Calling Customer Service

[cardine45]

I know everyone hates calling customer service for any company, but seeing as I'm a customer service representative, I wanted some info from customers' perspectives on why or what makes you call. You don't need to be nice for my sake, I understand most people hate calling most companies and think their customer service is worthless. I'm planning on going over the info I get with some of my co-workers so we can empathize with the customers a bit more as we've all been getting a bit run-down with the way we're treated lately. (By the way, I'm referring to customer service for companies you receive a bill from such as credit cards, electric, phone, cable, etc.)

So if you could, please answer the following questions:

1. Do you read the bill before calling if have a question about something on the bill?
2. How much of a difference from the previous bills amount prompts a phone call? (ex. $01, $1.00, $5, $50) Does it make a difference if it's a decrease or increase in the amount?
3. If you notice something wrong with your billing, how long before you call the company to get it corrected? (ex. same day you receive the bill, one week within receiving the bill, one month, whenever you get around to it, even if it's been a year)
4. Do you automatically ask for a supervisor instead of speaking with a regular representative?
5. Do you look at your bills each month? If so, do you scrutinize the bill, simply check the amount due, do a quick scan of the bill, etc?
6. Do most companies try to sell you something or review your account to see if they have better options? If so, do you generally let them or does it depend on other factors such as how they treated you during the call or if it seems like they're actually trying to help or just sell?
7. What is your general attitude when calling a company? Does it make a difference if you feel the company has done something wrong?
8. Do you have any other comments you'd like to make?

I really appreciate anyone's input. I'll comment a bit more about why I'm curious about this once I get some replies as to why I'm asking. I don't want my reasoning to sway anyone's responses, and I definitely want everyone to be as honest as possible.
Thanks so much

[ostrich]

Ack! Sorry I missed this Cardine! I'll try to help...

1. Yes, always.
2. Depends on the bill. Some of my bills are fixed. So if I notice a difference I'll call about it. Otherwise I know some of the bills change from month to month (like my cell phone bill).
3. I try to get it done the day I notice the problem. But usually I call the next day.
4. Not unless the rep is a complete idiot. Then I bypass them ASAP.
5. Yes. I check them line by line.
6. They usually just try to sell me stuff, which I ignore. If I wanted to buy your awesome product I would do so. No need to shove it in my face.
7. I try to be pleasant even if the company has done something wrong. I know it's not the rep's fault, so there's no real point in getting angry. Unless the discussion is going nowhere (see #4).
_________________
Ostrich :>--O==={

I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of

[Fifi]

I also work in customer service as well. I like to remember it isn't the reps fault.
1. Yes, I read my bill before calling. I hate for them to say "this was explained in the notes section of your bill".

2. I usually call if I think there is a mistake. I read the phone bill, so I know it depens on the number of calls. But like the Gas bill, ours jumped huge this year. The numbers matched the bill, I guess I really just wanted to verify and show that I didn't agree with it.

3. I try to call the company as soon as I notice the error. Usually I go through my bills within the week.

4. No, I try to see if the representative can help me. If they don't understand or aren't being cooperative, then I ask for a manager. I got hung up by a rep once, when I called back I specifically asked for a manager.

5. Yes I look at my bills each month. Usually a quick scan then if I see something that doesn't look right then I scrutinize.

6. Usually the hold messages try to sell something. I usually disregard. If I am calling for a problem or issue, I don't let them try to sell to me.

7. Because of my CS experience I try to be calm and pleasant. I am acceptable to an explanation if it is reasonable.

8. Customer service reps are people too. I try to treat everyone as God would want me to.

[ostrich]

[Kathie]

1. Yes
2. Depends on what account it is, I will also call if they have added a service charge for a late payment. Occasionally we are on vacation when a bill comes in and miss by a few days, as we always pay everything in full each month I figure I should not be penalized for that.
3. Within a week
4. No
5. Yes, in depth. (I know exactly what is spent down to the penny on credit card bills)
6. Yes, depends on what they're selling if its something I might be interested in I let them talk, otherwise I say no thank you.
7. I try to be nice the first time, but if its a repeated call for the same problem I can get a little bitchy, thats when I may ask for a supervisor early in the conversation as I figure they get paid more to take crap from irate people. Generally by the end of the second or third call if they aren't going to fix the problem I either cancel the service or given them a specific time frame to fix it or I will cancel.

Here is my number one pet peeve, when they have totally not taken care of the problem and they ask if there is anything else they can help me with today........ Come on, if you had helped me to begin with, then maybe we could talk. I know its SOP, but someone in management should get the point that when you KNOW you haven't done anything to solve the problem and the customer is completely disgusted with you, don't ask if there's anything else or if you are satisfied with the help you have been given.

Number 2 is when I call to cancel a service and all of a sudden they are willing to bend over backwards, when they didn't give a s--- before. When I switched from Sprint to Verizon last month I had 3 phone calls from different members of management offering new phones and all kinds of stuff if we would stay with them. At&t did the same thing when I canceled them, but you just try to get a new phone if you are having a problem with yours without signing a new 2 year contract if you don't threaten to switch carriers.
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CD by Biopsy 3/25/88

[cardine45]

First of all, I wanted to thank everyone for their responses. Second of all, why can't the customers who call me be more like the people who responded here?
Here are the reasons for asking each of the questions:
1. My main reason for asking was that the majority of the people who come in on my line glanced at the bill quickly and call immediately to have it explained. I had one person who wanted me to go over each bill from the last 10 months. She was nice enough to actually be looking at the bills, but she wouldn't/couldn't explain why I needed to explain each bill or why she didn't call when she got the bills to have them explained. I've had many people tell me that I am paid to explain their bills to them, so they have no need to actually read the bill or be looking at it when they call.
2. This question was because I've received multiple calls over a difference from their last bill of $.01. Is it really worth anyone's time to call over a penny? I understand that the economy is not doing well and everyone is pinching their pennies, but 99% of the time that there is a difference of a penny, it's because a lot of states have taxes such as 6.5% which will result in the taxes varying by a penny every once in a while. Now I guess I need to know if those who have never worked in customer service think it's easier to call than to pull out their last bill to see what the difference is.
3. I appreciate people calling sooner rather than later because our system only brings up the last 2 bills automatically. We have access to 18 months of bills, but it's a royal pain in the butt to access it. We also can't adjust anything unless it's in the current system (which means the 2 most recent bills). We have a basic rule that we will not credit anything past 3 months, and this is because we understand people are busy and may not have time to call immediately, but if there is truly an error, it eventually becomes the customers responsibility to notify us. If we don't know, we can't fix it.
4. Demanding a supervisor is really only necessary if the rep sounds like they don't know what they're talking about or if they are rude to you. It may only be my experience, but at the companies that I have worked for, you're more likely to get something done through a regular representative than a supervisor because we deal with the issues at least 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and we're more likely to know what is going on. Supervisors on the other hand are in charge of coaching, employee development, etc. They have so much on their plate, that they may not be aware of current issues going on, or they just have too much on their mind to help you to the same degree as a representative. When it comes to a representative being rude, just make sure you're not rude back. Most companies record most, if not all calls, and the rep will get in a lot more trouble if the customer was being nice and they were rude.
5. This was essentially answered above.
6. I wanted to thank Ostrich for her reply concerning this question. She is right, most companies require the representatives to attempt to sell products. Some companies are basically selling blind (they have no idea what you might need) At my job, we are required to make offers and we have sales goals that we can be fired if we don't meet them. I don't believe in selling something you don't believe in, and I don't believe in selling someone something they don't need. When I make offers, I do my best to tailor my offer specifically to their needs, and if they honestly have no use for it, I back off. I realize that customers have become conditioned to not listen because of the representatives who are trying to force things on them that they have no use for, but next time you call a company, if you normally don't listen, try giving them half a chance. Sometimes they're actually able to upgrade you for less (that is give you more for less money)
7. Be nice to the representative. Everyone I've talked to that I work with is more likely to issue a credit to a nice customer. Often, if a customer is really nice and understanding about it, I'll throw in a little bit of an extra credit if the error was the companies and not the customers fault. Also, if it's not something they necessarily deserve a credit for, I will only issue the credit if they are nice. Rudeness gets you absolutely nowhere most of the time.

Sorry that was so long, but I really wish more people would think twice before calling. I don't know how much of an effect unnecessary calls have on a company's profits, but I can pretty much guarantee that loss is passed on to the customer. I'm not saying not to call, just make sure you've done your part first. Because of what I do, when I do need to call, I usually wind up saying something to the effect of, "I am so sorry I have to bother you with this, but I've gone over the bill 5 times, and I just can't seem to figure this out." I know that's not necessary, but I don't want to be one of those people who calls about something they very easily could have figured out on their own.

Feel free to keep commenting, the more info I get, the more it could help me and my co-workers. I am a customer too sometimes, so I know it can get frustrating to be on the other end. Thank goodness my company actually pays well to make it worth it to deal with some of this stuff.

[cardine45]

[ostrich]

[Kathie]

[cardine45]