Customer Service

I hate complaining. I watched The Complainers last year which showed people who loved complaining. Personally, I complain when I have to, but I don’t like doing it. What I hate is that in order to get something done you have to be an arse. I’m not an arse – I just want something done. I felt sorry for the lady I spoke to.

Over the last few months I’ve had an ongoing complaint with NPower that’s been doing my head in. It’s still not resolved fully but hopefully we’ll be there soon.

I’m not going to go into the details of my complaint, but what was frustrating was their way of dealing with it: “We’ll credit your account with £25.” That is appreciated and I’d be daft to say no. But really what I wanted them to do was acknowledge their mistake, apologise, give me an explanation of why it had happened and tell me how they will make sure that it won’t happen to someone else – A genuine apology. It was so difficult getting this that it was easier to take the £25.

In Richard Bimber’s book The Unforgettable Customer Experience, he says:

“Most customers aren’t unreasonable. They understand that things go wrong from time to time, and in a way, they expect things to break occasionally. What customers want in such situations is for things to be put right, to understand why it happened in the first place, and that it won’t happen again. Not much to ask, is it? And yet, so many businesses seem to be unable, not just to deliver consistently great customer experiences, but to understand why customers become less than satisfied. Frustration ensues as they struggle to admit they’re wrong, and ultimately, when they try to put things right.”