Interesting article! It mentions a "tipping point?" for American consumers by and large. But I wonder if threads like this will contribute to a "tipping point" for PCGS and its customer service. Despite my current aversion, I think they have done some wonderful things. I use their tools and information daily and I esteem their holders, as many of us do. It's a shame, then, that they don't seem to esteem me for my (tiny) part in the perpetuation of this erstwhile virtuous cycle.
@braddick said:
Would you prefer to be placed and perpetual hold?
What is PCGS to do with unexpected high volume of incoming calls?
And, before you state, "hire more phone operators" keep in mind the issue you came upon probably isn't a constant.
When every day is a "high volume of calls" then they need to hire more staff so that "high call volume" days are not every day. When every day is a "high volume" day then that is the new "normal volume" and they should be staffed for that level.
Here's a perfect example. You get your grading results and spot an immediate error that they made. You'd like to notify them so they can fix it before they can ship it out. Except it's often 50/50 or less that you'll actually be able to contact them in time before it leaves the building because you can't get anyone on the phone and email responses take more than a day. Pathetic.
45 minutes on hold with AT&T this morning before I could talk to anyone. 30 minutes last night before I gave up. However, they do have an app they pushed, which I didn’t try (on principle?). Eventually the machines will handle all but the most complex CS questions or problems, but until they do we have the current delayed human response as companies try to push us away from humans towards their non-human alternatives. Unfortunately, when I’ve caved and gone to a company website or tried their app to solve my problem I’ve usually been unsuccessful. The automated solutions are often designed to handle the simplest questions or problems, the ones we really don’t need help with.
@oldabeintx said:
45 minutes on hold with AT&T this morning before I could talk to anyone. 30 minutes last night before I gave up. However, they do have an app they pushed, which I didn’t try (on principle?). Eventually the machines will handle all but the most complex CS questions or problems, but until they do we have the current delayed human response as companies try to push us away from humans towards their non-human alternatives. Unfortunately, when I’ve caved and gone to a company website or tried their app to solve my problem I’ve usually been unsuccessful. The automated solutions are often designed to handle the simplest questions or problems, the ones we really don’t need help with.
The last sentence is especially true. It irks me to no end that PCGS still doesn't have what I feel is appropriate "Contact Us" form options for what I routinely contact them for. Like for my example above where they recently misidentified a coin in my submission. There's nothing in their form at https://www.pcgs.com/contactus for this situation. And I recently went on vacation so I requested a shipping hold but the closest menu option is "Shipping: Outbound Inquiry." The phone menu is equally problematic so you just use option 8 for almost everything. Something so easy to fix but no one seems to care.
In many cases with many companies I’ve often wondered if their leadership actually tested their customer-facing processes and software and looked carefully at their website and its functionality. Simple thing to put oneself in the customers’ shoes and noodle around to see if it all works well and has been thought thru.
Comments
Interesting article! It mentions a "tipping point?" for American consumers by and large. But I wonder if threads like this will contribute to a "tipping point" for PCGS and its customer service. Despite my current aversion, I think they have done some wonderful things. I use their tools and information daily and I esteem their holders, as many of us do. It's a shame, then, that they don't seem to esteem me for my (tiny) part in the perpetuation of this erstwhile virtuous cycle.
My hobby website Groovycoins.com, new and improved!
When every day is a "high volume of calls" then they need to hire more staff so that "high call volume" days are not every day. When every day is a "high volume" day then that is the new "normal volume" and they should be staffed for that level.
Here's a perfect example. You get your grading results and spot an immediate error that they made. You'd like to notify them so they can fix it before they can ship it out. Except it's often 50/50 or less that you'll actually be able to contact them in time before it leaves the building because you can't get anyone on the phone and email responses take more than a day. Pathetic.
45 minutes on hold with AT&T this morning before I could talk to anyone. 30 minutes last night before I gave up. However, they do have an app they pushed, which I didn’t try (on principle?). Eventually the machines will handle all but the most complex CS questions or problems, but until they do we have the current delayed human response as companies try to push us away from humans towards their non-human alternatives. Unfortunately, when I’ve caved and gone to a company website or tried their app to solve my problem I’ve usually been unsuccessful. The automated solutions are often designed to handle the simplest questions or problems, the ones we really don’t need help with.
The last sentence is especially true. It irks me to no end that PCGS still doesn't have what I feel is appropriate "Contact Us" form options for what I routinely contact them for. Like for my example above where they recently misidentified a coin in my submission. There's nothing in their form at https://www.pcgs.com/contactus for this situation. And I recently went on vacation so I requested a shipping hold but the closest menu option is "Shipping: Outbound Inquiry." The phone menu is equally problematic so you just use option 8 for almost everything. Something so easy to fix but no one seems to care.
In many cases with many companies I’ve often wondered if their leadership actually tested their customer-facing processes and software and looked carefully at their website and its functionality. Simple thing to put oneself in the customers’ shoes and noodle around to see if it all works well and has been thought thru.