Setting the Standard to be Underwhelming!

"We're not happy until you're unhappy!"
​Suggested new slogan for Frontier Communications

​by Skip Cohen

I'd love to take credit for that quote above, but it's thanks to a good buddy who suggested it for one of the airlines many years ago. Here's the saga and short backstory:

• We had a small section of fence installed yesterday, and the fence company cut the fiber-optic cable. We lost all services.
• I know accidents can happen and immediately called Frontier Communications. The earliest they could schedule service was between 8 am and noon today.
• I called the fence company to comment on the mishap and was informed they contacted Frontier's location services people and had been given the "All Clear" on any lines in the way. So, the problem became Frontier's.
• I took several shots at trying to get them in earlier since the mistake turned out to be their fault.
• When the tech didn't arrive as promised this morning, I called them back and was told the service had been changed to 1-5:00 pm. Not sure why, since at 4:30 yesterday one of their reps was still trying to get us support before the end of the day!
• Okay, one last resort, call corporate in CT for help. Nope, nothing they can do to speed things up. Not only that, but it took me two calls to the president's customer service staff. I was told that the first person I spoke with had his computer die.  I also learned the location services people they use aren't Frontier employees - as if that should make a difference on the consumer level.

So, there are a few lessons here.

Lesson 1: Don't get caught without Internet access! Part of my problem has been my new computer and not being able to get online. For whatever reason, using my hot spot on my phone wasn't working, but our daughter-in-law is visiting and had a Netgear wifi base that saved a little of my sanity. But me working without a net, is like any of you shooting a wedding without backup gear. 

Lesson 2: How's your sense of Customer Service? The frontline staff at Frontier are all nice people, but they can only be as good as the team backing them up. So, how's your Customer Service set up? Even if you've only got one other person working with you, do they have the authority to make decisions and not make customers wait for a solution?

Lesson 3: Are you easy to contact? Getting to a live body at Frontier almost requires an act of God. They've become so focused on numerical defaults that you wind up going through recording after recording to get to the right person, and even then, you're likely to need to be transferred. On one call, I had at least eight numbers I had keyed in to finally get to somebody.

Lesson 4: When you've got an upset customer tell your staff what's going on. I just got a call from the technician, who should be here within thirty minutes. "Can you tell me what's wrong with your service - there's nothing here on the ticket?"

I like trying to learn from my mistakes, one of them going with Frontier Communications, but at the time they were the only choice. There's a great quote I wish this shipload of fools would learn:

 The true test of business's customer service fitness is not when things are going right-
but rather what is done when things go wrong.
Steve Ferrante

Frontier spends a lot of time doing surveys and telling us how much they care on their website, but when it really comes down to it - I'm not sure they could be more out of shape when it comes to customer service fitness!