Good service, Bad service

David Bernstein of The Volokh Conspiracy describes his recent experiences with uncaring, incompetent or surly customer service. He asks, "has customer service in the U.S. really gone to Hell?" I dunno: I can't remember a time when people in the U.S. - and Canada, and presumably everywhere else - didn't complain about their ordeals when calling companies' 1-800 numbers.

My worst such encounters have been with Air Canada (surprise!) and telecommunications provider Aliant, who keep playing a message encouraging you to use their self-service website - when you're calling to complain about being unable to get online in the first place. My best customer service experiences have been with StarChoice satellite TV, who will actually call you back within a specified time, and President's Choice Financial, a Loblaws/CIBC no-fee banking venture I can't believe everyone doesn't use.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at January 13, 2007 10:33 AM