ANSWERS: 15
  • No, it's becoming more "efficient" -- as in "save the bottom line at all costs". Outsourcing to overseas is very common, where cultural and language differences make it difficult to communicate; the extensive use of VOIP telephony often results in poor audio quality, and companies are going to great lengths to make it ever-harder to locate a human being. I just went through an extensive process of finance cleanup where I contacted many of the credit card and other financial accounts I have by phone -- I'd say maybe 10% of them offer an obvious "speak to a customer service rep" option in their voice mail, and it's NEVER on the first level of options. Most require that you GUESS at which point you should spontaneously press "0" to get out of voice response hell. The few companies that I've seen that were decent were mostly "higher end" accounts where more money can be made by transactions, such as home-equity line of credit. The bottom line is the altar on which customer service is being sacrificed. I think this will backfire someday.
  • I think in pursuit of saving a buck. Most companies that have outsourced the Customer Service end of their business to other countries are suffering because of it. I hear it all day at work. I don't want to talk to someone in India. It ends up costing them in the long run. So my assessment is no, it's not improving.
  • no. Its actually getting worse. Before I could actually get a live humanbeing on the phone that I could halfway understand... Now its either a cold machine or someone who has such a thick accent that its impossible to understand them... I just want to speak English... After 5+ years of speaking Spanish and Japanese I just want to hear English. I just want a human on the other end of the phone speaking English and not a machine telling me to push 12345 for English.
  • Absolutely not. Customer service used to be about "the customers always right." It seems now more like it's "the customer is always trying to scam us." And maybe that's true that in the past there was abuse on the part of certain economic groups of a business's need to retain customers, and I can understand the wariness that is exhibited. BUT I have run into business after business that even when you prove that they haven't given what you payed for or gave a crappy rendition or endangered you in some way they act like you're still just trying to rob them or pull the wool over their eyes.
  • I find that customer service suffers more and more on a daily basis, from local merchants like landscapers who don't return to finish work and restaurant owners who refuse to correct their mistakes to overseas customer care reps who can barely communicate due to language barriers and don't vary from their scripted answers. How can you help me if you don't understand the product you represent? How can you help me if you can't understand my question? How can you help me when you have no network or connection to any supervisors or consultants? And how can you help me when my business means nothing to you because there'll be someone to replace me if I refuse to do business with you again? I think much of this is the result of cost-cutting measures at the expense of the customer, the fact that the more global we become the more customers there are and one-on-one business simply isn't important anymore, and the more alienated we become as a society, the less actually caring about someone else means.
  • Agreed with the poster above... NOT IMPROVING rather slowly dying... It used to be about what the customers say, no age, no nationality... These days, shops do the EXACT OPPOSITE, the choose naionality, age hence religion... SAD but a FACT... "CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT? DON'T THINK SO! WHO'S RIGHT, THE PROVIDER OR THE CONSUMER? OBVIOUSLY THE PROVIDER! ALL THE CONSUMER DOES IS COMPLAIN WHILE THE PROVIDER DOES ALL THE HARD WORK!!! =S" That's how ppl these dayz look at it...
  • I don't know about other places, but in Miami, there is no such thing as customer service. If anything, you'll be cursed out in Spanish before anyone helps you.
  • Customers are no longer considered customers, they are now a revenue source. The less time working with the revenue source means that the few actual humans left dealing with them can process more revenue sources per minute. If you want service, you have to do it yourself. Anything from self checkout groceries to online banking have pretty much eliminated the human factor from business. Corporations don't lay people off anymore, they eliminate cost centers. We have become a disposable society. To repair a DVD player costs more than to replace it, to hire a person to fix it hurts the bottom line. Many phone systems are designed to refuse human interaction (please leave a message, and no one will ever call you back).
  • i agree with everyone..... this christmas seasons' shopping experience has been rough....i actually had a salesperson bump into me yesterday and instead of saying "oh, i'm sorry~may i help you find something?" it went more like...... "blah blah~sorry~blah blah"! as he practically ran over me tryin' to get by :( what in the world is goin' on anyway??!!??!! hell, i was tryin' to buy some north face stuff and was gonna spend 400-500 dollars when all was said and done...i left that store and went to another 1 just so i didn't have to spend money there.....
  • I must jump on the bandwagon. Absolutely not, in my opinion, also! I don't know about anyone else, but the worst places I've seen lately with no form of customer service whatsoever are, restaurants and grocery stores!
  • No way, its getting worse!
  • customer service is an oxymoron
  • I think it depends on the company.
  • nope, everything is going to "hell in a handbasket". they are laying off a bunch of nurses near me right before the end of the year. so much for "customer service".
  • I work with "customers" and i'm relatively nice but when you get in my face i don't take the "heat" Hear Empathize Apologize Try to make things better If someone is wrong they're freakin' wrong! I'm sorry i'm not here to babysit

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