Sphinn - Google Lowers The Bar On Customer Service Yet Again

45
Sphinn It!

Google Lowers The Bar On Customer Service Yet Again

Went Hot: August 4, 2008 - 9:35 am
Posted By: MarketingMinefield 337 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com)
Category: Google

According to Google themselves, their goal is to hire people who are "as passionate about their lives as they are about their work" - so why is it that a company that's concerned about the quality of their employees can’t seem find anyone decent for their customer service department?

12 Comments

Who Desphunn This (2)

Comments

from earlpearl 336 days ago #

Votes: 1 | Vote:

+ -

Smackdown: You crack me up. Excellent article. One question, though. Why are all your "advisors" women?

Meanwhile, I wonder if Google hiring is two tiered. Could they treat the engineers/programmers like royalty and the customer service folks like dirt? Don't know. I think we need a scoop to find out what is going on at google customer service! :D

from mvandemar 336 days ago #

Votes: 2 | Vote:

+ -

Heh, first time I've seen a desphinn because someone had too much difficulty figuring out how to comment. :P

@ep - The all women thing was coincidence. :)

As to the customer service, I am wondering if they might have even outsourced that, so Google standards wouldn't actually apply.

from Skitzzo 336 days ago #

Votes: 1 | Vote:

+ -

Lol love the desphinn for this! Um I can't figure out your captcha (which has nothing to do with the quality of the post) so I'm going to vote you down.... quality.

from ANOnym 336 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

Well, it proves that Kim is right and our SEO ladies are great :)
http://cre8pc.com/blog/archives/494

from eKstreme 336 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

The sad part is that the initial email is most likely an automated mail-out at a set time after the last campaign has finished. I've gotten many times before.

The sadder part is the response from *human beings* sounds as automated as the inital mail out.

The saddest part is we still think Google employs people instead of just running off the back of a huge algo.

from sza 336 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

Google's almost autistic non-communication is a very strong pattern wherever you look (AdWords, AdSense, webmasters, helpful comments sent to them etc.). Might even be considered part of their modus operandi.

They just clearly don't subscribe to the idea that they should communicate in a human way; they believe it can also be handled by 5% human intervention, 95% algo.

from Halfdeck 336 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

"However, in my experience the reps at Google AdSense and AdWords seem to have problems with some of the most basic concepts of communication."

Not only do they suck at communication they seem to have difficulty thinking in a straight line.

from samcasuncad 334 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

Maybe it's one of them who desphunn this good one..eh.

from MasterofPuppets 334 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

Great article. I don't think it's just Google that has poor customer service these days. Anybody who lives in Florida can tell you the horrors of dealing with Bellsouth (phone company) customer service. I guess maybe if companies started paying customer service reps more than minimum wage while working in a hostile boiler room atmosphere, they might actually be worth dealing with. For me, I try to avoid phone calls to customer service under any circumstances.

from DarrenSlatten 334 days ago #

Votes: 1 | Vote:

+ -

***DESPHUNN***

I don't see how this story supports the claim that Google has poor customer service. This is how I interpret the events that took place:

Customer runs ad campaigns.
Customer stops running ad campaigns.
Approximately 1-2 weeks later, Google sends out an [automated] email that informs the Customer that no ad campaigns are running.
Customer replies to Google, asking for a reason why email was received.
Google responds with reason: "...all of your campaigns are either paused or deleted."

Seems pretty straightforward to me. As far as I can tell, this particular email exchange actually supports the idea that Google has a GOOD customer service department.

Just because the Customer doesn't understand the definition of "a while," this somehow reflects poorly on Google?

What I see here is an unjustified public criticism, supported by several illogical statements and ignorant assumptions. If you have to attack Google to get people to read your blog, at least have the decency to remove the customer service rep's name. They're just doing their job. In this particular instance, the AdWords representative chose to skip the private lessons in reading comprehension and dive straight into answering the Customer's email. Why would they cut corners like that? Well, I'm not sure, but if I had to guess... I'd say that *maybe* the customer service rep had more than just the one email to respond to?

from mvandemar 333 days ago #

Votes: 1 | Vote:

+ -

Gee Darren, with those high reading comprehension levels and slick analytical skills you have, you should see if Google Customer Service has an opening. :)

from DarrenSlatten 333 days ago #

Votes: 0 | Vote:

+ -

Ha ha! I'm not gonna lie... that was funny.

Who Desphunn This Topic what is desphinn?

Avatar DarrenSlatten 08/04/2008 03:39pm

SEE COMMENT. [When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers...]

Avatar JohnHGohde 08/01/2008 03:41pm

The PuzzCAPTCHA on comments submit for this news story are so horribly bad. That I will give you 30 seconds to solve the puzzle, before I will Sphinn you.