An Unexpected Customer Support Story

I don’t envy customer service agents on the front lines dealing with customer support calls. It must take tremendous patience and restraint to deal with the onslaught of confused and often irate customer calls. All the while being recorded for quality control purposes. I know this because I’ve been the confused and irate customer calling in. I’d even dread talking to me.

One of my biggest pet peeves is how most of my customer support calls start with an automated IVR exchange that tediously collects all my account information followed by every human interaction after that asking for the exact same information again! Why wouldn’t you use the IVR collected information as my call gets transferred to humans? If you’re not going to use the information then don’t ask for it in the first place. It just adds to an already emotionally charged situation.

I’ve had many bad customer support experiences.

• Being told it’s not their problem which is code for “Nothing we can do”
• Dropped calls after waiting hours to finally get through
• Being transferred from one department to another and then another who then drops the call

During a recent support call to my mobile service provider, I had a question regarding an unexpected charge for video messages sent to the United States. I honestly felt this had to be a billing error. The customer support agent listened patiently to my story. She never once doubted me. She was genuinely curious as to what happened. After asking me a serious of questions, I sadly realized it was my error. The charges were legit. She went on to suggest an option I could use the next time to avoid the extra charges. So, I sheepishly thanked her and was about to hang up when she casually asked me if I would like to take advantage of a billing offer. Essentially a monthly discount on my mobile bill for 6 months that more or less made up for the extra charges I had to pay.

So, now instead of hanging up red-faced and disappointed, I hung up with a smile and happier. Not just because of the savings offer, but more so because the agent felt my disappointment and wanted to do whatever she could in her power to make it right for me. A customer support agent who was not only patient and restrained but also showed a great deal of empathy!