I use "Pyschological" tricks all the time. In all seriousness, I have to call Time Warner this week. Maybe I'll try this trick.

I've started to try the "authorization" excuse. I state that I recognize that they may not have the authorization to do what I need and ask if I have any other options because of this.

By the time it's appropriate to start offering them positive feedback, hasn't the opportunity for them to change course and get you taken care of already slipped?

If I were a customer care person, I'd be suspicious of the caller that said "Oh I just love the way you answered the phone! I'm going to write you a positive letter about my experience just as soon as I get off the phone!"

after 40 minutes on hold to directv, I cannot fake niceness. Just can't, won't even try.

Why not just start bribing CS reps? That's what low-level officials of corrupt African and Eastern European governments expect. I would think low-level employees of corrupt companies would work just as well.

@futuresuperbowlMVPJayCutler: Or American governments

@futuresuperbowlMVPJayCutler: Well, if it were most of Asia, thats what any-level officials of corrupt Asian Governments would expect.

@MostlyHarmless: and in Jersey as well --> [www.nj.com]

Does this make cancellation phone calls to Vonage any shorter or less painful?

It would seem that in most situations this would be a transparent attempt to kiss a** and seen as such. Where and to who were you going to write? I agree with the earlier poster who statedthat at the point that this would come up, the point to change course will have passed.

I've used this basic trick as the customer service agent. when people called for help, even though it was my job to help them, after they finished their spiel about what was wrong, I'd start off with an 'um..." a pause, then go with "Ok, here's what I'm going to do for you". Makes them think I'm on their side, going beyond my normal procedure just for them and much more willing to listen to me and follow my directions. So even though I hadn't actually done anything yet, they think I have.

There is nothing worse than fake snarkiness about your job performance.

Upgrade Denide!

Sad we have to lie or bride with flattery to get service we are entitled to anyway.

@Cuban Embassy: I've seen this work in situations where they say no to something you want, you just start in on " I know you aren't the one who made this call, you have tried so hard to be helpful, ect." They might magically find they can help somehow.

@fantomesq: my guess is after a day of people cussing and screaming, even a transparent attempt to kiss a** would be preferable to the norm.

My Mother always told me to Never Lie.

It is a rarity that I am impressed with Customer Service representatives. I am usually caught in the Adobe Hell of "I can't give you a license number that you did not receieve because you did not lose it" routine where the problem I have is not on the script, so therefore they are unable to assist me.

If I were even in a call where the CSR was competent and listened to my problem, and tried to resolve the issue, but could not, then I would try the psychology bit.

Every once in a while you will get a CSR that does go above and beyond, and it is a welcome relief (I opened a Credit card with Hotel points, and after the first purchase they were supposed to credit me 10,000 hotel points. This didn't happen, so we called the CSR, explained the problem, they apoligized, immediately credited the points I was due, and gave me another 5000 points for my trouble. I never requested the extra 5000 points, and the conversation was very polite and civil (so he was not trying to "buy me off" to calm me down. I understood that mistakes happen, give me my 10,000 points and I am happy, give me an extra 5000, and I will cry out of delight because I found a competent person.

I ask to speak to CSRs' managers to compliment them if they tried their best to resolve my problem. 90% of the time CSRs are helpful as they can be and they could use a little encouragement. I never blame hold time on the CSR I get because they can't control the phone que. Most managers are SHOCKED to hear a compliment and some CSRs don't even know who I would contact to give a compliment to (which is sad).

Is there a trick to get them to help you when they breach their privacy policy? Because I've been trying for 2 hours now, 3 supervisors and no one cares. No one wants to do a favor for you when they break the law.

Thanks, JPMChase.

@futuresuperbowlMVPJayCutler: Yes, lets start bribing everyone in sight. That way, we can pay to get out of paying for what we shouldn't be paying for in the first place!

@jamiesue: Probably the same individual to whom they refer complaints, IE their supervisor, or Customer Service Manager. If a CSR cannot figure that out on his/her own, they've probably also not been able to help me in any way to actually earn a compliment though.

@mbz32190: There's nowhere near the level of corruption in American government as there is in eastern Europe or Africa. It's disingenuous to try and compare them.

@Cuban Embassy: I had an outsourced callcenter rep do almost exactly that to ME -- she told me, IIRC, that I had a very nice, kind voice.

As it happened, I didn't have any issue with her at all. But I did wonder if I would have felt obligated to continue using my kind voice for longer if things had gone south.

@madame_underpants: At that point I at least aim for "pained" rather than "furious", though it can take some effort. The next time a rep picks up I tell him that I've had a very bad customer service experience so far, that I understand the situation isn't his fault, and I apologize in advance if I get a impatient or angry. It does help sometimes.

Let's hope you actually send the letter if you say you are.

T

@dbshaw: Sure, in the right context.

That would work on me if I was asking for a favor -- for example, I'm about to call my credit union and ask for a fee reversal because I tried to move money from the wrong account. It's blatantly obvious from the balances what I *was* trying to do, but I did make a mistake.

On the other hand, if I was calling because your company raised my interest rate, stole my dog, burned my house down, and then signed me up for Reservation Rewards, that line would seriously piss me off.

@squinko: You ARE kidding, right? Have you ever actually read many proposed bills?

Seriously, the US has the biggest, most established lobbying business in the world. Do you know what lobbying is? It is, in effect, bribery. As former head of a forming US political party, and then (and until the end of the week) head of an international association of political parties (see my icon), I've had to deal with a lot of this. US politics 101 - the seat goes to the person with the biggest campaign fund.

The US is one of the most undemocratic, and corrupt governmental systems in the world, and the fact that the media is legally allowed to lie makes it even worse. Poland and Serbia are more democratic, and less corrupt than the US.

Psychologists get paid for recommending flattery?!

@disneyninja: Contact the FTC, SEC, OCC, and your State Attorney General? Conduct an EECB?

How exactly did they breach their privacy policy? Was it an issue like this one? Bank's Fix For Erroneous Charges: Disclose Personal Information To Other Customers! or did they share your personal info with their affiliated businesses and partners (IE most of the companies in the S&P 500?)

@ktetch: The difference is that corrupt poor people scare us and corrupt rich people and corporations have PR firms and operate in the background. It's the only reason that encountering a cop in Ukraine makes us tense and seeing executives from Goldman Sachs on TV does not.

First you have to figure out what language they're speaking. It doesn't help to flatter in English if the CSR is speaking Urdu.

@jamiesue: Want to hear a surprised rep? I had reason to call up one of the "How's my driving?" numbers and leave a compliment. Confused the heck out of the rep who answered.

This isn't really anything new (golden rule and such). But if you're having a problem, no matter how mad you are, if you're calm, nice, polite, courteous and reasonable, it will go a long LONG way. Customer service people are still people, and they'll do whatever they can for you. But if you're a jerk, they will nail you on some little technicality that they could overlook if you were nice, but since you're an a-hole they aren't going to bend over backwards to help out a big, yelling jerk.

Ancient Despair.com proverb says: Flattery: you have to kiss a lot of bottom to get to the top.

Works much better than my trick of offering them sexual favors before the call ends.

@Trencher93: No, Psychologists get paid for designing a study to measure the effect of flattery on customer service responses compared to the calls where flattery isn't used. Does flattery give you a 50% better chance of the outcome you're seeking, or only a 5% chance?

The link here goes to a blog that refers to the concept of reciprocity, which has been studied quite a bit by psychologists. This blog is targeting the typical Psychology Today reader (who typically aren't psychologists) and letting them know that flattery has been studied and found to be effective.

@Keith Kacin: Yeah. Letters of praise and thanks can go a long way to making a CSR feel good. They can result in small rewards or perks or good reviews when it comes time for raises.

However, CSRs will be quick to pick up on the "letter of praise" routine if they think people are using it just to get what they want.

@flyingember:

And you know what they think? "Why in God's name does this person think they are so important?" SHUT DOWN MODE.

Seriously, there is no better way to piss off a rep than to make them feel incompetent and unable to handle your problem. More than likely, they can and are willing, without you being a dick and saying you don't think they can handle it.

@K-Bo:

No, I got absolutely nothing when I went over and above. I got a little print out with the customer's name and comment on it. That's it. No bonus, raise or anything.

You can bet that if I miss one stinkin' item on their call review that all hell came down upon my head. Forget the thousands of calls that I helped customer perfectly in.

I didn't care if people were happy with me. I knew I did a good job. All they care about is when you fuck up.

@savdavid:

I think it's sad how often people try to bully CSR reps, threaten them, YELL AT THEM, and generally make the job a living hell.

I tried to be nice to everyone, but sometimes that one damn customer who feels entitled to the world and the moon can really ruin your day. I tried to not let it affect me and usually won, but it's a very hard job.

In addition, fraud was rampant and I got so sick of people calling in demanding credits and free service for their bullshit customer service issues. I hated it when people tried to bully me on the phone, but at least I was polite in denying and stuff.

@Cuban Embassy: Yes, timing is everything. The customer service rep may be a little suspicious if you try this right after you call him/her a dumbshit.

@lim: i did that once when i saw a UPS driver prevent an accident by making a move to block a truck that was about to change lanes into a small car that the truck obviously couldn't see. he could see the big brown truck though! the rep at the how's my driving number said she didn't remember the last time she got a positive call.

'tell the agent that you're so impressed with his or her service and knowledge so far that you're going to write a positive letter or e-mail about your interaction to his or her supervisor as soon as you get off the phone'

This might not get you better service but it could get you the name of a supervisor to ask for on your next call.

Hello, CS reps and tech support? When you DO help me, I DO compliment you to your managers.

When you can't help me through no fault of your own, I will defend you with your manager when you have been professional and don't try to bullsh*t me.

I've done this with a Comcast rep in attempt to get my internet bill lowered (no particular reason why, just thought it was worth a shot). We were chatting through the online help chat, so that might be why it was less effective than say, the phone, would have been.

I still managed to get 6 more months of a promotional rate, and that may have been because I was so "impressed with her level of help". I did send an email about how nice she'd been.

I work customer service, so I know what it's like to get the good phone calls and the bad ones. There was one lady who called, asked if I was a manager, then when I said I was just a customer service person, she replied, "Oh, honey, no, you are never JUST a customer service person. I've worked in customer service myself for years, and I know how much work you have to do." This attitude definitely resulted in my trying harder to resolve her issue. But then again, being nice in general tends to do the trick.

@lim: I have very good UPS and FedEx drivers that will make sure to cover a package left on the porch if it's raining, try to put it out of sight, etc. Every once in a while when I'm particularly impressed I'll give the company a call to compliment the driver and I always get a call back from the local depot saying thanks, it's so rare for us to get a compliment and we appreciate it.

Shameless gloating: I'm friends with the author of that article and I've witnessed him use that trick several times. It appears to work, but you've really got to sell the CSR on how happy you are.

P.S.--the post spelled Psychology wrong. Twice.

@futuresuperbowlMVPJayCutler:
Great post. Right on the money.

@Patrick Henry:
Same here. I did customer service for DirectTV while I was in college, and there was no recognition for a good call, only reprimanding for the bad ones.

@Patrick Henry: I agree completely. That is a last-ditch effort that I resort to when I know I'm not going to get my way and need to annoy the CSR as a means of making myself feel better.