Customer service go to the dogs

lightspeed · 22-01-2016 01:02AM

For all those stressed for past few days when boards was down not being able to receive update on my struggle, I can confirm that it continues.

As i mentioned the only way i can get a response is facebook and usually one per day. They like to answer one question and ignore others selectively in the hope that you go away.

I asked when was it refund to which they replied just confirming it was refunded according to their records. I again asked when and they said on 18th December 2015.

I checked my bank statement and rang my bank, both of which confirm no payment went through and there is nothing pending.

I last contacted then saying that i want them to confirm what account they made the payment to.

I was late getting train back so wandered into pc world in Jervis shopping centre. The guy in store was quite nice but said that the online store and the branches are two separate companies.

:eek:

The struggle continues!

donegaLroad · 22-01-2016 10:59AM

funnily enough, I looked up the PC World phone number yesterday because I needed to order RAM and I got through to what sounded like a call centre, possibly in Asia.. Im not sure.

But anyway, I told the guy I was looking for RAM and asked him would it be in stock in the PC World, Letterkenny... he said he would check and he put me on hold. After about 30 seconds it dawned on me that this didn't make sense. I am ringing a guy in India to check if the stuff I need is in Letterkenny, which is 20 minutes up the road.. plus it is a 1890 number, hello.

so I just hung up.

Graces7 · 22-01-2016 11:43AM

222233 wrote: »

It's not the publics responsibility to praise someone for doing their job, that should come from management.

When I flew to Ireland 15 years ago, I had a cat in a carrier, At Edinburgh no one knew how to get a cat through security. ( soon after 9/11) Held the plane up.. The porter ( I was in a wheelchair) had looked after me all the hours stopover and was so kind and helpful the whole time. When finally I had to take cat into an office with a Suit, I praised the porter. " he is just doing his job" was the sarcy riposte.. There are ways of doing your job and I ALWAYS thank folk. Makes me friends and is a kindness much needed it seems.

donegaLroad · 22-01-2016 12:37PM

Graces7 wrote: »

When I flew to Ireland 15 years ago, I had a cat in a carrier, At Edinburgh no one knew how to get a cat through security. ( soon after 9/11) Held the plane up.. The porter ( I was in a wheelchair) had looked after me all the hours stopover and was so kind and helpful the whole time. When finally I had to take cat into an office with a Suit, I praised the porter. " he is just doing his job" was the sarcy riposte.. There are ways of doing your job and I ALWAYS thank folk. Makes me friends and is a kindness much needed it seems.

they should have just put it through the CAT scan :pac:

brummytom · 22-01-2016 01:32PM

I don't think customer service is particularly bad, in general. I've had to call my bank a few times over the past few months for a few different things, and they've always been very helpful and friendly. Not too sure what you mean by 'the American model', either, OP. Whenever I've been in America, I've found the level of customer service incredibly high.

I've never worked in purely customer service role myself, but I can't see spamming social media acting in your favour at all. If it was me, that would probably just make me want to ignore the complaint.

Graces7 · 22-01-2016 04:31PM

donegaLroad wrote: »

they should have just put it through the CAT scan :pac:

GRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAN! Actually I was worried in case they put her through the Xray! The Suit asked me to take her out of the carrier then he searched the thing.. Held my breath but she had been a good cat..

dslamjack · 22-01-2016 07:18PM

Did they do a good deep probe?

lightspeed · 22-01-2016 09:50PM

brummytom wrote: »

I don't think customer service is particularly bad, in general. I've had to call my bank a few times over the past few months for a few different things, and they've always been very helpful and friendly. Not too sure what you mean by 'the American model', either, OP. Whenever I've been in America, I've found the level of customer service incredibly high.

I've never worked in purely customer service role myself, but I can't see spamming social media acting in your favour at all. If it was me, that would probably just make me want to ignore the complaint.

I agree, its not right that they respond to me above others just because I contact via social media but once again that is the norm now. They dont respond to email and clearly they give priority to people who contact via social media.

Thats how it was in last customer service job I had and it seems clear to me that is how it is on PC World and probably most other large companies dealing with consumers.

If you worked for PC world and saw someone like me who you consider spamming who you felt doesnt deserve to be prioritised, you would have a choice between responding to me cause my complaint is on social media or picking up your P45 on the way out.

By the way, im not selling anything except the truth and they choose this to be the only method of communication they willing to use so i reject the notion that im spamming. Im just reposting my query until i get a response in under 48 hours.

lightspeed · 22-01-2016 09:53PM

donegaLroad wrote: »

funnily enough, I looked up the PC World phone number yesterday because I needed to order RAM and I got through to what sounded like a call centre, possibly in Asia.. Im not sure.

But anyway, I told the guy I was looking for RAM and asked him would it be in stock in the PC World, Letterkenny... he said he would check and he put me on hold. After about 30 seconds it dawned on me that this didn't make sense. I am ringing a guy in India to check if the stuff I need is in Letterkenny, which is 20 minutes up the road.. plus it is a 1890 number, hello.

so I just hung up.

In all seriousness, how long before you got to speak with someone from when you first rang?

I was 20 mins trying and near 30 mins time before that to get through, just listening to their awful music and annoying voice that keeps apologising every minute for the delay. It was at that point I was of the opinion that there was no phone ringing on the other end or anyone ever going to pick so hung up.

Azalea · 23-01-2016 02:28AM

It's crap service from them OP, I don't disagree.

brummytom wrote: »

Not too sure what you mean by 'the American model', either, OP. Whenever I've been in America, I've found the level of customer service incredibly high.

Yeah I was thinking that too - American customer service tends to be very highly regarded.

dslamjack · 23-01-2016 02:45PM

American customer service in shop's ,restaurant's etc is first class, personal and attentive to the customer ,unlike the ''what do ya want here'' or'' how dare you interrupt me while I gossip with my colleague'' ...we get here.
Bad customer service is the absolute result of Bad Management,simple as that,unfortunately in a lot of company's today,the problem is that they have customer's.
Process management is the cancer of good customer service,and in the big scheme of things,customers mess up the beautifully manicured process's devised usually by back room hiding moron's who have never met ,dealt or had any contact with a customer or end user of there company's product's.
These management system's have absolutely no interest of any kind in customer service of any kind,and indeed the more the customer gets in the way of their targets ,kpi\s,cpi\s etc being met and their target's being achieved,the less they like it.
Company's should be fined in ratio to their turnover and in line with their boast's of customer service and so called excellence,indeed the consumer affair's ombudsman should have the power to impose massive fine's prohibit them from advertising ,supend or indeed close or force company's to cease trading with fine's and criminal sanction for the director's and senior management of the offending company's.
In light of recent scandal's and commercial devastation caused by rottenly arrogant criminal and breathtakingly incompetent managers and management,will things change ,no not an iota,it is age old,as long as there is business and customers to abuse,their will always be bad customer service.
Public opinion does count,and can be severe,look what happened to the jewelers Ratner group and the fiasco that followed Gerald's famous quote about selling crap,
the company practically collapsed over night.
People can now vote with their finger as well as their feet,good business and customer service will always be rewarded,however with the advent of social media,bad customer service practitioners be warned and on their guard,and they will be outed ,shamed and brought to book by the court of public opinion using it's sword of social media.

Azalea · 23-01-2016 04:01PM

I agree some companies - usually smaller ones - have appalling customer service and seem blatantly pissed off at customers.
But the problem with this "outing" on social media is that it can sometimes be policy the customer doesn't like, rather than bad customer service. There is also only one side given as the company can't defend itself, and the people taking the query are not necessarily the ones responsible for the issue, so there can be unfair blaming.

A case involving a car seller Murphy & Gunn I think, couple of years back, first really brought this realisation home to me.

The abuse, lynch-mob behaviour, with zero information on the other side of the story was utterly abysmal.

mohawk · 23-01-2016 05:50PM

While my role isn't strictly customer service it does form part of the job. It's more of an accounts role but people will ring about invoices and we all take it turns to look after their queries.

If you are nice to me I will go out of my way to help you.
If you are mean then I will literally do what I have to do.

Angry people who rant at you are just the worst. Honestly what kind of person shouts down the phone when they have an issue with something. If we are in the wrong we will fix the issue and apologise to you. There is no need to be aggressive and mean.

There is a lot of crazy/unreasonable people out there.

There are also plenty of people who should never be in any role where they need to deal with the public.

Robsweezie · 31-01-2016 08:32AM

The vibe I get from a lot of retail and service staff is that they're purely there for the money, the work is just a tedious, burdensome means to an end to fund their nights out. They aren't there because they love customer service, that's just a bull**** line to get them in the door. I suppose I'm guilty of this as well. But I do like helping the nice customers.

You get the really professional people with a natural talent for it, warm, friendly and smiling and interested , pride in their job . Then you'll get the " what do you want" in mcdonalds, throwing fries at you with attitude and a face like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle. It really does make a difference. Nothing Against mcdonalds.

I do sympathise with them if they're having a bad day. Sometimes the customer service gig is too much for some people. All the **** that goes with it makes it hard to be "on" all the time. Believe me, I know.

" apathetic zombies" was a harsh term to use for our country's standards, but it's not too far from the truth. We're okay, just okay.

Discodog · 31-01-2016 11:59AM

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

The dogs are a good night out what is the problem op

Unless you are one of the thousands of Greyhounds killed every year

Customer service go to the dogs

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