10 Reasons Customer Service Reps Aren’t So Bad

“Your call is important to us”, they say. Right. So important, in fact, that they’ve kept you on hold for 45 minutes; presumably in the hopes of making this very special moment last forever. Then after enduring a virtual phone menu gauntlet, you encounter someone you can’t understand. But is that rep on the other end really Evil incarnate? Or are you just having a bad day? If you’ll consider a few simple facts, I think you’ll agree that customer service reps aren’t so bad after all.

1. He did, after all, say “Thank you for holding”, when he came back from his  lunch break. At least that’s what it sounded like, though it was hard to tell with his mouth full.
2. Compared with, say, bubonic plague, dealing with Rajah for a mere hour and a half was really quite pleasant. In fact, there were even some moments when you could actually decipher his instructions – before your screen turned a lovely shade of blue.
3. Let’s face it, not just anyone is going to (almost) learn English just so they can read an instruction manual to you over the phone – and international long distance no less!
4. Be honest. Do you even know anyone who’d answer their phone at 2 AM on a Saturday? Besides, it sure beats watching “Sleepless in Seattle” all by yourself, admit it.
5. That one from Verizon sounded kinda cute, actually …
6. At least you’re not going to need to take out a loan to pay for the labor on this service call. Try spending 90 minutes talking to your shrink about your problems.
7. Think about it: You call them at a convenient time for you, you decide when the problem is fixed, and you never have to get out of your chair, or clean the living room. You may not get your problem resolved, but it sure feels good to be calling the shots for a change, in your pajamas.
8. If you don’t like the first one you get, hang up and try again. You can’t do that with the cable guy – unless you’re willing to go another 2 weeks without Dancing With the Stars.
9. Speaking of which, 45 minutes on hold seems almost like heaven compared to the 5-hour window that Comcast calls an “appointment”, doesn’t it? Especially considering that “between noon and 5″ usually means a 5:30 show.
10. Hey, no tipping! No food wrappers, no muddy footprints, no overtime, and no unsightly butt-cleavage. Except yours, of course.

So although it’s aggravating to wait 45 minutes in muzak hell, only to have to explain the reason for your call three times to someone who can barely speak English, take heart and look at the bright side. You’ve both got lots in common. Neither of you knows what’s wrong with your computer, neither of you have anything else to do on a Saturday night, and you both like Meg Ryan. It could be a lot worse.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 16th, 2011 at 11:23 am and is filed under phone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.