A customer service representative can either help you—or drive you completely nuts. It can be extremely frustrating too, if you’ve got a problem and desperately need someone to give you information, help, or at least direct you to someone who can say something other than, ‘That’s not company policy’ or ‘I don’t know’ or worse, puts you on hold or transfers you to another equally inept customer service representative.
Here are some tips on how to talk to customer service representatives to get the fastest and most helpful service.
Get the call receipt
Call centers usually track calls with a staff number or a call receipt. This usually indicates the time of the conversation and the person you spoke to. It’s not enough to get the name, because in very large call centers there’s a high chance that there are dozens of ‘Annas’ and ‘Johns’ and you’d never know how to reach the person if you needed to make a follow up.
Stay calm
Even if you are very frustrated and angry, don’t yell at the customer service representative. He’s just doing his job (albeit not very well) and if you erupt into a mad temper tantrum you are less likely to get him to help you. In fact, being rude and obnoxious is practically a guarantee that he will just ignore you or do his best to end the call really fast with ‘There’s nothing we can do.’
So keep a polite yet firm voice and if you are frustrated ask to speak to a supervisor, who may have more access to information, more time to deal with your concerns, and possibly more power.
Try, try again
If you don’t like the service or the answer that you got, just hang up and then call again. You will be reconnected to another customer service representative and, fingers crossed, you may get someone with better experience and thus be able to explain company policy or look for better solutions for you.
Close your account
If you are frustrated with the service, and seem to be getting nowhere with the company and the customer service representative, then simply ask to cancel the order or the account. In many cases the representative will ask why you are leaving, and sometimes you will be given rebates or even free service just to stay with the company.
Photo from ehow.com