Alpha Consumer

Podcast: Why Customer Service Is So Bad

By Kimberly Palmer

Posted: April 16, 2009

For this week's Alpha Consumer Podcast, I interviewed Emily Yellin, author of Your Call Is (not that) Important to Us: Customer Service and What It Reveals About Our World and Our Lives. She explains why companies force us to spend so much time on hold, or otherwise frustrated, when their products and services give us problems. She also tells us what to do about it. (For more on Yellin, you can read my Q&A with her here.) The podcast also contains the Alpha Consumer Tip of the Week on the dangers of certain Facebook ads.

Why Customer Service Is So Bad

Customer Service

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 @ Apr 20, 2009 18:20:44 PM

small business

Good question, Nick! I wonder if there is a big difference between small and large companies in terms of customer service.

Kimberly Palmer of DC @ Apr 17, 2009 09:53:38 AM

Customer Service is not always so bad!

I love Emily Yellin's new book. I take a different approach. Sure there are a lot of companies who just don't get "it" when it comes to customer service. But, when you run across a company that does, you are sometimes amazed. There are a lot of great companies doing right by both customers and employees. Those are the ones that will survive this crazy economy and thrive long term.

Shep Hyken, author of "The Cult of the Customer" of MO @ Apr 16, 2009 23:12:41 PM

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Alpha Consumer

Alpha Consumer

Kimberly Palmer, senior editor for U.S. News & World Report, writes about how to save money, avoid scams, manage debt, and be a savvy shopper. Send your personal finance questions to her for expert money advice.


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