Customer Service is like a Roller Coaster!

The relationship between a company and its customers is not all that different than the relationship between a husband and wife. Every couple knows that there are great times and times that you may not be seeing eye-to-eye. There are also times when you are moving from one state to another, also called “making up.”

I want to share an experience from this past month that illustrates the up and down nature of customer relationships. Several weeks ago, I received an unsolicited call from a representative of Verizon. He was the sales person from whom I had purchased my air-card almost 18 months earlier. He worked at one of the Verizon locations inside a Circuit City store. He said that they were replacing some of the older equipment that had experienced problems. The sales person assured me that there would be no additional cost and it would not extend my contract.

I replied: “Sure. Go ahead and send it to me.”

The card arrived later that week. I waited a few days and then connected it to my laptop to see how it would work. I noticed that it connected with a new phone number. Apparently, this sales person lacked integrity and was simply attempting to gain the commission from a new device and phone number. (NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE – The Roller Coaster headed down the slope.)

Suspecting that this would result in a separate bill, I picked up the phone and called Verizon and explained the situation. The Verizon call center agent was very pleasant and said she would take care of the situation by closing this number and moving the new device to my original account. (POSITIVE EXPERIENCE – The Coaster was heading back up.)

The next weekend I was on a trip. As we usually do, my wife drove and I sat in the passenger seat with my laptop catching up on some work. I connected my new air-card, only to have it fail while making a connection. (NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE – Heading back down.)

I called the technical support center for Verizon and explained the situation. The previous call center worker had made a mistake with the cards and had turned the new card off instead of transferring it to my old number. (NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE – Heading into the tunnel!)

The initial call center support person was very understanding and did everything within her level of skill to resolve the problem. After 30 minutes, she asked if she could put me on hold and get a senior technical support person on the phone. She stayed on the phone, explained the situation and completed a proper handoff. (POSITIVE EXPERIENCE – Coming out of the tunnel!)

The technical resource tried several possible solutions without success. I explained how important it was for me to have access as I had several urgent emails to send. He kept thinking and eventually was able to re-activate my original card and account. I was back up and running! (POSITIVE EXPERIENCE – The coaster was heading up another hill.)

Two weeks later, I received a “Welcome Packet” from Verizon thanking me for opening a new account and letting me know my new expiration date would be two years in the future. (Heading back down!)

I called again and talked to a nice team member who assured me that this was not the case and the account had been closed. (Taking a turn back up.)

Two weeks later, I received my “new” Verizon bill that indicated I was being charged over $200 for an “early termination” fee. (Sinking to an all time low! The coaster had jumped the track!)

I picked up the phone again and after waiting a couple of minutes, a very polite Verizon employee answered the phone. I explained the situation and within two minutes, she had issued the credit and apologized for the entire situation. (Moving back up the final hill.)

Within five minutes I received an email from the Verizon system confirming the credit and showing the correct outstanding balance for my original air-card. (Back to good standing.)

I tell you this story not to pick on Verizon, but to illustrate what is common in almost every company. Great customer service requires every team member to do their part.

Employees in any organization will fall into one of four categories:

They understand the importance of providing great customer service and also possess the skills and support to do so.
They understand the importance, but lack the training, systems, processes or skills to provide great customer service.
They don’t believe that customer service is important, and therefore don’t stand a chance at delivering excellent service.
They lack the personal integrity to consistently do the right thing, resulting in disappointed customers.


There were seven points of contact with a Verizon employee during this air-card saga. One lacked integrity, two or three had great intentions but lacked the skill or support system, and three delivered great service.

Verizon has one of the better reputations for customer service from among the cell phone providers. I am sure they have a good training program and expect only the best out of their employees, yet less than half of them were able to meet my expectations. Remember, if you are one of those employees who have a passion for delivering service and possess the skill needed to do so, you will have to make up for less than stellar performances by some of your co-workers. Consider it your job to get the roller coaster back on the track and heading back up the hill. Every organization’s goal should be to have more positive experiences than negative, but even service recovery situations can earn big points in the constant up and down relationship between a company and its customers.