Amex deserve their repution

Once again, I’m reminded that people are the most obvious – perhaps the most critical – touchpoint an organization has with its customers.

I opened in the mail my new ‘upgraded’ Amex card today, to discover that the card had a new account number on it. Now the upgrade would double the Amex points earned, so I wanted it. But the hassle of changing all the places and payments that are registered to my old account number was just too daunting.

With a heavy feeling of dread, I call the customer service number. I just know that I’m going to be in a bad frame of mind by the time I finish this call. Sure enough I get the voice activated system. And it recognizes my accent (many do not!) and tells me what it is doing. So far, so good. After the usual questions I get to a representative. She is bright, breezy and talks as though she is a human talking to another human (unlike my experience this morning with audible.com).

“Oh sure”, she says, “I wouldn’t want to go through all of that either”.

She cancels the new card, arranges for a cancellation note to go to me (So I can be sure that the card is dead), then upgrades my current account number, arranges a new card to be mailed and assures me that all will be fine and wishes me a good evening.

What a pleasant experience! Boy am I a happy Amex customer.

The lesson? Well trained, motivated and interested staff make a huge difference. They can save a bad situation, they can make an advocate out of a customer. They are worth their weight in gold. I’ll be using more of Amex, not less in future.

And Audible.com? Well, he was not in a good position to start with. An unexpected, unauthorized charge to that same Amex card. But this person read, stiltedly, from a script. No attempt to relate to me, no sympathetic ear, no connection with me. Also, most importantly, no attempt to satisfy me. The only way to keep the account open was to pay $229. So guess what, I’m no longer an Audible customer, even though there is (was) credit in my account that I gave up.

It’s not the guys fault. He was clearly executing corporate policy, reading a corporate script and had (in my opinion) nowhere near the training and experience needed. It’s the corporate folks at fault.. Audible’s management should be whacked around the head for allowing such policies, procedures and such abysmal execution.

Which is closest to the way your company looks to your customers?

Are you sure?

{WOM, Brand, Customer Service, Phone, Product}

Technorati Tags: Brand, Customer Service, Phone, Product, User Experience, WOM

Bait and Switch at its worst….

I use Skype as my office number and also have it on my MacBook. Whilst quality is OK on my MacBook, I wanted the best I could get on business calls, and that means a handset. I researched and USRobotics do a USB handset AND – critically – provide Mac compatible drivers – most manufacturers don’t. So I order the handset via Amazon – it’s actually a merchant called Amperor Direct, but no matter. The order is placed and I get my confirmation. The package arrives and immediately seems strange. There is no name at all on the box or on the handset. It is, to say the least, cheap and shoddy looking. I check my order confirmation, sure enough it is what I ordered: Ordered Shipped 1 1 USB-P8D USRobotics USB Internet Phone (NAM ROHS) [Electronics] $33.87 Ship Date: 5/21/2007 Sure enough, when I try it out it doesn’t work on the MacBook. I email Amperor (via the Amazon web) and inform them that what they sent me is a no-name brand that is not what I ordered. The following day I get an RMA by email, but that leaves ME holding the shipping charges both ways. I email them back asking for a full credit, including shipping both ways. Nothing. Then I get a bulk email telling me that the drivers for the Yealink phone I bought have been updated. I reply to the marketing manager, expressing my displeasure. I get a response: “ Thank you for contacting us again with your questions and comments.

Replies to your Amazon.com inquiries were sent to you on 5/21/07 and 5/24/07. In the replies you were given status information about your order and an explanation regarding the nature of US Robotics branding their name onto a 3-rd party product as well as requesting confirmation that you still wished an RMA for the unit, minus shipping charges as per our return policy. This has been the first contact we have received from you since then and we assume you had not received the other two messages.

US Robotics, like Fonaso and about a dozen other retailers have taken a product – or series of products – made by a company called Yealink and have had their name printed onto the device so it will sell under their ”branding.“ Some companies have in-house technicians who will take the driver software provided by Yealink and change the names inside to suit their companies needs, but main support is not by that company. US Robotics has followed this practice for the past 15+ years with modems, etc.

Other companies do this on a regular basis as well. Take for instance the recent peanut butter issue which affected several name-brands as well as several generic brands. All were produced in the same factory by one producer but sold under numerous names.

Even under USR the device only has a limited Mac compatibility depending on the OS X version, processor being used, and version of Skype software being run.

We shall be happy to provide an RMA to you for the return of the unit for a refund minus shipping costs. We shall issue one to this e-mail address shortly.”

All fine, but that’s NOT what I ordered – and I hadn’t had an explanation, and even if I had it’s not OK! To crown the lack of understanding, it turns out that what I got was a forwarded email. The marketing manager’s comments were still in the mail: “The downside to sending out a mass email.. you want to issue an RMA to the guy below… I don’t have the energy to explain that the product is identical and the listing shows ‘this item is labeled VoIP’.” So I repeat in my reply that I want them to make a full refund, including shipping. I tell them that I’ll also file complaints and send the product I did receive to USRobotics intellectual property department if they will not do so. No response….. So I contacted USRobotics and they now have all the details…. What a way to run a business, they are still on Amazon, still appear to be trading – and I’m not the only one to complain about this issue. In the end I bought a Futiro phone, great service, great responsiveness and a stylish product.

{Marketing, Bad Customer Service, Brand, Phone, Product}

Bad Customer Service, Brand, Customer Service, Marketing, Phone, Product, User Experience, WOM

Finding the Ideal Phone Company – Virgin Mobile

I’ll cut to the quick. Unusual for me, I know.

The purchase experience – at Radio Shack left a lot to be desired, but that is, perhaps, the subject for another day. I bought a pay-as-you-go phone as a standby after loosing my Treo in London (way back in November for those following this thread – the fact that my ’standby’ phone is still not working two plus months late is the clue) I wanted something that I could use easily and simply.

I’ve long been a Virgin admirer, I love the brand and many of the fun and slightly irreverent attributes it portrays. So a Virgin Mobile phone fits the bill. Cheap – $50 – and I use it when I need it. The second phone – I’ll write about the first one soon, I promise – is registered (by me this time) on the web. Fairly well explained, fairly good user experience, no problem. I finish the process and sit back, waiting for the promised text message that will tell me the phone is live.

It doesn’t come. I try the phone. I get a service, ‘Virgin Mobile’ it says on the screen. I smile. I dial.

“ Soandso’s Roaming Network, Calls will be charged at $2.99 and $1.99 per minute. Please dial the number you require.” Not bloody likely! Where is my 18c per minute?

I email support. “Please call us.” The response I was dreading. I call. The first day I call EIGHT times (line dropped, voice response hell and dead ends in the voice response option chain) in order to speak to a human. The last call was 23 minutes before I was unceremoniously dropped. And the problem remained. Everyone – very politely, perkilly, and informally ‘Hi Graham, yes I understand your problem“, responded but no-one fixed the issue. They all knew what the problem was, the serial number of the phone wasn’t being properly recognized, but no-one could fix it.

After being finally dropped, I calmed down till the next day. Put on my best calm customer head and called again. The voicemail system is as bad as any I have met for complexity and befuddlement – it takes me on average five minutes to get to a human. Remember, I’m an independent, this is not fee earning time and this is my tenth or twelfth time of calling. I asked for a supervisor and got put through without question (excellent). Sean, it turns out from Spokane, is calm, professional, and helpful. He knows what the problem is. I smile. But he doesn’t fix it either.

”OK it looks like this is not going to work, please just refund my airtime payment to my credit card.“ I say.

”Oh, we don’t give refunds“, say Sean, ”It said so in the terms and conditions.“

”But you can’t make it work, it seems unreasonable to charge me when you can’t provide service.“

”We don’t give refunds, he says…….“ I’d got the drift by then. Virgin Mobile take your money – and they keep it, even when they admit they can’t provide service.

”I’ll take it up with American Express (the card I used to pay for service) if I have to.“ I say.

”Please do.“ says Sean. ”I can escalate the problem and it will be fixed in 48 hours.“

I’m all out of choices, so I quit.

Sean I can tell you that much beyond the 48 hours, the phone is still not working.

So I shall call Amex and I’m sure they will credit me. But why do I have to? The problem is Virgin’s and should not be given back to the customer. Why do I have to do battle with a company that presumably set out to want me as a customer?

Pretty shoddy set of terms and conditions – I paraphrase – ”Give us money on trust and even if we can’t provide what we promised to, we’ll keep your money“.

Richard, you need to get back to the straight dealing you are famous for. It’s your brand they are messing up.

{Brand, Bad Customer Service, Customer Service, Phone}

Technorati Tags: Bad Customer Service, Brand, Marketing, Product Management, User Experience, WOM