Customer Service

We are wrapping up preparations for me to spend a week in December at our respite care facility. Yesterday a nurse visit to evaluate and discuss my requirements so everything is set. All I have to do is show up on the specified date at 10 AM which is their check-in time. This time I'll be better prepared as I know what to expect, I'll be bringing a TV with a built-in DVD player, a radio, my cell phone, laptop computer and finally my Internet Key which is what I'd like to talk about even though it's not directly related to MS.


Customer Service, have we lost it entirely? It seems to me we've gone from "thank you for calling ABC company how can I help you" progressing to "thank you for calling ABC company please hold the line we will be with you as soon as possible" and who can forget "thank you for calling ABC company all of our agents are busy your call is important to us please do not hang up to maintain your call priority" and finally today's version "thank you for calling ABC company we are currently experiencing higher than normal call volumes all of our customer service agents are currently helping other customers please hold the line to maintain your calling priority,
estimated wait time is currently 50 minutes"

Of course each message is followed by the most boring music anyone could possibly find yet you keep holding you have faith they won't let you down!

Here's my experience, there is no WiFi a telephone line costs $100 per month rental so I thought why not purchase one of these newfangled Internet keys on a pay-as-you-go service plan that way I would have access to the Internet, my e-mails etc. the idea seemed simple enough. I purchased the key from a retail outlet understanding that I had to activate it myself through the company's website, couldn't see a problem doing that after all it's a fairly simple procedure however the company's computer system was having some difficulties and I ended up speaking with a customer service agent.

In a nutshell I ended up on a monthly service plan providing me with much more than I required feature wise, a simple phone call would surely rectify the situation. LOL

I placed three calls to this company which shall remain nameless however their Internet Key is a red if that gives you any clue. Each time I called I was on hold for no less than 60 minutes which may have included being bounced from one department to another as no one really knew who I should talk to. On my final call I waited 70 minutes at which point the phone line disconnected! Needless to say I was a tad upset, called the company yet this time selected "customer wishes to make changes or cancel their contract" from their telephone prompt. It took less then five minutes and I was speaking with a live person.

If only companies realized how important providing good customer service is to their current customers they perhaps would strive to get it right. I can tell you that I certainly will not be recommending this product to anyone I know, not because the product didn't work it did yet the support component is not there and for that reason alone the product to me is worthless.

In the end with the monthly plan and hassle I would've been better off renting the telephone line for $100.

Customer service appears to have gone the way of the dodo bird.