Real life scenario: I'm moving home and I wish to transfer my home telephone and internet services to my new abode, a couple of weeks ago I placed an order with BT. However, the new place may not be my permanent base, 1 week later I change my mind and call again to cancel. Sadly, I cannot perform any of these operations using my bt.com account.

The telephone call

Call 0800 800150, select option 1 — it is about the number I'm calling from, select option 2 — it's not about my last bill, select option 3 — I'm moving home, select option 2 — I really am moving home. And then, having navigated this far: "we need your 8 digit account number". I end the call, go in search of my account number and then repeat the process.

Finally I speak to a customer service advisor — apparently, despite my careful selection of options, she has to put me through to a different department! I wait…for quite a long time…and then hear: "…we've been told to put these calls through…." There was clearly a heated exchange with a colleague. The colleague abruptly ended the call leaving me to hear get the tail-end of this frustrated conversation.

"Ahem". I make my presence known: "Oh sorry about that" came the embarrassed reply.

I'm then put on hold again. For an extra-longer discussion. No doubt my case and company politics and processes being sorted while I wait, and wait, and wait.

Some observations

1. If I select option 1 at the start of the call why do you need me to enter my account number? This must surely be a lack of joined-up thinking or is it a result of disconnected business systems?
2. I have no interest in internal struggles. The call maybe free but my time isn't. Please don't waste it by arguing with colleagues. And, please don't expose me to these arguments.
3. Customer Service should be the first duty of everyone in an organisation, not just those poor souls in call centres with scripts.

More than a script or charter

I quite like this Customer Charter from NatWest Bank. But there's nothing in there that asures me I won't get a grumpy experience next time I call or visit a branch. And this is the point. Organisations say great things about what they'll do for customers: extend opening times, help in the community, provide clear to understand literature — that's all good. However, for customer service to be good there's an additional ingredient needed. It's an all pervasive service-oriented bearing, frame-of-mind, or mind-set. It needs to permeate between departments, between colleagues from senior managers to junior team members. You cannot script this stuff. Oh, and if you keep adding and adding to your automated telephone service, you might undo all your good work. Convoluted telephone navigation systems may reduce costs but they can be quite agitating for the consumer.

Postscript: there's one organisation that really does get it right and no this is not a paid-for ad, it's a genuine observation: Co-operative Bank.