Today is going to be a bit of a rant about customer service and how it can impact your business.  Creating procedures for a company to operate by is extremely important.  Understanding the impact of those procedures is vital to the long term health of your business.  The impact those decisions can have on negative press and future long term business is something we need to think about every time we deal with a customer, potential customer, or former customer.

I just experienced a very frustrating phone call with DirecTv customer support.  I will say they were very nice and very polite and very unhelpful.  I will try to summarize the situation so you can understand my viewpoint and understand the impact their decision will have on my actions.  You should also think about if you have procedures in place that could have the same impact on your business as well.

I have been a loyal customer with DirecTV for three years.  Because of changes in my work and other circumstances, it doesn't fit my current lifestyle.  I was calling to cancel my subscription until things change back to where it makes sense to rejoin.  I do like DirecTv, their product and their service.  I have enjoyed it over the last three years.  I had planned on rejoining but as of today I will not.

I had attempted to contact them about 3-4 weeks ago but a long hold time and other things to get done caused me to use their website's Email feature to contact them.  I didn't hear from them but didn't think anything about it.  Today when I checked my credit card statement there was another billing cycle on it.  I then called today to discuss having this removed and making sure my service was cancelled.  The lady was very polite and did her best to keep me as a customer.  They are very good at cross selling, down selling and other techniques.  Well worth anyone studying them from that standpoint.  

They finally agreed to cancel my service but the REAL issue came when I asked for a refund of the latest charge on my account.  I have to admit that I am still pretty hot about this though trying to maintain a rational and calm demeanor about it.  As a small business owner, I understand the issues involved.  I try to see things on both sides and understand it before reacting to it.  I was told that I would not be able to get a refund because they didn't have a record of my request from the previous email.  

I finally asked to speak to a supervisor.  She informed me that they did not have a record of my attempts to contact them and as such could not issue a refund.  That it made no business sense for them to give me money to spend somewhere else even though I was not using their service and had not for the entire month.  I again informed her of my desire to return to being a customer in the future but that this decision would definitely change that.  I wasn't being unreasonable and asking for several months, just the last month's charge.  

Would you trade $60 (which is what is amounts to) for negative publicity?  For changing someone from a loyal customer to a very upset one?  I realize I am not actively using their service today so by their definition I no longer fit into customer satisfaction.  I asked her several times if she understood that by making this decision she was taking a future customer and turning them into not only a non customer but an advocate against their customer service.  She apologized several times for the situation…but that did not change the fact of the matter.  

They had no record of communications with me in the recent weeks and would not be refunding my last months fees.  $60 in exchange for my future business as a customer accommodation.  That was the deal they made.  They also purchased this blog post and several others as well.  

To say I am disappointed is an understatement.  I have always had good interactions with DirecTv and have suggested it to others.  Today that relationship was soured beyond belief.  I guess they don't worry about customer's returning to them after they leave.  Do you treat your customer's that way?  That if they cancel or don't purchase from you this week they are no longer a customer?  Or do you take the longer view that doing what's right is always the right thing to do and will pay dividends in the future.

So if you are considering getting DirecTv, think about how they view you. Not as a customer but a revenue stream.  No room to be flexible in dealing with loyal customers who have stated up front they want to return.  Who are willing to trade your future business for one month's charge.  Three years of loyalty down the drain of corporate inflexibility.   

How do you treat your customers?  

PS  Think about how you want to be treated and set your guidelines up that way.  Give your people flexibility to make sure you don't damage your brand.  

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