“What is…” Wednesday – What is customer service?

In the past, Rachel has written blogs on the power of customer service and social media. She has found success tweeting the companies that she has issues with, and not only getting responses, but getting resolutions.

So, when I was having a customer service issue, Rachel suggested I take it to Twitter. And I did. However, unlike Rachel, I did not get a resolution after talking to their social media teams for THREE days, and I still had to pick up the phone and talk to seven other people before getting a temporary resolution.

Abbie had an issue with the same company last week, and again, took it to Twitter. She had no luck either, but unlike me, she also did not get a resolution over the phone.

I used to be a customer service supervisor in a department store, and we were always told “Do what you need to to make the customer happy when leaving the store.”  So this makes me wonder, what is customer service over the phone? Why can this unnamed company not empower their customer service employees to take care of the issue, instead of arguing and angering the customers?

What are your thoughts? Is customer service a thing of the past?