Right hand not talking to the left hand…
Pestered by darling daughter into getting her phone upgraded: you know, it’s a fashion thing although you’d be hard pressed to get the little tinker to admit that … ‘No, Dad – it’s got nothing to do with the look of the phone I’ve spotted, it’s just the one I’ve got doesn’t work properly and I think you can get me onto a tariff with unlimited texts for the same money’ said Pinnochio. Anyway I digress …
Step 1: had to find out whether her phone contract was eligible for upgrading the phone: “the computer, it says NO”. But sprog had received a text message saying she was. Ah, the old left hand and right hand syndrome.
So I give the customer services lot a call and they say: ‘cos you’re such a great customer, we’d be happy to upgrade the phone and change the tariff’ … OK, so obviously talking to the left hand which is turning out to be nice and friendly. Then confirm that I will also get the 4Gb memory card that they’re advertising on their site as part of the phone package: they say ‘Yes’ … happy days.
Phone arrives next day = deep joy. But no 4Gb card … an oversight, but foregiveable given previous interaction. So back onto the phone … let’s face it, little worse than Dad failing to deliver a simple thing like a phone package advertised on a site where there’s a daughter involved: especially the gobby one I’ve got.
So call up customer services …. Aaaaaaaaarrggggggghhhh or words to that effect. The right hand is back in play. Summary of conversation:
“No sir, you’re not eligible for the memory card – that’s an internet offer only” says right hand.
“But I was allowed to get it on site, I had to get it through the customer services dept” says me.
“Nothing I can do sir, it’s an internet only deal” says right hand.
Put down phone as blood and bile start to rise. Jump around the office howling at the moon. Calm down. Back onto their site … looking for customer services complaints. Send off e-mail informing asking them quite politely: “Are you mad? My darling daughter has spent about £1K in call costs over last 2 years ( I started crying with this sudden realisation) and you lot are quibbling over something that retails for £10 so presumably costing you no more than £2-£3 … and I am signing up for another 18 months”.
Not sure whether I am sending this to the left of the right hand, but off it goes. In the meantime, go and buy a memory card from T-mobile site … thinking, well I need the card and I am not waiting to see what happens – they can always rebate the cost if the left hand has got anything to do with it.
Hooray, it’s left hand sending an e-mail …”terribly sorry, you’re wonderful (OK, a bit of poetic license there), memory card in the post”. Now I have 2 memory cards with the one I bought being credited so I seem to have got a free card … so all’s well that ends well.
The lessons:
Some brands seem to think that customers only use one channel, never two … or can’t be bothered with those of us who do. Don’t make it difficult for us ‘cos you’ll lose … get some buzz metrics in place and you’ll see lots of people like me ranting, reviewing and scoring … and guess what: others are more likely to listen to me than you, Mr Brand Manager.
A single customer view would probably have helped bring left and right hand together and avoided the above. But if that’s too expensive, then for the love of God, please recognise your big spenders and get a specialist retention team in place so we can get a nice big warm feeling … after all if you’re a customer it’s all about me, me, me.
Chris
Life’s a gas…
Most of you with recognise this tale. Get first winter utility bill and say “How much? The thieving little … (sound of bleeps)”. So immediately onto the price comparison sites.
Actually find out that I would save most with British Gas … slightly unusual as I am BG dual fuel customer!!! Apparently I am on the wrong tariff – an being an energy expert like the rest of the customer base, I should know that !
So, onto customer services … “Yes, you would save money if you were on that tariff” says call centre lady. “Just go onto our website and you should be able to transfer”.
It’s amazing how for a split second you feel like you should be apologising for wasting their time because all of this should have been bleeding obvious. And then a voice starts screaming in my head …
What?!! Hold on a minute. I have had to find out from a 3rd party that you’re effectively ripping me off and I haven’t heard the merest hint of an apology, no trace of recognition.
C’mon people, if this information is in the public domain … then how long do you think it’s gonna take for your customers to find out! And guess what …
“ Taxi”. I’m off to someone else … even if it cost me a little more.
Lessons:
If you’re not going to be proactive, then at least scenario plan so that a somewhat stroppy customer can be mollified better … perhaps even change tariff for them (God that’s almost helpful, so probably not) to make up for some of the time spent by customer finding out they’ve not been advised well.
Obviously better to pre-empt the potential problem. So what about the following … let’s assume you haven’t got the money or IT resource to create lapser propensity models; you’ll know there are key times for customers to be looking at outgoings … and New Year is one of them (especially with the price comparison sites advertising like there’s no tomorrow during January).
So what about BG approaching me in November offering to do a tariff review … so “go on-line and let’s see if we can ensure you’re on the right tariff” – even if it’s done on a test size to prove/disprove business case. So they’re proactive, customer-centric, and pre-empt the inevitable but with more control rather reacting to an ill-tempered customer.
In other words, look at other sectors like the mobile phone sector and proactively tailor products to suit customers.