“Yes, we really do suck.”
Qwest, as we all know, like most telcos, is terribly inept when it comes to meeting consumer needs. I have countless personal stories I could tell you about having to deal with their bungling of all sorts of support issues. (My favorite being the one time I watched them cut my phone line, and then spent a week trying to convince them that yes, indeed, the problem *is* that they cut my phone line…)
So, I’m not sure if I should laugh, cower, or become enraged when their TV commercials come on. They seem to be increasing in number and every time I hear their tag line spoken out loud:
“That’s our Spirit of Service Inaction”
…I just cringe.
Really, how did that tag line get out of brainstorming? Is this just a clever joke the ad agency played on Qwest?
9 Comments
It seems like companies like to say “service” rather than promise it. Its a cheaper way to try and convince people that you are better than the competition. I know a company near and dear to me even has a guarantee! In the end those guarantees are meaningless if you don’t deliver upfront on service.
Qwest, and my ex-long distance provider is the main reason I dropped my land line, and only have a cell.
Remember their “US West is now Qwest” marketing campaign? Well, back then I could only think “US Worst is now Qwerst.” The last time I dealt with them, they messed up an important part of my order. Based on my personal experience with them, I think they have some serious quality control issues.
Countless stories, yes, me too. I didn’t even realize that wording of the tagline….hahaha! HAHAHA! Nice catch, Darrel. Qwest SUCKS.
Have you noticed that the commercials have turned into “That’s our spirit of service in . . . . action.” Apparently they noticed.
Yes, I noticed that too. It’s bloody hilarious.
As a previous employee of Qwerst or as I like to call them QWESTION, because I qwestion everyday how the hell they stay in business, I would love to have USwest back. At least they didn’t outright lie to all there customers and employees, then pay the ex CEO $110,000 a month as a consultant. I thought they were doing a great job of driving the business into the ground, but they need the special knowledge of JOE NOCHIO to do it well. The reason you get horrible service from them is because they discipline or fire any employee who desires to take ownership of a problem and does not have you off the line in 20 min or less. That is why you always tell your problem over and over again. The workers at qwest would love to help all their customers until the problem is fixed, but then the managers and directors would not get bonuses, and that is why you get horrible service. They only track numbers, and the faster you are off the line, the better the numbers look to the PUC.
Seriously, the Qwest Spirit of Service campaign was institued by appointed CEO Dick Noteabart who entered the company and splashed his face all over it as if he had everything to do with Qwest’s existence or creation.
Since Joe Nachio robbed the company (White collar crime is hard to trace that’s why these CEO’s and other executives all think they can get away with it) Enter Dick Noteabart figuring that the Qwest Spirit of Service campaign would put a new clean imagine on Qwest however Dick forgot one thing; Qwest corrupted itself from the top down and Dick has not changed any of that. In fact management spending at Qwest is actually UP meanwhile the company is in negotiations to take away more employee benefits and retiree pensions!!!
That’s what Qwest is good for, putting MORE money in the pockets that DON’T deserve it and taking it from the people who do. Not to mention that the customer is NOT Qwest’s first line of priority, profit is. Now here is where the CEO or executive comes in and says well that is the first line of any business, WRONG! Real customer service is Dick!
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The above post is absolutely correct about “The workers at qwest would love to help all their customers until the problem is fixed, but then the managers and directors would not get bonuses, and that is why you get horrible service. They only track numbers, and the faster you are off the line, the better the numbers look to the PUC. ” That goes for most departments at Qwest now because management ruined the company! This is what greed and being a slave for money does to a company or person. The employees are there to work and do a good job (most of them) it is the GREED of Qwest management that is ruining everything.
I have to agree with the above post. The problem with *most* of qwest is not the employees. It’s a problem with management and priorities. I am an ex employee. Why an ‘ex’ employee? Because the management in qwest is required to look at numbers that have NOTHING to do with customer service. In fact, the customer service representatives that you get to speak to are, in fact, sales and service representative. Calls are timed, if they are too long on average, guess what, you as an employee get in trouble. If you don’t offer the products to the customer, you get in trouble, regardless of the reason. Yes, if the customer calls in because of a death in the family, offer the products anyway. Yes if the customer is calling in upset because an issue has been unresolved again and again, and it requires a follow up, offer anyway. I personally couldn’t take it. I want to help people. I still believe that the Qwest SERVICES are decent, the Qwest PRICES are decent, but the Qwest CUSTOMER SERVICE needs to be reevaluated and they need to think about that. The reasoning behind the hurry, hurry, hurry attitude???? Which, by the way, is the cause of repeated calls, irresolved issues, and dissatisfaction in customer service? Service levels are monitored by the PUC and if the service level is not satisfactory Qwest is fined. Solution to that problem? Hire more employees to actually TAKE CARE of the customer. With more employees answering the phones problems can actually be resolved. When problems are truly resolved there are no more repeat calls with the same problem. Thus decreasing the number of calls into the center. Seem simple? Not to Qwest. They’d rather have fewer employees, shorter calls, more dissatisfaction, repeat calls, and, in their mind, save money. So the bottom line is, qwest does suck. But if they allowed the representatives that truly care about the customers take care of these customers, their customer service satisfaction would increase. At this point, Qwest can’t keep quality customer service representatives, because most quality customer service representatives DO NOT want to sell to everyone for the sake of compensation checks. They want to sell only if it truly will help the customer. And so Qwest is hiring the younger crowd, pushing the sales side, and getting people who don’t care about helping, only about keeping their job. Qwest needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
Today at a meeting with a new vp of a state that qwest covers,a (qwestion) was asked,I have no idea what time i am going to get of work,because of this i cant make plans with family,church,friends.anything,the person was told,(If you dont like it get a new job)This just emphasises the mentality at qwest towards there employees.