Many Companies Rate "F" for Customer Service

I recall the “good ole days” when the “customer” in customer service meant something.

Alas, those days are long gone.

Customer (Dis) Service

For many of America’s largest, and most profitable, companies, customer contact is limited to pre-recorded telephone services, chats, or emails, and if you are lucky enough to have the option of speaking with a live person, your wait can be up to 60 minutes. (“Due to heavy call volume, your wait time might be longer than usual. Please hang up and call back at later.”)

Major institutions (e.g., Capital One bank and American Airlines) make it increasingly difficult to reach a customer service representative for specific information—not one of the pre-selected categories—or to ask a question.

Often, a recorded voice says, “To get you to the right representative, in a few words tell me what you’re calling about. You can say, ‘refund, report a lost or stolen credit card, or what’s my balance?’”

Most times, none of these address my problem (issue, question), so I struggle to find words that will get me to a customer rep. Eventually, (if I am patient or have time to wait), I reach a live person.

In April 2020, Heather Kelly, a San Francisco-based reporter, wrote in the Washington Post, “Customers run into record phone waits as companies grapple with worker safety. The pandemic has caused a perfect storm of customer service issues, with companies and government agencies struggling to keep up while keeping their employees safe, and customers struggling to keep their cool.”

Consequently, she says, “People hoping to defer mortgage or credit card payments, collect unemployment, cancel airline flights or locate missing shopping orders are all running into unprecedented waits for customer service by phone…

“With few alternatives available, companies are left trying to manage expectations and discourage people from calling unless it’s absolutely necessary. They’re removing support contact numbers and chat options from prominent locations on their sites and rerouting people to apologetic prerecorded messages. Banks, airlines and Apple are plastering their sites with warnings about limited customer service.”

I have spent many wasted hours navigating websites for answers, waiting patiently on hold, or filling out email contact forms to solve, what oftentimes, is a simple problem.

The result: I question a company’s competence and concern for its customers.

I yearn for stress-free, prompt, easily-accessed customer service that says, “I appreciate your business.”

Why can’t companies come up with policies that don’t alienate their customer base?

I suspect that any solution that might reduce a corporation’s bottom line—even a little— never makes it to the table.

Uber-Pissed Off

Two weeks ago, I contacted Uber for a refund after the driver cancelled because he could not locate find my apartment complex.

Unfortunately, Uber does not have a customer service telephone line, so I searched their website for information on how to submit a refund request. Under “Trip Issues and Refunds,” categories ranged from “Review My Cancellation Fee” to “I Want to Report a Service Animal Issue.”

I chose the first category despite having no idea what a “cancellation fee“ is or what it has to do with a refund. No explanation is provided. Eventually, under “Review my fare and fees,” I found an email contact form; however, there is no option for reporting a driver cancellation, only for rides that "someone else may have taken.” Not my situation at all.

Nonetheless, I sent Uber an email about my situation.

I have never received confirmation of my request, and the charge remains on my American Express account. I have since learned from the donotpay.com website that Uber’s policy is “no refunds” even if the driver cancels.

So, this uber-company profits whether I ride or not!

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