Sirius Customer “Service”
A not so distant past…
October 23rd 2005: Sirius Satellite Radio Recognized for Call Center Customer Satisfaction Excellence by J.D. Power and Associates
Sirius is still one of JD Power and Associates certified call centers, but do they really deserve it? If you look around Backstage you’d begin to think the answer is a clear no. Problems with Sirius CS range from being hung up on to being provided a false answer (both happen more than you may think).
Personally, I’ve never had a problem with Sirius CS, then again the only reason I’ve ever called them was to transfer a radio and they could probably do that with their eyes closed. But it’s when you call to ask a programming question or for tech support things can get ugly. Yesterday, SI.com’s Monday Morning Quarterback even featured a piece on Sirius Customer Service. All he wanted to do was check on the status of a desktop radio (I’m assuming a Tivoli) he had ordered. After being transferred twice and after waiting AN HOUR on hold he finally got his answer. He ads the following: “Not a good way to run a business. Sirius. Aren’t you making millions off Howard Stern? Can’t you add a couple more operators?” The sad thing is, these types of stories are not rare, just do a search on Backstage. I think it’s going to take more than a couple of more operators to fix the Sirius call centers.
Steps To Fixing Sirius Call Centers:
1. COMMUNICATION- The supervisors need to tell the people working the phone what is new, meaning if something is announced by Sirius then they need to get the notice immediately. This also can mean if there is a new fix to something, etc.
2. Stop bad information- This goes back to communication, but it’s so important I thought I’d make it #2. If Backstage got a penny everytime someone came here and stated something they had learned from Sirius CS (be it info, or tech related) that was incorrect then ladies and gentlemen you would each receive a gold coin for each of your posts.
3. Educate- Edumacation goes a long way. Educate the people behind the phones and they’ll do their job better. AND CONTINUE EDUCATING THEM!
4. Get more people- It’s ridiculous to wait on hold an hour like the SI.com guy did. Like I said, these occurrences are not a rarity.
You may get lucky, there are some CSR’s that are very smart, some are even on Backstage (maybe that’s why they’re so smart? ).
I, like so many here love Sirius, and want to see it prosper. So, we can only hope they do something because who knows how many subscribers they loose just because CS is so poor. The first experience a subscriber gets with Sirius is customer service and Sirius must make a good first impression. And what about this Christmas? How will Sirius be able to handle the influx of new subscribers if they can’t handle the ones they have now?
Comment here.