Thursday, August 10, 2023

What Happened to Training Those Working in Customer Service?

What happened to the good old days when you had an issue and more than likely received some resolution in a timely manner?

For me, I  have no luck even attempting to resolve a problem in nothing less that 3 phone calls and possibly a Chat or two.  Individual thinking is out of the question as it appears that everyone is reading from as script but has no grasp on how to solve a problem.

Let's take Xfinity for an example.  I  happen to have 2 Xfinity accounts in 2 different states and a problem arose at one location which wasn't resolved only to find I  had the same problem with the other account.  I  had spoken to 3 different agents, each one telling me something different until I  totally lucked out and the 4th agent resolved the issue in 5 minutes.  Good Luck getting this one agent again!

What I was being told to do would have resulted in even bigger problems so needless to say I  am grateful to that last agent.

Then one day I  receive an email that a bill is overdue.  I  start a chat to say that I  have been enrolled in Auto Pay for over 4 years so what happened?  No resolution other than I  had to go back into my account to re-enroll.  In the meantime, the  chat agent was more than happy to take my payment and I agreed.

A week later I go to the website and check my bill only to see a fee added but it does not state "WHY."  Again I  start a chat.  It seems that when an agent takes payment, you are charged a Convenience Fee.  Well, did anyone mention that to me?  I  complain to the agent and he concurs that I was not informed so he will remove the charge.  

In the past 2 months I  would say I  have had spent at least 7 hours dealing with various issues.  And why so many hours...no one knows what they are doing when they try to resolve the issue.  It is as if just having a body available to either chat or speak with is the solution.  And the classic line is that they are so sorry that I  am having an issue and will work to resolve it.  Resolution doesn't happen often enough considering what Xfinity service costs.

Then there is Land's End.  I  ordered an item and the very next day the price point was lower.  I  called and was told that they would issue a credit vs my cancelling the order and then reordering the item at the new price point.  That was over 14 days ago and still no credit adjustment after writing and calling 3 more times.  

I  don't want to bore you with more stories but suffice it to say that it seems I  spend way too much time on the phone or chatting with companies all due to issues which could be easily resolved if people did what they say they will do to rectify the problem.

And to add insult to injury, each time I  chat or call, I then get an email or a pop up for a Survey.  Do they even read customer comments?

Enjoy shopping but be vigilant.