Blog: Tales from Customer Support Hell

Answering customer help calls/emails/posts is a tough job. It is often frustrating, unrewarding and low paying. For those who do it well, you are true unsung heroes.

For those who do it not so well--please find another job.

One of my most memorable experiences with truly hellish customer service was with a satellite internet company that I won’t name. Out where I live, high speed internet was not easy to come by prior to the launch of air cards a few years ago. So satellite was my only choice for awhile.

The satellite system functioned as it should about half the time until one day it gave up entirely. To make a long story short, tech support was of no help--after exhausting all of their excuses that centered on something *I* was doing, they finally sent a field tech out to my house, who also couldn’t fix the problem.

In the middle of this, I get my monthly bill from them for $79 and decided to call them to suspend billing until they fix the system. After all, by this time the system hadn't worked for almost three months.

Their response?

“You need to keep paying. When the problem is finally fixed we will credit you for all of the time that it didn’t work”.

Are you kidding me?

They weren't. When I replied that I would not pay them until the system was fixed, they stated they would send my account to a collection agency once the bill became past due. Needless to say, I canceled the account.

Another goodie from the Customer Support Hell File was an encounter I had with the telephone company. Their customer service was never stellar but when they converted to the voice recognition menu system it truly went downhill. It wasn’t that the service was so bad, it was that it was next to impossible to get connected to the right department.

I once tried to have a business line installed and was repeatedly connected to the wrong department. I called eight times--no exaggeration--and was connected to the collections department that handles Maine, residential service in Virginia, field service in Maryland, and even a human resources department in I-forgot-which state.

I finally got someone in Maryland but she said she only handled residential service. I was exasperated and replied “Why does this keep happening to me?”

She replied in a very cocky sarcastic tone “I have no idea but I’ll make something up if it will make you feel better”.

Nice, huh?

Other experiences of note from the Hell File:

• Waiting 2 hours in an examining room at a doctor's office and being told by the nurse to feel grateful for getting this far
• Getting an invoice for 15 minutes of time for discussing a previous invoice that had errors
• A postal employee's solution to a complaint of receiving the wrong mail almost daily for a month: “Just go around and ask your neighbors if they have your mail….then just switch”
• A comment from a cashier at a small gift shop “If you want to buy something, can you do it now, so I can go on break?”
• A single diner at a restaurant asked to move to a smaller table – after he already started eating

Fortunately, positive customer experiences are on the rise as companies that have always provided top notch service receive public recognition (and positive reinforcement) via social media. Also, many companies with not-so-great customer service are stepping it up as a response to public scrutiny on Facebook and Twitter. 

As a consumer, the greatest impact we can have on the current and future customer service policies of companies both large and small is to be as vocal about positive experiences as we are about negative ones. Companies love to hear from you when things go well and often, "giving credit where credit is due" encourages employees to continue with positive behaviors. 

On that note, these three Westminster businesses are at the top of my list for providing stellar customer service and providing an all around fabulous customer experience: Starry Night Bakery, The Hairport and the dental office of Dr. Sudharani V. Chary.  Thank you!

Have a favorite or two? Please share!