I have the usual gripes with cable/satellite/telecom company customer service like most people. However, I recently had an experience with DirecTV that left me feeling good about doing business with them.
Upon checking my latest bill, I was greeted with a message on my Account page: 3 months of Showtime for free. Score! OK, what’s there not to like about free premium programming right? But it wasn’t the free Showtime that made the experience great. Above that there was a line that read: Loyal viewer since 2004. I didn’t realize I had been a customer for so long. I appreciated that DirecTV was keeping track of that stat.
There was a feedback form next to the free Showtime graphic. I decided to send a “Thank you” note for the free Showtime, that I was enjoying my HD DVR, and a plea to not increase the monthly programming fees. I thought that this would just disappear into the Customer Service inbox ether. Needless to say, I started looking up Showtime programs that I could record. A few hours later I received this reply from DirecTV Customer Service:
Thanks for writing. I see that you have been part of the DIRECTV family since 2004. I’m happy to hear that you appreciate the free SHOWTIME UNLIMITED for 3 months that we’ve added to your account as a free gift. I would like to personally assure you that your suggestion about not increasing the monthly fee is very important to us. We value your opinions about our service, so I have forwarded your request to DIRECTV management, who review every suggestion, inquiry and complaint for trends from our most important customers to determine what changes should be considered. Sincerely, Jhaney S. Employee ID# 100102919 DIRECTV Customer Service
I love how they not only responded to my note, but that they also reiterated that I have been “part of the DIRECTV family since 2004”. There is something “mom and pop shop” about that. That recognition of how long I’ve been a customer made me feel important. It’s such a simple little thing to do.
nico
on 27 Nov 08Very cool! Exactly the sickness that German telcos have… when you’re a customer, every time you call them you feel like a fucking sit on someone’s ass and you’re only there because of the minimum contract time of 2 years.
They keep you on the robot for a half hour, then they don’t have a clue what a DSL line even is and then they don’t solve your problems. All for 30-50 bucks a month. They simply don’t give a shit about the customer.
I’d pay double for good service by human beings. But nobody cares.
Cameron Barrett
on 28 Nov 08It’s not just the little things. It’s the quality of service as well. I switched from Comcast to Verizon FIOS last week and the quality of service, picture and number of HD channels with FIOS is so much better than Comcast it’s not even a fair comparison. Comcast on the East coast has degraded the quality of their signal so much over the past few years that the FIOS network can run circles around them. Add to that the “network traffic management” crap that Comcast has been doing regarding P2P packet resetting and the choice is clear.
I mentioned this to the FIOS tech when he did the install and he said he hears it all the time. Comcast’s broadband network is at maximum capacity and they’ve been forced to degrade the quality of their service in order to remain in business. Verizon, on the other hand made the smart choice years ago and spent the billions of dollars required to lay all of that dark fiber, which is now coming online and allowing them to eat Comcast’s lunch.
It’s even more insulting that my Comcast bill was more than twice as much as my FIOS bill is today.
Dis
on 28 Nov 08I wish I could say 37signals had good customer service – i’ve found customer support emails from 37signals to be condescending and unhelpful. I guess getting real is being too real to be considerate to your customers.
JD
on 28 Nov 08Dis, I am sorry to hear you feel this way. Sarah works very hard to make sure each and every support issue is addressed. If you are still having issues, please let us know on the following feedback forms:
Basecamp: http://www.basecamphq.com/help/support
Highrise: http://www.highrisehq.com/help/support
Backpack: http://www.backpackit.com/help/support
Thanks for your continued support.
pwb
on 28 Nov 08I had a good customer experience recently. I returned a Door-to-Door storage unit but didn’t tell them I was done with it. They billed me for many months until I finally got on the phone with them to close the account and ask for a refund. I didn’t expect much more than 3 months or so of a refund. Instead, with no arguing from me, they processed a refund for the entire amount.
I know “Dis” type. They don’t understand short, accurate customer support responses.
Torgo
on 28 Nov 08Someone noting that I’ve been a customer since 2004 doesn’t do it for me. Maybe it’s my personality type.
The free Showtime offer is fine, but also doesn’t give me the “warm fuzzies.” How it normally works is that you must remember to cancel after the 3 months is up or they will begin charging you for this package. I think that is their real hope in offering you this package.
Scott
on 29 Nov 08The offer changes with every anniversary. My brother has been a DirecTV customer for a long time. He got a free HD-DVR upgrade as his anniversary gift.
CJ Curtis
on 29 Nov 08I used DirecTV for over 4 years…sadly my experience with their customer service was quite the opposite. Whenever I had a problem, even when I tried to upgrade.
I agree with Torgo…nothing special about them keeping track of your “member since” status. Maybe it’s because they’ve noticed that after four years their customers tend to dump them.
My question is this…once your free gift has expired, does your bill automatically increase if you don’t cancel Showtime? I’m sure you realize that they’re not giving you free Showtime forever.
JD
on 29 Nov 08Torgo and CJ Curtis, I will definitely have to see what happens after 3 months. Regarding the “Customer since 2004” thing: I had an experience with AT&T a few months ago. I decided to switch to Vonage for home phone service, but I wanted to keep my DSL with AT&T. I worked with both companies to ensure that my service would not be abruptly disconnected.
When Vonage made the switch, AT&T killed my DSL. That meant I couldn’t access the internet AND that I couldn’t use VOIP Phone. I promptly called AT&T on my AT&T mobile phone. I asked them to turn the DSL on. They said it would take 1-2 weeks. I said “What!? My wife and I have been customers of AT&T for over 10 years! (whether we had a choice or not).”
Their response? Meh. A new customer and a long-time customer to them? Same BS service. That’s why I appreciated DirecTV recognizing up front that I was in some way special. Sure I understand that it is an easy piece of data sitting on their servers and they’re just deciding to expose it to me and their CSRs. But the fact that they understand that it is a important piece of data is great. The fact that they’re willing to do something for and listen to their long-time customers is just good business. I had a great experience with them, a bad experience with AT&T. That’s where I’m coming from.
JD
on 29 Nov 08BTW, AT&T lost my business. I switched to (gulp) Comcast for internet access.
CJ Curtis
on 29 Nov 08I commend any company that is capable of generating good PR with their customers, mainly because they are in a constant battle, not only with their competitors, but to an extent with their customer support staff. I consider the typical support rep very low on the ladder of “sharing the company vision,” and who can really blame them.
I just found it odd that you, being a marketing professional yourself, were impressed by it. Companies will call you anything (a friend, a family member, etc..) as long as you keep paying them for their service. And they’ll generally go much further if they think it means you’ll buy more.
My experience with DirecTV…after trying to upgrade to HD, and being totally confused about what it MIGHT cost (the rep couldn’t tell me). After 4 years of service, I was expecting it to be FREE anyway. So I finally got fed up and switched to Dish Network. Only after I cancelled did I get phone calls and junk mail from them, offering me free HD and other incentives.
Comcast for internet…LOL…good luck with that.
andrew
on 29 Nov 08DirecTV lost me as a customer before I even was one. When we moved, we decided to go to satellite, as we’d had such horrible experiences with cable (this was prior to Comcast gobbling everything up). We settled on DirecTV, had the equipment shipped to our house, and dutifully waited for the installer to arrive. And waited. And waited. And re-scheduled. And waited. This was your typical “no one wants to take responsibility” scenario, ending in a dispatcher telling me that maybe the installer “got in a car accident on the way there.”
I shipped the equipment back and got Dish Network. I actually had a great experience with Dish for the 6 years we had it, but switched to Comcast about a year ago because Dish isn’t compatible with TiVo HD. Comcast hasn’t screwed me yet, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.
swagger
on 29 Nov 08I have to agree with Jamie – I have had DirecTv 2 different times (once while sharing an apt. and now at my home). I have yet to have a bad experience with their customer service… there always seems to be a genuineness with their concern/trying to help you out or answer questions.
Sure, the fact that they know how long you have been a customer is trivial, but the fact that they actually used that information to acknowledge you is not all that common. When is the last time your bank has sent you an email or some type of acknowledgment that you have been with them since you were a wee lad – or you have taken out every loan with them?! Um.. chances are… probably not ever.
If anything washes out of this crap-ass economy – I hope it’s that companies start actually giving a shit about their customers and treating them more like people vs. income to pad the “bottom line” for shareholders. Considering how big Directv’s customer base is, I think it is commendable that someone in their marketing/customer relations put some effort into their billing vs. the usual: ”.. Pay this by then, thanks …oh yeah, don’t be late” . My $.02
CJ Curtis
on 30 Nov 08”...I think it is commendable that someone in their marketing/customer relations put some effort into their billing vs. the usual: ”.. Pay this by then, thanks …oh yeah, don’t be late…”
Interesting you mentioned this. When I tried to upgrade my service (trying to give them more money), I had mistakenly forgotten to authorize my payment to them. It was 4 or 5 days late. Because of this, the rep could not answer my questions because technically my account was overdue. So I was late…totally my fault…yet they respond by being total assholes. Even though I had paid them well over $5000 over the course of my service.
I digress…it really all depends on who answers the phone when you call. Ultimately your direct communication with a company shapes your opinion of that company…maybe even moreso than the service itself.
Greg Macoy
on 30 Nov 08One of the things I like about this is there was a name and employee ID number at the end of the message. A lot of customer service representatives are reluctant to give out that kind of information, and are, in my opinion, less likely to take responsibility for their own actions.
Orange (mobile) are pretty bad when it comes to this, but like CJ says, sometimes it depends on who answers the call (or email).
I think there is generally a poor culture within the management of customer services, and no real incentive for the representatives to be particularly helpful.
Regarding one incident with Orange I actually spoke to the same representative several items about the same problem and he swore blind to me that he had not spoken to me before. It seems that there was no automated logging system to track customer service responses. Fortunately I kept my own log of calls, so I gave him the dates and times of when I last spoke to him – he ate his words.
JD
on 30 Nov 08Greg, that is awesome. I cannot help but do a little plug here based on your experience:
If you want to be prepared while dealing with Customer Service reps then give Highrise a spin. It’s built perfectly for that!
This discussion is closed.