The devolution of customer service continues
 

Back at the beginning of the 21st century when you called the ATT call center to report a problem you usually spoke with someone with 20+ years of service that spoke English as a first language. Then came the call centers in India and the Philippines and the beginning of the flip chart troubleshooting with people who spoke English but didn’t understand it. Then Fast forward to 2018. My latest encounter is a robo tech to drag you through the usual steps to isolate the trouble. When this fails you are now connected to someone in RUSSIA. As always you are carried through the same step by step process. Of course the answer is “try you service again and it still fails CALL BACK to get the set top box replaced.”
The next step will be when “SIRI” processses your trouble report and of course after the third call Siri says replace the box.

The companies that sell these automated systems to perform technical support without a live person must have the best salespeople in the world. Automated technical support is nothing more than an insult to someone who needs technical support. If you want to make your customers angry, just buy an automated technical support system.

And yet, the pressure from customers who demand and will choose the lowest cost, not to mention shareholders screaming for maximizing profits...leaves a lot of (most?) companies with no choice but to go this route.

Ya can't have it all.

Devolution
 

I worked 30 years for what us old timers remember as The Bell System. Then in the 80s, under pressure from start-ups -- some unethical -- the govt said, "Oh, no. Bell is limiting the competition, so let's bust it up. Phone bills were low and customer service was not only good, but measured for regulatory oversight.

So, now what have we got when many of us would be satisfied with an affordable phone?
Classical economic theory urges regulated utilities are best for the common need.

And let's not get started on what happened to the airlines.

But so many want it all. As long as we keep demanding it be better, faster and cheaper suppliers will do what they must to meet our requirements. The old Bell System (of which I was a part of) charged what they wanted (love those tarriffs), held back technology, took 25 year depreciation on capital stuff and staffed with more folks then they needed. So they broke up the system. Remember those corner grocery stores, those small gas and repair stations, the local general store....all gone, why, because we wanted it faster, better and cheaper. We got what the majority wanted. And the generations behind us, they love it.

Also, the ATT you knew went out of business in 2005 when Southwestern Bell bought the Corporation and the the branding and changed the name to ATT Inc. Lots of mergers and acquisitions have eliminated and semblance of what we knew.

ATT is NOT the cheapest service. And yes I pay for service I expect for it to work. They go cheap so the CEO can rank in millions in bonus. ATT good example.

And what are most publicly traded company CEO's bonuses based on'?

Yep...by increasing stock price.

And what's a big way to increase stock price?

Yep...by reducing costs.

What's a good way to reduce costs?

Yep...reduce employees/offshoring/automation.

Thank you for proving my point. :ho:

You chose ATT Mobility (assuming you are discussing cell service here) and assume you looked at other vendors. You chose ATT because you had expectations and their cost to value equation worked to your benefit so you eliminated the others. Now you find they no longer meet your expectations so your options are to lower your expectations or revisit those other vendors. ATT isn't inclined to change their operation. By the way, the millions the CEO's make are insignificant in the overall revenue and profits of the corporation which is the focus of the CEO's of large Corporations, for the stock price which goes into many of our retirement accounts.

Thinking back to the good old days when the Bell System was known as “public enemy number one “, it is clear that the public got what it wanted through deregulation and the miracle of technology. It would be nice if there was a way to employ people in the USofA to do what these overseas call centers are doing. Even if they had the same level of “competence” the employees would be earning $$$$ that would stay within the US economy.
I’m guessing that the phone company is just a few short years away from making the whole process robot call based. You will of course have to return the defective box or modem to get a replacement.