Customer service – where is the service?
In the past month I have dealt with several frustrating customer service issues.
The first dealt with a downed Internet connection. I have Qwest DSL, so when it went out, naturally I called them.
The first step is to navigate through the computerized menu system to an actual operator. One of the steps is to enter my phone number.
This isn’t a problem, as I do know my phone number. After listening to the menu, I finally get to an operator. What is the first question I am asked? “What is your phone number?”
This is annoying. Dealing with computers, I am painfully aware of their capabilities.
First, the caller ID – this is the phone company, remember – displays my number, and second, I just entered it. So, either their programmers don’t know how to transport data from point A to point B, or the phone people don’t know how to interact with customers other than reading the scripts.
As a matter of protest I refuse to answer any question twice for customer service.
Why should I waste my time providing already known information? This resulted in a long diatribe with the operator as to why that is the stupidest question the phone company can ask a customer. It didn’t accomplish anything.
The second incident dealt with canceling my unused credit cards. As a college student, I get dozens of credit card applications each year.
Most get tossed, but if one offer catches my eye, I give it a second glance. I have accumulated about 10 different credit cards over the years, which I don’t use. So, to reduce this number, I decided to cancel one.
I call the customer service number, and the computer asks me to enter my account number.
I’m sure they also have caller ID, so they can cross-reference my credit card number from my phone number if they cared to, but for the sake of “security” they ask for my credit card number.
So I enter it. The computer then asks what I want to do, blah, blah, blah – so I hit 0 to get the operator.
The customer service representative answered and immediately asked that dreaded question “Can I have your account number, please?”
No!! The answer is NO! You already have it! How hard is it to look at the computer screen and read my account number?
Is there some strange information vacuum in the phone line that sucks the numbers I pushed just a minute ago out of the computer?
I tried to explain my position to the customer service rep, but I was unable to convince her to not read from the script.
If the government can tap all phone calls – who, what, when, where and the actual conversation – and collect all of the data from these very phone lines, why can’t these companies?
After five minutes of refusing to give my account number, she finally relented and asked for the last 4 digits of my social security number. What?
The only way you can verify that is if the computer is showing it, because I don’t ever punch that in.
Finally, I gave in, so I could continue what I wanted to do – cancel my credit card. More “security” questions followed.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against security in credit card customer service.
However, in my case, I was calling to cancel a credit card.
I am not aware of the gang of criminals that I must be protected from when canceling a credit card.
You know them, right? These sly criminals break into a residence, find a credit card lying around, call the credit card company from the home phone line, and cancel the credit card. Oh, the humanity! Will they ever be caught?
It’s a good thing the customer service representatives ask those security questions. Asking for the account number twice really stops them dead in their tracks.
I just read an article about customer service in the UK at reviews.cnet.com where the customer service call center gets the information on the account using Caller ID, and has it available without having to ask for it once.
But the phone company doesn’t want to let on that they have this technology. It’s probably still a well-guarded secret.
Columnists' opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of The Spectrum