A lesson in how not to give customer service...
I’m not normally given to complaining anyone who knows me will vouch for this, but occasionally I find myself on the end of such appalling customer service that even I begin to loose my cool.
Right now we are experiencing unbelievable incompetence, so I couldn’t help but share this with you and try to draw out some thoughts about customer service. Below is a summary of the failures of Talk Talk since we moved offices in May. It’s not an exhaustive list on contact and calls, as you can imagine we have actually spent hours (I have it logged) on the phone to them listening to the same tune (I know it off by heart now) and being told “Thank you for holding, we value you as a customer and will deal with you as soon as possible”. Not many calls by the way are less than half an hour long. This is how it’s going...
1. Failure to supply broadband to our change of address within the promised service levels timescale.
2. Failure of open reach engineer to turn up on the day promised.
3. Failure to communicate our new address correctly to Open reach. We found them working on next doors phone system!
4. Failure to stop the phone service at our old address after we have moved (as agreed).
5. Failure to supply the Worksafe facility. Still unresolved, although we don't currently have broadband anyway so I suppose that’s pretty worksafe!
6. Failure to supply any phone service at all 16/7/13 to 18/7/13.
7. Failure to communicate the correct address to the Open reach engineer. Again found them working at next doors address!
8. Failure to supply broad and service since 16/7/13 to current, still outstanding!
9. Failure to supply a business line (open reach engineer advised that domestic line was in place!).
10. Failure to have a manager call back as promised, still waiting!
11. Failure to sell correct service - Was advised by Talk Talk that a fast fibre optic service was not available. Open reach engineer advises fibre optic fast service is available at our address.
There is a lesson here, that maybe has something to do with becoming too system driven in the way we deliver our customer service offering. It seems to be an inability to see the whole, the 11 failures as a single experience, instead anonymously treating each issue as though it existed in isolation. It would be lovely if we could simply have a conversation with someone who has authority and is willing to accept in this instance they've got it badly wrong, taking responsibility to do the right thing. That’s not necessarily the system thing.
There might be another lesson here about using Talk Talk as your ISP, but we'll let you draw that possible conclusion.
When we grow as a business it becomes vital that we continue treat customers as individuals, always being prepared to listen and perhaps tend towards giving the benefit of the doubt. Customer service is a personal thing first, before it is an organisational thing. Customer service happens as human interaction, so we need people in these roles who have responsibility, take accountability and own the required authority to act.
Anything less and customer service erodes into a hopeless, unbelievable claim that “we value your call...”
