Get the Help You Need Without the Hold Time

January 10, 2013

“Your call is important to us. Please continue to hold.” Have ten more aggravating words ever been uttered? If you're fed up with doing time in customer-service limbo, take heart: Some startups are trying to take the cuss out of customer support by providing free online workarounds. Fast Customer: This sparsely designed, straightforward site could not be simpler to use. Find a company in the list of more than 3000, click ‘Have them call me’, enter your phone number, and go about your business. A representative will call you back. You won't get a call until an actual conversant human being is on the phone, so no more navigating time-consuming phone trees or entering account numbers only to be shuffled back into a queue. The site lists a wait-time estimate before you send your request, so you have an idea of when to expect a call. Fast Customer’s company list breaks out subcategories, such as “Dell: Tech Support” and “Dell: Customer Service,” so you can direct your call appropriately. It has a forum for user comments and feedback, as well, plus apps for iOS and Android. You can also use the service via text. In addition, Fast Customer provides feedback on how customers feel about each company—when I checked, for example, 35 percent of Dell customers reported that they were “happy” with the company, 38 percent said “meh,” and 27 percent reported “bad” feelings. (Are you listening, Dell?) To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023867/get-the-help-you-need-without-the-hold-time.html