If you received bad customer service in person, would you go back? Probably not, right?

But what if you just had bad customer service online or over the phone? What would you do then?

Maybe it’s just me, but I have never understood the point of automated systems. You go through 18 steps to get to an actual person who then asks you all the same questions you just pressed 3 to get through. I have never, not once, had a automated system make it easier to get my question answered – nor shorten the time I was on the phone. And, more often than not, going through an automated system has greatly decreased my mood, which means by the time I get to a real person, I am a lot less jovial. This can be especially problematic if I am calling because I am already upset about something – it just gets worse and worse the more times I am asked to press 2.

With the addition of twitter, facebook and online chatting – automated customer service has gotten a lot worse. When you are looking for help with a problem, wanting to ask a question or just get more information – humans want to talk to humans – even online.  A computer doesn’t understand idiosyncrasies, and can’t provide the answers to every question. More and more people are using the web to find the businesses they want to visit. In turn, more people are also reviewing businesses live on twitter and facebook. This means that one wrong tweet or bad phone conversation with an automated system could end up as a rant to thousands on the web.

No matter the channel, when it comes to customer service, it doesn’t mean anything if your customers can’t talk to a real person.

What do you think?