Qwest has done things over the time I’ve been wth them that I’ve not been happy about, but not really any more or less than most other large companies I’ve dealt with.

My point in this post was simply to show how a call to an automated system didn’t work well and could and should be improved. It just so happened that the call that inspired this post was to Qwest, but it could have been to any number of companies who probably do the same things with their automated systems.

I will say Qwest has often come up at the bottom of many ISP related surveys, much lower than they should given the size of the company and that I have had other dealings with them where the message they sent me was very insincere or put the responsibilty for something on their customers when it belonged on the compnay.

I’ve also had many useful customer service calls with Qwest employees. I’ve generally found them to be friendly and helpful. But I do think they as many other companies can stand to improve their approach to customer service.

You see, Jason, how can a person find the right number without having an online access? No e-mail to check the invoices, no access to your website. So it’d be natural to expect someone to use the first number to deal on.

Secondly, people only need help when something doesn’t work. Make everything stable and reliable and you will reduce customer support costs.

Same goes for the website help.

Thirdly, expecting someone else knowing the inside system as well as you is a bit of an utopia. However, if you do research how your customers think, what words they use, you might structure your system to work for the people.

Can’t make it work for all people, though.

Fourthly, blaming a customer is a sure way to end up getting a refund. I have worked in support for a half a year, was replying to 30-60 e-mails a day and only got about 4-5 refunds on a popular product.

The only way you get up a company evangelist is to accept you are right, fix the issue and make sure it never happens again. If I were you, I’d be sending free Christmas and the New Year gifts/bonuses/discounts to Steve (and other customers, who were unable to use your service for a prolonged period of time) – after fixing the issue (which is fixed now, I suspect).

Yes, let’s not forget that any huge company has issues with customer support. Take a look at Dell – it had some issues and now tries to earn peoples’ trust.

Jason, thank you for stopping by. It helps to know you are at least noticed.

I’m sure had I chosen the right words I might have been able to get to the right department faster, but in fairness as a Qwest employee you have a little more insight into what words to use. I think asking for tech support should have worked. I also was not in need of a repair, which to me would mean there was an issue with equipment in my home. The issue here was on the Qwest side of things. I disagree about the simple logic statement since I am a rather logical person. More so that most people who will probably call. It is also important to remember that when someone is calling a company about a problem the emotional side of things will naturally come to the forefront. Having to deal with an automated system only exascerbates that.

I agree with you completely about pointing out there is information on a webiste. I think all companies should provide as much information as possible online since it can reduce calls for the company and help people find things faster. My objection is when the issue involves not being able to connect to the web. There have been times when I’ve had an issue with connectivity and both the automated system and the person I finally spoke to recommended I find my solution online. Yes let me know there’s a possible answer online, but also make sure there are other alternatives.

True enough I need to be connected to the right department before you can tell me how many others are in front of my call. I didn’t say that message should have been there when I first called, but if you’re playing a hold message for me then I am in a queue at that point and you can provide the wait time for getting through to that specific part of the system. I might still have to wait for another department, but if you’ve put me on hold that information is available and is much better that telling me the call is important.

In all fairness Qwest is not the only company to use the ‘your call is important to us’ line on a hold message. If I’ve singled you out it was only because I happened to call Qwest on that particular day. And in all fairness to Qwest there are many companies who have similar automated systems. I still stand by everything I said above though in that there are better ways to have hanfled the call.

And I don’t think it’s fair to blame me for the call. I’m not someone who lacks understanding of how technology works. I’m pretty good at finding my way through an automated system. Yes I could have called a different number, but like I said the majority of people are going to call the first number they find for a company and figure they can get to the right department once online. And if there was a better menu system on the Qwest side that would have been trivial. And customer service is in part about anticipating the needs of your customers. Even if I could have called a better number the fact that I didn’t likely means many others won’t either.

I do appreciate your views on the matter. It probably isn’t fair to me to single out Qwest for poor customer service. It just happened that I called Qwest on this particular day.

I do think you need to add a 3rd reason for replying here in that you are a Qwest employee and are doing a bit of damage control.

They might even improve the usability of their “helping” system, if this one gets noticed.

Overall, I don’t think I’d be that patient. Our local ISP is nice and I always get a call in (the ISP handles about 7-8k of clients in a small town).