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Medicare is confusing, but you should understand it a lot better after you peruse all the manuals and training materials the outsourced 1-800-MEDICARE call center has posted online for their phone reps! [CMS]
You may get customers who are contacting us with regard to several articles which were published recently, accusing Comcast of blocking or otherwise filtering customers’ Internet traffic. An in-depth AP story suggests Comcast is hindering our customers’ ability to use BitTorrent, a peer to peer file sharing program. If a customer contacts us to inquire about this, please use the following talking points.
“I am writing this because I feel more and more as I work there that I can’t sit back and watch Comcast fall flat on its ass when it comes to customer service. I hate to say it like that but Comcast’s customer service is amazing. I am going to tell you a few things that you may not believe happens in a call center but it does. I am leaking this information in hopes that Comcast will know that their customers are fully aware of what is going on and that their screwed up actions should be stopped in their tracks.”
This is the dress code policy for Comcast call centers. It strictly forbids the use of skorts.
Nationwide Mutual Insurance fired five Iowa call center workers for regularly hanging up on customers in an attempt to boost their stats, but one of them contends that the practice is widespread and they were only fired so Nationwide could deny their upcoming paid and unpaid leave, reports the Des Moines Register.
In today’s go-go economy, savvy companies know it’s important to draft official policies for a variety of circumstances and surprises that can crop up in the middle of a busy workday, clearly communicated and readily available.
Welcome to “insourcing!” Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate, has opened another call center. In Ohio.
Customer service agents making out in the halls, employee knife fights, and overflowing commodes are just some of the reasons listed in this flameout resignation letter for why customer service seems to suck so much sometimes. The author worked at a Hazlewood, MO call center for Convergys, one of the leading companies for outsourced call center support. Some of their clients include Comcast, Walmart, and SBC. They also used to do AOL’s.
Comcast customer service sucks so much because they outsource much of it to Convergys, affectionately called the “sweat shop” of the call center industry. One disgruntled insider has these four unverified confessions about how they run their customer service hellholes:
We emailed the CEO of Vocal Labs, a phone survey company that specializes in measuring customer service quality, three simple questions about his business.
If you cancel Helio because their customer service is run by jackholes, be sure to check you really are canceled. Stella writes:
…they neglected to cancel my account after I returned the equipment and canceled my service — and didn’t send me any bills/communication, only to report me to a collection agency a few months later. It was a big and annoying ordeal, I already didn’t like the company and lack of customer service which is why I originally canceled, but after this situation, to say I have lost respect for them is just not enough.
Then again, if their call centers are bollocks, then what’s to say they’ll give you the right answer when you call? Guess the only solution is to not sign up with those pack of Scientologists in the first place. — BEN POPKEN
I wanted to sign up for the Ocean on May 13th, but I noticed that on the web site, the only option for contracts was a 24 month agreement. Given that Helio is a new company, I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to two years. I called Helio to find out if I could get a one-year agreement. The customer service rep that I spoke to was very accommodating and said I could have a one year deal. I mentioned a web promo code that would get me some other discounts, including the $30 activation fee waved, and $25 off the first four months of service, and she said that I could have all that, as well as a nice discount on the phone itself. I signed up then and there.
An Apple telesales rep tell us you can get them to knock $100 off your price when ordering over the phone just by playing a little hard to get:
If they make it obvious that they’re purchasing but are a little resistant to it being “too expensive” by about $100 – sales representatives can take off $100 off an order (as long as it’s purchased through the standard consumer store).
We’re thinking this is more likely to work if it’s a big-ticket item like a laptop.
US Airways’ phone system is jacked up and many publicly provided numbers don’t seem to go to the right place. Par example:
Not only does virtual cellphone carrier Helio work by piggybacking off Sprint’s network, it seems to have leased their call centers’ famous dedication to customer service as well.
Indian call centers live and die by the responses to customer satisfaction surveys. Customers selected at random are called by an outside agency and asked fifteen questions. Of those, the only one that matters is “Overall how would you rate the agent you spoke with?” Based on the answers to that question, the call center receives a weekly score on a 1-5 scale. The call center aims for 50% of respondents to rate them a 5, the highest, and for 85% to rate them a 4 or higher. From our experience, that seems like an unattainably optimistic goal.
After calling Indian call centers, many people email us to say “You won’t believe what I just heard!” Most of these problems can be chocked up to cultural differences or inexperienced agents who have yet to master the nuances of conversational English. Our call center tipster explains:
When there’s a problem, it’s usually just a misunderstanding, or a cultural thing. Phrases that are used in India, but not the US, that make a customer think the agent is being rude. Or the agent still in an “Indian customer service mindset”. (When dealing with Indian customers it’s all about getting right to the answer, completely ignoring any attempt to make the call personal. Also, to avoid confrontation. Even if they know something’s gonna take 3 months, they always say ‘2-3 days’ Believe it or not, that’s how people like their service here).
Urine Year-end statements, and the story of “Mr. and Mrs. Hymen,” after the jump…
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