No more customer service

I am a retired employee of AT&T, much of that time spent working as a customer service representative. The one thing that was hammered into my brain was that “service” was our primary function. Boy, have times changed!

Do you remember when “The customer was always right?” No more. The customer has no rights. I tried to call AT&T yesterday to make a change in my long distance calling plan.

I went from one recorded voice to another telling me to dial 2 for service, or 3 for repair, or 4 for cable, or 5 for ordering, or 6 for God knows what. Then, when I dialed the number I thought would help me, I was given five other options of numbers to choose from, then more options with the suggestion that I might receive faster service by going online to their Web site.

I did, only to be given more of a runaround. After trying to prove who I was and choosing a new password, it still did not work after three attempts and 30 minutes later.

After dialing 2, then 3, then 2 again, I finally started banging on the ‘O’ for operator button, screaming “Agent! I want an agent! Customer service, please! Give me a person!”

When I finally got to talk to “George,” he was very polite but difficult to understand with his heavy accent that echoed as though he were actually in India – which, I have since learned, may in reality be the case.

This experience reminds me of a recent trip to Oregon where, while leaving the Medford Airport, I saw three “customer service” attendants chatting with nothing to do; when I asked them for assistance in checking my bags, they impatiently pointed me to the computer check-in. Do they not know that computer has just put them out of a job?

After profusely thanking “George” in India for at least being a human body to talk to, I concluded my business with AT&T and hung up the phone with a deep sigh, dreading my next call to… Verizon.

Christine Assad