Nanci Murdock

    I don’t want to jump onto a negative band wagon and start a feed where we all complain, but if someone at Dell is reading this, please take note. If (based on years of past experience) it takes me three or four days to get up the courage to even phone you because I know that I will end up in tears, have to calm down and call back, you have a problem like the one Chris is talking about here. Having a customer service issue should not have to involve me needing to drink excessively in just the anticipation of your telephone tree.

    And no, I did not pay $6000 for an XPS gaming computer so that when it crashes you tell me that the extra insurance coverage I bought does not cover a visit and you will talk me through laying the 80 pound machine on it’s side, and can I please put you hold while *I* go and get a screw driver so we can take it all apart and, “check a few things”.

    For the past 7 months my computer crashes every few hours and I have an error message that states, “top LED cable is not connected”. Have I called you to have this fixed?

    No. I covered up the machine with a sheet and bought a MAC.

    Sorry for the rant.

  • Marion Guthrie

    Companies need to shop themselves. I’ve done this, set up “secret shopping” communities as part of the customer service and marketing department initiatives. It is eye opening. Not only are problems and inconsistencies uncovered and fixed, ways to make more money (in addition to delivering better service of course) reveal themselves.

  • http://thesocialjoint.com/ Lucretia M Pruitt

    Good customer service doesn’t make up for back customer issue resolution. No matter how nicely you say “oh, we can’t do that, we’re sorry…” if your product or service doesn’t meet the bar? Your bottom line will reflect it.
    User experience is not dependent on just one factor.

  • http://thesocialjoint.com/ Lucretia M Pruitt

    Good customer service doesn’t make up for back customer issue resolution. No matter how nicely you say “oh, we can’t do that, we’re sorry…” if your product or service doesn’t meet the bar? Your bottom line will reflect it.
    User experience is not dependent on just one factor.

  • http://thesocialjoint.com/ Lucretia M Pruitt

    Good customer service doesn’t make up for back customer issue resolution. No matter how nicely you say “oh, we can’t do that, we’re sorry…” if your product or service doesn’t meet the bar? Your bottom line will reflect it.
    User experience is not dependent on just one factor.

  • http://www.twitter.com/drewmgriffin drewmgriffin

    I’ve found this particularly disturbing in Healthcare Chris. It is all to common to have to obtain a ‘referral’ and ‘pre-certs’ to give us permission to provide service to our patients. There exists a duplicity ‘Customer Service’ in Healthcare. In order to provide the healthcare ‘service’ I must verify the benefits of a payor that supposedly serves the patient. The Phone Tree is Outrageous and I believe purposefully designed to avoid speaking and verifying said benefits. The patient is left without service on two levels, One from the subscription they’ve rightfully paid and a delay in health and medical care.

    I know this isn’t the same as Comcast, but the frustration and hours of lost productivity as well as a delay in treatment for many is certainly the same!!!

  • Jzingsheim

    I’ve been saying this exact thing for a while now–dealing with customer issues that pop up in social media isn’t going to make a darn bit of difference if companies don’t fix whatever is at the root of the problem. Comcast has received accolades for its social media presence, but still manages to win Consumerist’s “Golden Poo” award.

  • https://www.webhostinglogic.com/services/domain-name-registration.html WebHosting Guru

    Haha… what a good customer service they got. The first one that called could have solved your problem right there and spare everyone, you and the company from all the troubles. Sure they do have protocols, but I think those protocols must be left behind in favor of customer service.

  • http://twitter.com/mycustomercloud Nub Games, Inc.

    This is a good illustration of the confusion between concept and tool. Great customer service is a concept that must be understood and internalized. Social networks, like Twitter or Facebook, are potential tools through which great customer service may occur. One cannot simply use a tool and expect magic.

    Amy Shelton
    @mycustomercloud

  • http://twitter.com/delthedad Del

    The age of the automated phones system has frustrated most any adult I am sure. I really dislike the system that allow access only with voice input. Sometimes we are in places where its noisy and its difficult when the system only works by voice with no keypad input option. Complete pain the rear.

    I am taking it that companies will watch these focused posts on major problems in their customer experience operations. These posts are good to point out their flaws even if it is after us, the consumers who try and state the problem over the phone. What can a rep do? Or even a supervisor?

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