A Tale of Two Providers

This is a tale about customer service and human behavior. Let’s take two TV service providers – one cable , one satellite, both each offering a similar selection of TV programs bundled together in a nicely branded package.

We’ve been a loyal customer of the satellite provider for more than 10 years. Happy with the product and the service, but unable to reduce our costly monthly fee. So I approached the competitor (the cable provider) who offered a far more attractive package for about 25% less. I made an impulsive decision (after all I had been a loyal customer up until this point of their fiercest competitor) and made arrangements to switch providers two days later.

The interesting fact is that my decision was almost entirely influenced by the friendly, helpful customer service rep on the end of the phone. He got me so excited! He even gave me his personal cell number so I wouldn’t have to go through the annoying automated system if I had any questions…

Now the story takes a turn. Two days later the technician shows up at my home. Three hours late. It was the last day of the school holidays, I was working from home and juggling children’s appointments, and his bad timing really screwed up my day. To top it off, he was the exact opposite of my friendly customer service rep. Moody, unhelpful (couldn’t give me any indication of how long the work would take – which by the way took a staggering 4 hours!) and entirely ignorant of the workings of the product. He moaned about how difficult it was to install, he broke one of our chairs he used to stand on, he disconnected our spare fridge freezer (which we only noticed a day later in a flood of melted ice pops) and when the work was finally completed and I asked him questions about how it works, he was unable to answer my enquires – “I don’t even work from the company, they just pay me to install the product” … but the fools let him wear their branded t-shirt and drive their branded vehicles – as far as I am concerned he is THE FACE of their company.

Now the story goes from bad to worse. The big mistake they made was not holding my hand and guiding me through the first few tricky days. They should have been able to see my type. I was ending a wonderful (yet costly) marriage and was embarking on a whole new relationship – guide me through here! But suddenly my lovely friend wasn’t so available and stopped returning my calls. The video-on-demand service that they had led me to believe would be free for the first 2 months was not so free (just the access to the service but the movies still had to be paid for) – I’d let me kids go wild on day one and suddenly I had a bill for three movies unknowingly charged to me. Where is the parental control system, why had no one explained to me how to install the code system so my kids couldn’t do this?

But the biggest mistake they made was that they didn’t ensure that I kept WELL AWAY from my OLD service provider. You see they assured me they would handle my disconnection, but I got worried and sure enough, when I called to check with the old provider I learned (shockingly) that they had not received any notification at all! And this conversation led me a really helpful customer service rep at my OLD provider who within the space of an hour, matched my deal in price and offered me a free movie package which would more than cover my costs of installation with their competitor. So tomorrow, I am going back to my faithful old marriage and here ends my short (3 day) romance with the competition.

Of course, quite quickly my dear friend began frantically calling me. I feel bad for him, I doubt he’ll get his commission on this sale. But the problem here is not about him. It’s about the ethos of these companies. It’s not just about making the sale. It’s about how you handle the customer right from the moment they sign on that line. Because with the changes in regulations here we’re all free to move around providers as much as we like. Nothing ties us to them. So work on those relationships at EVERY touch point – not just at the sale, but on every level, right down to the Russian immigrant technician who travels round the country installing the product. Call me shallow, but if he’d shown up on time, greeted me with a smile and “congratulations for joining us”, and been able to give a decent explanation about the product, I probably would’ve stayed with them.

Cash Diet

No more of these…

In fit of frenzy today at the office, myself and my dear colleague took care of some long overdue “housekeeping” issues … renegotiating contracts with various service providers. A few calls later and we’d already made savings of about $50 a month. On top of the new phone contract we’d sorted out a week earlier, cutting our bills by about 50%.

It’s stating the obvious to say that we all need to be educated consumers. Never assume you’re getting the best deals. I can’t really talk, allowing unopened visa bills and bank statements to pile up – then signing up for the electronic options and never opening the emails. Even while arduously tackling the task today, my friend and I laughed that if we don’t nail it down right now, it will go back on the “to do” pile for another 6 months.

But you see we’ve reached end of a long – and expensive – summer which ate through our bank account like an indulgent over-eater. Between summer camps and school supplies – and a whole lot in between – I feel like we’ve lost track, and we’ve ordered everything off the dessert menu (so to speak…). The finale came a few days ago with a cracked iPad screen and a broken car door – all in the space of a few hours. This was like the extra hot chocolate fudge sundae that we never really ordered.

So it’s cash crunch. And like any diet, a cash diet starts little by little. And there’s no time like the present. In two days the new cable company is coming to install their hardware, as we ditch our old provider of the last 10 years. The decision was spontaneous but crystal clear – they simply offered better service and more options, for about 25% less then what we are currently paying.

The kids are a bit stunned. “Why now?” “Mum, are we poor?” No kids, just trying to be a bit smarter…. we took our youngest son to a neighborhood secondhand sale this week in a mission to teach him the concept of working for money. His sales techniques were adorable… only his patience was short. But he got it – its hard work. At the end of the day he’d made enough not for a surfboard or an iPhone (the fantasies of an eight year old) but at least a couple of good games and an ice-cream on the side. So what did he learn? That you work long and hard, for not very much. But bit by bit, it all counts.

There’s still much to be done. Grocery shopping is the next big offender and with my hate of supermarkets and general frustration at online shopping I’ve yet to tackle this one. But awareness is mounting and times are changing. Don’t be complacent is my new motto and I’m harboring this determination to beat this diet.