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StumbleUponMona Shaw walked into her local Comcast customer-service office one day last summer swinging a claw hammer. The feisty 75-year-old clobbered several pieces of office equipment before she was stopped. "Now do I have your attention?" she asked.
Reliable phone service was critical for Shaw and her husband. They lived in rural Bristow, Virginia, with no neighbors nearby and a history of calling for emergency medical assistance. The Shaws were switching to a Comcast phone-Internet-TV package, but after days of spotty phone service, a botched installation attempt, a missed service appointment, and blithe indifference, Shaw decided to visit the Comcast office.
She waited two hours for the manager before a customer-service rep announced that he had gone home for the day. That was the last straw for the secretary of the local square-dancing club. Shaw went back to her house and fetched her hammer. "They thought just because we're old enough to get Social Security that we lack both brains and backbone," Shaw told The Washington Post.
Was Mona Shaw's reaction extreme? You bet. She received a three-month suspended sentence for disorderly conduct, a $345 fine for damages, and a year-long restraining order that barred her from going near the Comcast office. Consumers across the nation identified with her frustration.
As costs balloon and paychecks shrink, customers are chasing value while merchants are chasing profits. Naturally, there are some nasty collisions. But good service is, in the end, good business-and it's something both sides want. Before you open your mouth to complain about poor customer service, you need to ask yourself two questions: Do I have a valid complaint? Am I expecting a reasonable solution? If the answer to both questions is yes, you can use the strategies here to get satisfaction for almost any transaction.
All valid complaints start the same way. You expect one outcome but get another. It's just like algebra class: x dollars = y service. If you're getting 1/2y, then you should have to pay only 1/2x. Or perhaps they can throw in z, where z is something you feel equals 1/2y. It's a simple matter of balancing the equation.
Just how much time should you spend on the problem? Calculate your income as an hourly wage. If your time is worth $30 an hour, don't spend all day chasing down a $25 refund. Life is short. Hold times are long.
Give regular customer service a shot first. Concisely and calmly explain your problem. If they don't do what you want, try repeating the reasons. If the first rep is stuck on no, call back and get a different one. Talking to a supervisor sometimes works. If it doesn't, it's time to escalate your tactics by following these tried-and-true tips from satisfied customers.
DICTATE THE OPTIONS
HOW TO DO IT: Begin the call by saying, "I have a situation that you are going to fix for me today." Clearly state in a sentence or two exactly what you want them to do for you. Have your options figured out. It may help to write them on an index card and keep it in front of you.
WHY IT WORKS: You set the tone and expectations from the outset. You'll skip the "if" of helping you and get right to the "how." You'll save time, and not just for yourself. Many call centers work on commission and incentives. It's a high-stress environment. The faster the rep completes his calls, the bigger his bonuses.
In the past, it wasn't unheard-of for AOL reps to hang up
on customers if they tried to cancel their accounts. One
insider told me he took stress medications until he got
acclimated to the job and its pressures. He became one of AOL's top guys when it came
to convincing people not to cancel their accounts. His reward? Thousands of dollars a month in bonuses and an annual all-expenses-paid trip to Mexico. Not surprisingly, an AOL spokesperson says, "It is not our policy for representatives to achieve time targets by hanging up on customers. Such behavior could result in termination."
ONE EXAMPLE: Lona Nicholle has a reputation as a customer-service avenger, so friends and family are always asking her for help. Like the time her sister-in-law's new computer went kaput. She had to reinstall the operating system but realized she'd never received the disc. She went back to Best Buy; they wanted to charge her $100 to load the missing software onto her computer.
Nicholle called Best Buy and gave them two options: Give her sister-in-law the CD or install the software free. The manager said no to both. Nicholle asked how he would be solving the problem. After putting her on hold, he told Nicholle to have her sister-in-law come in and he would take care of her.
When the sister-in-law showed up, the manager again tried to charge her full price. A quick call to Nicholle changed his tune. Best Buy installed the software free, after all, because Nicholle had established the parameters of their agreement when she made her first call. Best Buy says simply, "Happy customers are invaluable. We will do what it takes to make sure the issues are resolved."
THREATEN TO CANCEL
HOW TO DO IT: Tell the company that unless it solves your problem, you're taking your business to a competitor. It's helpful to cite the other company's enticing promotional offers. A deal-sealing phrase? "Give me a reason to stick around."
WHY IT WORKS: One study shows that if a business hangs on to an extra 5 percent of its customers, profits increase an average of 44 percent. In contrast, the cost of replacing you is five times the cost of making you happy. Some companies even have a special division-the "retention department"-with specialists trained to convince you not to leave, even if they must dangle credits and freebies in front of you.
ONE EXAMPLE: Anne Braswell decided that the interest rate on her Citi
MasterCard, 13.99 percent, was a little steep for her taste. She called customer service and asked if she qualified for a lower rate. The rep said no but told her to try again in a month. Braswell said, "Well, you can probably see from my account activity that I'm no longer charging any purchases to this card. Don't be surprised when you see my entire balance get transferred elsewhere."
With those words she was put through to a retention specialist, who bumped her rate down to 3.99 percent. Braswell says the moral of the story is "It never hurts to ask."
A Citigroup spokesman agrees: "We are pleased that our standard practice was followed in achieving a satisfactory result for the customer."
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