Michael's Insight

Blogging and customer care

A few colleagues have asked me if writing this blog has exposed me to an onslaught of customer complaints.   They also wonder, if I have received some, how do I handle them. 

I'm pleased to report that, although there have been a few individual service-related comments posted, it has really only been a handful.

To begin this discussion, I thought I should highlight the recently-added message on the left side of this blog's main page regarding comments:

WOW! Where's our Workforce?

A while back we were given the opportunity to hire a number of experienced customer service representatives who were looking for new positions.  Why?  Because their jobs were eliminated when their employer and our competitor -- WOW -- closed one of their local call centers.

Customer Service 101

Yikes.  That was a spirited reaction to Karl's report about my blog over on Broadband Reports yesterday.  Some cynics over there questioned my motivation for reading blogs and responding to customers.  I actually intended to write about customer service anyway, so I guess this is as good a time as any. Here's one quote from the reactors. 

...Mr. Willner takes some time to scan through this and other sites, but don't for a second think it's all about customer service. It's about keeping PR fires under control.

I understand the comment but actually disagree with it.  I scan the blogs to deal with individual issues but we apply what we learn from those issues to fundamental changes in the way we do business and in the services we offer.  I have a very different motivation than "putting out PR fires." 

Human Contact Doesn't Cost Extra at Insight

According to recent articles on Broadband Reports and MSNBC, AT&T is planning to charge customers $5 to talk to a live billing representative, even if you're the victim of identity theft. Broadband Reports says: 

We mentioned in March that AT&T is prepped to start charging $5 in May if you want to talk to a live billing rep over the phone. MSNBC discovers the practice after an id theft victim (forced to close her checking account) was charged $2 for trying to pay AT&T in cash:

Payne objected to the "administrative charge" that was added to her bill but got no sympathy. Instead, she said, she was told she should consider herself lucky because the fee was about to go up to $5.

"We want our associates to spend their time helping customers as they are thinking about their wireless plans or looking at phones," AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel says.

You gotta be kidding me. Apparently, AT&T doesn't want