Customer Support Chat or Phone (Detail)

I recently made about 200 contacts with customer service or support personnel, mostly calling them on my cellphone. Well, that was very frustrating for the following reasons. 

(This post is way longer than most, but you can't imagine the frustration I had over the length of time spent trying to resolve simple issues, so I apologize for its length.)

Bots

First of all, just about everyone uses bots now in the early stages of either contact method, so keep your opening remark short and sweet, focusing on the main problem. The tendency is to go into a long spiel about your current situation. The bot will just say it doesn't understand what you want and suggest a short phrase instead. Just do it. That is how it is programmed, and you can't change it from where you are. Use a short phrase like, "My cell service package needs to be updated," and they will either ask for more details, or you can say that it would be better to get a technician or sales rep involved. (Real live agent, please). Don't try to explain to the 8-year-old snotty-nosed kid that is the bot, because they will insist on playing the game they want to, and your goal is to dismiss them as you would with any spoiled child. Live agent, please.

Chat

I think calling would be better, but I am trying to use chat more frequently instead of phone support. Most reps come from all over the world, and you may have trouble understanding their accents. A lot of these services are just a person on a computer, tablet, or cellphone, and the mic quality can be poor, plus they're often too far away from the phone. You will also get the same bot intro nowadays, so keep it short and sweet, and yes, try to be positive, and humor helps. (Bugger off, spell checker. I am Canadian, and we spell humour that way)

One drawback of chat is that you could be put in a queue and have to wait a long time. If it's over 10 minutes, go do something else and try again later. You will get good enough in chat to tell what is boilerplate text and even determine the agent's nationality, as I have, and the chat gets friendlier as you joke about it. In one case, it didn't work when the agent asked what Aeroplan was, and I knew he wasn't from Canada. I responded with "What's the weather like in India?" and he got rather huffy, saying he was from South Africa, so he was now less responsive to my needs.

But I have seen in practice where I have dealt with one company (Freedom Mobile), mostly by chat, but the first one was by phone, and the agent was obviously somewhere in the Caribbean or South America, so his accent was a little strong but workable. So the next time I used chat, I requested to speak with the same agent, but they don't do that, and I see why. Each of the next 4 or 5 was likely from a different country, especially the guy with the 17-letter last name, probably from Mexico, and his accent could be pretty thick.

Now, what they do is: you share your problem with a short explanation, and let them know that the agents post the details of your previous contacts in a file exclusive to your name. They will need a few minutes to go over them before coming back to you, and they will ask you to fill out a short form that just confirms who you are and sends verification codes and the like. They did get me to increase my plan by $15 a month in the long run, but that's for a new phone rental (Samsung A57), which is likely going to help with the keyboard being too small for my fat fingers, has a better camera for pictures I use on the blog, a bigger screen, lots of better stuff. Hence, it isn't much to pay, and in 2 years, when the plans are done, I will return and likely start a new agreement with newer technology, probably at the same price. But they solved all my problems with my current phone and a voicemail/apt intercom issue, checked my line in detail to make sure nothing was working as it should, and set up a new phone number. And we had a ball chatting, poking fun back and forth, and we both left each of the 5 or more sessions with a "job well done" feeling. That is how customer service is supposed to work!

Yes, it's long-winded, but you had to be there. I will explain how this all came about in another post, which started with a $95 credit card charge that TD fraud called me about, got canceled, and issued a new credit card with a different number, of course. Then the flood gates opened up. I know how Noah felt.

So Chat or Phone?

The answer is whatever works best with that company. TD Bank is better over the phone because it usually involves someone in an office using quality communication equipment and a good to excellent command of English, with either a moderate accent or none at all, unlike a lot of Canadians. (Kudos to Victoria, who gets a rating of 11 out of 10 in my books, has a moderate accent, a heart of gold, and we both shed tears at the end of the chat session because we teamed up to solve a complex security problem in my online banking account)

Of course, not all companies have both, so sometimes you just have to bear with it. Keep your cool, stay friendly, and don't raise your voice unless you need to; the agent will see that this one is important. You can raise your voice in chat by choosing your words carefully, but never swear. Don't use all caps, as it looks like shouting at the person.

Their job is to help you solve your problem, and they get no satisfaction from failing to solve it. Please use "thank you" often; be polite and courteous, and treat them as you would want to be treated. The end result is that your problem is likely to be solved, or a sequence of events will most likely fix what is broken. 

And everybody truly has a wonderful day!

(This is only part of the story. It goes on for more than just this, but who will read it or even believe it!)