The human element is disappearing
Why in the world can’t I ever speak to a human being anymore on the phone?
It really drives me crazy when I call a company or a business and have to dial 50 different numbers before I can actually speak to the person I’m trying to reach.
I understand that automated systems save companies money by not having to physically employ 20 people to answer calls everyday, but I would think that most companies would care about their customers relations as well and, let me tell you, if I’ve had to speak to a machine for 20 minutes, I’m probably not going to be a happy camper by the time I finally do get to speak to a real person.
In addition to automated systems, I also don’t like call centers that direct you to a person in another country who is supposed to understand you and help you. In my experience, nothing good can come from this.
Take a certain pizza restaurant, for example.
My husband and I have completely stopped using one place where we used to buy pizza because when we call to place an order, we’re directed to a call center that’s probably in Saskatchewan.
Now, it may not actually be as far away as Saskatchewan, but it’s definitely not in Russellville and most of the operators definitely don’t know what they’re doing.
The first time we placed an order through the call center, we got to the local restaurant to pick up our pizza and we were told they had never received our order. After receiving an apology, we waited for 25 minutes while they made our pizza.
The second time we placed an order through the call center, we got into an argument with the operator (who could barely speak English) who was insisting there wasn’t a pizza restaurant in Russellville, Alabama.
After promising the operator I had just driven by the restaurant that day and it was, in fact, still right where it had been for as long as I can remember, I finally just gave up and went to McDonald’s.
The third and final time we attempted to give the call center the benefit of the doubt, our pizza order was completely wrong.
The local restaurant hadn’t made it wrong, the operator at the call center had sent it in wrong.
We decided the “three strikes, you’re out” rule was more than fair in this situation and we haven’t attempted to order pizza from that particular restaurant since then.
Call me old fashioned, but I just want to speak to a nice, friendly human that can understand me and who knows what I’m talking about.
Kudos to those companies who have humans answering their phones. If I ever call you, I will definitely appreciate it and I’m sure many others will, too.
