Yesterday I wrote about customer service agents needing to make all customers’ issues important and to treat them like they’re the number one priority. The day before I talked about being able to admit your mistakes. Unfortunately, not everyone will take my advice. What about the customer? I’ve had some amazing customer service experiences as well as abhorrent ones. When dealing with a customer service agent with an attitude, as a customer, you must be assertive.
When I say “assertiveâ€, I don’t mean call them out—that will most likely make them angrier and less helpful. It’s possible the customer service rep is truly having a bad day—they are people too—but sometimes they’re just consistently Negative Nancy’s.
Keep a positive attitude with the customer service representative and wait until they have (hopefully) solved the issue at hand. What do you do next? You could go to a website like the one I wrote about yesterday where people go to complain and submit issues they have had with businesses. These websites have a poor record of customer service success, but are maybe worth trying. I’d love to hear if you know of one that is helpful.
Contact support on their website. You can also call in and just ask for a manager or to speak with someone you can voice a complaint with. A lot of times you’ll get “accidentally†disconnected and you’ll never get to speak with someone.
Go to social media. If you have read any of my previous blogs, you know I would bet my life on social media practices. No one wants to be called out in front of one person, let alone an audience of millions. Jump on Twitter, Facebook etc. and let the company know what the issue is. If it’s on Twitter, make sure you tag the company in your post using the “@†symbol—they are more likely to actually see your complaint if you do it that way. Also, send them a direct message making them aware of the issue.
Now, what if you have tried these two tactics and they don’t work? Stay tuned for more tactics on getting your issues solved.
How do you handle customer service situations like this? Do you have any tips that have worked for you?