Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Poor customer service at call center

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Poor customer service at call center

I bought a video cam. It failed after 2 weeks. The manufacturer offered a 1 for 1 exchange. The experience of making the claim was bad.

I called their call center. I recognise the accent of the customer service offixer and confirmed that the call was routed to the Philippines. The officer asked for all types of detailed information about the customer, serial number, nature of problem, etc. The call took almost 15 minutes. Due to the poor telephone connection, the information has to be spelled out several times for recording.

It would have been much easier if the company provided a form on the website where the details can be submitted. The call center should only be used for clarification.

Many large organisations have outsourced its call center to an oversea location to reduce cost. But this has resulted in poor service to its customers. The top managers should call their own call center and find out the experience and difficulty of the customers.

The poor standard of customer service happens in many organisations and occurs all over the world. Most companies do not care about customer service, in spite of their mission statement, as the poor standard of service is now the norm.

However, a company that wish to improve its customer service can stand out. I hope that some companies will try to make a difference and set a positive example.

Tan Kin Lian

13 comments:

Anonymous said...: let me guess .... the brand of your video cam is Phil*ip? I have such experiences when i bought a cordless phone from them last year and have decided myself to stop buying their product forever.... :); May 05, 2010 10:16 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Hi 10:19 am

it is not the company you referred to

but it can be almost any company in singapore, as they handle the customer service quite poorly, especially at the call center

they do not seem to be able to get the right method of handling the calls - too much bureaucracy and hassle for the customer.; May 05, 2010 10:31 AM
Anonymous said...: I am sorry to hear your bad luck in buying a video cam. In today's market, we cannot simply buy something for the design, brand or price, we have to also consider if the after sale service will be honoured. For me, there are always constraints in buying what I like for this reason.

We must understand that electronic products of different brands source and use common parts. Cost is the major concern and quality is not. It's more of our luck to buy something which does not give problem during its design lifespan. Even the largest manufacturers cut down their repair service departments, this 1 to 1 replacement becomes popular for cost cutting purpose.

In Spore, we do not have strong consumers right that we can ask the shop which sells us the product to offer 1 to 1 exchange without going back to the manufacturer through all the hassle. Why should we need to go through the hassle when the manufacturer and its product does not deliver its service in the first place.

It's true that we may (less and less) get the same product cheaper in Spore but we do not enjoy the after sale service as in Europe or the US where I am sure Mr. Tan can ask the shop to replace the faulty video cam within a short period after purchase. In UK, you can exchange or refund for any Marks & Spencer goods with the receipt anytime. No question asked.

When we buy cheap goods, we don't expect customer service. This mentality has developed until we cannot ask for customer service for more expensive purchase. If there is a fair consumers right in place, it should cover purchase of all costs and types. Call centre has been outsourced because of the priority of business is to competite on price, market share and launch date. Customer service is a cost component many manufacturers have difficulty to deliver. It will be a long way to expect good customer service hand in hand with our consumers right in Spore. In fact, it is a global problem in consumer product market due to cut throat price competition.

Loh; May 05, 2010 10:51 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Many comapanies have a return policy. The problem is the process of handling the return, using an outsourced call center. It adds to the cost and frustration of hte customer.

It is not a matter of cost. The cam corder is well recommended by other users. It is just bad luck that the particular device failed and made worse by the way the claim is being handled.; May 05, 2010 10:55 AM
Shane Andrews said...: You're right. It's not about the cam recorder but the customer service they have. To me, how a small business handles customers' complaints and store returns defines its customer service. It shows whether or not that company "gets" that customer service is not just about making a sale but about nurturing a relationship, a relationship that a small business keeps sweet by making a customer's every experience with the company a positive experience.

Store returns are a fact of retail life. No matter what you sell, people will want to return things. Make the return process straightforward and simple and turn it into a pleasant transaction rather than an unpleasant chore and you will not only keep customers but encourage them to spread positive word-of-mouth about your business - a truly positive bottom line.; May 05, 2010 11:44 AM
Anonymous said...: Mr. Tan,
I shared the same experience. I bought a Korean Brand LED TV costing 6k. The TV on day one has auto shut down problem. It shut down and restart on its own.

After contacting the call centre in Singapore which are sometimes manned by staff from the Philippines, it took a lot of trouble to fix the problem. Despite exlaining the problem, the repair crew will visit and ask the same question and said they did not bring the spares. So each call entails 2 visits means I need to stay at home for hald a day twice. The problem is sometime the spares they brought did not work, so another visit is required. Then the spares that they changed were not the causes and the problem is not fixed so I need to call the call centre again and another 2 visits were required. At the end, they decided to changed all parts that can be changed! But it took 8 visits and it took 8 months to finally fix the problem.

Another experience is with the routter modem problem whereby the call centre is in the Philippies. The line is normally not clear the staff sometimes not very patient as they need to walk though the problems by asking you to change some settings. The ascent is a problem for both sides. It is a very frustrating experience. After calling to try to fix the problem one after another, they concluded that the device is faulty and give me a goods return note that I need to fill some info before I can download and print. Lucky I have another modem, otherwise how do I get access to the internet to print the GRN?; May 05, 2010 2:23 PM
Still Unemployed at 54 said...: These are exactly the reasons why the Singapore worker excells in comparison to our regional counterparts!

We are led to believe that we are worthless, lazy and expensive. On the contrary, we have the skills, we are focused ( not lazy ) to have a balanced work life and we are effective.

But because costs and ROE,ROI is the main focus and nothing else, after sales service is forgotten. This encourages a throw away society, to the extent that we also throw away our most experienced workers.. shame on businesses.

You want cheap? well cheap can be fast but not good, good cannot be cheap.Cheap & good?.. no such thing.. if there is, it will not last.; May 05, 2010 3:13 PM
SD said...: What annoys me most with call center is the recording system. It often takes more than 5 minutes to get to "to speak to our customer service officer, press zero". And 80% of the time, you will get "all our customer service officer are busy, please hold...." And you have to do the same thing for recurring calls, and you have to repeat your problem because different officer attend to you.; May 05, 2010 5:10 PM
despicable said...: So how do the CEO themselves overcome this issue? Surely they too are at one time or another would be a customer of some product?

Unless, they abuse the insurance, or property agent to do the leg work of repairing or replacing the item?

How does the chairman of UOB, SIA or singtel approach this?.. throw away and buy another? get them free from their extensive networks?
Borrow from their own organisation?
( yeah, it happens.. they can be very kiam-khana )

Ahh!.. we will never know.; May 05, 2010 7:11 PM
Anonymous said...: To 7:11pm,

what are u talking about? TKL was a CEO; he too has to call in.; May 06, 2010 8:36 PM
philippine call center said...: Companies opted to outsource their customer service to Asian countries like India and Philippine to reduce cost. India and Philippines offer low cost of labor and at the same time they get the service that they needed that's why many companies are interested to invest in those countries. Companies can save a lot of money but they should also invest on the equipments that they need to improve their service to their clients.; June 02, 2010 10:38 AM
Unknown said...: Call centers have become one of the effective marketing tools for providing customer service solutions. Poor call center customer service can however ruin the benefits of any creative marketing and branding strategies used by an organisation. Such poor services can also negatively affect customer perceptions about a firm and its products or services. The benefits of customer service contact centers thus lie in quality and professional service provision.

Julienne
KPO; September 15, 2010 11:01 AM
katty said...: Customer service is really one of the key things to remember in business. Good customer service is essential for any business to survive in this competitive market and your relationship with your customers will make or break your business so focusing in customer service is really a must.
Small Business Answering service; November 04, 2010 12:58 PM