This week’s customer service incident

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my anxiety over dealing with angry customers.

People end up reaching out to whoever they can find on a company’s web site because phone trees are designed to address (I hesitate to use the word “resolve”) as many situations as possible without costly human intervention. When the situation doesn’t fit neatly into the available options, people get desperate. They want to be heard.

I had to deal with another angry customer this week (through e-mail this time) who, like so many others, threatened to call the media and sue the company. I was able to turn around the situation with two simple e-mails.

• In the first, I responded saying that I’d received the message. 
• In the second, which I sent a few hours later, I confessed that I still hadn’t managed reach anyone who could help (they’re in another city and state) but that I hadn’t forgotten them.

The reply to the second message was, “I know it will get handled now you’re a GODSEND!!!”

That struck me as a being very telling response. I hadn’t actually done anything to help yet. I hadn’t solved the problem. I hadn’t even managed to speak to anyone who could solve the problem. I’d forwarded e-mails and tried to draw attention to the customer’s problem, but I hadn’t succeeded yet. However, I did acknowledge them and let them know that someone cares enough to respond.

Sometimes that’s all it takes.

I was even more pleased when I was able to reach a senior member of the customer service team about an hour later, and the customer’s problem was quickly resolved.

I like writing about happy endings.