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Why does it seem that cable TV providers are getting slaughtered in the public eye these days? Time Warner has had some less than stellar press in recent months. Now, it is DirecTV's turn (though I know they are a satellite provider and not cable... but you get my point). Right here.
A few weeks ago, before my second trip to Taiwan in two months, I was driving along on my way to the office. I will openly admit that I do not drive full throttle, pedal to the metal, most days. But this day, I happened to be in the fast lane and was driving a little over 75mph - plenty fast at 7:30 in the morning and faster than all the other lanes of traffic. Fast enough, anyway.
Out of nowhere, and I do mean nowhere, came a white service van. This thing looked like it had been shot out of a cannon, thanks to how fast it showed up on my bumper. Because I was going faster than all the other traffic, I had nowhere to go to get out of the driver's way (if I'd felt compelled to).
Since I didn't move, the driver backed off of my bumper- which he had been riding extremely close- and looked to be mellowing out. Then he accelerated very quickly and rode right back up to my bumper, just inches away. When I didn't move out of his way, which I was still unable to do thanks to traffic to my right, he again backed off and then proceeded to pretend to ram me again! He did this one more time before a gap in traffic opened and I was able to move to the lane on my right. At this point, the agitated driver sped by me- with the obligatory single-finger salute- reaching speeds that had to be in excess of 100mph.
I was calm enough to remember the phone number (1-800-DIRECTV) and the vehicle license plate number. There was no visible truck number that I could see, so I relied on the Arizona plate number for ID. Keep in mind, I've never called a company to complain about a bad driver, but this kid ( I say kid because he looked to be about 20-24 years old) was driving overtly dangerously. So anyway, I figured DirecTV could at least tell the kid to start drinking decaf.
Strike One for DirecTV ensued...
When you call the 800 number, you are only given the option to order new service or check on your order for new service. There are no options for customer service or any other department. Nothing!
So, with no other options, I selected the "new service" option and then proceeded to hold. I pressed zero, in the faint hope that might route me to an operator... but no luck.
Once I got a human voice, I explained that I was not calling to get new service, but was sadly calling to report one of their service installers. I explained the driving of the service tech and how I was just trying to help them, not me, so that they could prevent this kid from damaging their brand: "I'm a marketing professional myself and I know how these things can impact people's opinions."
The woman on the other end was very apologetic and friendly. I apologized for dumping this problem in her lap, since she clearly wasn't responsible for this kid's actions and it wasn't even "her" department. She apologized and empathized with me again and then asked politely if she could put me on hold while she figured out a way to redirect my call to somebody better suited to help me. I liked that effort.
Here comes Strike Two...
I sat on hold for more than 10 minutes while she searched for the right person to help me. I'm not complaining about her effort here, but about the lack of a clearly defined chain of command. What large company doesn't provide its contact people with at least a list of other departments and the people in them? How can you have front-line people working totally blind with no idea who to go to when a problem arises or at least a little info on how to respond to problems? She was really trying - I could tell by her tone of voice and sincerity - but she was given no tools to do her job.
After the 10 minutes of silent holding (no hold music?), she finally came back and apologized for the delay and said she'd finally figured out who I should talk to. Finally, I thought, I can help this company help themselves and maybe even help them make good decisions. I was feeling pretty good about things... until I was back on hold for a few minutes.
And now for Strike Three...
Once I came off hold again, I was now talking to a call center in India or Pakistan. I don't have a problem with outsourcing like this, but how on earth is a call center person in another country going to know what to do with a call like mine? How are they going to get a regional or district supervisor on the phone with a local office to chew out a bad driving kid? Seriously, I ask you.
For simple tech support or other straightforward needs, offshore subcontractors make plenty of sense. But for your more sensitive customer service issues, you really need to have somebody with a more "local" understanding of things... in my opinion anyway.
So, my new friend was very polite and spoke beautiful English, even with the heavy accent. She really tried to understand the nature of my call, but all of the references to local freeways and locations were simply out of her realm of understanding. It wasn't her fault. Like the first polite woman I worked with, she was simply put in a position to fail without the right tools.
Not that I was considering getting DirecTV, but the experience I had - trying to help them - soured me on the very thought. All of this comes down to the point I frequently try to make; it is the little details that make the difference.
* The kid driving the service van was an idiot and should have known better, as he is representing a company any time he is driving the company van.
* The poor service rep I talked to was left out to dry with no clearly defined structure to help her route people to anything other than new service.
* The call center employee tried her best... although she did ask me if she'd helped me with all of my DirecTV needs.
This may all sound a little nitpicky, but it is the nitpicky details that always come back to bite you on the rump when you don't address them. I hope that somebody in New Delhi, or wherever the call center actually was, managed to get a message off to somebody who could reprimand the kid who was driving the van. Somehow though, I doubt she was able to.
And, for what it is worth, I did the responsible thing and followed up with a contact through the company Web site as well. Mission accomplished. Finally.
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Comments
Great post. This is a topic that we like to talk about a lot. There is a huge difference in Customer Service and Client Fulfillment.
Each of the service reps that you spoke with provided the best level of customer service that they were capable of with the tools that they have.
But the company has failed miserably in the Client Fulfillment area due to a lack of Client Fulfillment. The list of department extensions, a local contact number, etc. would have fully closed out your issue.
Here is a recent post about it: http://www.blog.bigwebapps.com/bigpicture/2007/03/am_i_really_hel.html
Posted by: Jason Moore | 04.06.07
Tim,
Man, I relate. I have been having a running battle with AT&T and Comcast for months over my telephone service. I won't say much about it because I created a post for a future run here.
But everybody is really nice and seem genuinely concerned for me. That's cool but will someone please fix my service? I could use that helmet you're wearing to protect me from the fallout.
Posted by: Lewis Green | 04.06.07
Tim -- So what was the response via the Web site? Did you get a sense of being "heard" at last?
Posted by: Ann Handley | 04.06.07
Let me first concede that ideally, the problem would have been addressed, and the driver responsible for prompting the call should have been reprimanded.
But let's look at this another way. Even lacking a clear chain of command, if that person at the number you called felt empowered to affect change within the organization herself, she would have taken all the information, including your contact info, apologized profusely, thanked you for letting them know, and told you that she would get someone to call you if more information was needed.
Then she could have done all of her searching without causing you to be on hold for so long. And I hate to say this, but whether or not she even pursued it further, you likely would have felt as if your problem had been addressed. It's not like you'll likely ever see that driver again, so you would be none the wiser.
However, a nice letter from the VP of (insert made up title here) would have been icing on the cake for you, and DirecTV's brand would have been strengthened.
But can you sense the helplessness that employee felt?
"This isn't my job. I'm not trained for this. I need someone else to fix this, because I can't do it myself."
Kudos to everyone for being polite, but not knowing how to handle a situation is no excuse to cause you further grief - whether you're a customer or not.
Besides, that this person didn't know how to handle this specific situation is less of an issue, in my mind, than the overarching conclusion that must be drawn as a result - DirecTV's employees are nice, but their company treats them like cogs... The situations will always change.
You can't plan for all of them. The first person at Nordstrom's to accept the return of snow chains -- even though the company doesn't sell them -- was likely never explicitly told, "If someone tries to return something we don't sell, go ahead and take them." Yet that story is now reinforced throughout the organization as a means of showing the lengths employees should go to in order to evoke satisfaction in customers and noncustomers alike.
IMO, she should have just taken the snow chains.
Posted by: Cam Beck | 04.06.07
Jason- Excellent observation. I worked very hard on that when I was the Customer Service Manager for a small company. It wasn't enough to make the customer feel better, we had to make the problem go away as well. Otherwise, what's the point? You might keep them from dumping you for a little while, but they will still dump you one day. FYI- Cingular is no better than Sprint. It took me nearly a year to get a billing issue resolved with my account.
Lewis- Brother, I'm totally with you (and Jason). I've worked with some great representatives with problems and they really do try to help, but company policy or lack of true caring (by the company) falls short. If the end result doesn't fix the problem, then you are simply working to develop even worse feelings from the consumer/ end user.
Ann- here is what I heard from them;
"Dear Mr. Jackson,
Thanks for writing. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. I have forwarded your concern to the appropriate department for review. Please be assured that we will take necessary actions regarding this incident.
Thanks again for writing."
There was no other follow-up afterwards, which is not an issue for me. I replied to the email to thank them... but it was a generic address and just went into the swirling void of customer service land.
Posted by: Tim Jackson | 04.06.07
Cam- I agree with you. She was clearly very nice and concerned, but she only felt empowered to do so much. She wasn't going to get out of her area of comfort because... what's the point, right?
Many companies make this failing. Employees have to be empowered to save the company from itself. That is what we did, where I worked before- it costs a lot of money and does impact the bottom line, but that company is still held as the leader in its industry, and not limping along trying to figure out where it went wrong.
Posted by: Tim Jackson | 04.06.07
Tim,
A work van driving aggressively at 100+ in traffic merits one other call: to the highway patrol. The company can get the messsage when they're called to bail out their van and driver.
You didn't mention coming upon the scene of his accident a few minutes later, so he got away with it, but that's the kind of driving that kills people. A quick call to *HP (or whatever it is in your state) would have been a good idea.
Posted by: Nathan Gilliatt | 04.06.07
Nathan- That is an excellent point and if there had been more traffic on the freeway, I likely would have. I still probably should have called CHP though.
Posted by: Tim Jackson | 04.06.07
Okay, first of all you should have called the Highway Patrol first. You had a clearly recognizable vehicle careening on the highway and the HP could have sent out a unit to cutoff this loony toon and apprehend him.
Secondly, huge companies distance themselves from local problems and will most likely provide no instructions for a customer service rep to decipher the corporate infrastructure to find anyone responsible for that one stupid driver.
So calling the company is futile.
If the HP had managed to catch the creep, then his supervisors would have gotten the message loud and clear.
I think our entitlement issues are flapping in the wind here. Why should Direct TV, a satellite television provider, have a staff capable of handling an incident revolving around one rogue employee?
Sorry Tim, I think you are terrific. I like your style. I love your socks. I want a Masi bike.
But I think you’re reaching too far into the proverbial customer service cookie jar with this one.
Posted by: Tammy Strnatka | 04.06.07
I'm sure somehow you're at fault, Tim.
I'm calling Mumbai to get THEIR version...
Posted by: scott baradell | 04.06.07
I like the headline you used on SpinThicket, Scott... funny!
"Don't like my driving? Call 1-800-Mumbai"
Posted by: Ann Handley | 04.06.07
Tim- I have a sure fire way to combat the problem of ghost rammers. Slow down to 30. Seriously, I do it every time. It'll probably be the way that I die, but at least I'll be giggling on the way out. :)
Posted by: Paul McEnany | 04.07.07
The site I use for trackback submission tool is hosed...
Posted by: Cheryl | 04.09.07
Hi everyone in cyber,
My company is offering the "How's My Driving?" service in Israel. After seventeen years in the US and following my return to Israel I felt like something had to be done to improve the culture of driving here so the best I could come up with was to start this professional service. Today our system is working with very high standards with a 24/7 call center and special software that delivers emails and sms messages in real time to drivers and managers as well as sending them reminders to fill out an electronic response card should they forget. Among our customers are some of the largest American companies who are working in Israel because it is customary for employers to provide a car to employees in Israel. In fact Israel is now a world leader and has been the first to enact a national regulation requiring all company vehicles to drive with such stickers. I think Direct TV has demonstrated why the thought that everything can be done by the company itself (internally) is so wrong. By the way, companies in America who provide the service professionally ask for about a dollar a month for their service... Do you think they should do it on their own or call for help from safetyfirst.com for example?
Why big companies do not understand that giving the job to another company who specializes in the service is for them because it allows them to stay focus on their business while at the same time create more jobs through small companies so that people could purchase the service DirectTV is selling... It makes sense to me - but what do I know.. Just a fellow out in the down hills of Jerusalem somewhere in the dusted middle east... And come for a visit cowboys we love you out here!
Posted by: Doron Regev | 05.13.07
I just had the same problem. Fortunately I did get a Truck I.D. number off the van. Rather than call I figured first I'd check to see if there were any contact emails online so I could just shoot them an email. I kinda suspected a phone call would just suck a half hour out of my life and get nowhere. Thanks for confirming my suspicions, and saving me the time.
Posted by: count | 12.13.07