Dear Telstra, don’t ask don’t tell

Dear Telstra,

I’m writing to tell you that your cornerstone is crumbling. According to your website:

Satisfying our customers… is the cornerstone of our business. We want to stand out for superior customer satisfaction.

Well, my dear Telstra, it just isn’t working. But I think you already know that. Hey, the volume of dissatisfaction with your customer service is deafening. So that’s not really what I’m writing about.

No, I have one specific gripe, beyond the cavalier way you spend my time in any interaction. Beyond the fact that the first person I speak to never seems to be able to help. Beyond the interminable waits on hold. Beyond all those things. No, my gripe is the fact that you ask my opinion at the end of the call.

After spending another frustrating 30 minutes trying to get a simple problem fixed yesterday, the final very charming person ended the call by asking me to wait on the line and answer two simple questions about the call. I did so and found myself firmly fixed on the horns of a dilemma.

Did I give positive feedback about the last person I spoke to, who was perfectly pleasant and sorted my problem in a matter of minutes? Or did I rate the overall call which was annoying, frustrating and time-wasting? If I left negative feedback that would make me feel better; but would that, then, negatively impact on a performance appraisal for the last person I spoke to? But if I left positive feedback in the hope of doing the final person a favour, would Telstra use that as evidence of the high satisfaction in which their customers hold their customer service? You see the problem? The very fact you asked me for a simplistic response to a complex problem has left me even more frustrated and annoyed.

So I did the only logical thing: I opted for the third way. I hung up.

And you know what’s left me truly, really frustrated? Because I was calling on my iPhone I didn’t even get the satisfaction of slamming down the handset!

2 thoughts on “Dear Telstra, don’t ask don’t tell

  • May 14, 2012 at 1:52 pm
    Permalink

    Just write to their head of retail.

    It won’t help one little bit, but it will make you feel a heck of a lot better.

    Call centers though mate, the definition of anti-service. Low wages, no empowerment or relief from more calls.

    The only thing you would have to look forward to is the guy who sells pills starting his shift.

    Reply
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