Thank You For Calling, How May I Help You?

I first tried to get the turnover details of steel manufacturing industry(that name just popped in; nothing specific about it) in India and then I kept thinking…thinking…..thinking (sill thinking) and finally managed to get no other name per se in between to the one that I intend to talk about finally (embarrassed).

A helping hand is all we need when there is a lose zip in our phones’ services and I am no exception. De-activation of EDGE services has become a norm over the past couple of months with my Blackberry mobile phone and don’t drop your jaw when I say that I still do a extra curriculum activity in my life i.e. Talk To The Customer Care Department Of Vodafone.

The first line that I get to hear is “namaskar mera naam birender (that is a real name) hai, main aapki kya sahaayata kar sakta hun? (thank you for calling Vodafone, how may I help you?)” that is always dipped in sleeping tone; even when it is mid after-noon.

 So they confirm my mobile number and name giving an impression to help me (that’s all it is to be – an impression) and within 45 seconds I am put on hold, even though I might not have given the consent to it, that is never to end.  When they come back, they want all the information that you might have provided earlier – once more, still have no solution to your problem and for unknown reasons would never want to bring on their supervisor on phone.

I have had the chance to enjoy this agony at least 10 times in the past couple of months and it is not the technical glitches that irk me but the communication incompetence and lack of empathy from the customer care reps. I can bet my neck on the fact that most of the customer care reps are hired by the companies with an intention of keeping the cost of production down and are sent on floor without any formal and to the fact training to be the escape goat of the seniors. No where have I heard that the reps on phone cannot give the email id of the managers or of any customer complaint department (if that exists that is) and that is a – welcome to Indian after sale services for you.

That is not all! How about, getting your call disconnected intentionally/diverted to the wrong department/unresponsive IVR/kept on hold forever for you to cut the line from your side in anger/calling back again and telling the same story to the next lose head, then to the next one, then to the next one, and then to the next one/figuring out that the rep never registered a case under your number’s history/never getting the promised call back and the list is IMMORTAL.

By no means am I trying to say that a good call is always supposed to provide a solution, but to me it means respect to the line – How May I Help You!

Hopefully I am just a call away!

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