Raj Wadhwani - ContactCenterWorld.com Blog

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Raj Wadhwani

Winners of this months competition announced!

We had lots of entries and almost everyone commented on the excellent lineup and great topics - it really is the best talking and sharing what they do across most areas in the contact center today!

Now onto the winners - congratulations to:

  • Donna Hatfield Vilinsky - who won 2 tickets to our Americas event
  • Abiola Fischer - who won 2 tickets to our European event
  • Yukol Rompo  - who won 2 tickets to our Asia Pacific event

Winners should contact me asap to arrange for their tickets

And for those interested in participating in the event to hear all these amazing ideas, we still have some tickets left to sell at each event - go to www.ContactCenterWorld.com/conferences

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 30, 2013 9:12 AM EST

2 Tickets to Amazing Best Practice Event up for grabs!

WIN in our no cost competition and learn the latest Best Practices!

We have a pair of tickets for any of our regional Top Ranking Performers 'BEST PRACTICES' conference to be won in this no cost contest!

You choose which one you want to attend from:

- You will join up to 200 of the best contact center professionals in the region as a brilliant lineup of award winning presenters share fantastic ideas that will help those running centers, or those interested in best practices to learn the latest methods that has helped the presenters becoming World-Class!

Presenters will share practical ideas - from those who do the job, not vendors trying to sell you a solution .... a huge difference in what and how information is shared!

Plus you will be networked with everyone who attended the event (through ContactCenterWorld.com) so you will have a ready made professional network to stay in touch with after the event!

Now, how to win the pair of tickets!
This is a no cost to enter the draw. To enter, select the conference you would like to attend and look at the agenda (schedule at a glance link on the conference pages) and pick one presentation each day from the respective schedule you would really like to hear and tell me which one it is (1 per day) - example for the Americas event you would tell us which 4 presentations (over the 4 days) you would like hear and send me your contact details.

You can enter once per event i.e. you can enter to win tickets for the Americas, European and Asia Pacific event - just make sure you are available to attend if you win!

Reply to this message or e-mail rajw@contactcenterworld.com with your presentation choices, contact details and the event you would like to win the tickets for!

Winners will be drawn at random on 30th April and all winners will be announced on ContactCenterWorld.com on that day. Prize includes 2 full conference tickets to one of the events of your choice in Orlando, Vienna or Singapore. Judges decision is final. No other cash alternative is available. Value of the ticket is up to $2,500 USD each ticket. No substitutes allowed.

PS - if you want to ensure your place you can still book tickets online for any of these events at this link http://contactcenterworld.com/conferences/register.aspx. Don't forget we also bring the best from around the World together in November to share best practices in Las Vegas, NV USA (http://contactcenterworld.com/conferences/?confarea=VEGAS)

And, with 98% of delegates telling us they would recommend these events, you KNOW you will find the event hugely beneficial! 

Friday, April 05, 2013 7:25 AM EST

Home Depot Service .... In need of a makeover!!

Recently i visited the Home Depot website to make a purchase and read the product I wanted could only be ordered and purchased in store so made a trip to town to buy what I wanted. At the store I asked at service if they could place the order and was directed to the speciality dept. (comment was they don't like service placing the order!) so went to the door dept. and asked to place an order. After several minutes of discussion the person at the order desk checked with his manager and told me they could not order the item. I complained and went home. I called the HD service hotline and they said they would check and get back to me - never happened! almost a week later the Asst. store manager called and asked me how he could help - I had to explain the whole story about why I was told I should order from the store and what happened – wasted tip etc etc. He was not helpful and there was no empathy with the situation. A couple of days later I got a call from the store again - different manager asking how he could help! Seems communication is a real issue with HD and I had to explain all over again and told him I ordered direct from the manufacturer in the end because of all the issues and I had to pay for shipping ... was waiting to see what he would say/do .... again nothing - no empathy. I am appalled at HD - really poor service and now go out of my way to avoid shopping there! Service is poor and needs a makeover!   

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 9:03 PM EST

Jared Jewelers - Order Online and you waste your time!

How stupid is this! I have tried several times to order some watches online and my card company has provided authorisation to debit my card but the folks at Jared won’t authorise the purchase and told me I have to go in store to place a special order. I don’t live near a Jared and put my point across to David then his supervisor Amy. They have received authorisation from my card company it don't trust BMO or me apparently even though I wanted the watches shipped to a store where I will be next week! How stupid is that! My card issuer has given them the authority and set aside 2 authorisation amounts for 2 orders Jared has now declined. Amy said its nothing she could do so I asked to speak to Authorisations there – surprise surprise they don’t take calls! Then all of a sudden when I said well how are we supposed to resolve this, Amy said they need photo ID - every heard anything so stupid? Jared, if you want photo ID for online orders then you are barking mad – why have an online store with such a ridiculous process?! Service like this frustrates me - no logic and I have wasted hours trying to do business with them. I love the industry but hate being on the receiving end of service like this because I know it tarnishes all the good things great centers do out there.

So Jared won’t get any of my business and this makes for an interesting case study to share in service (not)!

Footnote – we don’t have any members at Jared – maybe Mike Light the CEO should enrol some of his staff to hear how the best in the business do it!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013 5:37 PM EST

Experiences with credit card services - AMEX, RBC, TD Bank

I am overseas and as usual I called in advance to let my card issuers know. AMEX Canada was great. TD Bank was appalling - the agent asked me lots of security questions and I answered them all. She asked where I was travelling (normal practice) but didn’t seem to have a clue where Lisbon was and after telling her where I was going she told me she could not authenticate me and suggested I go to my branch so they can verify who I am. (I think she was poorly trained and got confused with where I was going – she did not seem to know where Lisbon was) How absurd and I had to escalate this to my branch and the supervisors at the credit card hotline to get this resolved! It was a simple call to say I am going out of the country and I have done this lots of times yet TD made it so hard! Eventually got this resolved. The agent who first took my call at TD needed lots of training on service AND geography - funny, I have a special card for frequent business travellers!

We also called RBC and what a wasted opportunity to provide better service - we advised we were travelling and went thru all the usual stuff then was asked right at the end when are we travelling and we advised them today "Oh" was the answer, "I will need transfer you to security dept. so they can do this" ... why don't they ask when you are travelling at the start if its a different process I thought! Then, to add insult NO information was passed on to the next person so we had to do all the security questions over again! Very poor - simply ask at the outset if its key AND pass on information if you are going to transfer

So, my scores:
AMEX Canada 10/10
TD Bank 3/10 - very poor service and totally wrong suggesting I go my branch who would only tell me to call the card service hotline!
RBC 5/10 - poor process and can easily be improved!

... These are my ratings based on my experience as a customer!

Raj 



 

Tuesday, February 19, 2013 4:59 PM EST

TBayTel

Pleased to say that I received great service from Jay at Tbay Tel today.
Story: I got my first bill after signing up for 2 phones and only saw one sign up bonus showing on my bill.  When I called the dealer sales rep, he  agreed to check and call me back. When he called me a few minutes later he said I was not eligible and apologized – this was not what I was led to believe so I called Tbay Tel direct and spoke to Jay. He was extremely polite and professional and helped me out. I agreed to send some proof of what I had mentioned to confirm eligibility and emailed Jay at 1pm today. He just called me (4om) because he did not receive my email. He gave me his personal email and he got my email immediately when I resent it. Whilst on the call, he was able to review the info I had just sent and confirmed he could add the credit.  He had also called the dealer who confirmed my story so was covering all bases.

So, 10/10 Jay - great work - you must be a great asset to Tbay Tel. By the way on the technical aspects of the call, everything worked really well - got thru immediately so very impressed. 

This should be one that Jay adds to his collection for a job well done.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 3:59 PM EST

Segregation is bad!

Tonight I saw a marketing piece for a contact center event in asia - i was shocked that they expect vendors to pay 2X that of other attendees - that does not seem like good business - a conference should be same price for everyone to attend - charging one group more is discrimination! Crazy world! whats next they will charge non nationals more? ... Bad practice! Everyone rights = equal fees to attend ! - I'm glad we are not a sponsor or supporter of this event!

Thursday, January 24, 2013 10:52 PM EST

Cold Day in Thunder Bay

Ok wherever you are in the world - whats the temperature? Can you beat this?

 

Thats just the temp WITHOUT wind chill - its -45! 

beat that! :)

added ... Its even too cold for our dogs despite the fact they have some Husky in them! ... Below is Daisy - she clearly shows her keenness to head out this morning ... NOT! 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013 9:26 AM EST

Best in Asia Pacific Regional Awards

WOW - I am amazed by so many new best practices that have been submitted for this years 8th annual global best practice' awards  - so many industry leaders have taken part this year - will be the best year yet for the industry awards that recognise best practices in our industry! Now we are waiting for the entrants in the Europe, Middle East & Africa region who have until 21st January to compete their entries. It's not too late to enter - go to www.ContactCenterWorld.com/worldawards

Friday, January 11, 2013 8:07 AM EST

Our members have big hearts - thank you for your support with fundraising!

I saw a request from one of our delegates at our conference last month for feedback on how we distribute charity funds we raise at our events so thought I'd share this with you

ContactCenterWorld covered all the networking event fees like line dancing, boat trips, bus rides etc so anything any delegate contributed went to the charity fund - that's 100%,

We also purchased outright at our cost Monty The Moose, the electric guitars (Hard Rock Orlando) and every penny we raised went to charity. With the T-shirts ALL profits went to charity - that's $15 per shirt sold!

We also had generous donations of products/services from many delegates and many of you participated in the networking and/or bid on items at auction - thank you all

So, In the past 18 months we have achieved all of this which is amazing!

We donated as a result of your support :

Raj Wadhwani, President of ContactCenterWorld said "I would like to thank all those members who have attended our events in the past 2 years and made contributions to our charity efforts. We are encouraged and will continue to do more in 2013 and thank you for your generosity - we could not do all of this without you! Thank you"

Friday, December 28, 2012 3:16 PM EST

Home Depot Takes My Credit With Them & Writes it Off!

Interesting story!

I always try and maintain a healthy balance on my cards - ideally $0 but because I overpaid a balance with Home Depot they wrote it off and took my money! How ridiculous is that? I spoke to one of their agents at CITI who manages the portfolio and asked why they took my money and wrote it off - seems that unless you call them - they don't tell you that by the way - they will write off what they owe you if it’s under a certain amount. Now don't get me wrong, we are only talking about $0.70 they owed me but it’s the principle! Bet if I owed them $0.70 the interest would rack up and up forever!

I have several accounts with CITI Group and I must say I am not impressed. As I bothered to complain they will send me the $0.70 back. Why didn’t they just do this in the first place OR keep the credit on my account and avoid all this hassle? They say they can’t allow a customer to keep a credit on file for more than 3 months – maybe true? But, it probably cost them $4-$6 or more to take my call so now its cost them a lot more … plus me writing this about them!

I welcome some comments from anyone at CITI/Home Depot and also other members in this industry … is this standard practice? or what you think about this situation where a credit company writes off money they owe you?!

 

Thursday, December 27, 2012 5:46 PM EST

a message from a member - read this!

Why are some people so rude? I sent a message to one member and this is what he sent back: "Don't contact me again with this bullshit" - This from a staff member of a firm that claims to do email marketing, outbound telemarketing and get this - blogging!

Well you sure made my blog with your message!

Sunday, December 02, 2012 9:38 PM EST

Thumbs up for Air Canada, Thumbs down for Sony!

I'd like to share one fantastic and one poor service story with you. Lets start with the fantastic!

Air Canada (AC) - THUMBS UP!
A few years ago I wasn't too impressed with AC. I felt service was not great and so whenever I could I would avoid them. In recent years they have improved significantly and now they are going above and beyond what I expect. Let me explain. Recently I visited Las Vegas to plan for our 2013 conference and on the way back the flight from Vegas (On American Airlines) was ahead of schedule. It was due to land at 4:30pm but on route we heard we would arrive around 4pm. Now, having planned for a 4:30pm landing and with the thought of having to clear customs and immigration when we landed at Toronto plus changing terminals, we booked what was then next available flight back home to Thunder Bay - it was scheduled at 10:30pm that night. So we had resigned ourselves to a long wait in Toronto.

Anyway, when we heard from the captain we would arrive early, I went online to check flights for AC that day to see if we could change them. But none came up - no availability showed for that day. Anyway, we landed and after the usual 5 minute taxi we pulled up to the gate and quickly disembarked. We cleared customs no problem (we hold NEXUS - Trusted Traveler Status) and were through customs and immigration in a flash. We didn’t have checked baggage and by 4:15 we were heading to the next terminal. We were aware there was a 5:05pm flight 10 minutes later we go to the AC terminal and went straight to a Premium check in agent to ask if there were any earlier flights we could get on. he smiled and took our name and checked. He told us there was space on the 5:05 but was unsure if we would make it. With no luggage we were hopeful and we quickly made our way to the gate knowing it was going to be tough - just in case we had our original tickets for the 10:30pm flight. Boarding had not started yet and the gate agent advised us we would need to get new tickets issued. She radioed the desk which was 100m behind us and when we got there the AC rep gave us 2 new tickets and we walked back to the gate just as boarding was called. 

So what AC did was get us on a flight 5 hours earlier and it was so smooth - we got home earlier and picked up our 2 dogs from the kennels earlier and everyone was happy. Thank you AC - this was probably the best experience we have ever had and the description above doesnt do the service justice. Well done and thanks again.!

 

SONY - THUMBS DOWN!
Now, on to Sony! So when we were in Vegas in October we purchased a new laptop - the Duo11 laptop convertible and we wanted another one. Knowing supply was limited I called the sony store in Vegas where we purchased the last one and found out there were getting more in so at length agreed with one of the staff to put one aside. I offered to give my credit card to prepay and was told this was not necessary. I explained I would be in approx 1 week later to collect and left phone details etc. A few days later I called to make sure they had arrived and was told they do not hold items and they were sold. "Sold?!" I said - anyway after a long discussion with one of the assistant store managers he told me they don’t hold anything for anyone. he could not explain why I was promised one or why i was not called etc. I explained in a few days I would be in Vegas and really hope they keep one aside. Every day I called to check stock and when I arrived in Vegas still no sign of one. I had really been let down so went online to Sonystyle.com to place an order. I ordered a custom Duo as the delivery was showing as late Nov so went ahead and placed the order. a few days later I checked the status only to see that it had been changed on the system to Jan 2013 - 2 months later! I had not been contacted and was annoyed so cancelled the order - I called and spoke to a rep based in the Philippines who was pleasant and efficient. I then went back online to try a new order and went for the standard version. When I placed the order the system advised me it would be shipped 11/20/2012! Guess what? I checked yesterday 11/26/12 and the system still tells me it will be shipped 11/20/2012 - that was 6 days ago! Come on Sony, your products are great but I continue to have issue with your service. In this day a company as large as Sony should not have issues with online store orders and poor service from retail stores. Please get your act together and provide the service we expect!

Latest on this order - got this email from Sony today!

Card Unauthorized

 

Please do not reply to this email. Should you have a question regarding your order, click here to contact us. To ensure a timely response, it is important to include your Sony Style order number.

 

 

 

Dear raj,

 

 

 

While processing your order SW12112000567, we were unable to obtain authorization on your credit card. Potential reasons include:

 

  1. The account      number you entered is invalid.
  2. The street      address and zip code you entered do not match what is on file with your      credit card provider.
  3. SonyStyle.com      does not accept credit cards from institutions that do not participate in      the Address Verification Service (AVS).
  4. SonyStyle.com      does not accept credit cards from international institutions.

 

Please note the item(s) below have been cancelled:

- WOW - I have purchased lots from Sony store online in recent years and they didnt even bother to call me - just cancelled the order. I called and had to re-order. Shipping date is now 12/18/2012! Appalling service just cancelling an order and not talking to the customer first!

Ok update as at 29th Nov - they expedited shipping and got me the new machine today - thanks for listening Sony Contact Center! I am happy now :) 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 8:52 AM EST

Global Contact Center Rankings Released

Which nation leads the field? US? UK? China? Philippines? or somewhere else?

Find out who ranks #1 to #19 ... you may be surprised! Congrats to ... #1 for contact center best practices in the World!

http://contactcenterworld.com/worldawards/award-rankings.aspx?id=F4CD4F26-BB3D-4949-99BF-211077C384BB

Enter the 2013 Global Awards and put your company and nation on the map! Go to www.ContactCenterWorld.com/worldawards

Thursday, November 08, 2012 10:09 AM EST

fun video - Las vegas 2012

watch this video

- was produced at our Global Best Practice Conference last week in Vegas by myself - was so much fun

thanks for your support guys - we know we are not the biggest event producer but we do strive to be the best!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRgXxwR3dVs

 

Monday, November 05, 2012 7:03 PM EST

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