Can you please just do your job?!
March 5th, 2010
{start routine: venting}
So why is it that some people just won’t do their job? “My goodness do you realize how much time that would take?” Never mind that it would help out your coworkers a great deal, and stop our department from looking like a bumbling group of buffoons to our customers. I mean really, is 2-5 minutes of your time really more valuable than better customer service?
So what pray tell am I babbling about? I was covering the phones while the primary customer service person was on lunch, or break, or something. A customer called and wanted to know about the status of their items that they had sent back. Now the customer was saying “for exchange”, so that definitely got me thinking in one direction. I pulled up their order in our order tracking system, and see that no items have been processed as returned or exchanged. So I pop over to the “History” section where all activities such as returns, exchanges, or credits are automatically recorded, but also where the other customer service reps can leave notes about the order. So essentially, a place where you can tell your fellow agents what actions you may have taken regarding a persons order, in the event that someone other than you has to talk to this customer.
So, seeing no notes on this order, and with the customer telling me that they had sent the items back about 2 weeks ago, I place the customer on hold and go to the returns desk and check to see if their are any packages from this person waiting to be processed. There were none. So I get to go back on the phone and explain to this person that we have not received their package, or that I was unable to find one waiting for processing. However, the customer did ship the package via UPS, so I ask about the tracking number so that I can check on the package status. They had thrown out the receipt, but figured that they could get the tracking number from where they sent it from. And that they would call us back when they had that information.
So of course what do I do? I immediately go to the history of the order and document my recent interaction with this customer. Later, the other customer service rep that I was covering previously calls me and asks if I had spoken to this customer. I said yes, and that I had documented the conversation on their order. (apparently this was missed because before I could finish they started talking again) Anyway, I was told that there is a stack of unprocessed returns in this one location, and that this persons order was in that stack. Apparently the customer had either called or emailed with the tracking information that showed that we had indeed received their package.
When I was next by the returns desk location, I asked if it would be possible, in the effort to more effectively communicate between all of the customer service reps, if this information could be placed on the customers orders. You would have thought that I had just asked them to cure a disease before dinner. “My god no! That would take forever. I had like 40 of them.” My response, “Oh.” and I walked away. All the while I was thinking, “how long did it take for you to get to 40+/- returns pending processing?” If you took just a few minutes when you were opening the package to open their order and place a note like “items returned. Refund pending”, that would at least give the other reps something to tell the customer. “Yes, Mr(s) customer. We have received your items and the refund is being processed.” Hopefully that would end the conversation, but if they wanted more details, such as when the refund would be posted, then we could find that out. But most of the time, the customer just wants to know that we did get the package, and that it is not lost in the UPS/USPS/FedEx system someplace. And that would have made my conversation shorter, and the customer would not have needed to make a second contact with us when they found their tracking information.
So, I just ask, before you go on to tasks that are not in your job description, can you PLEASE JUST DO YOU JOB FIRST!
Thank you.
{stop routine: venting}
Entry Filed under: General
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