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Your call is not important

September 6, 2006

If you have any doubts that customer service is a joke in corporate America, just tune in to Jeff Hoyt’s latest podcast, Voice Jail. It will make you laugh … and cry.

My favorite travel anecdote? His interaction with Amtrak’s automated phone system, which you can listen to about halfway through the audio essay. I won’t say any more except that it involves delusional train nerds, space aliens and lots of very dry humor.

Ironically, Hoyt is a voiceover actor who has recorded tracks for a variety of call centers. He’s even suffered the indignity of listening to himself say, “Your call is very important to us” while on hold with a big company.

Hoyt makes a serious point, though. Companies spend lots of money to acquire customers, but then set up call centers to prevent us from talking to them. Isn’t that a “disconnect”?

On a related note, I’m starting to get the feeling that there some momentum building in the blogosphere to change the way in which companies handle customer service queries. I wouldn’t quite call it a “movement” yet, but we are getting close to it.

Blogs like Hoyt’s and others, such as Maria Palma’s CustomersAreAlways are tapping into a deep sense of public discontent about the way in which companies respond to their customers.

It’s just a matter of time before the snowball becomes an avalanche.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

3 comments

  • Stephanus Surjaputra

    Oh man. Jeff really hit the nail on the head on this one :).

    Thanks for sharing, Chris.

  • Chris in Alaska

    Yup. One of the best podcasts I’ve heard. I immediately subscribed to the XML feed.

    On a related note, an excellent way to bypass the Amtrak IVR is to send them an email. I’ve emailed them three or four times recently, and each time, I’ve gotten a personal (i.e. not scripted) response really answering my question–in less than an hour. (If I send it outside of business hours–and their email business hours are something like 7a-11p–I get a response within an hour of them opening.)

    With email support like that, I’ll never bother to pick up the phone and dial them again. Combine that with the fact that I find it easier to explain situations in writing, and they’ve made one happy customer out of me.

  • Joe

    Another reason to like Midwest Airlines: when you call the corporate office, you speak to a real person, not an automated system, and then that person routes you to the appropriate place (although their reservations system is automated). What a concept! I’m not trying to be a shill for Midwest, since I still like Delta and even United, but I think Midwest, Frontier, and JetBlue understand the importance of customer service better than most airlines.

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