The Constant Request to Avoid Connecting You To Another Human Being

There is a persistent struggle between companies desire to outsource their customer services departments to cheaper, foreign offices and the (UK) customer’s demand to speak with a fellow English-speaking advisor. This is demonstrated by companies now advertising when they have a UK based call centres! One major way that companies are finding ways to satisfy both parties is to encourage their customers to use the online chatting services that most companies offer now. This is an instant messenger service thus eliminating the need to actually speak to another human being.

However, it has arguably reached the point of the ridiculous because when customers call a customer services department they are connected through to an automated menu and asked to select the option closest to their enquiry. There are commonly a series of these automated menus and it has been known that after each menu choice the same automated message is played explaining that you don’t have to sit through this tedious process and risk holding a conversation with someone; you can simply type your answer into a box on your computer screen.

It is useful when you are say at work, and cannot necessarily take a phone call but you can type but it does not entirely break down the language barrier because it cannot, nothing can other than the two people in the conversation speaking the same language! Unfortunately in this day and age even the advertisements that state that the company have ‘UK based call centres’ does not guarantee you will speak with an advisor who has English as their first language. However, the constant request from the company you are calling to type your enquiry as opposed to speaking it can make the customer feel distinctly like they don’t care about your problem. The development of the internet has allowed people to find the answers to a lot of questions on the internet thus eliminating the need to contact your company directly anyway. This means that largely, although not exclusively, if customers are calling the company they are doing so because they know that this is the only way their problem can be solved. Therefore repeatedly pushing the instant messenger service on them is redundant.

For more information on any of the different forms of customer service, have a look at our Ezine page. It is populated with brilliantly written articles discussing the positives and negatives of customer service and if you are in the business yourself, tips on how to improve the service you offer.