A report card published recently in the Seattle Times states that out of 500 major American corporations, only 10% of them received an acceptable rating (grade C or above) in how well they dealt with customers over the phone. Only nine companies (that's the number 9, not 9%) received an A rating. The article goes on to state that entire industries (cable and satellite TV, insurance, software) are failing to meet minimum standards for telephone customer service.
The report card was compiled by Paul English, creator of the brilliant gethuman 500 database. It rates companies for such criteria as:
• Can you hit zero to speak to an operator?
• Does the system let you know how long you will have to remain on hold?
• Does the caller have to repeat information such as names and account numbers?
• How easy is it to understand the human customer representative who eventually answers?
Some companies have begun to respond to complaints about confusing menus, hard-to-find operators and other annoyances and started to make changes. For the rest of them, the volunteer-run web site at gethuman.com provides a constantly updated cheat sheet for how to avoid hold rage and actually speak to a human being. Whether or not you'll be able to understand them when they answer the phone is another issue.
