I was thinking recently about just how
many bad customer service experiences I've had over the last few months. In
fact only yesterday I had a terrible customer service experience involving a
well-known chain of pubs which is currently being investigated. I will write
more about this particular experience once the investigation has been
completed.
It is interesting just how many
companies are using the Coronavirus pandemic as an excuse for poor customer
service. Fair enough, many companies have experienced difficulties regarding
staffing - for example absences due to employees socially isolating. But even allowing
for these difficulties, I can't help but think that many companies are using
the current pandemic as an excuse for their poor customer service.
So I was very interested to spot an
excellent article by Victoria Bischoff in the Daily Mail this month, that was
saying exactly the same thing that I have been thinking. I have reproduced this
article below and I acknowledge their ownership of the copyright in this
article.
Coronavirus: the 'Get Out Of Jail Free' Card
With so many people still working from
home, I often receive phone calls from numbers I don't recognise.
So when what looked like a mobile
phone number flashed up on my iPhone at around 10am on a Tuesday, I assumed it
was a work-related call.
But there was a man with an American
accent on the line, claiming to work for PayPal.
He said three payments had been marked
as fraud on my account, listing a $99.99 Gameshop purchase, $27.99 Target shop
and $750 friends and family transfer.
All were supposedly made that morning.
'Did you authorise any of these transactions?' 'No,' I replied, in surprise.
'OK, I understand. We can refund the
money to the card that initiated the transactions,' he reassured me. 'We just
need to take some personal details.'
Just as I was about to ask what he
needed, my brain finally kicked into gear and I told him I wasn't comfortable
giving out my details to someone who had called out of the blue.
'One second please,' he said. This was
followed by a suspicious silence. 'Miss Bischoff, I understand your opinion but
we will have to put a hold on your account to get these cleared, if you
understand?'
'That's fine as I don't really use
it,' I said. 'And surely you would need to freeze the account while you dealt
with this anyway?'
'One second,' he said again. Another
silence. 'OK, we will send you an email with the centre's contact details. Have
a good day.'
Now I was confused. Was this a tactic
to make me more trusting if he called again? When I logged into my PayPal
account everything seemed normal, and I didn't receive an email. I called the
mobile number back but there was no answer.
Now sure my instinct was correct, it
was a good reminder of just how easy it is to get caught out by scammers when your
mind is on something else.
What was more worrying was how
difficult it was to report the attempted fraud to PayPal.
There didn't appear to be a fraud
helpline, so I tried to explain what happened in an online chat box.
A 'PayPal Assistant' responded: 'It
looks like you want to report an unauthorised transaction, is that correct?'
No, that's not what I said. But before I could try again, another message
popped up.
'I found some articles in our Help
Centre that might help you. Check them out! If you need more help, please type
'Need more help'.'
None of the suggested articles were
close to being relevant, so I typed 'Need more help'.
'All our agents are currently offline.
Please try again during business hours,' was the response. It was 6.30pm and
PayPal's ' messaging support' was supposedly available until 8pm on weekdays.
Why was no one there?
'Our customer service staffing is
limited due to coronavirus safety precautions,' the message added.
Ah, of course. The new go-to excuse
for why businesses can't possibly provide consumers with basic customer
service.
PayPal is a digital payment provider. Surely it has had enough time to work out how to staff a simple online help-centre by now? Firms need to stop treating the pandemic as if it's some sort of 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card.
Victoria Bischoff