Take Five with Jvswag

While watching the weather report on television the other day I saw a fairly new phrase: the feels like temperature. Now walking outside I could say it "feels like 80." Someone next to me may say it feels like 65 to them. Another could say it must be at least 90. The exact meaning of a sentence or phrase is sometimes curious, especially in the world of customer service. Have you ever been told by an agent, I need to put you on hold for a minute. Meanwhile a real time of five minutes has passed and still no agent back on the line. You have have walked into a place to eat and the waiter may say, I'll have your table cleaned up in a second. One thousand one, one thousand two. Over two minutes later, it's still being cleaned. An interesting phrase when buying online is days before your item gets to you. Lots of places now may give themselves a big cushion, like 4-14 days delivery. Of course, a common one in retail when checking out is, "find everything you wanted ?

As the former Governor of Alaska likes to say, YOU BETCHA ! You may not be able to fight City Hall, but you sure can call or contact them. Customer service here comes under the heading of serving the public. This is what cities from Oakland to San Leandro to Fremont and all points in between should provide: 1) One main number for citizens to call for information or service request and a walk-up information counter to provide personal service to our citizens. This is a natural. 2) Develop knowledge-based definitions for call takers to answer most frequently asked questions quickly and correctly. Like where is the DMV. 3) Provide a management system that identifies and warns of potential problems. 4) Resolve all problems experienced with any fragmented call system. 5) Bring innovations to the relationship with citizens. 6) Have web access for citizens to initiate a complaint or check on status of a previous request. 7) Allow County staff to focus on handling the complaints and other job ...

What is it with all these tip jars that are now proliferating on store counters from Fremont to Oakland . They seem to be more common that voting signs. Are we expected to tip for every type of service we pay for. Let's go over one of the most traditional services for tipping. Restaurants They have been the most traditional one to tip. You are seated at a table, you order there, your drinks are brought and refilled and your food it put right in front of you. You have personalized service, so you feel generous. Now let's take the delis, fast food chains and coffee shops. You stand in line, order at the counter, wait for your order, take it to your table and that's it for the service. Places like Subway, Starbucks and your local shops now have strategically placed a "tips accepted" jar on the counter. Tip for What You are not getting personalized service and no one offers you a refill. I know a lot of people are working barely above the minimum, but these are not c...

We all have little phrases that can drive us crazy. This is one of mine - the phrase "we can't do that." Not to be confused with the Beatles song "You Can't Do That" but a service rep basically telling me, "sorry pal you're out of luck." Recently I walked into a well known tire store in the East Bay to have a tire replaced which was damaged. I had only purchased it a little over a month ago. I asked for it to be replaced with no charge since I had purchased four at the time but was told, "we can't do that" it is over thirty days since you bought them. I then asked what about a discount and was told "well you did not buy the warranty." Alright fine I said let's get this fixed. It got me thinking how often we hear that statement in public - and how abrasive it is to hear as a customer. (Excuse me, but I don't "have to" do anything special for a customer.!) They could have easily given me a discount and sp...

Being in London recently,McBug was amazed that checkout clerks in grocery stores are SITTING rather than standing. It takes the pressure off of standing your whole shift and improves the customer experience. When will this come into play into the United States he wonders. Are you listening Lucky's, Safeway and other retailers?

Having worked in several contact centers, my buddy McBug is just amazed as to why people will wait on hold 30 minutes or longer to complain about something. There was the one person who called at a newspaper circulation department because the Safeway Flyer was not in the daily paper. One head scratcher. Then there was another who called their credit card provider claiming the balance of $5,456.98 was wrong. Her findings showed the balance at $5,455.89. two head scratchers there. To show that cable tv watchers are not left out, one said their remote was a tad slow in changing in changing channels. Whatever a tad is this gets three head scratchers. Finally at an online bookstore, the customer wanted a refund on the book she purchased because the ending was too depressing. McBug smiles through all this and delivers as one company says " Galaxy Class Service" !!!!

Mcbug today is so confused by all the different promotions that come across his desk. In banking you have someone create their own credit card. They still have to make the minimum payment though. In cable, telephone and internet there are double plays, triple plays, buy two get one free for a month, grand slams, take it to the house, going yard and hat tricks. What happened to buying one product at a time and seeing how well the service goes I ask? This is 2010 the company says. Remember..... abc..... always be closing.

How many times do you hear from someone in a call center that they get a call of "I wanna speak to a supervisor". Not a manager...or someone who knows what they are doing...or the boss. Chances are when this call is transferred, I hate to tell you that the person you get is not a supervisor. May be a lead, or floor walker or senior rep ( who get paid an extra buck an hour to do this) . That's their job. Most real supervisors don't want to hear someone rant and then tell the customer " it can't be done". Believe me this happens in most major centers daily.

My friend mcbug feels that customer service would vastly improve if companies treated their people like ...well people rather than a numbers on a sheet. They in turn would treat customers better and would not feel a rush to wrap this call up under ten minutes and take the next call. What one company does as far as stats, talk time, following a script is copied by others.