Honestly…|an honest take on the world of PR and other things by Cindy Ronzoni

Honestly when did the customer get taken out of customer service? Did it happen without any fanfare? Who allowed this to happen? And why is it okay?

Today, I kid you not I spent FOUR hours with IT Reps from Verizon’s DSL and Wireless phone divisions. I thought I had a simple request and that it would take me 10 minutes tops for my resolution. Boy, was I mistaken. My request, I thought was simple…silly me. I purchased one of Verizon’s new whiz bang mobile wireless USB Internet cards. This was going to replace my home DSL. When I purchased the new contraption of course they said that my Verizon email account would still be in place. But, no. When I called to cancel my home DSL, I was instructed that I had to keep it in some way or fashion. That didn’t bother me. What BOTHERED me was that I spoke to 11 separate representatives, five of which were supervisors. Each rep and supervisor told me a different story. And to top it off, I could never contact the previous rep that I just spoke to. They would vanish and there was no way EVER to track them down.

As someone who is in charge of customer service, I was astonished at the methods that Verizon employs to ensure that they can’t be held accountable for customer service. It’s all very clever and polite, but is the most inefficient service I’ve seen to date. Here’s the inside track to help you in case you get caught in the labyrinth of Verizon’s customer care.

• To appear polite, the reps consistently say “I apologize.” They say it every other sentence. Here’s what I kept hearing. “I apologize that I must put you on hold again.” “I apologize that you can’t speak to head of customer service.” “I apologize you keep getting misinformation.” This apology loop tape reminded me of when the Ritz Carlton Hotel staff would also have to say good day each time they passed you. At first it was nice, but after bumping into several staff just walking to the lobby, it became annoying.
• The Verizon recording says that each call is being recorded. Big deal..I just wanted help and wanted to speak to the head of the department. But there wasn’t a head! I had a hard time understanding who the boss was for the reps. The only place that I could issue a complaint was in writing. I was told that I had to mail a letter to customer service. For a company that boasts about its high-speed Internet options, I couldn’t even use them to send an email about their customer service. We all know where letters go - in that good old circular file.
• Another clever tactic that they effectively used was that you could never get a phone number, location, rep number anything to help you get back in touch with the person you just talked to. They would give me their first names and that was all. And they swore that they couldn’t get you back in touch with that person. I spoke to a Chris, Daniel, Marilyn, Guarna, Keith, Clinton, Karuraker, Greg and a wireless woman too. Talk about a run around. And each person offered a different price. I was frustrated to say the least

I have always been a huge fan of Verizon and its products…but the care I received from customer service was anything but impressive. For being a major communications provider, Verizon’s customer service needs to over build their customer service department.

I’m hoping today was the last of it…but somehow I have a sneaking feeling that it’s not.