Think About It

You know you're having a less than stellar customer experience when you say to yourself, "This reminds me of AOL tech support."

That thought crossed our minds more than once during a recent phone call to BellSouth. We couldn't access the Internet on either of our two home computers. The tech support representative for BellSouth DSL service ran us through a maze of pointless steps - such as deleting our cookies - which couldn't possibly have solved our problem. It was obvious that she was giving us standard answers from a script rather than listening to the details and offering a thoughtful, effective solution. Hence the reminiscence about our past journeys to AOL and back.

But having dealt with BellSouth tech support before, we took some solace in knowing that we'd soon be contacted with a phone survey about our experience. We'd be able to vent our ire and could dream that something might be done to spare the next poor soul from such incompetence.

Sure enough, a few days later, the phone rang and a recorded voice assured us that BellSouth cared about our satisfaction. We dutifully punched in the numbers on our keypad to rate how excellent - or not excellent - tech support had performed in several aspects.

Finally, we arrived at the free response section of the survey, during which we could leave additional comments. We first described our technical problem briefly, to give some context to the substandard support. Just as we started to get to the meat of the story, we heard a quiet "click" as, unbelievably, the recording cut us off.

That was the most unkindest cut of all. Sure, we had been disappointed with tech support, but this wasn't our first rodeo, so the poor service we received wasn't too far off from our mediocre expectations.

But when we're asked to complete a survey, there's a different expectation, a belief that the company asking the questions actually cares - especially if that company promotes itself with a tagline that claims responsiveness: "Listening. Answering."

Aborting a customer survey after 30 seconds is completely contrary to BellSouth's branding and marketing efforts. When a company stakes out a position like responsiveness, it has to ensure that everything it does, day in and day out, supports that position.

A truly responsive company would realize that anyone who tries to leave extended comments may need help or consolation. So, if anyone spoke for more than 30 seconds, they immediately would be connected with a live operator who would listen to their concerns in full.

A somewhat responsive company would offer to have a representative call the customer to discuss their experience further.

A minimally responsive company would at least allot a couple of minutes for the customer's response. Shucks, they wouldn't even have to listen to the full remarks from long-winded folks like us. Just give us a chance to say our piece and let us continue to live in our fantasy world where we think our opinion really does matter.

As for a company that hangs up on a customer trying to share his thoughts? That's not listening. That's not answering. That's just absurd.