In todays Sideswipe in The New Zealand Herald there are a couple of customer service stories that make you cringe.
Are business really thinking? Do brands really care about the customer experience or is human error letting your side down?
The first story is about @Orcon. I am an Orcon customer for my broadband and have never had a bad customer experience with them. But this did make me chuckle.
Unsatisfied customer
Nick writes, “About a month ago, I had no internet. I rang my ISP (Orcon) and was on hold for 45 minutes before hanging up in disgust. The next day my internet was working so I left it at that. Last week, I received a call from Orcon asking me to judge my experience as I have recently called up with a fault. I told the woman on the other end that yes, I had called up and was on hold for 45 minutes so I hung up without talking to anyone. She then told me that I couldn’t take part in the customer satisfaction survey as I never actually talked to anyone! Talk about skewing the figures! Don’t answer the helpline, don’t talk to anyone and you’ll keep a perfect record!”
The 2nd incident is a story at a BP Service station
PR disaster for BP
Darryn writes, “I was at a BP Service Station on Saturday morning and overheard an elderly lady saying to staff behind counter that she didn’t know how to use the pumps. The staff member replied: ‘Sorry love, but there are written instructions on the end of the pump. If you still have problems, there is an 0800 number to ring. Phone that and they will ring us here and we can then send someone out to help you.’ Thankfully, a member of the public overheard and was more than happy to help her fill her car.”
Perhaps both these companies need to take a second look. After all it’s these small incidents that people talk about, publish in newspapers, blog about and share on Twitter. It is the little things that count. Perhaps “being pedantic” should be on your Customer Experience Manager’s job description…
