Poor customer service at call center

I bought a video cam. It failed after 2 weeks. The manufacturer offered a 1 for 1 exchange. The experience of making the claim was bad.

I called their call center. I recognise the accent of the customer service offixer and confirmed that the call was routed to the Philippines. The officer asked for all types of detailed information about the customer, serial number, nature of problem, etc. The call took almost 15 minutes. Due to the poor telephone connection, the information has to be spelled out several times for recording.

It would have been much easier if the company provided a form on the website where the details can be submitted. The call center should only be used for clarification.

Many large organisations have outsourced its call center to an oversea location to reduce cost. But this has resulted in poor service to its customers. The top managers should call their own call center and find out the experience and difficulty of the customers.

The poor standard of customer service happens in many organisations and occurs all over the world. Most companies do not care about customer service, in spite of their mission statement, as the poor standard of service is now the norm.

However, a company that wish to improve its customer service can stand out. I hope that some companies will try to make a difference and set a positive example.

Tan Kin Lian