Two Customer Support Calls
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From: Queen City, NC
Two Customer Support Calls
I had to make two calls to customer support today, one for a banking/CC question, the other because my USB cable for my 10 month old iPod stopped working. Thought I'd share since the experiences were so different.
The CC call (Citi) took me ten minutes of automated menus and ended up hanging up on me twice. I finally got forwarded to a customer service representative, but there was no one to pick up and I got hung up on again. My question is still unresolved after 20+ min on the phone and no human contact.
The Apple call took me through about 30 seconds of IVR and then put me in touch with a live person here in the States. That person looked up my info, and without any issue ordered me a replacement cable to be mailed to me, with no final charge. At the end of the call the rep rehashed the whole conversation to make sure it was correct and then thanked me. The whole call took 14 minutes.
It was an interesting contrast to see how companies handle customer support, how much Citi really sucks, and how efficient Apple was. I'd heard Apple Support was good and that I could have just gone to a store and been handed a new cable, but the phone support was impressive. I'd never had to call Apple Support before, but have no issue with it if I had to again, and I'll never be a Citi customer by choice.
The CC call (Citi) took me ten minutes of automated menus and ended up hanging up on me twice. I finally got forwarded to a customer service representative, but there was no one to pick up and I got hung up on again. My question is still unresolved after 20+ min on the phone and no human contact.
The Apple call took me through about 30 seconds of IVR and then put me in touch with a live person here in the States. That person looked up my info, and without any issue ordered me a replacement cable to be mailed to me, with no final charge. At the end of the call the rep rehashed the whole conversation to make sure it was correct and then thanked me. The whole call took 14 minutes.
It was an interesting contrast to see how companies handle customer support, how much Citi really sucks, and how efficient Apple was. I'd heard Apple Support was good and that I could have just gone to a store and been handed a new cable, but the phone support was impressive. I'd never had to call Apple Support before, but have no issue with it if I had to again, and I'll never be a Citi customer by choice.
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From: Lugoff, SC
I recently had an issue with my iphone and called them. The lady was very nice and I found out the only way to get it done without shipping it off was to take it to an apple store. The closet one was in Charlotte, NC (1.5hrs away). She even gave me directions because she was actually in Charlotte. I wasn't talking to India, but an actual stateside person in the same area. I drove there and they replaced it with no problem. Total time there was about 15 minutes. So thumbs up for apple. But AT&T service coverage sucks. If you're not around a major insterstate, you might as well forget about having any service.
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From: Los Angeles
Yup. I love Apple. To me, a company isn't just about the product they sell, but the whole package. I know PCs are prbably superior to the expensive Mac products, but I sure love my apple. Plus, with the industry I'm in, hardly anyone uses PCs.
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From: Queen City, NC
Originally Posted by J'sBlackAP1,Jun 15 2009, 04:19 PM
Don't you just love automated messages and call centers halfway around the world?
Citi customer service sucks, so I'll never be a Citi customer.
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From: Mill Creek, WA
I work for a health care company in member services and compared to others you will be talking to a live person in about 20-30 seconds. We never have a call holding more then 2 minutes to talk to someone.
It amazes me every time I have to make outgoing calls to other insurance agencies how long a call will take. Some take 2-3 min of automated systems and hang up on you; others have u waiting for 10-15 minutes.
Just a tip. If your calling an agency with an automated system a lot of the types you can just keep pressing 0 and you will either get front desk or a customer service rep.
It amazes me every time I have to make outgoing calls to other insurance agencies how long a call will take. Some take 2-3 min of automated systems and hang up on you; others have u waiting for 10-15 minutes.
Just a tip. If your calling an agency with an automated system a lot of the types you can just keep pressing 0 and you will either get front desk or a customer service rep.
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Originally Posted by rushinxpress,Jun 15 2009, 03:56 PM
Just a tip. If your calling an agency with an automated system a lot of the types you can just keep pressing 0 and you will either get front desk or a customer service rep.
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Originally Posted by Saki GT,Jun 15 2009, 01:04 PM
I had to make two calls to customer support today, one for a banking/CC question, the other because my USB cable for my 10 month old iPod stopped working. Thought I'd share since the experiences were so different.
The CC call (Citi) took me ten minutes of automated menus and ended up hanging up on me twice. I finally got forwarded to a customer service representative, but there was no one to pick up and I got hung up on again. My question is still unresolved after 20+ min on the phone and no human contact.
The Apple call took me through about 30 seconds of IVR and then put me in touch with a live person here in the States. That person looked up my info, and without any issue ordered me a replacement cable to be mailed to me, with no final charge. At the end of the call the rep rehashed the whole conversation to make sure it was correct and then thanked me. The whole call took 14 minutes.
It was an interesting contrast to see how companies handle customer support, how much Citi really sucks, and how efficient Apple was. I'd heard Apple Support was good and that I could have just gone to a store and been handed a new cable, but the phone support was impressive. I'd never had to call Apple Support before, but have no issue with it if I had to again, and I'll never be a Citi customer by choice.
The CC call (Citi) took me ten minutes of automated menus and ended up hanging up on me twice. I finally got forwarded to a customer service representative, but there was no one to pick up and I got hung up on again. My question is still unresolved after 20+ min on the phone and no human contact.
The Apple call took me through about 30 seconds of IVR and then put me in touch with a live person here in the States. That person looked up my info, and without any issue ordered me a replacement cable to be mailed to me, with no final charge. At the end of the call the rep rehashed the whole conversation to make sure it was correct and then thanked me. The whole call took 14 minutes.
It was an interesting contrast to see how companies handle customer support, how much Citi really sucks, and how efficient Apple was. I'd heard Apple Support was good and that I could have just gone to a store and been handed a new cable, but the phone support was impressive. I'd never had to call Apple Support before, but have no issue with it if I had to again, and I'll never be a Citi customer by choice.
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From: Queen City, NC
Seriously. www.getahuman.com is good for getting through the system, but there was literally no one on the other end at Citi - what a garbage company.