Customer SERVICE

Last weekend I was supposed to have AT&T’s U-Verse television and internet service.  I say supposed to because the installation did not happen last weekend.  The technician was supposed to be there between 1pm and 3pm on Saturday.  I went online to check the status at 3:05pm because I had not received a call from them.  The customer service representative was helpful and after I asked for compensation gave me $75 off of my first months service.

The technician called me around 4:30pm to say that he would be at my place at around 6:00pm and he only missed his estimate by about 45 minutes.  However, he forgot to bring his tools.  A pretty big oops in my book.  I had waited around for about 7 hours for an install that did not happen.  The technician told me that I would receive 2 months of free service because he would have to return on Monday evening to complete the install.

Okay, that’s the time-line.  The technician was very kind and apologetic and the first customer service representative I spoke with was helpful and kind as well.  I called the customer service number provided by the technician to get my 2 free months of service and that’s when I ran into a road block.

I explained to the representative the whole story and told her what the technician said about 2 free months of service.  Then she got an attitude with me and insinuated that I was not being truthful.  It was a major blow to the good customer service I had experienced.  I was simply giving her the information that was given to me.

It got me thinking about what my Dad always said as I walked out of the house: “Remember you are a Lee.”  No matter what happened I had to remember that I was representing my family, not just myself and my attitudes and experiences.  This customer service representative conveyed to me that AT&T does not trust their customers and assumes they are trying to get one over on them.

Do you feel that its important for your employees/volunteers to represent your organization well?

Do you convey mistrust to your customers/clients?

Use your negative experiences with other organizations as a teaching moment for how your organization operates.  Chances are if you do not like being treated a certain way your customers/clients will not either.

Remember that customer service means actual SERVICE.  You are there to serve your customers/clients not the other way around.

“Smart men learn from their own mistakes, wise men learn from the mistakes of others.” – I do not recall the author of this quote, however, it is not bad advice.