But are you? I was reading an article in the Times this morning about how a gentleman who opened a Twitter account to promote a charity devoted to his daughter was locked and couldn't talk to anyone about why it was such. What could have been a simple phone call to determine a) why it was blocked (never found out the reason why) or b) to discuss options if it was blocked for a reason (it was later reinstated after a few emails) was avoided because - ta da! - these new social networking sites don't offer a customer service number for its customers.
On one hand, I can understand, almost. For the most part, these are free sites for the public (with the exception of LinkedIn, which has a premium account that you can opt into), and the cost of adding a help desk situation can be prohibitive. Especially in the case that most of the questions can be answered by clicking around the Help Desk or FAQs of the site.
But it still makes me question the lack of responsibility or passing of the buck by these organizations. I find that the most successful corporations or organizations on these sites are also coincidentally the most socially responsible. So it would be nice to see them practice what they preach.
I find that for myself, it's easier for me to make appointments over email or texting friends, but the reality is, it's tough to blow off a phone call. I'm in the network marketing business, and you can email people to your heart's content. Yet at the same time, it's easy to delete or blow off those messages.
But the lack of phone support for many companies, not even the big three in social networking, is mind-blowing, especially when you are paying for a service.
If I have a bad experience somewhere, anywhere, I can make the conscious decision to never use that product or patronize that establishment again. You're kind of stuck in a consumer rock or hard place with technology based companies, however. I mean, where else are you going to go? Facebook? They have your pictures or your company page profile! Twitter? All that content you've invested in? Good luck leaving it. LinkedIn is what gets me though -- when I first lost my job a few months ago, I invested in a premium account. I found it did not give me a competitive advantage. I tried to cancel it, but it was not that easy. If I did what they suggested in their Help Center, I would essentially lose my contacts, the contacts I've built up over a five year relationship, contacts that I still keep in touch with and use for potential business deals. So as they would say, they have me by the balls.
What I would normally do is call and try to eliminate the charges, give me my basic account and call it a day. But hey, look at that, no 800 number, no customer service.
What's more is that places that you're spending money seem to take their customers for granted. What I've found is that maybe over the past decade or so, companies have either outsourced or eliminated their help desks to the extent that it's almost impossible to talk to anyone. What's worse? In the event you DO get help, turns out that one department doesn't know what the other department is doing. Then there are those synergies where you need to explain 900 times why you're calling. It's not even places you are a consumer -- I have a friend who has been dealing with pension issues for the last four years or so, and still cannot get a straight answer from anyone.
I am an AT&T customer. Cell phone companies are a bit curious because it's like they're in collusion with one another. Either way, you're locked into a contract, either way you've got a phone that unless it's "jailbroken," it's not translatable to another company. So if I theoretically wanted to move my business elsewhere, I'd lose my phone number (that everyone has), I'd have to sign a contract, I'd have to spend a gazillion dollars on new phones. The cell phone companies, in a sense, have your balls in a vise and they know it. So what incentive is there to, you know, treat their customers with respect?
Because of their lack of customer service on the phones (for a PHONE COMPANY, for crying out loud), I've had to resort to sending letters to the CEO. No, seriously. This is the most effective way of getting the answers you need. I feel like sometimes, the Pony Express would be more sufficient than trying to get someone on the phone who can actually answer your questions.
Luckily for me, I'm the queen of letter writing, and can subsequently get the answers I need that way. But why does it come to that? Would it kill these companies that make their money off consumers to invest a little in customer care or better yet, a premium service that can answer a doggone question when you have it?
I get that there are some nuts in the world. I get that there are people who will spend all day calling a help desk just to talk to someone. Trust me, when I worked on a help desk, I used to deal with those people all the time. That doesn't mean, however, that those customers are less valued. In fact, some of them have the best suggestions, it might just take them awhile to get to the point because they are so starved for human interaction. You just don't know. And wouldn't it be ultimately better for the bottom line of these companies to engage their customers? Isn't that the very root of social responsibility?
At the root of it all is a denial of basic customer service perks for your customers. Saving money for your shareholders may be attractive to your bottom line, but customers can get stronger in numbers if you deny them this action.
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