Customer Service no longer exists

[5030]

I had problems with my taxes ONCE. I claimed my kid when she should have claimed herself for the first time, so when she went to file, she couldn't. I'd already gotten my refund.

So I made an appointment, got all worked up about going to jail, etc.

Went in, told them what happened, they showed me how to file an amended form, figure out what I had to pay back, and that was pretty much that. Kid filed an amended return, and got what she should have.

Of course, this was all pre-pandemic and the IRS had an open office here in town.

Some interesting reading....

Rebuild IRS With Hiring, Training, More Pay, Appeal to Service

The IRS has lost about 20% of its full-time workforce since 2010. Reversing that trend will take a commitment to hire employees faster, train them better, offer them higher salaries, and appeal to their sense of public service, writes NTEU President Tony Reardon.

news.bloombergtax.com

If it's Bloomberg or Blackrock, it's probably garbage anyway.

 

[BravoXray]

Amazingly, the best customer service I have gotten was from the Indiana Department Of Revenue, Department of Transportation and the Department Of Motor Vehicles. When I had the trucking business, I talked to all three on a regular basis and never had a bad experience. A couple of the agents gave me their direct numbers so I could call them back directly and not have to go through the phone maze or explain my issued from the beginning to a new person. They were always very helpful and courteous.

 

[MossRoad]

Amazingly, the best customer service I have gotten was from the Indiana Department Of Revenue, Department of Transportation and the Department Of Motor Vehicles. When I had the trucking business, I talked to all three on a regular basis and never had a bad experience. A couple of the agents gave me their direct numbers so I could call them back directly and not have to go through the phone maze or explain my issued from the beginning to a new person. They were always very helpful and courteous.

I gotta say thar our DMV here in Indiana is now exceptional! I remember the days when it was horrible. I didn't always agree with Mitch Daniels' policies as governor, but man, did he do a great job with the DMV. And a great job as president of Purdue, too! Boiler UP!

Case Study in Culture Change: How Reforming the Bureau of Motor Vehicles Can Change a State - Sagamore Institute

For those who track successes in governance across the country, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) story has become iconic. As a case study, it summarizes the Mitch Daniels era in one story.

sagamoreinstitute.org

 

[BravoXray]

I gotta say thar our DMV here in Indiana is now exceptional! I remember the days when it was horrible. I didn't always agree with Mitch Daniels' policies as governor, but man, did he do a great job with the DMV. And a great job as president of Purdue, too! Boiler UP!

Case Study in Culture Change: How Reforming the Bureau of Motor Vehicles Can Change a State - Sagamore Institute

For those who track successes in governance across the country, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) story has become iconic. As a case study, it summarizes the Mitch Daniels era in one story.

sagamoreinstitute.org

I agree, the service at the DMV has been excellent for the last few years.
The DMV recently pissed off a lot of people when they announced the closing of the Nappanee branch. It;s going to inconvenience a lot of people, as it only leaves the branches in Elkhart and Goshen.

 

[MossRoad]

I hadn't heard they closed that one.

I remember back in the early 80s, I'd get on my motorcycle and ride to the Walkerton branch to do my business, because the hour round trip + transaction time was less time than spending time in the South Bend branch 5 minutes from my house!

 

[dstig1]

I hadn't heard they closed that one.

I remember back in the early 80s, I'd get on my motorcycle and ride to the Walkerton branch to do my business, because the hour round trip + transaction time was less time than spending time in the South Bend branch 5 minutes from my house!

Moss, we don't want to hear about your weird bathroom rituals here. That is Front Porch territory!

 

[MossRoad]

Moss, we don't want to hear about your weird bathroom rituals here. That is Front Porch territory!

The restrooms were pretty clean!

 

[Cahaba Valley Farm]

This is a topic that I am personally passionate about and have TOO MUCH experience with. I wish I could reply to all of you but I will sum it up like this. Some of you have mentioned how frustrating customers can be and talk about how if we just have a little bit of patience with the reps then everything would get resolved. That I can say from experience almost never happens. Customer service reps deliberately try to control the conversation instead of listening and replying like a normal person would. They are also handcuffed by the company's policies which are almost never in favor of the customer. The number one objective that customer service agents have is loss prevention by the corporation. Customer service is not actually customer service anymore, they're claims agents like insurance companies.

There is some customer service in still in existence. Amazon is one, Zappos is another and one that I will never forget is APC (Schneider Electric) they were amazing. All of these companies are model examples of great customer service in the modern day world but unfortunately the exception not the norm.

 

[rontaki]

One of my duties in a previous job was desktop computer support for a number of people.
Some were pleasant to work with, others not so much.

In my head I would put them into one of two queues - the nice folks went into the thank queue.
The unpleasant ones went into the f¥¢‽ queue...

 

[bmg88201]

I'll wager the experience was just as unpleasant for her.

I was pleasant to her and tried my best to communicate what I needed, but since I couldn’t understand half of what she was saying, I gave up on Lady Apu. She couldn’t have cared any less anyway. Finally when I had enough I asked to talk to someone else. And what does she do ? She transfers me to Medicare. How does a customer service rep at AT&T put me through to Medicare ? Maybe the fumes in her dung filled hut got her confused.