I’ve had a pretty stressful day.
I thought, this afternoon I might take myself for a walk on the beach to
help shake it off/sweat it out, as we do.
But I can’t. I just physically can’t leave the house, without
first churning out some hate mail.
You, see I’m so mad
at my phone that I have been forced to vent my outrage online (in attempt
to instigate some sort of new trend, I thought).
I have had a pretty unprepossessing relationship with
several tech-like companies - in particular those of telco variety - in recent
years.
Out of the nine technical devices
I have purchased in the last three years, not one of them has seen life passed
its warranty date.
Source: Google images
These are all of different price ranges, brand names,
and retailers. Purchases have been based on educated decisions, advice of
friends, comparison sites like Choice, and the occasional rush purchase out of necessity.
I’ve spent hours on websites, live chats, on hold, getting
cut off, reading manuals, and mostly just getting blown off with a ‘oh well,
that’s what you get’ dismissal – as the complimentary kick in the arse for
being a customer.
I think they might
like me…though, because they just don’t seem to want the conversation to
end. I think one particular telco might be taking dating tips from
seventiesmysoginistsareus.com and applying the mantra ‘Treat 'em mean, keep 'em
keen’ on the desks of their call centre staff.
Well, I’m flattered….I
think. No wait! Ha ha, almost got me there with your ‘So, what you’re saying
your problem is’ and then repeating what I just saidback to me in some patronising
slow-arse, waste-my-time monotone droll as I stamp my foot and grit my teeth;
and the smoothness of the ‘I am sorry but all I can tell you is you’re wrong, I
can’t tell you why or justify it, you’re just wrong’.
Oh you.
(pun intended).
We then move into the stage of the relationship where I’m
getting the cold shoulder!
Customer service 101 – Respond! Within twelve months preferably! It baffles me that one of Australia’s largest corporations that, more specifically has built its very fabric on communications cannot master the basic principle of communication.
Well, it doesn’t baffle me, really. Because I know their
game. The aim of the game is to quite literally treat you mean. They rely on
customers taking no for an answer; especially when it comes to account
disputes. It is worth more to them to say no a few times and hope you’ll give
up, than develop a reputation as a company that will simply give in every time
someone wants something back. They don’t want to get the reputation as the
industry harlot; The Kevin Rudd of telcos, if you will.
In research for their 2009 Science Direct paper, Lai, Griffith,
and Babin found that:
“Service quality
directly influences both perceived value and image perceptions…and that both
customer satisfaction and value are significant determinants of loyalty”.
It really couldn’t be more obvious than dog’s balls, could
it.
Provide quality
products, provide value, provide high-quality service, and you won’t have
to go into damage control on your social media sites every six months; nor put
your poor service staff through hell dealing with cranky beasts like me. But
for some reason, the major telcos in this country, seem to be digging their
heels in on the game of it all.
I know what you're thinking: 'First world problems!'. To which I say three things:
1. Thank you for your input Original McOriginality;
2. I have the talking stick;
3. It is indeed, a very big problem - first world and beyond.
The planned obsolensce of
technology these days should be of great concern to us all - manufacturers; consumers - all. It’s not only disrespectful of your
customers expecting them to fork out hundreds of dollars every twelve months
for an ‘upgrade’ of your product (you know who you are), it is one of the major perpetuators
of the burgeoning technological wasteland floating around in our oceans and
clogging our soil.
Source: Science.howstuffworks.com
I do not accept that because pressure to make more money for
shareholders these days equates to ripping your customers off, feeding slave
labour, and being egregiously irresponsible with the environment.
Source: Inhabit.com
That’s me putting it to the man. However, I hate to turn it
back on you; on me, and remind you that ^ is our fault. The consumer. As long
as we’re buying, ^ that is happening. I know we all want the lifestyle we’re
accustomed to, but it is not sustainable. It is up to the people with the real
power – the customer – to tell companies like these what they want from them.
“Every time you spend money, you are casting a vote for the kind of
world you want to live in” (Anna Lappe).
Whilst I’m now playing angry
threaten-to-throw-you-across-the-room wrestle games with a device that has
decided to give up on life inside of six months and another tech company starts
to feel the brontide of my wrath rolling toward a call centre near them; regarding
the perpetual battle with the telco, I
stood my ground and after a twelve month battle I received a refund for
$1200 of unwarranted extra data charges.
And then I changed carriers.
If I had have been
given what I asked for in the first month – maybe in the first six months
of complaint - I would have piped down
and continued indefinitely with the company, giving them far more revenue than
they lost. The cost of my time and energy on a service that failed expectations
means a lot to me. I give my hard-earned money to companies who prove they deserve
it: through high-quality service, high-quality, value-laden products, and a visible investment in loyalty and the future: to the customer and the earth.
In this girl’s case: Treat 'em mean, they leave.
