Americans frequently complain about the level of customer or technical service that they get from overseas agents on the phone. However, I have to question: what standard are we holding these agents to and where did we get these standards? Maybe I just get frustated because when I am in the US, I tend to have to deal with a lot of customer service agents in a short period of time or maybe it's because I spend so much time teaching my agents how to reassure, how to communicate resolution and how to empathize with their customers, but, quite honestly, most of the American agents I spoke to are no better than their overseas counterparts in these areas.
For me, this time it revolved around the customer support department for Canon. My camera has been non-cooperative lately and I wanted to see if I could get it fixed while I was in the US. I described the problem and they suggested a resolution and even said they would fix it at no extra cost. (GREAT!) I had a few follow-up questions that I replied to the email with. In the response only ONE question was answered; the rest were ignored. (HMMMM...) But, I was generally pleased with the whole experience, so thought I would try it again, and replied to the new email with several questions. Again, only ONE question was answered and the rest were ignored. (Is this a policy-they are only allowed to answer one question per email???) I was becoming less pleased, so I decided to switch to a different medium-I decided to call.
At this point in time, my major questions had to do with how long the repair would take and if there was any way to expedite it since I do have time constraints for being in the US. In the email, they had told me that their repairs usually take 7-10 business days, but that they would get back to me about my specific repair after I sent in my camera and they had diagnosed the problem. So my questions were: is there any way to make sure that this repair can be finished and my camera returned before I leave? And, if there is no way to expedite it, will I find out how long this specific repair should take after they have diagnosed the problem? I didn't think that these questions would be too difficult, but two front-line agents and one supervisor later, I still had no answers and did not feel in the least like they were there to help me with my situation.
Not only did they not display any interest in helping me with my problem (not that I probably should have expected that from the second agent, she didn't even seem to understand what the problem was), but they gave me great suggestions, like: "Why don't you just pick up your camera when you get back to the US?" (Right, because there's no way I might want to take pictures when I'm OUT of the country??); or, "You can always send it in when you get back" (Again, cuz I might want to have a working camera while I'm out of the country for 6 months?? I don't know??); and, my favorite, when I pointed out that, with service like this, I wasn't planning on buying another Canon, "Well, I have several Canon models at home and I haven't had any trouble with them." (Nice empathy if I was trying to decide what camera to buy, not when I am sitting there with a Canon that is NOT WORKING ALREADY!!! Idiot!)
Anyway, after all of that, I ended up with frustration, a distaste for Canon, and a still broken camera.
And, I would like to point out, all of these agents were American. So, I don't think we can justifiably complain about the service that we get from overseas agents, at least, not while we are complaining about the outsourcing trend. Quite frankly, American agents are no better at customer service skills than those in the overseas markets.
Oh, and Canon? You should train your agents better.
If you are interested, I know a trainer who will be looking for work in the US after October. :)
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yes, I agree that it's not the tech support agents themselves, but the greedy and uncaring corporations that run them, who take after the greedy and uncaring politicians that run them. when I worked in tech support for Kodak, I was not allowed to stay on the phone and truly help the customer, they cared more about call time and the bottom line than they did about the customer purchasing their product. I think it's that trickle down effect, the one where the faces of the people eventually reflect those of their leadership.
ReplyDeleteI usually have better luck with Indians on the phone than with Americans. I figure the Indians working in call centers have some above-average level of education and are working toward a better life. The ones I have talked to are either very glad to have their job or are moderately happily tolerating the job to pay for education of some sort. Compare that to most of the workers in the US, who view the job as below them (then why can't they get a better job?) and have no interest in putting forth effort, as that would be undignified (because sucking at your job is more dignified?). I have worked in a call center in the US, and most of those I worked with felt that somehow they had gotten a raw deal that they had to do this undignified job for $15/hr. Their lousy attitudes was apparent to anybody on the phone with them. I'll take the Indians any day.
ReplyDelete"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy... neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."
Someday India is going to eat the USA's lunch, and I'm going to fly over with a case of toilet paper and a stack of resumes.
-The REAL Anonymous