May 13, 2008
Calling customer service invites rendition by robots
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If you had to pick between one of these two options, which would you choose?
A. Jab yourself in the eye with a sharp stick.
B. Call a customer service number to ask a question, lodge a complaint or request a service.
If you considered A for even a fleeting second, you probably flashbacked to the joy of navigating an automated voice system while elevator music droned in your ear and a chipper voice thanked you for holding for the umpteenth time.
Depending on which study you read, customer call centers have improved a bit. But we hate to take anybody's word for it. So we conducted a very small and wholly unscientific study.
I rustled up some guinea pigs (i.e., begged friends and family) to help make calls. We chose obvious companies like the cable and telephone behemoths. We picked at random a bank, a local utility, a government agency and one media company.
The rules were just to call the company's customer service line, work through the automated system, see how long it would take to get a human on the line, and then ask them one real question we had. We couldn't lie about having a complaint or a problem.
Here's what we found:
• Baltimore Gas and Electric, 800-685-0123
After one ring around 11:30 a.m. on a weekday, an automated Voice promptly welcomed us to BGE and then told us that our call may be recorded. At 35 seconds into the call, the Voice directed us to a menu of options for power outages, billing information and service outages.
We pressed the digit for billing questions and within two minutes, a very friendly Ms. Smith asked us how she can help us today. We inquired about budget billing and in a blink of an eye or two, she signed us up.
The Plus: Fairly quick, friendly service. Bonus points go to Ms. Smith for making us laugh.
The Minus: We had to listen to The Voice for two minutes.
• The Baltimore Sun, 800-829-8000
We dialed to ask about subscription prices. We're told to hang up and dial 888-539-1280 for subscriptions. We dialed the new number. A voice told us that all reps were busy so we can either hold or press zero.
Fortunately, we pressed zero. Fifteen seconds later, Sheila explained all the package prices and we thanked her.
The Plus: The call took seven minutes, but it only took 45 seconds to reach a rep.
The Minus: Uh, whose bright idea was it to have readers who want to pay for paper delivery hang up and dial another number?
• Verizon Wireless, 877-214-4572
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