Tips for Dealing with Poor Customer Service

Posted on February 26, 2008 by Michael Schurter

A comment on my blog has inspired me to quick post a few tips I’ve picked up for dealing with customer service at large companies. I’m in the middle of a battle with Comcast right now because the reliability of my Internet connection is abysmal.

  1. Chat Bubbles

    Keep it short. Customer service/support reps are more likely to be rewarded for keeping calls short than they are for resolving customer issues. So take a tip from Republicans: work up a few brief talking points and keep driving them home until they resolve your issue.

  2. Go Top

    Try to figure out how to get your issue escalated. In my experience there are always multiple levels of support with the first level simply reading and responding to a small number of scripts.
    I’ve found that having a detailed piece of technical information can break the scripts and get me escalated to “Tier II” or “Network Specialists” or some other random title.

  3. Warning Sign

    Learn what not to say. With ISPs don’t mention VPNs, hosting services via your connection, or using 3rd party SMTP servers. While completely legitimate uses of broadband, they often fall into a broad range of “unsupported” uses. Worst case scenario, the rep will blame that unsupported activity for all of your issues and refuse to help you further.

  4. Devil Face

    Know when to lie. This is closely related to the previous point. I use Linux, but I always say I use Windows. ISPs often only support a single computer directly connected to your broadband modem. Just lie, but make sure you have access to any administrative interface your modem might have.*

  5. Smiling Face

    Be friendly, chances are they hate their job. This can be tough to do especially when the poor rep just wants to get rid of you ASAP so he/she can go on break. I’ve found making little self-deprecating jokes about being a “pain in the ass customer” or asking permission to lie when asked those stupid questions like “have you tried rebooting?”. This tip may help you get escalated as well.

  6. Sad Face

    Be careful when bluffing. I’ve threatened to quit a service before only to have the rep say “I’m sorry to here that sir, have a nice day.” I don’t even think she was cleverly calling my bluff; she just saw the opportunity to end the call! If you’re going to make a threat make it something that actually makes life difficult for them like talking to their manager or getting a full refund.
    Still, try the friendly approach first. Remember you’re talking to real people who probably hate the company your dealing with more than you!

  7. Network Error

    Finally, don’t forget: it could be your fault. Reset your modem. Reset your router. Actually try Internet Explorer instead of Firefox when they ask you.
    My best example of this is when I pestered a poor customer rep for 15 minutes trying to figure out and then reset my password only to find out I needed to type a full e-mail address as the username instead of just the username part. I had the correct password all along. Luckily the rep was very nice about it.

* My cable modem’s administrative interface is accessible at 192.168.100.1 which seems standard for cable modems. My home network’s subnet is 192.168.1.1, so my router happily just treats my modem like any other Internet site. This is a great way to be able to “prove” to reps that you’re “directly connected” to your modem.

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  • Melodie

    Windstream should make no claims about good or even acceptable customer service. I have reached this opinion based on how Windstream has treated me over the past 8 days.

    Contact with Windstream on 7-25-08
    I called my local Windstream office to see about telephone and internet service. I gave the lady my information (name, address, cell phone number, etc) She read back the information with the wrong street name. I corrected her saying it was South not West. She told me that someone would call me on 7-28-08 with my new phone number and scheduled installation date and time. As I work via the Internet, I will have to delay working for one week and take a loss of $1000 wages.

    7-28-08
    I did not receive a phone call from Windstream.

    7-29-08
    I went into the local Windstream office. The lady couldn’t find my information in the computer. Finally she found the handwritten form in a cupboard. She wrote my phone number and installatin date (8-1-08) on a blue post-a-note and gave it to me. I asked what time on the 1st would the technician be out. She said “Oh, they will call you before they come out”. Then she verified my cell phone number.

    8-1-08
    Ok I have planned my whole day to be home and available for the Windstream service technician. At 2pm, I call the office wondering if the tech is coming or not. The lady tells me that they work until 7pm and yes the tech will be out. She doesn’t verify any information like name, address or contact number.

    8pm on 8-1-08
    No technician, no phone call from the technician or the Windstream office. I contact the repair department as they are the only ones available. The lady there informs me that I am not in the system and would have to contact the business office on Saturday morning between 8 and 5 EST.

    8:15am EST 8-2-08
    I call the phone number I was given by the repair representative and get a recording that tells me I need to call back during business hours. So I call repair again. The lady there tells me I have to wait until 8am my time (MT) to reach the business office. So I go to Windstream.com. There it says that the business office is open from 8:30 to 5 Eastern. By now it is 8:40 Eastern. So I call the business office number again. I still get the recording that I need to call back during business hours.

    So I call repair again. I ask to speak with a supervisor. I explain to the supervisor that I am very upset and I really need to contact the business office. She places me on hold while she gets someone from the business office on the line. The person from business finally finds my installation information. He is upset with me because I don’t have the work order number. I was never given a work order number.

    Finally he finds my information and tells me that I gave them the wrong address so my installation was placed on hold until I contacted them. He informed me that it was my fault that the tech was sent to West instead of South and that I would just have to wait until the next available time for installed. I asked him why the technician had not called me when there was a problem; he said “We don’t do that. We wait for the customer to call us when we don’t show up.”

    I went to where I had Internet access to look up the corporate information for Windstream. I find 501-748-7000 is the main office number. I call it and as I expected, got a recording. The male voice said to leave a message and someone would return my call during the next business day. Then a female voice says “This number does not accept messages”.

    So the poor communication and customer service starts right at Windstream corp headquarters.

    So here I sit waiting until 8-8-08 sometime between 8 am and noon to maybe, possibly, have a technician appear to install my phone/internet service. I wonder if Windstream will reimburse me for the second week of lost wages or even apologize to me for the physical and emotional stress their poor customer service has caused me.