Thursday, September 17, 2009

╠ Solve your problems on my terms ╣


I recently moved and of course what comes with that is calling up all of the people who offer services and being put on hold indefinitely. Now I understand that this is what people are used to but it could be so much better.

Why should I be sitting at the phone waiting for someone to be free and pick up the phone. Is there any value to me being on the line? Unless you're Telstra and you're making money prolonging phone calls then there is no value.

Waiting on hold is annoying, plain and simple. One thing I found recently in my search for internet was how Dodo had the ability to register your interest and they would call you when they're free.

Sure you may have to wait by the phone for a bit, but you're not on the phone wasting money and time. I don't understand why companies cannot adopt a system like this. Call up or register online that help is needed and then they call you asap. If you're online you can even have a nice little animation showing expected call time or something.

Sure it costs you a call but I can tell you, after you've spent twenty minutes on hold, the degradation to your personal brand in that individuals mind is well worth the effort. An example I have is where I had an issue with Telstra's bill. So I had to spend half an hour of my time, and probably $30ish of credit just to get them to fix a problem that they created.

So this is my cry out for customer service that actually serves a changing customers needs. Move with the times. Being on hold should be being pushed to be a thing of the past.

2 comments:

Nakey said...

problem with that is if that's your only time to contact them, then there's a great deal of back and forwarding just to get what you need. that's an extra hassle.

when the company is in high demand, and your only avenue for calling them is within allocated times, this can and does frustrate people. Dodo isn't the only company to let you leave a place in the queue, but i find for such a company, it's better to call early when there's barely anyone waiting in the first place...

Tannie said...

If you're getting up early to call them there's nothing saying you can't get up early to place yourself in a queue. Conversely the queue option could also have a time preference under which you want to be contacted. A phone appointment so to speak.