I had two very different experiences in my recent phone interaction with Starhub: good service recovery by the Call Centre and poor response from Sales.
I signed up for Starhub Fiber Broadband at SITEX late November and was looking forward to having a zippy 150 mbps internet connection on the scheduled installation on 8 December. A week before the appointment, Starhub Customer Service Officer Kumar called me to negotiate a delay to 23 December as its supplier OpenNet had resource constraint. I acceded to the request as I still have an existing cable broadband plan.
It was a no-show on 23 December and I had to phone Starhub hotline twice before Kumar called to explain the error in the appointment and reschedule again to 17 January. My anticipation is turning into a dread.
Kumar did not apologize for the no-show and seemed to put the blame on OpenNet again. He also informed that the broadband plan has new bundle which is more attractive in his opinion but I still prefer the SITEX offer. I am already disappointed and did not bother to challenge him. My mind is set on switching to a different telco should the next appointment be messed up again.
Contact Centre Duty Manager Saifu contacted me after my 2nd call to the hotline. He apologized profusely for the delay in response from the Sales lead on the case. I am somewhat pacified but felt that the "guilty" Sales party should perform its role in service recovery.
Although Starhub may have scored highly in the 2012 CSISG survey, alignment of customer service standards across the various teams can better ensure consistent service delivery.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Card Payment Slip Up at Philips Carnival Sale
On Saturday morning, I had patiently waited for 15 minutes to reach the front of the payment queue and was directed to a young man at one of the many counters. The young part-timer was still sorting out the printed receipts when he realized that he had forgotten to return the credit card of the previous customer who have left the payment area and had probably headed towards the collection area for another queueing episode.
The cashier quickly alerted his supervisor standing about 15 feet away. The supervisor came over, took a look at the card, placed it back near the payment terminal and said "I cannot tell who is the cardholder and he will come back here once he realized that he had forgotten to take his card."
I was shocked at the response: the customer did not forget to take his card. It was the cashier that had not return the card with the receipt to the customer. The focus of the customer's attention was on the receipt required for the collection of the products that he had purchased. Even if it was the customer's fault, it is good customer service to attempt in returning the card knowing that the customer had moved to the next part of the sale process of collection.
Although the supervisor cannot identify who is the customer by face, the cardholder's name is clearly embossed or printed on the card so the supervisor could have easily call out for the customer and locate him at the collection queue. The supervisor had failed to prevent a bad customer experience. Imagine the inconvenience caused if the card loss was not detected by the customer until he had left the Philips carnival sale.
Do your employees put themselves in the shoes of the customer?
The cashier quickly alerted his supervisor standing about 15 feet away. The supervisor came over, took a look at the card, placed it back near the payment terminal and said "I cannot tell who is the cardholder and he will come back here once he realized that he had forgotten to take his card."
I was shocked at the response: the customer did not forget to take his card. It was the cashier that had not return the card with the receipt to the customer. The focus of the customer's attention was on the receipt required for the collection of the products that he had purchased. Even if it was the customer's fault, it is good customer service to attempt in returning the card knowing that the customer had moved to the next part of the sale process of collection.
Although the supervisor cannot identify who is the customer by face, the cardholder's name is clearly embossed or printed on the card so the supervisor could have easily call out for the customer and locate him at the collection queue. The supervisor had failed to prevent a bad customer experience. Imagine the inconvenience caused if the card loss was not detected by the customer until he had left the Philips carnival sale.
Do your employees put themselves in the shoes of the customer?
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Gory Composition
The sky suffused into a swirl of blue and yellow as lightning split the gathering storm. Clouds peppered the ground with sharp blades of water. The fact that Shawn had to walk the remaining distance to the school with a tattered umbrella which did nothing to stop the scalding drops of rainwater from piercing through the thin fabric did nothing to help wear down the resentment for Richmond in his heart. Today, he was going to end it.
Richmond too was stuck in a traffic jam caused by a three-lane pileup. He did nothing to hide the fear of meeting Shawn, as he shuddered to recall the last time Shawn broke his nose. Both of them were mortal enemies, but one was the bully, the other the victim.
As the rusty gates of the school neared, Richmond saw the hulking figure of Shawn push the gates wide open, striding in with a confidence unlike himself. Richmond shrank back quickly. Shawn then turned his head back, his head glowing in the flash of lightning, revealing a pair of blood-shot eyes, with only one expression in them: hatred.
As the classroom neared, Richmond saw Shawn and their gaze met. The class was silent as a ghost-town. Several pairs of eyes strained to see the final showdown of Shawn versus Richmond. The lights above the corridor flickered. A bellow of rage bounced off the walls of the corridor. Shawn revealed a pair of metal-chain gloves. For a minute, there was a moment of stillness in the midst of the chaos. Then Shawn charged straight for Richmond. Richmond side-stepped him and, without thinking, kicked Shawn down the staircase. Shawn rolled down in a ball, and rammed straight into the wall. Time seemed to break up into scenes, like a movie, a sickening crunch could be heard as Shawn rebounded and lay out flat on the ground, the rainwater washing over his face. A pool of crimson red liquid formed around him. Richmond had done the unthinkable and had to face to reality. Shawn was dead.
Teachers and paramedics quickly arrived to staunch the gaping would on Shawn's head. It was for naught. Thirty minutes after the incident, Shawn was officially pronounced dead. Holding Shawn by his head, Richmond went into a state of complete disillusion as he convinced himself, "I didn't do this, I know it, don't lie to me, he forced me too, it's not my fault." As he babbled on about his innocence, he returned back to the world of reality, the truth hit him like a wall, he was a murderer, he had killed someone with his own hands. Kneeling down on the rough granite floor, head facing towards the heaven and he cried, "What have I done!" as he broken down in tears of regret and sadness. It was too late.
While the sky has cleared into a blue sky, he could see disfigured Shawn sitting on the clouds saying, "You've killed me!" Even though the sky had cleared, Richmond knew the clouds in his heart would never clear again. He was a murderer.
--- End ---
Written in 60-minute class test by a 14 year old with these comments from his teacher: "A rather dark and violent tale, but graphically depicted and gripping in pace."
Richmond too was stuck in a traffic jam caused by a three-lane pileup. He did nothing to hide the fear of meeting Shawn, as he shuddered to recall the last time Shawn broke his nose. Both of them were mortal enemies, but one was the bully, the other the victim.
As the rusty gates of the school neared, Richmond saw the hulking figure of Shawn push the gates wide open, striding in with a confidence unlike himself. Richmond shrank back quickly. Shawn then turned his head back, his head glowing in the flash of lightning, revealing a pair of blood-shot eyes, with only one expression in them: hatred.
As the classroom neared, Richmond saw Shawn and their gaze met. The class was silent as a ghost-town. Several pairs of eyes strained to see the final showdown of Shawn versus Richmond. The lights above the corridor flickered. A bellow of rage bounced off the walls of the corridor. Shawn revealed a pair of metal-chain gloves. For a minute, there was a moment of stillness in the midst of the chaos. Then Shawn charged straight for Richmond. Richmond side-stepped him and, without thinking, kicked Shawn down the staircase. Shawn rolled down in a ball, and rammed straight into the wall. Time seemed to break up into scenes, like a movie, a sickening crunch could be heard as Shawn rebounded and lay out flat on the ground, the rainwater washing over his face. A pool of crimson red liquid formed around him. Richmond had done the unthinkable and had to face to reality. Shawn was dead.
Teachers and paramedics quickly arrived to staunch the gaping would on Shawn's head. It was for naught. Thirty minutes after the incident, Shawn was officially pronounced dead. Holding Shawn by his head, Richmond went into a state of complete disillusion as he convinced himself, "I didn't do this, I know it, don't lie to me, he forced me too, it's not my fault." As he babbled on about his innocence, he returned back to the world of reality, the truth hit him like a wall, he was a murderer, he had killed someone with his own hands. Kneeling down on the rough granite floor, head facing towards the heaven and he cried, "What have I done!" as he broken down in tears of regret and sadness. It was too late.
While the sky has cleared into a blue sky, he could see disfigured Shawn sitting on the clouds saying, "You've killed me!" Even though the sky had cleared, Richmond knew the clouds in his heart would never clear again. He was a murderer.
--- End ---
Written in 60-minute class test by a 14 year old with these comments from his teacher: "A rather dark and violent tale, but graphically depicted and gripping in pace."
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