Calling a customer care service is not everyone’s ballgame. Only a few privileged souls can accomplish this tedious task and come out unharmed by the fatalities hurled at them from the other side. More often than not the customer care executive, whose sole purpose is to help you out, is in no mood to hear your blabberings, let alone do something to solve your problem. Moreover, if you are not patient enough to keep the phone attached to your eardrums while he keeps you on hold and chats with his friends, you are sure to invite his wrath! What a pity!

Here’s an email forwarded to me by my friend Jaiyant Cavale, showing the sorry state of affairs at a Vodafone call center. I’m sure there are many among you who must have experienced this rash behavior by some ‘impatient’ and ‘impolite’ customer care associate at some point in your lives. Given below is the original email sent by a Vodafone customer, Robert, to Vodafone customer care;

Hi,
This is to keep you informed that the standard of your customer service is really bad! The punchline “We are happy to help you” is nothing but a misnomer and, going by how your Associates communicate with the customers, it’s rather pathetic to mention that we as customers feel even more frustrated after speaking to them.

During call transfer, none of your Associates have the gumption to refresh the hold nor do they have the courtesy to not prolong the hold. One of the common and the worst scenarios that occurs during the call hold procedure is that, the customer is put on hold indefinitely until the line goes vague abruptly. Most of the time, it is done by your Associates knowingly and not as a result of a technical snag or any other genuine causes.

Please do not be in the assumption that your customers have all the sweet time and more importantly the “PATIENCE” to wait for a long time. Please do understand that your customers call you with a hope that you will provide the required help, if not exceed your help with an extended hand. Indeed it would be great , if you could train your Associates on how to speak politely to the customers, and polish their language and customer service skills in order to ameliorate the so-called excellent service that you assume to provide to your customers.

This early afternoon, i have had the worst experience of speaking to your Associates. I had a doubt to clarify and your consultant whose name was “Pravin” was ridiculously impolite, rude and mannerless. He had the audacity to yell at me and snub me outrightly. I requested him to transfer the call to the duty manager and, came the reply sharply,“Why should I transfer the call? Are you his friend?” Is this what you train your Associates to communicate with the customers? Is this the standard of your service? How on Earth is it possible for you guys to be oblivious to these inconveniences that the customers have to endure each time we pick up the phone to dial your center? I genuinely feel it’s about time that you girded up your energy and took appropiate actions and immediately. Do not ever keep a customer on hold for a long time. You guys may have all the time but we the customers have thousands of important matters to deal with in our daily existence. Hence, time is precious to us, as contradictory to you. Therefore, kindly do the needful and give some more trainings to your Associates who barely know how to converse in English. Most of them literaly garble in ‘Pidgin’. I am sorry, I do not understand the Pidgin English that your Associates speak.

Kindly, take the time out to read this mail. If possible, circulate it within your company. I am sure, this can serve as an eye-opener for an Associate like ‘Pravin’ who thinks he’s too cool to be impolite to the customers.

P.S: If you ever misbehave with me next time when I call, I will not leave anyone of you. I will make sure that whoever speaks to me impolitely will get an ample dose of BAD CONSEQUENCES! This is no joke nor is it a warning but just small sign to show you that you are there for your customers. If you cannot make your customers happy, then you DO NOT belong there! Treat your customers with utmost manners lest you are made to drown into a pool of troubles by a customer like me!

Kind Regards,
Robert L.

I hope you got the message. Next time when a smart-ass (read: customer care executive) behaves like a complete ass, you know what to do.

Thanks Jaiyant for sharing this with us. And thanks a ton Robert for forwarding the baton.