Podcast: Why Customer Service Is So Bad

Kim, the problem with Emily's logic regarding treating CS experiences as a "business experience" is that today, most of our such experiences are with large corporations, not small companies. They people we are dealing with, the CS reps have zero stake in the company. Their pay is not affected by whether or not you shop there, and in fact, they mostly could not care less. The corporate model is to isolate those who have an actual stake in the company's well being from the customer. The "moat" around them is the, often, 3rd party CS rep. Therefore, it becomes personal. It is YOU, the customer whom is being ripped off, and then being further taken for your time. Today's corporations are worldwide, they have millions of customers, if they lose you, they have another willing to take your place. The object is to shrug you off as cheaply as possible. To me, that's personal, since I am the person who is wronged, and it is my time that is being wasted by having to deal with the untrained CS rep. I take it that way.

David of MA 6:20PM April 20, 2009