"Most operator customer service people don’t even have access to basic account information like the the make and model of the phone, when the customer calls. Therefore, the first crucial minutes are spent trying to find that out – that is after you’ve spent time hanging on, inputting your mobile phone number and then having to tell them the phone number when you are put through."

Source: MobHappy.com 

There’s some news, and some strong views, towards the end of this week on wireless carriers and how they do at customer service, particularly as a higher percentage of customers use more sophisticated phones and data services.

Geek.com has an article up with some results from a customer care survey that ranks T-Mobile and Verizon tops. And Mobhappy – source of the above quote – have a good blog entry on how carriers are far from embracing that every contact with a customer is an opportunity.

Read on for more …

MobHappy – which is another excellent site to follow generally – has a piece called ‘Customer Service Is An Opportunity, Not a Cost‘, which highlights the no-win situation (for both customer service reps and customers) created by some of the absurd processes the carriers have in place for support.

The Geek.com piece – siting the results of a recent JD Power & Associates survey – mentions that the numbers of customers contacting providers is increasing, and is at its highest rate since 2000.  This is attributed to increased complexity in phones and services.

All of the survey results, and the MobHappy commentary, ring very true to me.  Seems like the carriers are going to have a lot of work to do to provide service that matches up to the cool devices we all want to own. With smartphones and converged devices like the Treo 700w and 700p, the Q, and others proving increasingly popular, there should be added pressure on carriers to provide *much* better service. 

I know for example that on the one occasion I called Cingular for support on the MSFP and push email, it felt like I was reporting an alien landing on earth.  Clueless would probably be an understatement for the general comfort level of the first couple of reps I spoke to.

So, what do you think?  Have you had good / bad / mediocre experiences when needing any help from a carrier?  Do you have confidence that they will improve as required in this area?

For more on the customer care survey results, and an excellent read on customer opportunitiues, go see:

Geek.com Survey article

Customer Service Is An Opportunity, Not a Cost