I hate businesses who use generic email addresses.

No scratch that. I hate incompetent people who can’t do their job well. Whoever is hired to reply to emails isn’t doing their job well. What is the point of having an email address and asking customers to email to it when you’re not going to check it anyway? Don’t tell me that I don’t know what I’m talking about. I work in a job that requires me to check emails. Even if the reply is short and generic, I make sure I reply to everyone so that they know their email has been read and considered. This is good customer service. It’s letting customers know that someone is listening and a way for them to know who to contact should they run into a problem in the future.

Second point, new/junior staff, nobody is saying you cannot don’t know stuff. However, you should know that you cannot say you don’t know to a customer. Also, don’t try and hide the fact that you don’t know what to do by insisting a customer follows the guidelines. What you’re doing is just pushing the customer away and hoping he/she never calls again. That my friend is not good customer service. Guidelines are meant to help you, but it is not the law. Most people fit into the general where the guidelines would help them. However, you will meet people who don’t fit. So, don’t keep repeating the same thing over and over when I’ve tried explaining that my situation does not apply to whatever you’re telling me to do. Either you’re not listening carefully to my case or you don’t know what to do and you’re hoping that I’ll just hang up. I will, but I’ll make sure your company gets to know about it too. And if they don’t care, I’m going to boycott your company and well, you’re just going to lose a customer. I’m not saying that customer is king, I’m trying to say that you got to value your customers.

What you should be doing is to offer to either transfer the call to your superior or ask your superior about it and then get back to the customer. And make sure you really do get back to the customer. This is good customer service and taking the initiative to go beyond what is required of you.

I think the problem with some people is that they think a job is just something to earn income or get on their resume. I’m sorry, I look at a job as something which helps people reach their goals in the process of reaching my goals. When they are happy, I will be happy to know that I’ve done my job well too. I think that is the greatest satisfaction one can get out of a job.