An open letter to Customer Service Personnel

Let me preface this by saying that this letter does not reflect on my interactions with the nice people at Nissan (thus far). However some of the other companies involved (unnamed, but we know who) ...... one of the worst customer service experiences ever. Period.

Dear Customer Service Guy,
I am really sorry my phone call was an inconvenience. It was never my intention to pull you away from your World of Warcraft game.
I realize that I probably asked the same question as the guy before me; my bad. I'll try to be more aware in the future.
I know when you told me to call that other department instead, that you really didn't have their contact phone number or email. That's ok!
I was able to find it in about 5 seconds on Google. On my iPhone.
When you said you would return my call in a certain timeframe, blowing it off was fine because I didn't really want that. The check is in the mail, right?
Being spoken to in a terse, derisive manner is fun, especially when I have been nothing but patient and polite! In fact, I think we should get married!
xoxo! :evil:

A customer service person:
*wants to delight customers, above and beyond the call of duty
*has intimate knowledge of the customers needs
*has empathy for the customers situation
*is able to communicate clearly, both written and verbal
*talks in a way the customer can understand
*has a "thick skin" and is able to handle complaints, even when handling unpleasant customers
*works accurately and with an eye for detail
*handles calls in the best interest of both customer and company
*is able to use automated information systems to analyse the customers situation
*is able to suggest improvements to the various communications by the company (eg. website, FAQ, etc)
*has a pleasant, friendly style
*is willing to build a long-term relationship with the customer (not a "job-hopper")
~www.customerservicepoint.com

Yo Rake: I think you need to tell us how you REALLY feel about Nissan CS. :mrgreen:

If I had to guess, Nissan hasn't given the tools necessary for the call center contractor they've hired to provide the level of service (and answers) that customers are asking for.

This is an extremely common situation and the call center needs to communicate that with Nissan. As far as we know, nobody has called Nissan's corporate office to try to get better answers, because we all keep calling the "EV hotline."

derkraut said:

Yo Rake: I think you need to tell us how you REALLY feel about Nissan CS. :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

Alas, my "sugar coating" skills can be a bit thin at times. Probably stems from having put myself though university with Service Industry type jobs.
I try to reward good service when I experience it, but have little tolerance for the reverse.
At the very least I find it unprofessional.
Again I want to reiterate that it was not Nissan's CS reps that I, personally, was referring to. Your experience may vary, of course.

I guess it was that "other" company with the faulty product that keeps bugging a lot of us?

Maybe we should write a letter to DOE asking them to find a different provider of charging stations for
the EV project?

I called them last week about my problems and they promised me to call back. Of course they did not.
So I called them again yesterday (4/5/2011) asking them what the status of my inquiry was..."We will call you back this afternoon". I assume in their world, a day has much more than 24 h and "this afternoon" could be anytime from next week to never....

klapauzius said:

I guess it was that "other" company with the faulty product that keeps bugging a lot of us?

Maybe we should write a letter to DOE asking them to find a different provider of charging stations for
the EV project?

I called them last week about my problems and they promised me to call back. Of course they did not.
So I called them again yesterday (4/5/2011) asking them what the status of my inquiry was..."We will call you back this afternoon". I assume in their world, a day has much more than 24 h and "this afternoon" could be anytime from next week to never....

Click to expand...

What's that definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

Well...if you want a consistent result, you need to try more than once.

I have to praise Mr. Einstein, his definition still seems to hold true!
Even if it's too late for the DOE to divert the project's contractors, it still might warrant a nastygram at that "other" company's CEO about the courtesy of their CS Dept. At this point I would rather talk to a computerized recording...

Rake said:

A customer service person:
*wants to delight customers, above and beyond the call of duty
*has intimate knowledge of the customers needs
*has empathy for the customers situation
*is able to communicate clearly, both written and verbal
*talks in a way the customer can understand
*has a "thick skin" and is able to handle complaints, even when handling unpleasant customers
*works accurately and with an eye for detail
*handles calls in the best interest of both customer and company
*is able to use automated information systems to analyse the customers situation
*is able to suggest improvements to the various communications by the company (eg. website, FAQ, etc)
*has a pleasant, friendly style
*is willing to build a long-term relationship with the customer (not a "job-hopper")
~www.customerservicepoint.com

Yo Rake---you forgot to mention that the CS
Rep you've described is located in Heaven; so you have to die before you get to talk to him/her. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: