I go to their website and discover that the only two ways to communicate with them is by phoning them, and waiting for three lifetimes before some idiot deems to reply, or via on-line chat. There is not option of sending them an e-mail. I could write by snail mail but by the time my letter reaches them they would probably be out of business because of their poor customer care. Good job too!
I do not want to chat. On-line or otherwise. I want to express my problem and hopefully get you to solve it, you faceless corporation intent on just making profits and raising my blood pressure.
Here's a record of a recent chat:
- Hello, my name is Elenora. Please type your username.
- Irate Troll.
- Please type the first letter of you password.
- X
- Please type the last letter of your password.
- X
- That's two Xs
- Yes my password is Xylophonemix.
- You should not have said that.
- What?
- Xylophonemix.
- Why not?
- Because now I know you password.
- Of course you do. It is on your computer for you to check I typed the correct first and last letter.
- You will have to change it.
- What?
- Your password.
- Now?
- No ... not now.
- If not now, when?
- After we have finished this chat. How may I help you?
- For a start by not having a chat. If I want a chat I can talk to my cat. His name is Julien Antoine. He is a French cat - or chat!
- How may I help you?
- The cellphone I bought from you is not working properly.
- Have you checked it is the cellphone which is faulty and not your telephone line service provider?
- How do I know? When I try to phone someone it is always engaged.
- Let me check for you. Please wait a moment.
(A million moments later, plus another two million moments more ...)
- Hello ... are you still there?
- Yes I am still here. I was checking with our technical department.
- Sorry. I thought it was dead.
- I am very much alive, Sir.
- I meant I thought the line was dead. Not you. I said "IT"
- There appears to be a problem with the line. We will e-mail you shortly. Is there anything else I can help you with?
- Yes. Why can I not e-mail your company rather than this online chat?
- It is more convenient for our customers and more efficient for us this way.
- It is neither convenient nor efficient. I have wasted half-an-hour chatting with you about everything except the weather and you still have not solved my problem. It would have been quicker if I e-mailed you and then you can check with technical department to your heart's content and reply when you have solved the problem.
- Is there anything else I can help you with, Sir?
- No!
- Thank you for your call.
- Thanx.
- Would you please complete a customer satisfaction survey of your experience with us?
...I HATE passwords! I know that they are necessary, but I still HATE them!
ReplyDeleteThe problem here, Tom, is the variety of different passwords for credit cards, bank accounts, paying bills, online shopping and so on.
DeleteGod bless.
Customer satisfaction survey? Really? After that nonsense? Don't blame you for being ticked off by that chat, Victor.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Yes Martha. Honest. There is this firm I have a long term-contract with, (18 months), who just as I am complaining via their chat-line a pop-up turns up on the screen asking me to take a satisfaction survey.
DeleteNeedless to say, I scored them 1 - the lowest number available. The next question was why did I give that score. I replied because there was no option to score 0.
God bless you.
I hate passwords too. I have so many numbers in my head it's amazing that I remember them. I hate customer service these days, they just give you aggravation and don't fix your problem. I prefer chat simply because I get a copy of our conversation so I have I something to show when I have to call back because the problem is still there. Crazy and annoying I say.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Bill. It is crazy and annoying. It must cost them more to have operators on chat which, as you say, solves nothing. It would be quicker to allow the customer to send an e-mail detailing what is your problem; then have someone solve it for you.
DeleteI told them so on our last "chat". The person I chatted to was an idiot.
God bless, Bill.
I hate those nameless, faceless bots! Normally Tom prefers to call -- but winds up speaking to someone whose accent makes it difficult, if not impossible, to understand. When possible, I've taken to communicating via e-mail (so as to leave a time stamp trial). Unfortunately, the last inquiry I sent to our mortgage holder asking for a response is now more than a week old. I hope they DO send me a satisfaction survey!
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky that you have an organisation that accepts e-mails, Mevely. Over here, many organisations like internet providers, telephone lines providers, computer companies and website providers do not accept e-mails. They are organisations in the technical industries yet have no e-mail addresses. It is either phone, chat, or snail mail.
DeleteGod bless,
I have an app that assigns a random password to each of my accounts, so I would NEVER be able to give anyone the first and last part of it. I wonder what they would do in that case>
ReplyDeleteI don't understand. The App provides you with random passwords for you to use. E.G. Happiness. When you are asked for any letter you just count the letters in your password!
DeleteGod bless, Kathy.
I was amazed the other day I managed to sort things out without even talking to a human!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was all done press this button, that button etc.
I was sure there was going to be an error but so far so good.
Sometimes technology can be good.
Other times you just feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall! Not Fun!
Take care, my good wishes.
All the best Jan
Some organisations are good with pressing various buttons. Banks for instance. What I find annoying is when they give you many choices: Press 1 for this, 2 for that, 297 for this other thing! So many choices that I forget which one is mine. If I press a button whilst the voice is talking, she says, "WAIT ... I haven't finished yet!"
DeleteGod bless, Jan.
I JUST hung up on a chat call to complain about an order. I was ready to sign over my Cuisinart Coffee maker just to shut them up.
ReplyDeleteCompanies will soon realise that this use of technology is annoying their customers ... we hope.
DeleteGod bless, Susan.
Dearest Victor,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about those forced useless chats! One wonders who is on the other end; not the brightest persons...
Courtesy is a word from the past I'm afraid and problem saving is extinct.
Hugs,
Mariette
You are right, Mariette; the people answering your questions are not the brightest on earth. I find them so irritating.
DeleteGod bless always.
💡
DeleteOh I hate those chat things too! More convenient for the customer THEY ARE NOT!! Oh and passwords and user names I am not fond of either!
ReplyDeleteIt's too much technology badly used. It drives customers to shop elsewhere.
DeleteGod bless, Happyone.
I try to avoid at all costs!!! You nailed it. That is exactly what they sound like. btw I like your password...haha XoXo
ReplyDeleteOoops ... now I have to change my password again, seeing everyone knows it.
DeleteGod bless, Wanda.
I ca agree 100% with you about this being most frustrating. I will tell you why if you would like to use “chat.” Sorry, I could not resist that smarty pants reply. Have a nice day. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteAAAAAAAAAH .... not another chat!!!! Please please e-mail, snail mail, phone, send a pigeon with a message tied to its leg ... but no chats!
DeleteGod bless you, Nells, my friend.
We've had to deal with customer service many times in the past few days, something different keeps going wrong. It's not easy getting them to answer the phones and take care of the problem.
ReplyDeleteIt's because they don't care. They are assured the customers will always be there.
DeleteGod bless you, Mimi.