Tag: Shopping

Can I speak to a human please? My war with tech in customer service

Posted on by Han_A

Sometimes I’m certain tech is going to be the death of us all.

At other times I have moments of excitement and intrigue when I think about what new opportunities tech will unlock for us as a species. But today let’s focus on one of the roots of my pessimism. Customer service.

Tech has been used very strategically by several companies to make dealing with customer queries more efficient. Snazzy websites with FAQs, AI powered chatbots and ‘virtual assistants’ online and on the phone who can point you towards the best answer possible. Sometimes they work very well and you think – thank God for that. However, at other times they lead you hopelessly in circles, teasing you with the promise of an answer BUT NOT ACTUALLY GIVING ONE. It’s at those times I have to take deep breaths to protect my sanity and my phone screen (which is one step away from being thrown at the wall).

I recently found myself in need of documents from my bank and was of course advised by the website (one bit of tech) to use the banking app (another bit of tech). I did as I was told but the app actually couldn’t fulfil the demand so after a few tries I reluctantly decided to go to the bank. Even that decision wasn’t made easy because the physical sites of many high street banks are slowly all shutting down. All the ones in my borough of London were closed down, so I had to venture out.

When I got to the bank, after a long journey there and I finally get to see a member of staff after waiting ten or 15 mins, what happens? They ask me if I’ve used the app and if not, if they can show me how to use it. Part of me wanted to scream. What is the point of me being here if all roads lead back to this god forsaken app? Can no service be provided independent of it? It’s enough for me to hopelessly despair at times.

Human, where art thou?

These days there’s a thrill and pleasant surprise to hearing a human voice on the phone. And that’s mainly because companies make you work SO HARD to access one. You have to talk to 101 AI bots who you tell your problem to (in over enunciated English because they understand nothing less), only for them to say they don’t understand a thing you’re say. Repeat this scenario about 3 – 4 times and you have a typical phone call to your bank or utility provider. Humans, of course, have their own problems, sometimes I’ll be forwarded back and forth between teams on the phone like cow on a farm. No, they’re not perfect, but I always feel like I am in slightly better hands and that I’m at least one step closer to a solution.

In terms of human access for customers – it’s a luxury. And, you’ll notice, if you observe carefully, that there’s also a hierarchy. People who are likely to buy new products will always be put through to humans faster. As for existing customers who are likely to be making complaints or trying to be processing returns? You’ll have to jump through a few hurdles. Maybe you’ll get through to a human, maybe you won’t. It’s up to the company gods and what they’ve decided. Sad stuff really – especially when you’re in the midst of it. There’s an incorrect assumption that it’s mainly those that are elderly and/or old fashioned that like to have human customer service. This is not true, young people like myself are increasingly valuing human assistance too. Why? Because it’s not necessarily an age or generational thing at this point.

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Do you have any bad customer service stories to share? Feel free to comment and share so we can release our anger together 🙂

Alternatively feel free to read more of my thoughts on shopping and customer service here.

Gift giving: the nice, the bad and the stress

Posted on by Han_A

There’s something incredibly satisfying about giving gifts to people. The brainstorming of the perfect gift which makes you really reflect on the person as an individual, the fine print of their personality. The hunting down of the gift. The presentation of the gift and the look of genuine joy, surprise (or both) once it finally goes from your hands to theirs. Priceless. It’s a language within itself. For me, when I give someone a gift, I want them to know – you are special or I appreciate your role in my life and all you do for me.

Memory Lane

I remember when I was younger, I would take Christmas and birthday gifts really seriously. Each Christmas myself and my friend – both very young teens at the time – would stroll to a nearby Claire’s Accessories and buy little trinkets or random accessories for friends of ours in need of a gift that year. Hours could literally pass when buying gifts – immersed in the bright colours and lights of the store – I would be deep in thought wondering what item would be an ideal fit for each friend. Almost as if the appreciation I felt within hinged on the gift; which it really didn’t, of course.

I would get pocket money from my mum for the trip and make sure to buy surprise gifts for each family member – this has ranged from home made Christmas cards to perfume from the £1 shop. However, I did quickly get to a point where I had the realisation that there wasn’t really any point of using my parents’ hard-earned money to just go and then buy them random gifts. From then on, I long looked forward to the day where I could treat my parents to gifts, with no worries about where the cash has been coming from.

VIPs only!

Over the years the people I buy gifts for have dramatically decreased in size. This is on the account of many factors including the fact I’m on a budget (otherwise all the world would probably get a gift lol) and that I’m quite selective with the title of ‘friend’.

Don’t get me wrong, I find gift giving rewarding and yet, there can be a political element to gift giving that can, to some extent be a bit draining if you bog yourself down in it too much. I’ll give an example.

Person A gets their friend a gift. This gift is both unexpected and quite lavish. The friend is flattered and very grateful. But simultaneously this friend, as the overthinker they are, feels a bit guilty – they definitely need to up their game and buy Person A a gift when the next opportunity comes. When they get home that day the friend googles the gift’s value to ensure they get a gift of similar measure when that time comes. Goodness, is that the price?? That’s definitely out of their budget. They must make sure they send a top-up thank you text to display their gratitude, after all that was an expensive gift .

Sound familiar? I think if anything it’s because we’ve all been there at some point but there is perhaps something to be said about the thought counting. We hear it all the time, ‘it’s the thought that counts’ but when it comes to gift giving there is no joy to be had in it if we lose sight of the ‘thought’ – the energy and careful consideration that goes into each gift given to us (or given by us!) Don’t get too bogged down in the material aspect since most of the time it’s just a symbolic gesture. For me personally – limiting who I give gifts to helps; they tend to mainly go to those I know well and I only have to give them a few times a year which means my approach can be more deliberate and tailored to the individual. Plus, it means I can afford to splurge on myself when my birthday comes; after all, we must gift ourselves from time to time too! 😉

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What do you think? Do you have a certain approach or a strong preference when it comes to gift giving?

*Featured photo by Ekaterina Shevchenko on Unsplash

‘The Customer is King’ and other lies we’re told.

Posted on by Han_A

I am a stickler for good customer service. I’m not ashamed to admit it, and neither should you.

However, as you go through life you realise good customer service is often in rare supply, many a business promises it but only a few actually deliver it. Unfortunately, most of us find this out the hard way; when we’re face to face with a rude waiter at dinner or listening to music as we’re placed on hold in the midst of a battle with customer services of some online retailer. I for example, was in a battle with a courier company late last year who had a package of mine that they decided to deliver to a random address I did not even put on the payment form at checkout. However, because of the pandemic I really had no one to complain to because this courier company thought it would be great idea to close down their call centres throughout most of last year – a business decision which makes no logic sense to me but I digress. Sigh.

Fighting for your rights

Me when I’m put on hold by customer services (again)

As much as it sucks to accept, that age old marketing phrase ‘The Customer is King’ doesn’t always seem to translate in the reality of how many businesses operate nowadays. If you, as the customer do not push for what you want (in a reasonable manner, of course) you will often not get the results you want to see. Whether it’s having your burnt food replaced with a new dish, or getting a refund for a holiday cancelled by an airline (as many flocked to do during the start of the pandemic.) It may require lots of angry emails to customer service, visits to store and even letters and phone calls but hopefully it will be worth it when you’re tucking into your newly made dish or rolling around in refund flight money.

This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to know our rights as consumers – there’s many podcasts and online resources out there which can help with this. Many in the UK, for example, will be familiar with TV and consumer finance expert, Martin Lewis who offers a lot of advice on customer rights on his site MoneySavingExpert.

Of course, I hope you’ll never get to the point where you need legal ammunition but it’s always worth having in your arsenal if a company gets lazy and won’t budge regarding your query.

The right formula

From the retail side of things, I can understand that good customer service can be tricky, you’ll often get a variety of customers you have to serve and not everyone will be pleased with the type of service you offer – even if you think it’s great and quite extensive. Some may like the chat bots you offer on your site for example, whilst others – like me – may find them extremely annoying and ineffective – just get me a human to talk to, please!

Yet, customer service at its core is quite simple. People want transparency, quality products and when being dealt with, want it to be done with respect and honesty. Although how those components look on a pie chart may have changed percentage-wise, those demands themselves have not. Additionally, as people within the age of social media, users of brands are being more vocal than ever before about their experience with brands and what they want. In other words, what customers want is not exactly a mystery – businesses just need to make sure they’re doing leg work and keeping their ear close the ground to figure out what we want and then actually make steps to make it happen.

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What do you think? Let’s talk! Do you have any good or bad customer service stories to share and what do you value most from customer service?

If you liked this you may enjoy my previous article on our toxic relationships with brands.