For those of you who missed by blog last week, you’ve got to go back and read about my latest customer service experience with Verizon so you’re up to speed.
My question was, “How could Verizon have handled this situation better?” What would you have done differently if you were the representative? Compare my suggestions with what you came up with.
1. If you are going to tell me someone will take care of this right away, you better know that’s true. When the next person he transferred me to didn’t help me, I was left with a broken promise. Don’t say things definitively if you are not sure they will happen.
2. The first guy also said they would see why I don’t have enough credits. He didn’t listen to me. The show I was trying to watch was free. Why would I need credits? The rep should have either explained what credits mean in Verizonland, or he should have acknowledged that I was correct and should be able to watch a fee show ON DEMAND. Customers feel less frustrated when they know you understood them. I didn’t feel that.
3. The transfer: when you are passing someone off to someone else, don’t make the customer repeat themselves again, especially when they are having a problem. The last thing they need is to rehash the very thing that is making them angry. You do that before you transfer them. This way, if they next person can’t help them, which was my case, perhaps you can find someone else who can. And if the person can help them, at least the customer won’t have to repeat themselves and they can get right into solving the problem.
4. Again, it’s all about listening to your customer. Rep # 2 should have known I was already transferred to her from tech support and should not have tried to pass me off again without getting more information.
5. She let me go. After my last angry (sarcastic?) comment, she let me hang up. Truth be told, she couldn’t have stopped me, but no one ever followed up with me. They left me hanging, exasperated, angry and ready to share my horrible experience with the world. Boo, Verizon!
Now in fairness, I have to tell you, I did try again a few days later when my daughter came out to stay with us and tried to watch another show on demand. And the experience I had was quite different.
The first person I got on the phone listened to me. He acknowledged what I said and apologized for the prior bad experience. He asked permission to try a few things with me on the phone. I said it was late again, and I wasn’t in the mood to be on the phone another 45 minutes like the last time, but I would give him a shot. After the second attempt to fix the problem, here’s what he said…………….”I know you said you were tired,”……………………wow, you really listened to me? ….”so I don’t want to keep you on the phone any longer. Would it be ok if I try some things on my end and I’ll call you back to see if it fixed the problem?” Wait, you mean I don’t have to continue staring at this box with the phone on my ear for another 20-30 minutes? A little apprehensively I agreed. I did a few things around the house and peered back into the guestroom a few minutes later and the TV had a message saying turn your TV off and on again to reset the system. I slowly picked up the remote, clicked it off and back on……loading data……then my phone rang. It was Super Verizonman. He asked if I could get the show on demand now. Reluctantly I went through the process, and low and behold…..Game of Thrones!
Thank you Super Verizonman. Thanks for listening. Thanks for taking ownership of the problem. Thanks for seeing it through. I love you……
Thoughts…….. Contact me at abbe@TECResourceCenter.com
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