Is it technically working or does it work for me?


Recently I did switch from a glass fiber provider (for tv, telephone, internet) to another cable provider. I must admit that the reason was a slight dissatisfaction with the original provider as well as a cheaper offer for similar services.
The first nuisance is the time that they are planning to visit you. They said that they would arrive between 8.00 am and 1.00 pm. Even when asked a day early they could not give me an exact timing. This is really annoying and inconvenient, as I could not even go to the bathroom in the waiting time.

Then the (subcontracted) engineer did install everything. Your house looks like you haven’t cleaned in weeks, when he is finished. He did check for himself, whether everything was working. Apparently it did work (to HIS satisfaction) and that is what he said, “it all works fine”. And then he left as his job was done.

He did not give me any advice on how to use the stuff. E.g. I had no clue how to install my new voice mail (which number to call etc). I did not get a list of the new tv stations. He did not check whether my radio did work. It took me 10 days to get my email addresses working. For that I had to call their customer service, which finally did say that they could not help me and they gave me a number of their paid service to proceed.  It took me 2 days and 2 paid calls to get it finally working.

After that experience. I am flooded with requests to rate their customer service. By now I have received an automated call, 2 mails and a remainder.

The bottom-line is that Ziggo (the new provider) still has an inward focused definition of customer service. If it works technically then our job is done. I would say that has nothing to do with customer service! That is a prerequisite for the customer service. For me as a customer, the interesting part starts where they left off i.e. how can I start to USE all the facilities. If I don’t know how to use the facilities, then the offering has no value to me.

This is a highly competitive market, where the providers are continuously poaching each other’s customers. I am still looking for a provider who really put the ‘customer experience’ front and center - from the planning to implementation to usage.

Are you distinguishing between technical installations and providing a great customer service experience?



Enthusiasm drives Excellence!

www.theproperway.com


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