Customer Service - thoughts? Is it getting better or worse?

Great feedback, and it seems to be a recurring issue especially with technical support based services. I think it shows where the live chat widget can work pretty effectively.

There's an interesting discussion about live chat widgets here: I need your help and advice

I agree, I think budget brands just get it now, they understand what's important to the customer so rather than react they are are proactive. As much as this may embarrass me.... I think argos have also got it right too. If you ever have to take something back it's not an issue. This makes me but from here as you know you're not going to have to jump through hoops.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear 

Saw on the news earlier - Natwest have had to apologise after a customer service adviser rang one of their customers who had filled in a survey, left a message on the voice mail asking him to call back, then didnt disconnect the call and went on to state  he was a "knob" and carried on with other insults about his financial position.

The bank naturally have apologised and are now looking in to the problem.

To be fair we have all done it, left a message for a customer, put phone down and then commented to a work colleague, probably even sworn about them .....

TOP TIP - make sure the line is dead before you do say those things you cant say to the customer!!!! 

I've had an hour this morning to HMRC , on behalf of a client, most of that on hold. When i finally get through, the staff have been at varying levels of cluelessness and incompetence. They sent the client a letter saying he owes £400 on his PAYE, then could not find any record of such.  They then discover another socalled underpayment, for a different period, but couldn't identify anything about it! I've got all the figures in front of me, which they agree, but still think he's paid £180 too little, despite seeing his payments on their screen. In the end, the woman tells me "oh, it must be a computer error"     and cuts me off!

I am a great believer in customer service,i was always told to say hello and be polite as well as looking tidy and clean

Get there in time and you dont rush,giving you more time to use your customer skills.Im lucky i was brought up that way so im half way there, but customer service is paramount in my eyes

I was out and about the other evening, looking at bedroom furniture.

Have to be honest and say I received some of the best customer service I've had in a long time. Even the fiancee commented on the way that he had exceeded my customer service expectations!

The chap I spoke to gave me all the time needed to explain the product, delivery charges and to ensure we measured properly or he would abandon the new wardrobe where it got stuck! Sounds harsh but perfectly fair when you think about it, especially as she lives in a 3 storey house, something I was keen to discuss, as I don't fancy lugging it all the way to the top!

I have also recently been doing a lot of car shopping with my future step daughter, you would be amazed at the differing experience we have had. Renault are in the hot seat currently with their excellent service (yes i know i said i wouldn't touch them again, but its not for me!) and Vauxhall are firmly in last place with appalling service, complete non interest in helping or barely bothered to go through the figures with me/us - does he not want to sell a car 

Why do we put up with shoddy poor or even non existent customer service?

I keep saying the same thing, customer service is so simple to deliver, yet, frequently it goes wrong.

My wife recently took a technical call/complaint that was quickly passed to me! The customer asserted, quite aggressively that he had bought a new set of inks and for his printer and it had lost all power and was not responding to anything, it was dead, an expensive lump of scrap he said.

i tried to diagnose the fault by asking if he had replaced of of the ink that we had supplied? He replied proudly "no" they are still in the envelope. Thinking he simply wanted a refund for unused cartridges he started screaming that I should collect them at our expense, his convenience and what was I going to do about his fudging printer? Given he has never bought from us before allied to the fact that our ink was never used I tried "the customer is always right" technique, this endeavour quickly gave way to simple advice along the lines that if he ever spoke to me in that way again we would have a major issue and I would be willing to meet him in person to discuss. The call ended with the words.... Now ........off. 

Unhappy customer. Hopefully he will never return.

lol I thought I was going to hurt myself laughing 

Contrary to popular myth, the customer is not always right, and on occasion is very likely to take the mick.

Good customer service is how you deal with challenging enquires and convey this into a warm cosy response, which is something I'm not very good at 

Customer service is not getting worse, I think it's getting better and better. The time is changing and business too are adopting new technology and tools to make the customer happier. Companies that really want to compete and stand out best in the market has to give great customer service. 

As a probation officer I can confirm that offenders do get confused about customer service.

An offender once told me how crap I was, adding he was going to write to trading standards and the probation ombudsman and have me sacked!

i was struck with worry for almost a nano second. Told him I was employed to serve and protect members if the general public, a group he was no longer a part of,

I politely suggested he may wish to go home a get his tooth brush. He was then returned to custody within a couple of hours for breach of his release licence. he didn't send me a Christmas card. He didn't complain and I didn't get sacked

i was very hurt by not getting a Christmas card. Oh well... The moral of the story, do your job to the best of your ability and you won't go far wrong.