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Some information on financial call centers and customer satisfaction
Thanks to Max for highlighting some of the frustration we all feel from time to time with call centers. Dug-up a couple reads. First is a 2011 customer satisfaction report by Jim S. Miller Prime Performance Surveys. ** (The survey appears to focus only on the brokerage division at Price and compares it to Schwab and other brokerages. May or may not be relevant to their mutual fund division.) The second is an article from an industry publication which sounds more like a plug for T. Rowe Price than objective reporting. Linked it because it contains some information about Price's call center operations which I couldn't find elsewhere.
It was very thoughtful of you to provide these items, hank. I looked at the second one but was a bit intimidated by the sheer length of the Table of Contents of the first item. Caveat: Surely I am an outlier about all of this stuff. From where I sit, it seems strange to make a science out of customer service, to create checklists by which to measure customer satisfaction. I am reminded of the time I got my knee scoped back in 1990. Several days later, I got a call from the hospital. The employee wanted to know about how things went. Was I satisfied?
.....And at this point, the disconnect always happens. The biggest, most glaring, most obvious contradiction here is the fact that she was reading off of a checklist. How can I take anyone's alleged sincerity seriously if they are asking questions about my happiness from off of a cue-card? I mentioned that fact when I had the chance to respond to her final query: "Is there anything ELSE you'd like to add?"
That precise question is the means by which the creators of such cue cards can tell themselves that they have been comprehensive and complete about this task.
... Just yesterday. Comcast finally called me about the sub-par cable tv service they've been providing to this household. They were prompted to call due to my complaint to the FCC, online. Trouble is, there's always a catch. The whole situation is set-up in such a way that real satisfaction for the customer is not EVER going to be forthcoming. All they will offer to do is to repeat the same steps they've already taken, and hope they get it right the FOURTH time. Oh, and by the way, we will be glad to inconvenience you for the fourth time by making you hang around through a two-hour window of time, waiting for our guy to come....
...And so the game becomes an effort to get the customer to accept any little, useless offer to make amends. Will you let me apply a discount to your bill for you? I would like to get that discount. I'm entitled to that discount. But that won't fix what's been going on. (Problem solved! Thank you, Max! Have a nice day!)
Reply to @MaxBialystock: you should be happy that you are getting 2 hr window instead of half a day or whole day. Many cable companies service visits are scheduled on wide periods. Two hours is good actually.
Reply to @Investor: You can say that again. Recently lost our AT&T landline due to storm damage. Took three weeks and at least six "We'll be there sometime today" "windows".
We'd probably still be waiting except for a fortunate coincidence: an errant driver managed to take out the entire power pole that our house hooks up to, so after PG&E replaced their pole AT&T had to also relocate all of their cabling onto the new pole, and finally repaired our line in the process.
I know what you're talking about regarding those delays. I'm in southern New England, where we had the early freak snowstorm in late October, 2010. Took 9 days to get our electricity back. What a mess. The State's AG fined the four biggest utility companies, afterwards--- Western Mass. Electric among them!
Reply to @MaxBialystock: Hey Max, are you replying to @Old_Joe? Could you please make a bit effort to use the "Reply" link in the post you replying and use the box for that post for typing your reply instead of the bottom one? That way logical order will be preserved. I think you can use Old_Joe's user guide as well.
I am not sure you are aware of this but bottom post box is replying to the opening post (in this case to Hank's post at the top)
Reply to @MaxBialystock: Agree with Investor! Please don't muck up this thread (any more than already is:-)
And just so you all know, I'm desperately searching for a satisfaction survey on cable & utility companies so as to go with the flow, Will post it if can find a good one. Regards
Reply to @Investor: Good to hear. Have had mixed results with DirecTV - money grubbers that they are. Local electric is a joke! Don't bother calling. Just fire up the generator.
Overall, quite satisfied with my fund companies. Only one serious issue in 15+ years with TRP. Involved a exchange I thought had failed to execute (close to 4PM) during the wild swings back in 2008. Learned a few days later that on their end it appeared to have gone through. They took a few weeks, a supervisor followed through, and in the end they reversed their call and sided with me.
Was hoping with my research to learn more about the life of call center workers. (salary, education, hours, opportunities for promotion, length of their careers etc.) Disappointed in that effort - though gleaned from the article that even at this level the opportunities to advance at TRP are there. My guess is, however, that those of us on SS and a pension - pulling in north of 50-60K are probably doing better than many of the call center workers who routinely handle our investment needs. FWIW
Comments
.....And at this point, the disconnect always happens. The biggest, most glaring, most obvious contradiction here is the fact that she was reading off of a checklist. How can I take anyone's alleged sincerity seriously if they are asking questions about my happiness from off of a cue-card? I mentioned that fact when I had the chance to respond to her final query: "Is there anything ELSE you'd like to add?"
That precise question is the means by which the creators of such cue cards can tell themselves that they have been comprehensive and complete about this task.
... Just yesterday. Comcast finally called me about the sub-par cable tv service they've been providing to this household. They were prompted to call due to my complaint to the FCC, online. Trouble is, there's always a catch. The whole situation is set-up in such a way that real satisfaction for the customer is not EVER going to be forthcoming. All they will offer to do is to repeat the same steps they've already taken, and hope they get it right the FOURTH time. Oh, and by the way, we will be glad to inconvenience you for the fourth time by making you hang around through a two-hour window of time, waiting for our guy to come....
...And so the game becomes an effort to get the customer to accept any little, useless offer to make amends. Will you let me apply a discount to your bill for you? I would like to get that discount. I'm entitled to that discount. But that won't fix what's been going on. (Problem solved! Thank you, Max! Have a nice day!)
We'd probably still be waiting except for a fortunate coincidence: an errant driver managed to take out the entire power pole that our house hooks up to, so after PG&E replaced their pole AT&T had to also relocate all of their cabling onto the new pole, and finally repaired our line in the process.
I am not sure you are aware of this but bottom post box is replying to the opening post (in this case to Hank's post at the top)
And just so you all know, I'm desperately searching for a satisfaction survey on cable & utility companies so as to go with the flow, Will post it if can find a good one. Regards
Overall, quite satisfied with my fund companies. Only one serious issue in 15+ years with TRP. Involved a exchange I thought had failed to execute (close to 4PM) during the wild swings back in 2008. Learned a few days later that on their end it appeared to have gone through. They took a few weeks, a supervisor followed through, and in the end they reversed their call and sided with me.
Was hoping with my research to learn more about the life of call center workers. (salary, education, hours, opportunities for promotion, length of their careers etc.) Disappointed in that effort - though gleaned from the article that even at this level the opportunities to advance at TRP are there. My guess is, however, that those of us on SS and a pension - pulling in north of 50-60K are probably doing better than many of the call center workers who routinely handle our investment needs. FWIW