Poor corporate customer service creating economic, social and personalstress

[caption id="attachment_15619" align="alignleft" width="225"] This child wandering through Target is used as the image of how lost a consumer can become in the corporate maze, without proper customer service, and is not identified as a problem only by Target.[/caption]

Carol Forsloff - If you spent seven or eight hours this past month correcting bills and mistakes made by various corporations relative to your accounts, even at the grocery store, then you are among the many Americans likely frustrated and suffering either economic, personal or social problems as a result.

More than a decade ago, the television news magazine 60 minutes had a program in which they discussed the errors made by corporations, finding that approximately 1/3 of all transactions in the United States have errors not in the customer's favor. Although this journalist has seen no research of late about this, it is likely that with the recession, and the cutbacks of employees made by various corporations coupled with the tendency to digitize virtually everything, creating more distance between customer and Corporation, that problems have increased.

Experience of this journalist is similar to many people who spend many hours trying to get service or correct errors on accounts. Some of these will be detailed here, simply to illustrate the consequences of ongoing problems that impact lives.

A scheduled medical procedure recently had to be canceled because of lack of insurance. The lack of insurance came as a result of clerical errors that continued from Blue Cross Blue Shield, and still continue, month after month after service representatives and supervisors promise they will not continue. But they do continue in the same form and with the same consequences.   The company applies premium payments made monthly to a single account as opposed to both accounts which are clearly identified on the checks and statements. Despite these clear,  identifying materials, premium payments are documented only on one account, resulting in an overpayment on one and no payment on the other. Representatives see the error, once the customer has described it, and promise to correct it. The following month, however, brings the same ever again. What are the social and personal problems that arise from these errors?

Corporate errors of various kinds certainly impact the customer but multiplied many times, they impact all of us as a larger group. In fact, errors like this are so pervasive that one might suggest they are purposeful, a method of creating distance between customer and corporation in a fashion that reduces the power of that customer to complain or even to discover the errors or to have them corrected. The number of errors also might indicate that the corporation recognizes that many people will give up when they encounter consistent difficulties they are unable to resolve. It becomes a personal problem when the issue is a service the customer depends upon. It results in frustration, the type of frustration that can bring strong feelings that can impact others. The service representative hears these frustrations, then must go home with the additional stress.

So as technology has on the surface provided an avenue for multiple types of communication, the absolute reliance on that technology has risks. Another example is this publication, which is an online magazine  for three years. During those three years, however, Internet service has not always been reliable. In addition, hosting services have not always been reliable as well. The details of these are numerous, but suffice to say they exemplify the problem that impacts the consumer multiplied many times that results in wasted time, frustration, stress and all sorts of issues that can affect health and the community.

Contaminated foods entering the food supply has concerned many consumer groups. It is one of those errors made within corporations that can impact many people and create major health problems.

Medical bill errors are rampant, so much so that there are businesses that have been created simply to handle the errors.

There are also media groups that focus attention on corporate corruption, specifically the numerous errors that create serious problems for the public, costing millions of dollars.

So what is the solution to an ongoing problem that impacts everyone? One of these is for folks to enlist others in applying protest, a kind of protest that multiplied many times can impact a corporation's bottom line. This means that protest groups are not always the ragtag group they are identified as by the same corporate executives or politicians supported by them. Many of them are you and me.  And taking back the "government" may simply mean restoring the American dream of the customer first, which means that reducing regulation for businesses who make these errors may not be the right avenue, given the multiplication of mistakes made from the lack of internal regulation creating the problems in the first place.

Business experts remind us how poor customer service impacts the bottomline

NATCHITOCHES, LA - Carol Forsloff -The Better Business Bureau tells us in this recession the worst thing a company can do for its business is not to concentrate on good customer service, because it is the most important thing that can impact the bottom line.

One of the issues customers complain about the most is the fact that machines answer telephones and customer service appears more and more distant.  The Better Business Bureau says people really want better service, and maybe that's what it means when customers turn away and turn to online services instead.  Or get angry and don't return.

Poor customer service is said to create poor business relationships, and so it is accented. But does it happen? The monolithic cell phone business is a sterling example of an industry reported to have problems with billing errors and customer service. According to the Better Business Bureau and AARP, that have reported on this matter, statistics revealed more than three years ago cell phone service and supplies is the most complained about business in the United States.

Complaints are numerous against cell phone companies, across the major carriers.  The turnover of service personnel is also great.  This can mean trouble for individuals who may not clearly know the rules and be able to explain them to customers. Details about special fees and charges may not be explained.  Setup of phone service and bills may present the first problems. With either problem, getting phone function or bill paying, there may be problems in many areas.

A research study found 80% of businesses deliver “accidental” over charges. But with poor customer service, folks complain they have no way to correct these charges without waiting in long wait times on the phone or at service offices.

These challenges are not just in the United States, but have been found to be in other countries like England, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Correcting errors takes time from income-producing tasks. Add this time to the value of hourly rate of any given individual in business plus the actual errors on bills, and what happens to the customer? Poor customer service has been shown to affect the bottom line.

Financial stresses, however, aren’t the only negative customer impact. There are psychological stresses as well. When a customer has to wait and wait and then not have a problem resolved, this adds to psychological stress. Consequently poor customer service is costing us our health.

A professional survey found 87% of respondents maintained they often feel stress when faced with poor customer service, according to stress expert, Dr Roger Henderson, consultant adviser. He adviser goes on to say, “The result is potentially serious physical and psychological symptoms – such as high blood pressure, palpitations, headaches, nausea, mood swings and anxiety – with a consequent impact on our relationships with friends and family.”

Businesses believe they save money with automation and with distance from direct consumer contact. At the same time the stress and poor customer service can increase the negative image of a given business.

Many small towns have similar problems, but because there are apt to be three, not six, degrees of separation in these communities, it is more likely to be able to get service issues resolved.  In Natchitoches, Louisiana Veronica Conley of The Hall Tree, a women’s clothing shop, agrees customer service is an issue but goes on to remind us how the problems can come from the customer too. “A lot depends upon the attitude and how people make their complaints. It isn’t just the business that made a mistake involved in communication. How a person talks to a customer service representative may make a lot of difference in the outcome.”