The Death of Customer Service

The problems that plague the airlines lately are very well documented. My wife and I were not at all surprised when (for the second time in a row) Continental Airlines lost our luggage. We had even joked about the possibility during our flight.

The upsetting part was really when trying to work with the airline to get our luggage back. Customer service seemed to be under the impression that we had lost our own luggage and were trying to blame them. Later, through the magic of Google, I tracked down the email address of Continental’s CEO because I wanted to let him know about his customer service department. An executive assistant quickly responded, promising a phone call. The call came an hour late and I happened to be in a meeting, so I was unable to answer it.

Two subsequent follow-up calls have gone unanswered.

Well, At Least They Can Count

It’s not just the airlines. Three consecutive trips to our local Taco Bell have all resulted in wildly incorrect orders, but they always manage to have the right number of items in the bag. So whether you order three soft taco supremes, a crunch wrap and a Mexican pizza or you go for two wood screws, a Big Mac, the square root of pi, a Power Bar and a henweigh; you will receive six items in the bag they hand out the window.

During my melancholy drive home (with an undetermined variety of Mexican fast food next to me) I resolved to contact each one of my internal customers the next day. It was Thursday, which is when I usually send out a status update email, but we were only waiting on them to complete testing for launch. So I skipped the email and called them.

I was actually able to resolve three different issues that day, all of which the users said had become real stumbling blocks for them. In calling them, I managed to make them feel like I really cared and was able to determine the issues without trading half a dozen emails. Real lines of communication are now open and the testing has taken a noticeable surge forward.

The Challenge

The next time you receive poor customer service, re-dedicate yourself the next chance you have to make sure that you are not continuing it. Find out what their needs are and meet them. Call them back on time. It’s amazing how easy it makes doing your job. It’s also worth noting that “The challenge” can be summed up: do your job and do it well.