Call center reps would have you believe that customers are dumb and make interactions very difficult. On the other hand customers always complain about agents not knowing how to answer even the simplest questions. A lot of cartoons from www.callcentercomics look at the issue from both sides, but the real answer is still to be determined. What do you think?
2006-07-13 20:05:50 · 14 answers · asked by Callcentercomic 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Careers & Employment
Customer service reps often do not receive enough training regarding the services they are supposed to support. Customers do not always know enough about what they are calling for support on.
Part of the problem is in understanding and being able to explain the technical terms in plain English. Customer service reps often have a checklist to follow. If the customer does not understand a question or the customer rep does not understand an answer, then the result is a difficult service call.
Based on my work in telecommunications working customer trouble reports, customer service is underpaid and undertrained for the job they do. Once they have the experience and knowledge to do this job well, they move to a different department for better pay. I often receive tickets with important information missing. Sometimes is the fault of the customer service rep not asking the customer for the information or not getting it into the ticket. Sometimes the fault is with the customer not having the required information ready.
What is the solution? Better training for customer service reps and better pay to keep them (in this day and age not very likely). And customers need to have required information available.
2006-07-13 20:22:13 · answer #1 · answered by Raymond C 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have worked customer service both in a call centers and at home. I find that as a customer service rep I set the tone of the call. If I let a customer bully me and control the call I will spend the entire call apologizing and we get no where. So I let the customer say what they have to say then I go to into a resolution for them. If I cannot find a resolution I find someone that can.
On the other side I have worked for a call center that told us to pass the buck. We would especially "cover" for another department. I felt that this was morally wrong and quit that job to work from home.
2006-07-14 00:44:56 · answer #2 · answered by ohiodiva 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that it's both sides. Customers are on the defensive and hate to be referred to as dumb and some just accept the fact that they are. They shouldn't. I believe that if they are brave enough to pick up the phone to call customer service, they should be awarded for facing ridicule and scrutiny.
On the flip side, there are intelligent customers calling customer service and getting an ill fitted representative that cannot tell one end from the other. But they could be new and just starting their training.
Bottom line... both sides should have patience with each other. If you don't like the results, then either take a very very deep cleansing breath and try to approach the situation from a different angle or kindly ask for someone else.
2006-07-13 20:11:46 · answer #3 · answered by sakura4eternity 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both sides are to be blamed. Part of the reason is the outsourcing mania. It is hard to understand what the support person is saying. This can lead to frustrations.
Again, in most cases agents are just reading off the answers from a screen. Many of them are just starting out and have no experience. Thus they cannot answer out-of-the-box questions. Customers are impatient and many of them are scared or afraid to do anything. This can lead to both sides getting on each others nerves. Then you get the know-it-all customer. Hoo boy, talk about dealing with them. Nightmare.
Some agents can be rude or arrogant. They think customers are dumb and stupid. Dealt with a few of those and I usually tell them to go work at McDonald's or Rama's Restaurant making chappathis and kurma.
2006-07-13 20:16:07 · answer #4 · answered by crazyhumans2 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm a customer service rep. Where I work there are some dumb reps, but I must say that the majority of the dumb people are customers.
- A typical day for me is getting an e-mail from a customer that says "Did my stuff shipped or no?"... and contains no other information.
2006-07-13 20:09:41 · answer #5 · answered by Boob 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
phone reps don't listen the customer , and in short don't give "customer" service. I've have many customer reps try to go into a predetermined response, that doesn't match the situation. First listen than answer, don't talk over the customer and get made at them when they are trying to explain to you what needs to be corrected. So many think oh I know what happened, and start answering a question that wasn't asked,
2006-07-13 20:08:04 · answer #6 · answered by double v 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, customers are, in general, dumb. However, even when that is the case, if a customer rep can not resolve the issue, they are to fault. I am not talking about the "no good, never will please me, even if you gave me a million bucks" customer. Those people deserve to be shot. However, if I have a problem, do your best to fix it, even if it costs you a dollar. Bad publicity will cost you much more in the long run.
2006-07-13 20:11:49 · answer #7 · answered by pizzagirl 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have to be really provoked. Some of those telemarketers are incredibly pushy. I usually don't have too much problems with customer service reps, though.
2016-03-27 04:42:40 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes there are a lot of customers that comes up with stupid questions
2006-07-13 20:12:09 · answer #9 · answered by aznflippgurl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The customers are dumb.
2006-07-13 20:08:17 · answer #10 · answered by bombhaus 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋