Comments on: Costco rocks as it listens to its customers’ calls for help http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/ Focusing on customers, their experiences, and how businesses can make sure their customer experiences rock! Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:24:25 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: B http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-3591 B Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:28:58 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-3591 I worked at Costco as well and John is right, we didnt know ANYTHING. Well, I did, and a few other people. But, the girls, knew NOTHING. It was pretty bad...but I was 20 and made $10.50 an hour to do nothing, so i didnt complain. I worked at Costco as well and John is right, we didnt know ANYTHING. Well, I did, and a few other people. But, the girls, knew NOTHING.

It was pretty bad…but I was 20 and made $10.50 an hour to do nothing, so i didnt complain.

]]> By: Sid http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-3460 Sid Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:11:10 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-3460 Got right in on the 800# for tech support. Tech seems very knowlegable. Am on hold right now as she is consulting for more info. After fighting with HP and having their Indian representative call me 3x around MIDNIGHT EST, and not calling during the hours I told them I was available, this is much more pleasant. I'll update this later with how it goes, but it's looking good so far! Got right in on the 800# for tech support. Tech seems very knowlegable. Am on hold right now as she is consulting for more info. After fighting with HP and having their Indian representative call me 3x around MIDNIGHT EST, and not calling during the hours I told them I was available, this is much more pleasant. I’ll update this later with how it goes, but it’s looking good so far!

]]> By: Brian http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-2931 Brian Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:29:41 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-2931 My first experience with Costco Concierge Service has been unhelpful. My case is ongoing after almost 2 months. If you are calling about a technical problem for warranty service, the only thing Costco does is call the manufacturer's support number and connect you. In my case, Philips has replaced my LCD TV twice now, and both times the TVs have been received damaged, and poorly repaired refurb units. This last one they sent me is so scratched that the black bezel actually looks white. Costco has not been able to help at all, and they just stand a watch as the "middleman". I am quite disappointed with the concierge service, and in the future will not consider it an added benefit for buying from Costco. My first experience with Costco Concierge Service has been unhelpful. My case is ongoing after almost 2 months. If you are calling about a technical problem for warranty service, the only thing Costco does is call the manufacturer’s support number and connect you. In my case, Philips has replaced my LCD TV twice now, and both times the TVs have been received damaged, and poorly repaired refurb units. This last one they sent me is so scratched that the black bezel actually looks white. Costco has not been able to help at all, and they just stand a watch as the “middleman”.

I am quite disappointed with the concierge service, and in the future will not consider it an added benefit for buying from Costco.

]]> By: Becky Carroll http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-1006 Becky Carroll Wed, 21 May 2008 17:56:19 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-1006 Bill, so glad you left your comment! As you know, customer service is a tricky one, as customers expect the moon and stars to be delivered to them - now. Being too nice and trying to help everyone with everything won't help the service be more effective; there are probably better ways to serve customers if that is not your main goal. Setting very clear expectations of the service would be a good place to start! It would help avoid frustration on both the rep's and the customer's end of the phone. Let me know if Costco wants some help with this! ;) Bill, so glad you left your comment! As you know, customer service is a tricky one, as customers expect the moon and stars to be delivered to them – now. Being too nice and trying to help everyone with everything won’t help the service be more effective; there are probably better ways to serve customers if that is not your main goal.

Setting very clear expectations of the service would be a good place to start! It would help avoid frustration on both the rep’s and the customer’s end of the phone.

Let me know if Costco wants some help with this! ;)

]]> By: Bill http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-1000 Bill Wed, 21 May 2008 03:23:47 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-1000 The costco concierge service is the best customer support in the country. No competitor offers such a good program. We offer a 90 day return policy. Would probably still be lifetime but too many people took advantage of Costco's return policy. These are the same people who say that the service is not any good. The same people who would take back a 7 year old television and get a better one in return. When you call Costco Concierges you will get an english speaking person within minutes. You won't be sent thru endless loops and prompts that don't do anything but make the customer hang up in disgust. We got trained for 4 weeks before we ever hit the phones. No other company I have ever worked for offered this kind of training. Most places say here you go do what this guys does. Which we all know is the wrong way to be trained. The problem here is that were are only supposed to support televisions, computers, ipods, and cameras. Members see that sign and call in from everything from ceremic horses to coffins. And the members expect us to be experts on everything. I don't know anyone who can memorize the complete inventory from coffins to dvd players and be expected to memorize everything and how it works. Also alot of times the problems occur because costco is too nice and they try to help everyone with everything. This causes the customer expectation to be too high and thus frustration with the callers. The costco concierge service is the best customer support in the country. No competitor offers such a good program. We offer a 90 day return policy. Would probably still be lifetime but too many people took advantage of Costco’s return policy. These are the same people who say that the service is not any good. The same people who would take back a 7 year old television and get a better one in return. When you call Costco Concierges you will get an english speaking person within minutes. You won’t be sent thru endless loops and prompts that don’t do anything but make the customer hang up in disgust. We got trained for 4 weeks before we ever hit the phones. No other company I have ever worked for offered this kind of training. Most places say here you go do what this guys does. Which we all know is the wrong way to be trained. The problem here is that were are only supposed to support televisions, computers, ipods, and cameras. Members see that sign and call in from everything from ceremic horses to coffins. And the members expect us to be experts on everything. I don’t know anyone who can memorize the complete inventory from coffins to dvd players and be expected to memorize everything and how it works. Also alot of times the problems occur because costco is too nice and they try to help everyone with everything. This causes the customer expectation to be too high and thus frustration with the callers.

]]> By: Becky Carroll http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-1001 Becky Carroll Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:10:22 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-1001 John, thank you for sharing your perspective. It is important for organizations to make sure the right level of resources are available when providing a service. Hopefully, Costco will continue to invest in this program, as it does set them apart from others. John, thank you for sharing your perspective. It is important for organizations to make sure the right level of resources are available when providing a service. Hopefully, Costco will continue to invest in this program, as it does set them apart from others.

]]> By: John Corner http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-1005 John Corner Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:06:38 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-1005 I served 6 months on the Costco Concierge Service (CCS) staff, as both an agent and a manager. I say served as it was more like a jail term than a somewhat decent paying job ($11 an hour as a manager is not much). While the idea behind the service is wonderful, the current CCS staffing is a joke at best. Google and the OEM support sites (manuals, drivers, updates) are the main troubleshooting tools used. While as an agent I did my best to make sure every issues any of the members might have had was resolved before we ended the call, I made sure that if the manufacture was setting up a bench repair (when the device is sent to them to be repaired) I made sure I contacted the member back when they were expecting to get their device back. These were the set rules, provide excellent customer service. I hate to say it but I was one of the last technical people to quit, there are two agents that I can honestly say have the ability to properly diagnose and troubleshoot the issues Costco members have (in the computer area anyway). The majority of TV related questions are basic - <em>how do I hook this up? How do I add channels?</em> All of these questions can be answered with the device manual yet when I was a manager I had to take escalation calls from agents who never bothered to look or ask simple probing questions. It's as if they were just bodies to answer the phones and when they needed to solve something they contacted the Customer Relations Managers (CRM) to get the info faster than either typing it in Google or just checking the manual. If you are on the west coast, be sure to call BEFORE 6:00 PM PST. You are more likely to get an agent that is not willing to go out of the way as you get closer to the 10:00 PM PST cut off (which is 1:00 AM EST in the Florida call center). I don't know how many times I have received an escalation request (to take over the call) at 12:50 AM, as any time a member requests a supervisor (CRM) the agent must transfer to the call over. The <strong>ONLY two</strong> highlights about the CCS service is The Costco Extended Service plan - where Costco repairs your computer or TV after the manufacture warranty expires - and the level of support you get if you need to be transfered to HP, which the CCS agent connects the call to HP's tier three support. If you are a Costco member and you need to have your problem resolved, your best bet is to ask to speak with a supervisor (CRM) as they are the only ones left at CCS that actually care about the job they do. By the way, there are only 10 of them for the entire service. Your milage may vary :-/ I served 6 months on the Costco Concierge Service (CCS) staff, as both an agent and a manager. I say served as it was more like a jail term than a somewhat decent paying job ($11 an hour as a manager is not much). While the idea behind the service is wonderful, the current CCS staffing is a joke at best. Google and the OEM support sites (manuals, drivers, updates) are the main troubleshooting tools used. While as an agent I did my best to make sure every issues any of the members might have had was resolved before we ended the call, I made sure that if the manufacture was setting up a bench repair (when the device is sent to them to be repaired) I made sure I contacted the member back when they were expecting to get their device back. These were the set rules, provide excellent customer service. I hate to say it but I was one of the last technical people to quit, there are two agents that I can honestly say have the ability to properly diagnose and troubleshoot the issues Costco members have (in the computer area anyway). The majority of TV related questions are basic – how do I hook this up? How do I add channels? All of these questions can be answered with the device manual yet when I was a manager I had to take escalation calls from agents who never bothered to look or ask simple probing questions. It’s as if they were just bodies to answer the phones and when they needed to solve something they contacted the Customer Relations Managers (CRM) to get the info faster than either typing it in Google or just checking the manual. If you are on the west coast, be sure to call BEFORE 6:00 PM PST. You are more likely to get an agent that is not willing to go out of the way as you get closer to the 10:00 PM PST cut off (which is 1:00 AM EST in the Florida call center). I don’t know how many times I have received an escalation request (to take over the call) at 12:50 AM, as any time a member requests a supervisor (CRM) the agent must transfer to the call over. The ONLY two highlights about the CCS service is The Costco Extended Service plan – where Costco repairs your computer or TV after the manufacture warranty expires – and the level of support you get if you need to be transfered to HP, which the CCS agent connects the call to HP’s tier three support. If you are a Costco member and you need to have your problem resolved, your best bet is to ask to speak with a supervisor (CRM) as they are the only ones left at CCS that actually care about the job they do. By the way, there are only 10 of them for the entire service.

Your milage may vary :-/

]]> By: Becky Carroll http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-1003 Becky Carroll Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:27:11 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-1003 John and Amber, thanks for your recent reports on Costco's service. Consistency of service is something I blog about often, and perhaps Costco is still working on that! Anyone at Costco Concierge care to comment? :-) John and Amber, thanks for your recent reports on Costco’s service. Consistency of service is something I blog about often, and perhaps Costco is still working on that! Anyone at Costco Concierge care to comment? :-)

]]> By: Amber http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-1004 Amber Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:42:23 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-1004 I was really excited about their service too. But I'm trying to get through to get some help, get as far as a CS rep. (Really quickly actually) and they can't hear me. I know it's not my phone since I just got off the phone with someone else. I was really excited about their service too. But I’m trying to get through to get some help, get as far as a CS rep. (Really quickly actually) and they can’t hear me. I know it’s not my phone since I just got off the phone with someone else.

]]> By: john http://customersrock.net/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/comment-page-1/#comment-1002 john Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:09:38 +0000 http://customersrock.wordpress.com/2006/12/12/costco-rocks-as-it-listens-to-its-customers-calls-for-help/#comment-1002 Conceirge Service? It seems they are overloaded or stopped functioning. Phone line is always disconnected after the Concierge introduction message. Getting something serviced through concierge is almost an impossible task. Conceirge Service? It seems they are overloaded or stopped functioning. Phone line is always disconnected after the Concierge introduction message. Getting something serviced through concierge is almost an impossible task.

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