I would pay more for a better flight service between Sydney & Melbourne – but there is no difference and no offer of more, other than really expensive more for a one hour flight business – which is pretty crappy offer (I wouldn’t pay for that if I was a multi-millionaire.

So I agree – companies need to invest in customer service – that thing they left in the back room of some 3rd world foreign county – they need to bring front room

I’ll start my comment with something a little controversial:

We get the customer service we are prepared to pay for.

Providing good customer service costs more money than does the provision of poor customer service. We continually demand lower prices for our goods and services. Conversely, the stock market continually demands ever increasing rates of return from companies. To reconcile these competing outcomes something has to give and that is usually the cost (i.e. the quality) of peripheral services such as after sales service and support.

I find that when I deal with “higher quality” or “premium” (i.e. not the cheapest) brands the level of service I receive is better.

My favourite example to share with everyone who will listen is American Express. I have been an American Express customer for over 10 years and in that time I have found their customer service to be exemplary. On the rare occasion I do need to contact them (e.g. to enquire about a suspect transaction) I actually look forward to it. The call centre staff are ALWAYS excellent. They are polite, knowledgeable and helpful. Never once have had to call back because something has not be done correctly. On the contrary, more often than not they are contacting me (phone or letter) with an update on the status of my request.

Is American Express cheapest credit card on the market? Definitely not. I often have to pay a higher surcharge at smaller retailers when I use my American Express card. Does my American Express card cost more than it’s competitors? Overall no, because when ever I have to interact with their services, either online or on the phone the interaction fast, effective and frustration-free.

We have to look beyond the up-front cost of goods and services because in the long run we, most of the time, get what we pay for.

Do I get grumpy? yes. Do I complain? Yes. Do I mention the terrible services I received to my friends? Yes. Do stores see me as a problem customer? you bet. On the flip side of the coin, Telstra, Apple, Microsoft, Symantec have always looked after me. So has Domayne, The Good Guys, WOW Sight and sound.

Why the distinction from these stores? Telstra takes care of my bill issues, Apple lost my photo book in transit, so sent me another one with an apology, Microsoft upgraded my Office version for mac even though I bought it out of the grace period, Symantec updated me in the expiry period so that I wasn’t caught short when renewing my subscription. As for the retailers, Domayne are always attentive, always ready to assist me, they acknowledge I am there, even if it is just a “i’ll be with you in a sec”, The good guys have carried stock for me for printer supplies for a while now, and the new WOW sight and sound team didn’t bother me till I looked up for advice when choosing a camera tripod.

Training the frontline staff should start with them trying to buy something from a store that is known for bad service – in some cases, their own. Maybe they will see what we customers go through, and lift their game. (probably not, but they won’t be there for long, the company might work out the decline is due to bad customer service)

@Jim Stewart

@Paul Wallbank

The amazing thing was Vodafone’s service on churning was fantastic! They were prompt and the whole thing went without a hiccup.

A few hours later I tweeted that the best service I’d received from Vodafone in years was when I churned from them. Seven hours later I get a reply from @vodafone_au saying “Hi, can I help you with any problems?”

It’s not they are scared of Twitter, Facebook and the web, they don’t care. While management are almost assured of an easy life and fat bonuses they don’t have to innovate or provide customer service.

This is actually a great opportunity for smaller businesses, the incumbent (not just in the telco sector) are hampered down with outsized and overpaid management ranks staffed with non-performers.

While the telcos and broadcast media channels are relatively safe because they have government licenses, everything else is fair game.

These incumbent businesses that don’t understand or care about customer service are going to be the first to fail. We’re seeing it in retail right now.

Keep up the good fight.

Cheers,

Paul

Not everyone says they are good at customer service, but they have been great to me

##- Please do not write below this line -##

kryptops, Sep-07 01:55 pm (PDT):
You’re welcome! Have a great day.

Best,
kryptops
support.twitter.com
—————–

FiBendall, Sep-06 06:41 pm (PDT):
Thank you very much Kryptops
Great customer support

xxx

Fi Bendall
Director

Fi Bendall, Sep-06 06:40 pm (PDT):
Thank you very much Kryptops
Great customer support

xxx

Fi Bendall
Director
Bendalls Group

kryptops, Sep-06 06:02 pm (PDT):
Hello,

When you log in, please be sure to reset your password. If your password no longer works, you can request a new one here:

http://twitter.com/account/resend_password

It’s also extremely important that you take the following actions:

a. Use a password that you don’t use anywhere else and never use the former password on a compromised account. Create a new and difficult password unique to Twitter that consists of both letters and numbers.

b. Check the Applications tab at http://twitter.com/settings/applications and revoke the access privileges of any third party applications that you do not recognize.

c. Avoid providing your username and/or email and password to untrusted third-party sites, especially sites promising “more followers fast.”

d. Remove any updates that you did not post personally to your account.

e. Scan your computers for viruses and malware, especially if unauthorized tweets continue to be posted in your accounts even after you’ve changed the password.

You can also visit our help page for hacked or compromised accounts at:

http://support.twitter.com/entries/31796

Thanks!

kryptops

Fi Bendall, Sep-04 07:12 pm (PDT):
Dear Sir

I have done everything you said and keep getting random follows and auto follows – I can’t stop them. I keep trying to unfollow but there are loads of them

Password has been changed and also I revoked all apps as you said.

Can you suggest anything else

Fi

When they did responded they were very very good. That said I know that is not the case for a client of mine recently. But in my experience it was a big thank you.

Glad to connect to you