Want to Downsize? Act Like Spectrum

Too Many Clients? Here’s How You Can Get Rid Of Some…Just Start Acting Like My Local Cable Provider…

I recently relocated, switching my Internet service and shutting off the old. I might have been continuing with Spectrum – They didn’t bother to ask, but here’s what happened…

You know the black box sitting on your desk or table (or perhaps the floor behind the desk)? It’s the cable provider’s in most cases…leased to the customer. And it has to be returned when the service is shut off…

In my case I was simply transferring the service to another name.

However, as it turns out, I had shut the service off and just started over…so after relocating, the modem did have to be returned after all…Just drop it off, right? Simple…

But no… I wasn’t sure what they wanted me to do with this thing, so I called…

20+ minute hold time!

At least they told me up front. Maybe they should install one of those systems that lets you enter your number for a call back…they didn’t have one of those either.

So, I’m not going to sit on the phone for 20 minutes…

I could have Googled this, but since I was headed in their direction, I threw the modem in the back seat and stopped by the store.

Walking in, I noticed one attendant at the counter, one customer being helped, and about 25 people standing around looking at displays or sitting on a couch (very limited seating).

Feeling confident, I marched up to the counter, at which point another guy showed up to help out…I asked him, “Can I drop this off here?” His reply, an unenthusiastic, “Yeah, you need to sign in…”

Looking over at the crowd of 25 I asked, “Are all these people waiting?” …”Yeah,” he said flatly.

“That looks like a 2 hour wait!” No response…

So I left, fully intending to file a chargeback if they tried billing my card for this thing.

Feeling energetic, I decided to Google this issue at home…and sure enough, you just drop the box off at UPS, they pack and ship, and there’s no charge. Simple! Why couldn’t the customer service guy at the store just tell me that?

The truth is, few people really care unless they’re paid on commission or relying on net profits from their company…Jack Eckerd (Eckerd Drugs) wrote a great book years ago, Why America Doesn’t Work, where he points out, few customer-facing employees have any skin in the game and almost no reward for doing it right.

What are you doing to make sure your team is customer focused, well rewarded for doing the right thing, and on the hook when communicating disinterest – or even worse, down-right poor customer service? Comment below!

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