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Recently there was a story in the news about two women who were arrested in the UK for allegedly trying to get a dead person aboard a plane. The deceased was propped up in a wheelchair with sunglasses on, and passed off as “sleeping”. Of course, this is both hilarious and troubling on a variety of levels.
One of the questions few seem to be asking about this bizarre case is, “what would compel someone to attempt such an outlandish feat?” My own theory is that they needed the departed’s mortal remains to be somewhere else, and the red tape and bureaucracy involved in making the transfer was only slightly less complicated than bringing back the dead to make the move, and then returning him to the hereafter.
This case was both amusing and personal for me as I dealt with a death in my own family. My dad was a client of a mobile phone carrier that shall remain nameless (Bell Mobility). About a month after his passing, I called to cancel his mobile telephone. I can only conclude that my father was the first one of Bell’s customers ever to have died. Perhaps we should all be advised to become a Bell customer to enjoy the benefits of immortality.
The condensed version of the story is that after four calls to their call center (each lasting over 30 minutes each), and five requests from the agents to speak with the account holder (apparently the off-shore call centre folks had never heard the English words “dead”, “deceased”, “expired”, or “passed away”), I was given a fax number to put my request in writing, along with a Death Certificate to have the phone discontinued. Of course, the fax number was wrong.
I tried a retail location for Bell, but was told that it was their job to sell the phones and the plans, and for all other “services”, I needed to contact the call center.
This a great example of how many companies conduct their customer “service”. I know that if Bell can’t get this right, that I could never trust them to do anything complicated.
Organizations end up in this unfortunate space because they are not willing to hire or develop employees capable of consistently making good decisions. Instead, they have thousands of rules and regulations that they think will protect the company from losses, when in fact they make those losses worse.
I have no doubt that the decision makers in this organization will point to how much money they save by off-shoring their call centers, and how they monitor calls to ensure quality.
I hope they’re saving a whole lot of money – they’re going to need it.
Providing great customer service is important even if you’re not in a retail industry. Become a Wily Manager member and you’ll get instant access to Bob and Jed’s discussion about good and bad customer service practices you can apply to any business.