The Town of Odyssey

I have a confession/question to make. When possible, I will go with chat support over a call. It's less of a hassle, especially when dealing with foreigners. Does anyone else do this?

If chat support is an option for who I'm dealing with I try using that first before calling their phone support 100% of the time. Not because I'm opposed to talking on the phone, but because if I'm contacting support I most likely have a very specific question or issue so chat is more efficient; I can carefully word what I want to say to make sure it's clear what specifically I'm needing from them, and it's then there in a written log for reference as things go on so I know they didn't mishear something I said from a bad connection and information doesn't get forgotten if the issue drags on a while.

I have a lot of anxiety when it comes to contacting people, and so I hardly ever contact customer support if there is any way it can possibly be avoided. If it can't, the only reason I would ever choose the phone over chat or email is if their online services are nonexistent or broken, and I might very well discontinue using the product or service before I call. I am opposed to talking on the phone, and the fact that there are clear and compelling advantages to having things down in writing (as bookworm mentioned) reinforce this preexisting preference.

A somewhat-related anecdote: I was with a certain web hosting company a few years back, and their setup was designed to make it difficult to terminate service. You couldn't cancel by any other means than a phone call. I knew that if I called, it was not going to go well. I wanted my father to do it (which was fair, since he had originally signed up with them), but he never got around to it either. After several months of not doing anything, I found a company (I'd provide a link if I remembered the name; they deserve the publicity) that specialized in making these calls for you. I don't remember how much it was, but it was one of the best purchases I've ever made; I just wish I had done it sooner, so that it would have saved me more money.

I use the chat option if I can because I think it's usually faster and does seem like less hassle. I recently had my satellite service cut out and used the chat support - someone helped me right away, was polite and helpful, and even sounded like a real person! Amazing! Chat support can be good or bad - but I still find it less frustrating than phone service usually.

I have been in the situation sometimes where a phone call is required to cancel and then they try to pressure you into not canceling - no mystery why they won't let you cancel in a more convenient way! I don't mind talking on the phone in general, but I do resent having to plan a big chunk of time to potentially be on hold to do something that companies should let me do in a better way.

Bob, I've never heard of a service like that before, but I can see the appeal!

If I can't chat or email I just let stuff go usually depending on the severity. >_>

Yeah, I've definitely either skipped little stuff, or procrastinated on stuff that I have to call for. I am sure that some companies purposely make it hard so people don't call, so sometimes I have done it on the principle of the thing, or because I just really have to. I have sometimes (politely) stated during the phone call that I think this is something that should be possible online, just in case companies ever actually want helpful feedback. If I can upgrade to a more expensive version online in a few clicks, but have to call and wait on hold to downgrade to a less expensive version...they're purposely trying to provide bad service to make more money. I clearly expressed that I was aware that it was not the fault of the person I was speaking to, and wanted my dissatisfaction passed along. I try really hard not to be rude to the person on the line, since they didn't create the bad policies but are just stuck being the one who apparently has to try four times to stop me from cancelling despite my insistence that I am not using the service and just no longer want to have it, even at a temporarily discounted rate. Big shock I couldn't easily do that online.

Ha yeah I keep putting off calling the cable company. I cancelled my cable ages ago and just use internet through them, but discovered some random streaming TV package that they used to include for free with internet is now $25 a month. Of course that clearly can not be taken off by a chat representative.

That is something I actually will go ahead and call for, but of course I only ever think of it when I'm say... sitting at my desk at work. Like right now.