Amongst the industries that impact nearly everybody in our daily lives, we may never need to call customer service in more cases than the companies providing our Television, Internet and Phone services. Following is a list of a few of these leading companies and how to contact their customer service and support, and technical support departments:
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Is the customer service offered by top companies not good enough?
A new web site was launched today to help people ask questions and get answers from experts andf other users at www.HelpOwl.com. Users can post questions for any one of hundreds of the world's top companies and receive answers from people who can help. There is also an option to receive immediate assistance from company and/or industry experts for a small fee.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Investment Companies Customer Service Numbers
A lot of people have their insurance and investments tied into their employers. For example, if you are laid off, you need to know what options you have available for your 401(k). Many investment companies offer simple solutions so it is just a matter of finding out where you're at and contacting them. Here are links to the phone numbers for a few of the top investment companies:
Friday, September 11, 2009
Adobe customer service takes a nose dive
Customer service at Adobe has taken a sharp turn for the worst. There are countless reports of extremely long hold times (and those are the lucky people), rude representatives and cases where the phone just rings unanswered. Adobe's vice-president of Technical Services recently addressed an open letter to Adobe customers recognizing their customer service shortcomings and promising steps were being taken to improve. An excerpt from the letter:
You can read the full letter here.
Adobe is in the process of transitioning to a new global service provider that
will help grow and improve the quality of our customer service worldwide. While
our new partner is a recognised leader in service and support solutions, this is
a major global transition that includes bringing more than 800 new agents
onboard. Clearly this process has not gone as smoothly as we had planned, and we
are working to immediately remedy the situation. We are confident that once this
transition is completed, we will provide customers with new and better ways to
engage with Adobe using their preferred methods, helping to ensure prompt,
effective customer service.
You can read the full letter here.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Sears customer service executive reaches out
Based in large part on the number of negative comments regarding Sears customer service on both ContactHelp.com and CustomerServiceScoreboard.com, a member of the Sears Cares executive team reached out with the following post:
Dear Sears Customers My name is David and I work for the Sears Cares executive team. It is disappointing to read about the problems that you have experienced with Sears. We are concerned with the service you have received and would appreciate the opportunity to speak to you regarding your experiences. At your convenience please contact my office via email at searscares@searshc.com so we can further discuss your concerns. We would be more than glad to discuss any questions, concerns, and experiences you may have. In your email please provide a brief description of your issue and a phone number where we can contact you at your convenience.
Thank you, David V. Senior Case Manager
It sure is nice to see a company offer to make things right with its customers. We applaud Sears customer service for taking this step!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Hotmail customer service - what is going on?
It seems something is going on with Microsoft's Hotmail email service. Based on the comments from people on the Hotmail customer service page at ContactHelp.com, it appears Hotmail has been resetting people's passwords and/or deactivating accounts without telling them, and then giving no way for users to log back in! Imagine how frustrating it would be to not be able to retrieve your email after using Hotmail's service for many years. One user even went as far as beginning a boycott of Hotmail and asking others to join. Of course, customer support, or complete lack thereof, has always been an issue for Hotmail. Maybe this is Microsoft's way of telling people to leave since they don't want to support Hotmail any longer... Google will be more than happy to attain more Gmail customers :)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Healthcare Customer Service phone numbers
With all of the healthcare stories in the news these days, we thought it would be a good idea to provide links to the customer service numbers for leading healthcare companies on www.ContactHelp.com:
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Verizon Boycott Picking Up Steam
The signing of Michael Vick by the Philadelphia Eagles has prompted many people throughout the country to boycott the Eagles' corporate sponsors. Most notably, a boycott of Verizon Wireless has been started on http://www.boycottowl.com/. Many people are joining, inviting their friends to join and leaving comments expressing their concern.
You can see the Verizon Wireless boycott details here and also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/boycottverizon.
You can see the Verizon Wireless boycott details here and also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/boycottverizon.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless customer service lead the way
According to J.D. Power and Associates, T-mobile and Verizon Wireless lead the way in customer service within the cellular phone sector. Their study found these patterns:
- Nearly one-third of contacts pertain to the customer's cost of service.
- Among customers who contact their carrier by phone two to three times to resolve an issue, 17 percent report they are likely to switch wireless carriers in the future. In comparison, just 10 percent of customers are likely to switch when the issue is resolved in one contact.
- Fifteen percent of contacts result from calls or text messages originated by the wireless carrier. Those customers who contact their carrier after receiving these communications are more satisfied (744, on average), than customers who do not receive proactive contact from their carrier (730).
Users on http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/ seem to agree, ranking T-Mobile #20, and Verizon Wireless #23 out of 143 companies. Here is a look:
Friday, July 31, 2009
Facebook users unite to demand accountability
Facebook is one of the most popular sites on the Internet. However, despite the millions of users that use and rely upon Facebook, the company offers extremely little in the way of customer service. According to users on our web sites, the largest problem is that Facebook routinely deactivates accounts with little notice, explanation, and nothing in the way of useful instructions for reactivation. These are just a few of the reasons why their ranking is currently the lowest of 146 companies rated on http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Facebook. To date, they have had 137 comments and ALL of them have been negative!
Some users have taken things a step further than leaving comments and have started a boycott of Facebook which can be found at http://www.boycottowl.com/Facebook/1 and also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/facebookboycott.
Some users have taken things a step further than leaving comments and have started a boycott of Facebook which can be found at http://www.boycottowl.com/Facebook/1 and also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/facebookboycott.
Friday, July 10, 2009
BoycottOwl.com Launched!
We have recently added a new web site to our portfolio aimed at enforcing corporate responsibility. The new web site, http://www.boycottowl.com/, allows visitors to organize boycotts of companies, organizations, etc. Once organized, the site provides many tools for helping promote and manage the boycott. We think this will be a very useful tool for consumers to empower themselves to effectuate change through strength of numbers.
A few features include:
A few features include:
- Targeting of boycotts based upon user characteristics including race/ethnicity, religion, gender and sexual preference
- Ability to list boycott description and demands as well as videos related to the boycott
Many viral marketing tools to spread the word including integration with Twitter, ability to email friends, etc. - Complete controls over boycott including messaging to other boycott participants
- Geo-mapping for seeing location of boycott participants
- Companies have the ability to respond to the boycott through the site
- Powerful community tools associated with each boycott including forum, avatars, etc.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Exploring Social CRM
Found a very interesting article today on Allusiness.com concerning why companies have not been faster to implement Social CRM opportunities (Social CRM is using networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter in place of traditional phone lines). The article basically blames the recession for thwarting innovation and therefore acceptance of Social CRM techniques.
Not sure if this is the reason or not, but we are sure that customers at most companies do not find the customer service they are receiving to be acceptable... just look at the charts on the http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/ home page!
Not sure if this is the reason or not, but we are sure that customers at most companies do not find the customer service they are receiving to be acceptable... just look at the charts on the http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/ home page!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
CustomerServiceScoreboard.com Launched!
Continuing with our mission to expose the good and bad in the world of customer service, we have recently launched a new site at http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/. The site allows customers to get an idea about the customer service and customer support they can expect to receive and hundreds of leading companies.
The site allows users to comment on and rate their customer service experience with about 500 of the largest companies. These ratings (separated into 5 categories) and comments are then grouped together and scored in order to come up with an overall rating to compare against other companies. Comments are separated between positive and negative, and there is also an area for employees within companies to leave comments of their own.
Even though the site has just launched, the results have been incredible! We already have nearly 150 companies with enough feedback to generate scores. The site has also been featured on a number of other web sites:
The site allows users to comment on and rate their customer service experience with about 500 of the largest companies. These ratings (separated into 5 categories) and comments are then grouped together and scored in order to come up with an overall rating to compare against other companies. Comments are separated between positive and negative, and there is also an area for employees within companies to leave comments of their own.
Even though the site has just launched, the results have been incredible! We already have nearly 150 companies with enough feedback to generate scores. The site has also been featured on a number of other web sites:
Monday, June 8, 2009
Customer service tips from the BBB
The BBB might deal with more customer service complaints than any other organization. In this article, they offer 2 very simple tips that every business hsould follow:
- Train your employees
- Treat your customer as you would want to be treated
Seems easy, right? Unfortunately, it is apparent that most companies today seem unwilling to do either of these things on a consistent basis.
If your problems with a company get so bad that you need help, this is a good article for How to Use the Better Business Bureau.
Friday, May 15, 2009
ISP customer service - behind the veil
According to our users, one of the worst sectors for customer service are internet service providers (ISPs). Based upon an article at PCWorld that we just found, it appears our users are not alone. In response to an article about the problems with ISP customer service, an anonymous former customer service representative at an ISP responded, taking each point from the article into consideration. Very interesting read for anyone that has wasted countless hours on the phone with ISP technical support.
To go along with the article, here are links to the contact information for a few top ISPs:
To go along with the article, here are links to the contact information for a few top ISPs:
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Utility company customer service phone numbers
Due to multiple requests, we have added a new category on ContactHelp.com for utility companies. you can find the link to companies in your area such as ComEd, Duke Energy, PG&E, Xcel Energy and APS by going to the home page for power companies.
Hotmail service is down
As has been the case in recent months, Hotmail has experienced periods of time when their service has been completely unavailable. This obviously creates major problems for users trying to access critical email.
A number of users have added comments on ContactHelp.com trying to help each other figure out how to reach their customer service department.
A number of users have added comments on ContactHelp.com trying to help each other figure out how to reach their customer service department.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Airline customer service
It seems that no matter who you talk to, everyone has at least 1 airline travel horror story. The users on http://www.contacthelp.com/ are no different, and also don't mind sharing their headaches as warnings to others about what they could experience themselves. The major airlines are amongst the most actively commented upon companies on ContactHelp. Here are links to a few of them...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Kindle customer service options
Just in time for the release of Kindle 2.0 from Amazon, we have posted the best option for contacting Kindle customer service.
As you will see, Amazon does not offer phone support for the Kindle, but the service following the steps found at the link above are very helpful and result in surprisingly good service.
As you will see, Amazon does not offer phone support for the Kindle, but the service following the steps found at the link above are very helpful and result in surprisingly good service.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Some advice every customer service department should listen to
Just found a great article on About.com listing 8 Rules for Good Customer Service. Looking through all of the comments left on www.ContactHelp.com, and we would recommend every company read this list and put the suggesstions into action:
- Answer your phone.
- Don’t make promises unless you WILL keep them.
- Listen to your customers.
- Deal with complaints.
- Be helpful - even if there’s no immediate profit in it.
- Train your staff (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.
- Take the extra step.
- Throw in something extra.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Customer Service Numbers at Top Retail Web Sites
Let's face it, one of the biggest reasons a lot of people don't shop online is due to the lack of customer service associated with many of the top online retailers. To help you with your customer service concerns, here are links to a few of the top online retailer customer service phone numbers and instructions for reaching a human being:
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