Customer Service Is Dead – Laura’s Latest Rant

Customer service is officially dead. I write this after spending my afternoon pricing new dishwashers. But some background: My not-so-old dishwasher died two weeks ago. I have used Xcel Energy’s home warranty service HomeSmart for decades. Recently Xcel switched to HomeServe. And yes, I can already hear those of you familiar with such services yelling, “Stop! It’s a total waste of money.”

I know better. After all, I’m a consumer reporter for major newspapers and even worked for Consumer Reports Money Adviser.

But, HomeSmart was wonderful when my beloved washing machine started squealing and again when my cooktop gave it’s last gasp. The techs they sent were first-rate, so much so that I kept their information in case I needed something outside my warranty protection.

So when the dishwasher stopped washing two weeks ago, I called HomeServe. I should have known something was up when the customer rep told me someone would call me within a few hours — uh, it was 10 p.m. and if I wasn’t called my the following morning to call back.

Of course, no call and new rep said it takes 24 to 72 hours for a service appointment call. Okay, a misinformed employee…it happens.

I finally heard from the appliance repair company and set up a home call. The tech was very knowledgeable and said the dishwasher needed a new motor. He put HomeServe on speaker phone and I listened as he received confirmation to order the part and do the repair.

Then, I waited…and waited. When I called the appliance repair company they were mystified. HomeServe had called them a few hours after the service call and said the repair for a motor wasn’t covered and that I (the customer) had been duly informed. “Call HomeServe,” I was told.

Let’s just say my discussion with them didn’t go well. “Motors aren’t covered,” I was told. “Read page 8 and 9 of the service agreement.” In fact, as far as I can tell virtually nothing is covered under the new Xcel/HomeServe warranty.

“The notes right here say we called your home and no one answered and there is no voice mail,” she added. Uh, nope, no one called  — I can see who did — and I have a fully functional answering machine.

But if I’d like to cancel my policy, here’s the number to call.

Back to the appliance repair company which says they will get me an estimate for parts and labor and get back to me…eventually.

I tried a second company I’ve worked with in the past, but, “Oh, so sorry we can’t simply give you an estimate for a repair. We have to come out and evaluate it ourselves. That will be $119 just to confirm the motor is dead. Then we’ll give you an estimate for parts and labor. And, by the way, we can’t make an initial visit for two weeks and you’ll have to clear out your day as we won’t know what time we can come until the night before. That physical therapy session..you’ll just have to cancel it and wait for us.”

Which is how I came to spending the afternoon at the home improvement store trying to determine the cost of a new machine, plus install.

That should have been easy, except no one was working in appliances or home decor or anywhere within shouting distance. They paged someone, but he never showed. Finally, I found a manager who tried her best to help me out but didn’t really know dishwashers. And the guy who should be working, “He’s on his lunch break and we don’t have anyone coming on shift for another 20 minutes,” I was told.

This fiasco comes on the heels of a litany of customer service lapses.

There was the order for toys from Target. Two went missing and though I was billed the full amount it took four phone calls to folks who simply repeat back your question or situation in an effort to act as if they understand the problem. I finally got a supervisor, but it wasn’t easy and it took her 30 minutes to get the replacements sent to me.

Walmart.com isn’t much better. Their newest stunt is to let you order a bunch of the same item, but deliver only one and charge you the full amount. This has happened to me three times now.

The owner of the tailor shop where I get my pants hemmed, chides me when I come in with a hole in some slacks that I want to keep wearing.

Comcast/Xfinity (if they ever make up their mind what they want to be called) keeps raising my rates and when I visit their stores to see how to reduce my bill, they tell me that I have an old policy and any changes will only make the price go up. If I don’t want 100 sports channels, I can cancel that charge, but ooops, they include Turner Classic Movies into that bundle, so I’d lose a channel I actually watch.

And all those Xfinity perks like my “free” Peacock account that doesn’t work because they can’t activate it, so if I want to watch the Olympics I just “need to pay for a subscription because this is a known technical issue.” I’ve actually had employees tell me not to return because they have no control over billing and services, they can only “sell” stuff.

The Denver Post raised my rates by 50% (yes I still get a physical newspaper, but only two days a week) and charges an extra 52¢ per “delivery” day which is deducted from your subscription fee. So you think you are paying for one year, but in reality it is maybe 10 or 11 months before your subscription expires.

The Subaru dealership broke a tire stem while installing new brakes. I didn’t find out until I went in to have my tires swapped a few days later. Back to the dealership, only to be told, “Well we can fix it, but you’ll need to leave it for at least a day or two. We have an opening next week and sorry, but we don’t have a loaner program anymore. We’ll rent you a car for $50 a day. Or you can go to a car repair shop and pay for them to fix our mistake.” Which is what I ended up doing. 

Even my health provider now uses a Call Center. Meaning I can’t reach anyone IN the physical office. And when I did finally find someone in the office at their front desk, to check on the status of a prescription refill (which had been lagging for three days), the person was rude…I mean really rude.

The list goes on an on. And it is downright depressing. Just once, I’d like someone in customer service to provide SERVICE to the CUSTOMER.

Sadly, I have no expectations this will happen. The world has changed. Most in the service industry hate their jobs and/or the companies that employ them provide sub-par service at sky-high prices. There’s always an excuse. We are short-staffed. We can’t pay folks enough to work. Our costs have gone up.

But what it comes off as is — Don’t like it, shop somewhere else. Find another repair service. Just buy a new whatever.

I long for the small customer-oriented business that wants to take care of you. That answers their phone, doesn’t demand you only use text, conducts a conversation and delivers what they promise in a timely manner (and doesn’t close up shop a few months later so your warranty is void — which happened with the company that installed my new windows.)

Tomorrow I will see if I receive the estimate for the dishwasher repair, but won’t hold my breath. But I will be following up to cancel my warranty, now that I have learned the hard way it covers nothing.

If you made it to the end of my rant, dear Mile High on the Cheap readers, thanks for listening.

I would love to hear from you. Drop a comment about what you think of customer service. Have you found some truly wonderful businesses or retailers or restaurants (no self-promotion, please!). Keep it civil, but be honest.

— Laura