Customer Service not knowing anything

[violetyoshi]

Now, I know the people from Customers Suck come here, so I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of grief from them over this. I've been trying for the past 2 days to get more games and apps on my T-Mobile phone.

Having to explain to whoever is taking customer service, 3 times I need more games and apps, not that I'm so stupid as to not be able to find the games. When I bought the phone, I told the employee there I wanted easy access to games, you would think they would've thought "Oh this person might want a data plan" no.

I'm wondering why it takes having to talk to a manager to seemingly get anything done. People are hired clearly without the qualifications for the job, and the customer, has to try and teach the employees half the time how to do their job because the manager didn't bother.

[Rapscallion]

We have a section for cursing out colleagues, and we have sections for morons in management and sightings. We know full well that the suck isn't always on the other side of the counter.

However, as a company executive, you look at your operation. You have capable, knowledgeable employees with many years service. They cost more on payroll than the fresh-from-school people with all the knowledge and customer service skills to learn.

You have a balance sheet. You want to earn your bonus. You have to keep the shareholders happy. You could train up new people and gradually replace the best staff with people trained internally, or you could treat the customer with contempt and not provide them good service by knowing that a fancy marketing campaign with offers will get enough people through the door to make sure that something sticks.

The system is set up to benefit the shareholder and nobody else. Employees suffer, and the customer suffers. However, the customer also sees special offers and goes for them like a lemming for a cliff.

There's very little innocence in the game.

Rapscallion

[Slytovhand]

Oh how true!

Where I work(ed ah, 2 more shifts.. and dunno how long I'll stay for the second... are Spurs playing on Sunday afternoon?.. anyway, back to the rant), the almost intentionally hire younguns, usually at uni. They don't give a stuff, they don't turn up to work, they don't learn a hell of a lot, and they give not only bad advice, but also attitude to the customers (granted, some deserve it). But the amount of bonus pay I'm losing from fixing up other people's mistakes is getting (ok, got) annoying.

And I will slightly disagree with you Raps, though it may well be because of workplaces and countries. Most employees (at least until fairly recently) in the place I'm escaping from were on the exact same pay regardless of how long they were there. It's only since last year that they started making a (slight) difference based on experience. But, after 2 years XP, everyone would be on the same anyway...

Also, it costs a hell of a lot more to put someone through the training programs (setting up licences, getting all the priorities, pay, HR, etc etc) than to just keep the ones you've got. It costs less to let someone go than to hire a new person. So, it would make more financial sense to keep the good ones (especially if the new ones are losing customers).

[Boozy]

However, the customer also sees special offers and goes for them like a lemming for a cliff.

That's a very good point.

To some extent, people are right when they say that customer service "isn't what it used to be". But we aren't willing to pay for it anymore, are we? Food and other basics used to cost my parents' about 50% of their take-home income. We'd go to a grocery store, stroll the well-kept aisles, ask help of any number of friendly and available staff if we couldn't find anything, have our bags expertly packed at the cash, and take advantage of their complimentary carry-out service.

Today, I can't find a damned thing, can't find anyone to ask, scan and pack my own groceries into the bags I had to bring myself, and haul it all out to my car. But I wouldn't have it any other way, because shopping at a "no-frills" store saves me about a hundred dollars a month.

There are fancier places to shop in my city, but I'm not willing to pay for the privilege of shopping there. It seems so obvious to me that customer service is something that costs money. And yet every day that I'm at my bargain store, there is some customer bitching about the "lack of customer service."

Customer service isn't free. It isn't a god-given right. You have to pay for it.

[lordlundar]

Also, it costs a hell of a lot more to put someone through the training programs (setting up licences, getting all the priorities, pay, HR, etc etc) than to just keep the ones you've got. It costs less to let someone go than to hire a new person. So, it would make more financial sense to keep the good ones (especially if the new ones are losing customers).

Yes it would. But you have to remember that these are people who can't see past their own bonuses. Consider the issue that while yes, proper training and admin costs do make it more expensive, more new hires are having to fight to simply get their proper pay and almost none receive proper training, which cut costs considerably.

Finally, despite their claims, they're not looking for someone who will do the job exceptionally well, because that's a threat to them (the person they hired does well and replaces them. It's why it's so tough to get a good performance review). They're looking for someone who they can treat like shit and will take it.