In spite of your best
efforts to fix the problem on your own, sometimes you just really need to call
for a little help -- whether it's because of a broken gadget, a downed
connection, or just need to fix a company's mistake. Getting the assistance you
need by calling customer service can be a miserable experience, but when it
comes to bite the bullet and give them a ring, you may want to check out these
tips to make it go as smoothly as possible.
STEP
1: Get Through a Real Person
We all know beforehand
that our problem will not be solved by a robot with a pretty voice, yet it's
every company's first line of defense. These automated systems filter out the
easy and obvious problems, but you need an actual human to solve your problem.
One of your dilemmas in getting what you want is getting through to an actual
person. Depending on when you call and whether it's a widespread problem, this
part of the process may see you stuck listening to some crappy music while
waiting for someone to pick up the phone -- "You're call is important to
us. Please stay on the line..." There's nothing you can actually do at
this point but wait. So here are few ways to make it a bit more bearable.
- Avoid
wait times with LucyPhone
LucyPhone is a neat service that will wait on hold for you, so you can hung up your phone and get back to what you were doing. Once a customer rep picks up your line, LucyPhone will call you back and connects you. - Disregard
the phone tree's options
Before you even arrive the "wait-while-you-listen" period, you'll probably have to make your way through that company's phone tree -- "Press 1 for billing inquiry. Press 2 to locate a store. Press 3..." And usually, you would wait until the end of the list before picking an option, since they would normally have an option for "other questions." Why? Because this would always get you to a customer rep. Even if your concern covers one of the existing options, rarely do those options actually give you what you need.
If it's a system that asks you to say words instead of pressing numbers, you can try saying the words "agent," "representative," or customer service" -- this could sometimes work. - Learn
that system's secrets
If you're still having a difficult time, try visiting sites like GetHuman or ContactHelp, which can help you get instructions on how to get through to any given company. Just enter the company you're calling and you'll have a few user-submitted options on how to get in touch with a real person, and on average how long it should take.
STEP
2: Solve Your Problem
Most of the time, all
you need to resolve your device problem is a minute on the phone with a human.
Other times, you need to do a little bit of preparation. Here are few things
you can do before calling, which can speed up the process.
- Research
your issue
There's no denying that you're not the only person in the world who had to call customer service with this particular issue at hand, so you may want to find out more information about the problem and what solutions were been given. You can search your issue on Google and check if there's someone who posted the same type of problem online, or visit a forum or community site and find out if it's a common problem encountered. If you're lucky, you may be able to get some direction on how customer service can best resolve your problem when you call. - Gather
all important information beforehand
Information like your account number, your account password, your device's serial number, and a reference number in case you've called before are just some of the most common things the customer rep would likely ask from you. Gather and prepare all these stuff beforehand and write it down, so that your call won't take much longer than it needs to be. Putting all these references like Google Docs, Evernote, or Simplenote is best to use so that you can easily access it anytime. These are also good tools that you can use to jot down notes, so you can explain your issue as clearly and as concisely as possible. - Record
the call
The only person you can trust to make sure things are done is you, so do yourself a favor and record the call yourself even if the company records their calls for quality and training purposes. You can accomplish this with the help of services like Fonolo, which is also capable of skipping the phone trees for you. This is useful, especially in cases when something goes wrong later, you have some proof on your end. - Don't
give them your life story
There are some information you may think is significant to the problem, but aren't. For example, you'd like to ask for assistant on how to enable remote management on your wireless router -- you don't need to explain what a wireless router is. The more concisely you can lay out your concern, the easier it is for the tech support to arrive at a solution. - Request
for a next level support if you don't get what you want
If things aren't going your way, don't be afraid to ask for a representative's supervisor -- that's part of their trained process. It's also part of their directives to give their customers' request whenever they ask for a supervisor. Often, these representatives can be a little more helpful, especially when the solution they provided to your problem requires authorization that first-tier representatives may not have. There's actually no harm to ask for a supervisor to get second-level support, as long as you're doing the proper approach. - Get
the representative's name and ticket number
When you're done with the call and hung up the phone, thinking that your problem is not solved -- think again, because that's not how it is in the real world. Sadly, there will come a time where you need to call back for another follow up. Those succeeding calls will go much more smoothly if you can provide them with a ticket or reference number, or get a hold of the same representative if possible. Some companies will even let their representatives to give you their direct line, which can be greatly helpful especially if your call will be regarding the same problem.
STEP 3: Call Executive Customer Service If All Else Fails
If you think you're
simply getting the runaround treatment from the representatives and their
supervisors, or if your concern just leaves them baffled, it's to move on to
the next level of support. Beyond the regular customer service group, there is
the "executive customer service" representatives, which are
considered the escalation team who are supposed to resolve your concern when
others can't. Just keep in mind that you don't want to do this on your first
call because these elite team aren't there to solve everyone's problems every
single day, and oftentimes you shouldn't go that far every time you call. But in
case the customer representative wasn't able to solve your problem, this option
will come in very handy in these situations.
