ClickFox's Customer Experience Analytics Blog

Last week we started up #FrustrationFridays, a weekly Twitter meme and column where we share some of the worst customer experience stories we received in our Customer Tipping Point Survey. Here are some more horror stories and our Customer Experience takeaways:

For 4 continuous years, I was a customer of this large phone company for my landline under the same price plan. A couple of their reps came home proposing us to change to a new plan saying that it was cheaper. The next month bill showed that it was actually higher (hidden fees, extra charges, etc.) When we called the phone company to revert us back to our old plan, they said that it was not available. So after 4 years, we ditched the phone company the very next month. They did try to win us back with some temporary offers, but we refused them.

Customer Experience Takeaway: Don't try to pull a bait-and-switch on your customers, especially if you're in a highly competitive industry. Don't change your services or pricing without ample notification and don't force your customers to pay more for something they are used to. Our survey showed that 5% of respondents where frustrated the most about fees and price increases. 18.5% said phone companies are the most frustrating to deal with.

buildup of bad experiences...one isn't enough but 3 or 4, well, enough is enough. example is a bank. Self service site (online payments) was terrible. One type of payment (mortgage) remembered my payment info. Another type of payment (Line of Credit) did not. If there was no activity on my savings account for a certain period, it would simply stop displaying when I logged in. I had electronic billig (no paper statements) but if I forgot my password, security qeustions were all about things on my statement (which I couldn't access buecause it was purely electronic). I call the care #, just to be transferred 15 minutes later. the in-person service was equally poor when I attempted to refinance inside the bank. When I tried to pay a large lump sum on my line of credit, it would not allow payments over a certain amount (online) or more than 1 payment...i was forced to call and sit on hold just to make my payment...I'm refinancing and going to another bank that actually makes things easy

Customer Experience Takeaway: Offer a seamless customer experience through all your interaction channels. Many companies still operate and analyze customer experience through informational silos which causes their customers to have a considerably different experiences like the one described above. The website needs to have the same functionality as the phone channel and the in-person experience. And don't force frustrating limitations unless there are regulatory or compliance reasons, in which case you should try to provide easy access to live support. We had an excellent webinar with Adele Sage of Forrester Research where she discusses best practices in cross-channel design. Click here to watch a replay of the webinar "Delivering an Integrated Cross Channel Experience."

I had finally taken the plunge and switched cable operators. The new company's sales rep had been to my house twice, and finally I signed the contract. On the day of installation the service tech told me there would be an extra charge because one of my rooms was slightly detached from the house (according to him). I explained that their rep had seen the house and signed me to a contract which was legally binding on both sides. He insisted I had to pay more. I complained to their customer service with the tech still there, but she agreed with the tech about the extra charge. I asked to speak to her manager, she said he would call back (I am still waiting). I decided not to sue them, and just went back to my old cable provider. I will never do business with them again, and delight in telling all my friends why.

Customer Experience Takeaway: Keep your promises! Does the lifetime value of a customer outweigh a small additional extra installation charge? When you already have a tech on site? No it doesn't. Instead of acquiring a happy new customer, this cable company managed to lose money because not only did they lose the customer but they already dispatched a technician to do the installation. Our survey found that cable companies are the most frustrating to deal with (26%) and that rude or inexperienced representatives or service technicians are the second most cause of frustration (13%). Do you have a customer experience horror story to share? Leave us a comment or tweet about it with the #FrustrationFridays tag and we'll include it in our next column. Have a great weekend!