Computer says no but we need our say; BEHIND THE HEADLINES.
Byline: Jackie BirdI'M not a violent person but there was a moment last week when if I'd managed to get my hands on anyone from a certain utility company I'd have shoved my gas meter where the sun don't shine.
Although newsreaders are supposed to be impartial, I'm considering launching my own political party, a party for The Little People.
It's all to do with how we, the little people, are treated by big organisations who fill their TV ads and glossy brochures with promises about customer service that mean not a jot.
I won't bore you with the details of my particular battle, but ignoring the little people seems to be a trend shared by an increasing number of organisations.
You pays your money, you takes your choice - and then you're at their mercy. You're a captive market and there's nothing you can do about it.
Want your sofa delivered? Fine. Just take a day off work and twiddle your thumbs for eight hours as we really can't give you a smaller delivery window than 9am to 5pm.
How come we can put someone on the moon, map the human genome, get a wee wifie from Blackburn to rule the entertainment world but furniture retailers can't reduce an estimated delivery time down to a couple of hours? Want to call a company about your computer? OK, just cradle the phone until you lose the circulation in your arm and pay a peak rate tariff while someone with a limited grasp of English struggles to read a pre-prepared script.
I have Highers that didn't involve quite as much listening and interactive skills as getting through to my broadband provider.
Another way service nose-dives is when every hint of initiative is removed from someone involved in so-called customer service.
It then becomes a "computer says no" method of customer disservice.
Using common sense to sort out a complaint or re-arrange a delivery time is probably a sacking offence yet achieving customer loyalty is the holy grail of making a success of a business.
A few years ago I changed my bank to one that made the simple promise that when I made a call it would be answered by the branch down the road and not someone thousands of miles away.
That bank went on to make all sorts of global corporate mistakes but so long as I can call Jean at the branch I'm sticking by it.
Life is so complicated and we're all under so much stress that a little bit of corporate kindness goes a long way.
It's not rocket science. When I host business conferences chief executives always obsess about customer service and how to improve it.
They are The Big People striving to get their organisation to look after The Little People. But somewhere along the way they allow the middle-sized people to mess it all up.
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Losing it: Helpline rant
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| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Dec 20, 2009 |
| Words: | 488 |
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