A rare case of customer service and customer feedback being overdone.
The email I sent to Hyundai customer service ([email protected]):
I’m writing this email to bring to your notice what I believe is a case of overdoing customer feedback. I understand it is important for dealers/showrooms/service centers and the company to collect feedback from its customers, but there is a fine line between being attentive to customer needs and overdoing it to the point of annoying your customers.
Let me explain what I’ve experienced in the last few months of owning the car and having it serviced at the above mentioned service center. After the first free service, I was asked to fill out a form at the center; which I did. Soon after, I received a call from Trident Customer Service, asking me about my experience, to which I patiently responded, and gave my rating. The customer feedback process must have ended there after you had managed to collect my feedback, twice. I’m assuming that is plenty of data for one instance. But to my surprise, and eventually, annoyance, I was called repeatedly over the next few weeks and months to ask the same questions over and over again.
I begin to wonder what is actually being done with the data collected from customers. My understanding is that customer feedback enables a company to collect enough information, process it, and make improvements to their business processes. Instead, what I notice is, data being collected, repeatedly and redundantly. An inefficient and ineffective way to engage with your customers.
I must also bring to your notice, the few instances where, I have been subtly told to give good ratings when Hyundai calls for feedback. Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of customer feedback?
P.S: I hope I’m not bombarded with multiple calls asking me about this complaint. Just one will do, if you think it’s necessary
Examples of poor customer service are aplenty. We’ve experienced it first hand, the lines being read to us from a script, the incompetent representative unable to understand your problem and downright rudeness. But the above experience is something I don’t see too often. It’s either a case of an overeager customer relations department or a crack in the customer feedback loop. How does one strike the right balance? You want the customer service to be quick and nimble (Bufferapp is a great example of engaging customers well). But you also don’t want to spam your customers with too many feedback emails, surveys and calls.
