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The extremes of technology customer service: how common sense and empathy create unmatched loyalty
Allow me to explain how two discussions started off in very similar ways, and ended... shall we say, differently. This is me, attempting to muster any sort of pleasantness in my voice at some ungodly hour of the morning on a Google Voice connection from Dubai back to the US: "Hey! I'm having to cut a trip short due to an emergency back home. I actually purchased a trip protection plan when I checked out online -- would it be possible to provide a refund for this flight now that I need to cancel it?" From here, I was told that this was too vague. That I would need medical proof of an injury or illness, and that if it were a pre-existing condition -- something like reoccurring cancer -- that simply wouldn't do. Oh, and if it's a home emergency, you'll need proof from your home insurance company that your abode is "uninhabitable." "So... I'm basically hosed here? This trip protection plan doesn't really protect very much, does it?" "... Do you want to file the claim?" "No. That's okay. Thanks for your time." It doesn't have to be this way.
iPhone waltzes into top spot of US phone satisfaction index, small carriers trump the giants
We know almost too well how smartphones perform in US market share; what we don't usually see is how happy customers are once the shrink wrap's off. Going by a newly-expanded American Customer Satisfaction Index, it's the iPhone that most scratches the itch at a score of 83. Despite having just been added, Apple was noticeably ahead of a three-way tie between HTC, LG and Nokia at 75. You might not want to look if you're a freshly-minted RIM executive: the BlackBerry made its freshman debut on the charts at the bottom, or 69. Big carriers have their own reasons to wince, too, knowing that smaller carriers like US Cellular and TracFone scored higher on the happiness meter than incumbents hiking service fees. While there's definitely some wiggle room for your own experience to have been better or worse, if you were an iPhone owner on a regional carrier in the past few months, you were statistically the most likely to be on Cloud Nine.
Love is in the Air customer support policy
Blizzard has posted a guide to what customer service and support can and cannot do for players during Love is in the Air, the WoW in-game holiday that runs between Feb. 5 through 20. As with most in-game events like this, players will be getting exclusive items, quests, tokens, prizes, and chances on really rare items like mounts from daily bosses. These events are designed to be rare and happen only once a year, and Blizzard stresses (again, by design) that these titles, achievements, and other event goodies need to be acquired during the holiday. Legitimate claims of items lost with logs will be restored as normal, but Blizzard wanted to make sure people knew in advance that item purchases and achievement-related issues during this limited-time event will most likely not be able to be addressed. Putting out notices like this is definitely a nice move by the community team. Many people have complained in the past of not knowing when a new event was starting in game or that their schedules did not permit them to complete all of the necessary holiday achievements and get all of the accompanying items. For many of those, the bright line rule is that "Blizzard wants these things to be rare," so they are rare by design. Remember: Get your holiday stuff done ASAP. This is your early notice that things will most likely not be given to you if you miss the event. The full blue post, after the break.
T-Mobile brings Square to select small businesses, does the mobile payment thing
T-Mobile is throwing some of its weight behind the mobile payment movement this morning, becoming the first carrier to offer Square credit card readers to a handful of retail outlets. Under the company's new campaign, stores equipped with T-Mobile smartphones will be able to use Jack Dorsey's readers to finalize transactions from the comfort of their palms. This should come in handy for cash-only businesses, in particular, as T-Mobile emphasized in its announcement today. It's all part of the provider's lineup of small business offerings, though not every retailer will be involved at launch. To see the full list of Squared-up outlets, check out the source link below.
Fisker Karma battery poses 'potential safety issue' for about 50 autos, fix already in tow
Fisker has seen its fair share of delays on its Karma EV in the past, and now ''fewer than 50" of the vehicles -- which if you'll recall, cost over $100K -- are at risk for battery malfunction. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, A123 (the company which supplies the car's power pack) has issued a memo to customers and stakeholders, noting that "in rare circumstances" the car's batts could short-circuit due to coolant leakage from "misaligned hose clamps." A123 further explained that's already begun repairing the Karma's in question, and doesn't expect to experience to strain its relationship with Fisker due to the problem. Notably, Bloomberg also reports that 25 of the automobiles get assembled daily, with about 225 currently en-route to showroom floors -- a far cry from the company's earlier estimates for the 2011 production year. You'll find A123's full PDF memo at the source link below.
Google Checkout merges with Google Wallet, completing the inevitable
In a move that has "common sense" written all over it, the folks over at Mountain View have decided to merge Google Checkout with Google Wallet. The marriage hardly comes as a surprise, considering the fact that both services serve essentially the same purpose -- namely, storing all your payment information in one neat little package. To make things even tidier, Big G has just folded Checkout into Wallet, which will soon be integrated within the Android Market, YouTube and Google+ Games, as well. As a result, the Checkout moniker will vanish from the Earth, but current users will be able to seamlessly switch over to Wallet the next time they log in to their accounts or make an online purchase. For more details, check out the source link below. [Thanks, Samer]
Senator Schumer blasts OnStar for 'brazen' privacy violation, calls for FTC investigation
Last week, OnStar issued a privacy notice informing customers that it would continue to collect data on vehicles still connected to its servers, even for those who have already canceled their subscriptions. The move elicited a chorus of protests from Democratic privacy advocates in the Senate, including Chris Coons, Al Franken and, most recently, Charles Schumer, who wrote a letter to the FTC yesterday calling for an investigation into what he sees as a bold violation of consumer rights. "By tracking drivers even after they've canceled their service, OnStar is attempting one of the most brazen invasions of privacy in recent memory," the New York Senator said. "I urge OnStar to abandon this policy and for FTC to immediately launch a full investigation to determine whether the company's actions constitute an unfair trade practice." Find out more about OnStar's new policy, after the break.
Apple tops J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey, grim reading for RIM and Nokia
Not only is Apple shipping the most smartphones, it's also shipping the best smartphones -- if you believe the stats in J.D. Power and Associates' latest US customer satisfaction survey. It gave the iPhone a score of 838, versus HTC's handsets in second place with 801 and an industry average of 788. Sammy got a disappointing 777, but we guess it might have fared better if the Galaxy S II had been quicker to cross the Atlantic. Hapless RIM got shunted into fifth place, having come second in 2010. You'll find plenty more factoids in the PR after the break, including evidence that people just love 4G. Well, we could have told you that.
Motorola rolling out 4G LTE upgrade for select Xoom users?
It's been a while coming, but it looks like some Motorola Xoom users will finally be receiving 4G LTE support, in the very near future. According to a customer service e-mail obtained by Droid Life, the manufacturer has already begun sending out instructions on how to receive the upgrade, as part of an apparent gradual rollout. To make the jump, select consumers, businesses and government clients will have to first back up their Android-based tablets, before shipping them off to Motorola in a pre-paid FedEx box. Once that's taken care of, they'll have to twiddle their thumbs for three business days before receiving their newly refreshed devices, dripping in Verizon's LTE goodness. No word yet on when the rest of the Xoom community can expect similar treatment, but hit up the source link to read the full e-mail for yourself.
Is it possible? AT&T drops lower in customer satisfaction survey
It's a bit of a surprise. AT&T has dropped below Sprint in consumer ratings, at least according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, as reported by the Associated Press. Both T-Mobile and AT&T are ranked at the bottom, which makes you wonder about the wisdom of the announced sale of T-Mobile to AT&T. Think of the fun customers will have as the two worst companies on the list merge accounting systems and networks. Consumer Reports also ranks AT&T the worst of the cellular carriers. Sprint and Verizon both get a score of 72 in the survey, which was done by polling 8,000 households in the first quarter of the year. AT&T is at the bottom with a score of 66, down 3 points from last year. T-Mobile scores a 70, also down 3 from a year ago. At first glance I would have thought there would be some improvement in the AT&T score. We've been reporting on problems for years, and AT&T says it has spent millions in upgrades and says it has been trying to fill in the coverage gaps. What's your experience? Is AT&T getting better or worse, and if you made the jump to Verizon, are you happier?
PlayStation now offers customer service via Twitter, probably won't help you jailbreak your PS3
Got a question about a PlayStation product? Have a Twitter account? If you answered yes to both, then you'd be interested to know about @AskPlayStation -- the official account for all of your PS concerns. They'll assist you via tweets Monday through Friday from 9:30AM - 5:00PM PST and will answer in real-time between the hours of 2 and 5 PST. Hit up the source link to get all of your inquiries answered -- just behave yourselves, OK?
AT&T handing over 1000 free rollover minutes to all of its customers
Well, would you look at that. A day after the Verizon iPhone goes on sale to the general public, AT&T is dishing out 1000 free rollover minutes to all of its customers. The catch? None that we know of -- the wireless company apparently just wants to thank all of its awesome customers for, you know, not making the switch to some other carrier with Apple's smartphone. Simply text "yes" to 11113020 to be awarded the talk tokens -- which will probably just pile up on top of the thousands you've undoubtedly already accumulated. Too bad they can't prevent dropped calls. [Thanks, Danielle]
Sprint posts best customer gains in five years
The decision to move to WiMAX instead of LTE will probably be second-guessed by pundits and investors for years to come, but regardless, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse has emerged as one of the wireless industry's great comeback kids now that he appears to be succeeding in his goal of turning the carrier's tailspin right around. The latest victory comes in the form of Sprint's fourth quarter 2010 results, which reveal its largest subscriber gain since the first and second quarters of 2006 -- yes, 2006. Total adds were 1.1 million, though net postpaid adds were only 58,000, suggesting that prepaid services are the big push right now. Additionally, Sprint reported its lowest postpaid customer churn in the fourth quarter of any year in its history at 1.86 percent. On the downside, the company's still technically in the red, reporting an operating loss of $139 million on revenues of $8.3 billion. Overall, Hesse says they've got "momentum" heading into the new year, anticipating net customer additions in 2011. Give us an EVO 4G 2, Dan, and we might just be willing to agree.
Apple, ASUS top PC World satisfaction survey
Apple has garnered yet another win in a customer satisfaction survey -- this time it's PC World conferring the honors onto Cupertino, as Apple has topped both the laptop and desktop categories for most reliable and well-supported computer products. PC World says that Apple also did well in its smartphone category (with, of course, the iPhone), but that the antenna issues and a few other problems with the iPhone kept it from being listed at the top of the category. Still, PC World has nothing but praise for Apple, which is well-known both for solid, perfectly built hardware and a software experience that rules out as many questions as possible. This, of course, fits everything we've heard anecdotally about Apple in the past -- while there are sometimes issues from computer to computer or in certain experiences at the Apple Store, most of Apple's products are extremely reliable. Even when they're not, 9 times out of 10 we'll hear about Apple just outright replacing them for customers, under warranty or otherwise. ASUS also joined Apple at the top of the survey for both desktops and notebooks, and down at the bottom, PC World says that Dell and HP both show "troubling" figures for customer support. Both of those companies still saw increased earnings this past year, but problems in their customer support departments and cheaply made hardware have earned them reputations for trouble.
Survey: 73% of iPhone users are fine with AT&T's service
If you're the kind of person who loves quoting that ".5%" number given by Jobs at the press conference a few weeks ago as proof that AT&T's reception problems are overblown, you'll love this. A new survey released by Yankee Group says that 73% of iPhone users polled are actually "very satisfied" with their cell phone service. In fact, only 69% of smartphone users in general say they're happy with their provider, so not only is AT&T's service satisfactory according to this survey, but it's actually better than other services. Why is AT&T so hated when their service is actually good? Yankee Group explains: it's not that the service is great, it's more that the phone is awesome. Customers really love their iPhones, and so even when the reception isn't very good, the overall experience scores high. AT&T says it's just a perception problem: "There's a gap between what people hear about us and what their experience is with us. We think that gap is beginning to close," according to a spokesman. I'll say this: I carried my iPhone all over San Diego at Comic-Con last week, and the reception I got was just plain terrible. My net connection barely worked, calls were dropped, and I couldn't check email even when I needed to. But I'll admit that the AT&T problems exist in a strange place -- not only does the iPhone's otherwise shining example of user experience helping to outweigh AT&T's problems, but customers' high expectations for the iPhone probably have something to do with all of the complaining as well.
Apple shifts focus from sales to quality in China
There was quite a bit of discussion from Apple yesterday about their sales in China (you can see that in our liveblog from yesterday afternoon), and AppleInsider points out that Apple is changing priorities over there, from straight up sales to brand quality. Tim Cook said yesterday that Apple has activated more than 200,000 iPhones since the release in China last year, and only in relation to the iPhone can anyone think that number could have been better. Apple is behind the pack in China -- there are a significant number of competitors over there, and unlike the market in the West, multifunctional smartphones have been popular for a long time already. But Apple recognizes the potential overseas, and Cook says the company does "...realize we must do well in these markets to continue to grow." What changes can they make? Price for one -- Apple says that as a premium brand, they're going to have to tweak a little bit to fit into the lower-income middle class in China while still competing on user experience. Apple didn't say that they weren't happy with what's happening in China, but compared to other countries in Asia (Japan came out of last quarter with a 400% year-over-year growth), Apple has a little more work to do there.
Speaking up for what's right
This is a pretty insightful thread, from all sides, on what the forums and customer feedback are really for. Rekker on Detheroc makes a good point, and that is that while people will complain about anything, almost no one speaks up when things are working right. We talked a little bit about this on the podcast this past week: are Blizzard's decisions based on a player base that never seems to be happy, no matter what you throw at them, or on some arbitrary design guidelines that Blizzard has stuck with from the beginning? Ghostcrawler, as you might expect, says it's a little bit of both. Blizzard doesn't just do what players say -- they consider player feedback and then make decisions from there. But at the same time, they can't ignore what players say, either. GC agrees that the forums are not the best sample of feedback, for the same reasons that Rekker gives: players go there because something is bothering them and they want it changed, not usually because they really love something in the game and want it to stay the same.Of course, forums are not the only form of feedback from the community, and there are many places Blizzard can get feedback about things in the game that players like (ahem). But just like Blizzard does, whenever you look at the forums, you have to realize that you're looking at just a slice of the feedback. People don't make QQ posts about the stuff they appreciate and like having in the game.
J.D. Power survey ranks iPhone highest
J.D. Power and Associates released the results of a survey yesterday, showing Apple's iPhone ranked highest in terms of customer satisfaction among 1,388 business wireless customers queried between August and September. Apple scored 778 (out of 1,000), higher than Blackberry-maker RIM (703) and Samsung (701). The scores were derived from survey answers in five categories: ease of operation, operating system, physical design, handset features, and battery aspects. Apple owners reported the highest average purchase price for a smartphone, $337. Motorola owners paid the least, averaging $169. The average across all smartphone brands was $216. The survey also found that a quarter of all smartphone users have at least one software-related problem with their current handset. Forty-four percent had to reboot their device at least once a week. Sixty-nine percent own a hands-free device, and 74 percent of them are wireless. [Via Macworld.]
Activision-Blizzard September results reveals box sales paradigm
Activision-Blizzard released September quarter results yesterday. Most of the document is pretty dry and won't mean much to the majority of their devoted fans. They reaffirm the 11 million subscriber base of World of Warcraft and remind us that Guitar Hero's doing pretty well. Yeah, and they have an expansion coming up. There is an interesting gem, however, to be found in their discussion of Wrath box sales: "Revenues related to the sale of World of Warcraft boxed software, including the sale of expansion packs and other ancillary revenues will continue to be deferred and recognized ratably over the estimated customer life beginning upon activation of the software and delivery of the services." That's a pretty packed statement. In summary, it means that the money Blizzard makes from selling the game box isn't immediately counted in their performance metrics at the time of sale. (There's no December "bump" to revenue directly from the 50ish dollars you pay for an expansion.) Instead, they count the revenue gains throughout your customer lifetime. Doesn't sound like a big deal, does it? Let's talk about why that's such a significant notion.
Satellite customers more satisfied than cable customers?
Those looking for an answer to the cable or satellite question may want to turn their eyes to a recent survey by Beta Research Group, suggesting the latter group is more satisfied with their TV provider. The numbers are 72% answering "satisfied" for satellite compared to only 62% for digital cable, while 66% of people with dishes said they would definitely continue as customers, compared to 45% with cable. We're pretty sure many of those interview have HD, with discovery and History channels ranking highest among the favorites - we like them too, but can't imagine liking them as much in SD. Take a look at the read link to get a couple more notes on the methodology and findings before making a decision, but for those of you who've already faced down the choice, are you sated?
