So according to MSN, which company has the worst customer service? Can you guess?
It's Sprint! According to this article they listed the top 10 worse customer service companies. Rounding out the top 10 is B of A, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Citibank, Wal-mart, Verizon, Wells Fargo, and DirecTv. Dishonorable mentions include Dell, Circuit City, Best Buy, Home Depot, Sears, and Macy's.
I'm not surprised that Sprint topped the list. I've had quite a few run-ins myself with them. And like many I often felt like jumping off the bridge while talking to and waiting for a customer service rep.
In fact it was with Sprint which sold my account information and had a false account created which wasn't paid and sent to collections. Rather than contacting me directly Sprint went straight to a Collection Agency. When I called they refused to talk and work with me. Instead they stonewalled me and refused to acknowledge some insider had sold my information. Ever since I've had major issues with Sprint.
As for the rest, well what can I say? Read this article about a nice little old lady charged with assault against Comcast. I feel for her, sometimes I feel like that when I talk to Verizon. They have terrible customer service and often I'm put on hold for at least an hour.
But these companies all have major monopolies and a death grip on their consumer. People with cell phones will rarely change because they often choose companies based on which provide their friends and family have. Or where we lived in San Diego, there was only 1 cable company provider, so to get any TV you had to use Time Warner Cable. So of course they can treat customers poorly when there is no other option. Same thing with banks, there often are limited choices with the consolidation of bigger banks buying out smaller banks. There are less branches and atms, so people are stuck with few choices.
But what can the consumer do other then complain? We are guilty of using these services. I hate B of A, but they have many branches and our company paid for a mortgage through B of A. It seemed easier than trying to move our mortgage and checking.
Do you have any companies you hate or won't use?
Monday, November 12, 2007
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2 comments:
I've actually had great experiences with both Sprint and B of A. Some of my favorite companies to deal with are Hilton (love those Hampton Inns), Honda (love those cars) and Apple (love those computers). My least favorite company all time is probably Dish Network.
I'm surprised that Citibank is on that list. I've always thought their customer service was great, in fact very great. However that is with Citigold (you have to keep over $100k balance I believe) and when you call them you pretty much go straight to a live person and they can do a lot. To me having good customer service with banking is more important than almost anything else, I'd go with a great customer service bank even if the rates they offered on savings were half of what I could get elsewhere.
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