Day 1:
Like most people, we chose Cox for our Internet service, as they seem to have the best deals and service in Oklahoma. Seth went online and set up our account so all we had to do was go into the store and pick up a modem. The gentleman in the store was very nice and informed that all we needed to do was go home, hook up the modem, activate our account online and we should have Internet that day. Simple and easy.
That should have been our first red flag. Because let's be honest, nothing is ever that simple. But we went home an followed the instructions anyway. And of course, it didn't work. We put in our first call to the Cox helpline number only to find out that we actually needed someone to come to our house and do a "quick connect" (turn on some kind of signal in the backyard). They apologized for the misinformation and told us that a dispatcher would show up sometime between 8AM and 7PM the following day. Luckily I had enough to do at the house that I decided I would just spend the next day working on the never-ending to-do list.
Day 2:
I kept watch out the windows all day for any sign of Cox. Six thirty rolled around and still nobody showed. I called to make sure we were still on the list and they confirmed that someone would be there by 7. We waited until 7:30 and then called again (this was call #3). This time, we were told that that they actually had until 8PM. Annoying. So we said we would call back after 8, knowing that they wouldn't show in the next half hour. And guess what? They didn't. Cue call #4 to Cox.
This time, we were told that they didn't know why nobody had showed up. The woman was very nice and emailed the dispatcher to see what the issue was. She assured us that she would call us back by 9:45 when she clocked out.
It was 9:55 and still no call from Cox. So we started call #5. While we were on hold waiting to get through, we got another call from the call #4 woman. The dispatcher had not responded to her email, so she assured us that she would call us back the next morning and update us on the status of things. When we switched back to the other call, we were still on hold so we decided to speak with a supervisor to see where the error in communication was happening. There wasn't a supervisor available, but the service rep apologized and credited our account for the poor service, which was nice. Then he told us that all the dispatch schedules were full for the next day, but he would put us on the schedule anyway.
Let's pause and examine this for a second. Nobody showed up when we were on the schedule. But they want us to believe that someone will show up on a day that every dispatcher's schedule is completely full? HA. This must be a joke. But we didn't have another option, so we waited until the next day. At least we would be on the top of the list since it was suppose to be done the previous day, right? ...
Day 3:
It was 10AM and I was sick of waiting around for them to show up and to hear from "call #4 woman" (yeah, we still hadn't received the call she assured us would come that morning). And I had a list of errands to run. Frustrated, I got on Twitter and posted about the situation.
Then things got interesting. In less than 10 minutes, my phone buzzed with a Twitter alert. To my surprise, Cox had responded to my post. They asked what was going on and I explained that this was day 3 of no Internet after 5 phone calls and all we needed was a quick connect. They apologized and asked for our address so they could look into it.
BUT, before I could even respond, there was a knock at the door (literally only 10 minutes after the Tweet was sent). Looking back, I think I literally said "HALLELUJAH!" when he introduced himself as being from Cox. He asked if we had been having trouble getting our Internet turned on. Apparently, his manager called him and told him to drop everything and "get over there and take care of this." Wow.
Three days, five phone calls, and all it took was one Tweet about poor customer service to get someone to our door in ten minutes. The management team at Cox apparently has a good grasp on the importance of customer service. After seeing notes from the 5 calls on our account, it only took a matter of minutes for them to make sure that the issue was resolved. Now that's customer service.
There were several things we took away from this experience. Notice: this is where my advertising/marketing nerd side takes over, so consider yourself warned. Ha.
First of all, Cox does an excellent job of monitoring their social media presence—something that every company should be doing in order to know what people are thinking and feeling about their brand.
Second: Companies care about customer satisfaction. Sure, they may care more about those customers who talk about their bad experiences, but it's better than simply disregarding the consumer altogether. Cox did a great job of making up for their poor service and because of that, we will probably keep using their internet as long as we are in Oklahoma.
Last: Social media has given the consumer the power to communicate with thousands of people at once about their experiences with a company, making customer satisfaction a top priority. Previously, word-of-mouth circulated the frustrating tales of poor customer service. But let's be honest, how many people do you verbally tell a story like that to? Not many compared to the hundreds you communicate with on social media sites.
All this to say, speak out about your experiences with companies. If you have experienced one of these tales of poor customer service, talk about it and talk to the company about it. You'd be surprised at just how much companies care about your satisfaction.
All this to say, speak out about your experiences with companies. If you have experienced one of these tales of poor customer service, talk about it and talk to the company about it. You'd be surprised at just how much companies care about your satisfaction.