Why is Customer Service So Bad?

Why is it? I really don’t know. It drives me crazy though – having to put up with horrible service again and again. Is it possible that only a few people actually care about service? I know I care about it, but given the preference of business to continually provide horrible service it should be that you can just provide plan mediocre service and take their business. Yet these companies providing what seems likes worse and worse service somehow stay in business.

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7 Responses to Why is Customer Service So Bad?

  1. PierG says:

    What's the first thing that every company outsource? The 'direct line' with their customer! That's one of the reasons why customer service is horrible (and why outsourcing 'that way' is wrong!)

  2. Arturas says:

    There is always an invisible line i think, when we speak about customer service and sometimes people just get used to using a service, and we all know that people void changing habits. I’ve visited lot of developing countries and believe me, the customer service the U.S. is like a dream for the people of those countries.

  3. Shell Smith says:

    All economic classes I have ever taken says that it costs more to get a new customer, then to keep the ones you have. I recently came across an interesting interview mshare.net/news/mshare-news-04102008.html that talked about the customer service downfall in today’s market. The president of a customer service company called Mindshare, made some interesting points about what companies need to be doing today.

  4. Sherry T says:

    Outsourced customer service is sometimes seen as a source of bad customer service. However,
    I believe the quality of service is directly related to the initial and ongoing training efforts
    by the Company. Many companies who outsource try to throw the information over the wall to the
    vendor and be done with it. Those who oversee vendor activities, develop key relationships, and
    maintain consistent, open lines of communication will fare much better. They have to stay involved
    with the vendor and see how they run their customer service operation. What behavior are they rewarding their CSRs for? How often do they do refresher training? Bad customer service can come from anywhere that CSRs
    are not properly trained and kept informed of company activities as well as hiring talent that
    does not have the proper attitude and patience to deal with multitudes of people. Hiring people who
    care about others is a first step towards good customer service.
    I agree that customer service in the US is good overall compared to other countries. For example,
    while traveling in Mexico I find the culture to be generally nice, polite people. However, when
    we received poor service or unacceptable room conditions, I find that they don’t know how
    to remedy the situation in a way that I as a customer can forgive them. They don’t
    know how to make up for the inconvenience they’ve caused the customer. They are still as nice
    as ever, but that isn’t always enough. I hold them to standard customer service
    practices that I would expect in the US. Often I am disappointed and always glad to return home.
    customer service in the US.

  5. A Sedaris says:

    I agree with Sherry T below that it is all about training and maintaining communication. By and large, customer service in the United States is horrific! Ask anybody! You would have to be in a coma to not to notice the change in customer service over the past ten years. Why do all the posters here compare ourselves to other countries?!? It’s asanine. Especially “third world” or “developing” countries?!? We used to provide superior customer service now it is just mediocre. Could that be the reason there is so much unemployment, outsourcing AND a downturn in the economy? Could it be the love of money [greed] is the root of all evil? Oh no, why look in the mirror, companies would rather just take the money and run forgetting all the moral principles that made the USA so great. It seems corruption not only has infiltrated all levels of government but also our corporations. The supposed presidents and chief executive officers all across the board are pathetically sad. Is this the kind of country we want to leave our children?

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