Comments on: When did the customer cease being right?

By: Chris Dolley

Chris Dolley — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:40:09 +0000

And in mine. In fact I’d just finished a story - Press Three For a Helicopter - where a call centre plays a prominent part, a day before my phone line died. Probably having taken umbrage:)

By: Skip

Skip — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:43:05 +0000

It’s not only in Stross’ stories. There’s certainly at least a hint of this in the Keith Laumer short story ‘In the Queue’. I think that one may be in one of the free books at the baen library.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:03:40 +0000

If its not new, It will probably continue in the future, so why is it only in Charlie Stross’ stories we see this sort of thing in the future?

the stuff SciFi authors write about gets into the imaginations of engineers, and then - eventually - ok sometimes - it gets fixed.

jbd

By: Steve Turner

Steve Turner — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 02:13:22 +0000

I think the customer ceased being right when it became more cost-efficient for companies to outsource their call centres, and those companies make better profits by getting people on and off the phone quicker than they do actually solving the problems.

Over a decade ago I worked in Internet tech support, and one of the final straws before I left the job was this realisation. You were not being judged on whether you solved a customers problem, you were judged on how quickly you got a customer off the line, which was easier for them to put in their reports to send back to the phone company, and make better profits for all concerned.

So unless your service problems cause serious death or injury, or you can kick up enough of a stink to really get noticed (something like a class action), then these companies will keep behaving this way because it suits their profit motives better. That’s usually how it all works now of course …

By: Skip

Skip — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:28:20 +0000

Back in 1987, Infocom published an interactive fiction text adventure titled Bureaucracy, that had been written by Douglas Adams. The game starts with you entering a change of address form, and you then spend the rest of the game trying to get it sorted out. As you do things incorrectly, your blood pressure rises, and if it reaches a certain level, you have an aneurism and die, and lose the game. It was one of the more difficult text adventures they ever produced, and quite fun. Probably not for you, though, with your experiences so fresh.

The funny thing is, it basically came from a true story as its roots. Adams had moved from one apartment to another in London, and had to jump through many hoops to get things sorted out. His credit cards got canceled, among other things. In the end the bank apologized, sending the apology letter to the wrong address.

So I’d say that this isn’t a new phenomenon.

By: Misty Massey

Misty Massey — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:05:44 +0000

Last year, tax time was fast approaching, and we realized we had never received a statement of interest paid on our second mortgage. “No problem,” I said. “There’s an 800 number on the loan book. I’ll just call them.”

I spent most of a week calling and following the computerized voice. No matter what I did, I always seemed to find myself stuck in a loop that led me to a recitation of the branch locations and hours. Pressing “0″ or saying “operator” just started the whole process over again. Finally I called one of the branch locations, and spoke to a charming young teller who, upon hearing my tale of woe, tried the 800 line herself, and was shocked to realize how useless it was. She found me the super-secret 800 line to the mortgage office, and a name to go with it. “Hooray!” I thought. “Now we’re down to business.”

Except that the woman whose name I’d been given was apparently hiding under the desk with the manager from your story, because another week went by, with me leaving voicemails and hearing no response. At last, I called the branch again, and spoke with the charming young teller. She found me ANOTHER super-secret number, which at last led to a receptionist named Rudy. Rudy not only agreed to send out another copy of the form I needed, but gave me the numbers over the phone, so that I could finish my taxes on time.

Lesson being…don’t deal with anyone in charge. Talk to the tellers and receptionists. They’re the only ones who have a clue.

By: JDC

JDC — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:41:58 +0000

When did the customer stop being right? When the customer stopped buying by anything except price. Like all good generalities, this isn’t universally true. But why did you switch from France Telecom in the first place? I’m guessing because the alternative is cheaper. It doesn’t always pan out but very often the really cheap option is “good enough”.