A Comparative Study in Customer Service

Author: V. Berba Velasco Jr., Ph.D.

This month, I experienced the misfortune of having two laptop computers break down on me within a single week. One laptop was less than eight months old; the other had failed five times in less than two years. As you can imagine, I was extremely displeased. Its always painful to see a loved one die.

I'm not here to bitch about flaky computers, though. (Believe me, Ive done plenty of that!) No, Im here to talk about the very different experiences that I had with the customer service representatives that handled each case. These laptops came from different manufacturers, and the quality of service that I received seemed to reflect very different customer service policies on the parts of these companies. In a moment, youll see what I mean.

Case Study #1: What were they thinking?

So I called up one of the manufacturers to explain that my laptop refused to power up. I also pointed out that this very same computer had failed four times before, each time, manifesting the same problem.

Without preamble, the technical support rep said, Tell me your e-mail address.

I was puzzled by this question and taken aback by his bluntness. I asked, Excuse me, but why do you need this information? Thats rather private.

Im going to send you a troubleshooting guide, he said.

Wait a minute, I interjected. My computer is down, and you plan to fix this by sending me something via e-mail? Did it occur to you that I might not have any e-mail access? Besides, I know what the problem is, since its happened repeatedly in the past.

Right off the bat, this fellow committed three clear mistakes. First, he failed to show proper respect in dealing with the customer. A properly trained rep would have asked for ones e-mail address in more deferential terms. Do you mind if I ask for your e-mail address? would have been vastly more polite.

Second, he failed to immediately let the customer know why he was asking for an e-mail address. People are naturally reluctant to share such details, as a matter of privacy (and as a safeguard against spam!). Thats why its very important to immediately let the customer know why youre asking for this information. Do you mind if I ask for your e-mail address? Id like to send you a troubleshooting guide, would have been a perfect way to ask.

Most importantly though, this rep clearly wasnt paying close attention to the customers problem. It should have occurred to the rep that the customer might not have e-mail accessafter all, his computer was down! Once again, this problem could have been avoided by asking a simple question, namely, Do you still have some means of e-mail access?

I suspect that these problems occurred because the customer service rep had been minimally trained and was following a fixed script. I say that because my subsequent questions seemed to catch him off guard, and so he responded with the same (rather non-sensical) answer.

Can you put me in touch with a manager? I asked. Instead of answering, he replied, Well, if you send your laptop to us, we will fix it for a fee.

This scenario played itself over and over again. This computer has failed me far too many times, and is obviously unreliable. Can you tell me which phone number I should call to provide customer feedback? I said. His reply: If you send it to us, we will fix it for a fee. (I rolled my eyes skyward.)

Thats not what Im asking, I said with deliberate tones. Can you tell me how I can contact your company to provide feedback on this product? If you send it to us, we will fix it for By then I had lost it. THATS NOT WHAT IM ASKING!!!! I yelled back in frustration.

Sadly, this was not an isolated incident. Indeed, I had similar experiences with this companys technical support reps before. This leads me to believe that the problem lies in part with the corporate culture of that company.

Now, some would point out that technical support calls are often outsourced to external call centers - agencies that are not directly under the computer manufacturers control. That is a valid point; however, I think its safe to say that the manufacturer should have some input into the call centers training and practices, after all, these people are representing them to the public at large. At the very least, they should be selecting a call center that does coach its representatives on how to deal politely and intelligently with Joe Q. Computeruser. Anything less would be foolish.

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