The Ultimate Customer Service Experience

Blog Post 56 Bad Customer Service

Photo courtesy of www.flickr.com

It all started out innocently enough.  It was Monday night.  I had plenty of time before Dancing with the Stars (yes, I like to watch that show) to pay bills and get our financial house in order.  I sorted everything out.  Bills in one pile.  Stuff to file in another.  Receipts to enter into my financial software into still another.

I opened the program, only to have it deny my password.  Huh?  I didn’t remember changing it.  So I did what every normal person does when she can’t remember a password.  I requested a new one.  Except that I my user name didn’t seem to exist anymore.  The website for the company was kind enough to provide that when I asked for it.  But the answer to my security question?  I tried every combination I could think of.  No dice.  I was locked out like the NBA players a few years ago.

Now envision the smoke coming out of my ears as I struggled with this for the rest of the night.  All to no avail.  I knew what I had to do, and it gave me the willies.  I had to contact customer service.

The first thing I did was go to their website.  How many of you have scrounged around on a website to try and find a phone number because you want to talk with a real person rather than deal with FAQs, communities, chat rooms, and such?  It’s almost like some companies really don’t want to talk with you, so they push you in every other possible direction.  The FAQs didn’t fit my issue.  They never do.  And chat rooms?  I don’t like that mode of discussion.  And communities?  I didn’t want to ask someone I didn’t know about my issue since it involved passwords.

Finally, after much digging, I found a customer support…get ready for it…phone number.  I called.  Of course, they were closed since they’re only open from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon Pacific Time, Monday through Friday only.  Foiled again!

Tuesday, I had to spend part of the afternoon working at home so I could speak with a real person—if I could get through.  When I dialed, it came up as a forty-minute wait time.  What?  Forty minutes of Muzak?  It turned into more like fifty minutes, and the tunes are still stuck in my head.

When I finally got through, the tech guy was someone I could barely understand.  And he didn’t seem to know how to handle my problem and finally referred me to the Data Research Team.  He promised I’d hear from them within forty-eight hours.  Did I?  Nope.

Last night, rather than finish my blog post, I called them again.  This time?  I got prioritized by Data Research.  They were kind enough to follow through like they’d promised.  I sent them the needed information.

Now, I still in a waiting mode.  Will they come through?  Or will I wind up shopping around for some new software?

Time will tell on that one.

This post does not mention any products.  Therefore, I am not receiving any compensation for writing this post.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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