[Sethro117]

Ok for those who might not know I work for NCR which is a big competitor in the Self Service and Automation industry for Healthcare, Retail, Recreation etc. We do it just about everything. Here recently, Ive been developing with some friends I work with some Self Service Solutions we intend to market.

Im kind of wanting yalls take on this. Do you prefer a little human interaction whenever you go or you prefer to do it on your own and get in get out etc. How can all of us in general not meaning me or my friends balance it out. Do we prefer trying to get this machine to work or speak with a human who might be able to brighten our day a bit with a smile. Does the use of automation and self service machines make the customer satisfaction less pleasurable more pleasurable or do you think it all balances out?

Im interested to hear yalls opinions on this.

[hawkysu]

Depends. Sometimes we want speed. Othertimes, we want someone to say hello (Like we'll ever get that out here anyways ) I do think it would be creepy to be talking to a robot about my day though...

And it depends on the industry.
Grocery stores: either
office supplies: personal
meuseams and service: self
(^sp?^)
and ect.

[Elcric]

Hello,

Automation and self service machines are taking over the world of customer service and they are frequently a major source of customer dissatisfaction. For example, if I have a problem with my internet service provider (ISP) I have to go through what seems to me an unnecessary long list of push number one if you want this, or push number two if you want that and it goes on and on and on until finally I am connected to a real person who solves my problem. I have always thought it is a real person who solves my problem; however, as I think about it, maybe its another automation.

The only time I contact my ISP is when I have a problem. Problems make my unhappy. Being unhappy puts me in a bad mood. Being in a bad mood makes me impatient. The ISP automated self service answering machine process is too slow and makes me more impatient which puts me in a worse mood. By the time I get to what I think is a real person I am not a nice person.

Automation and self service has to change. Currently it treats people as if they are automated and without feelings. People have feelings. People love to be treated special, made to feel important. Automation and self service does not make me feel special, it does not make me feel important; and it makes me feel like my time is wasted.

The people who design the automation and self service have to figure out ways to provide customer satisfaction. Make the customer feel important. Make the customer feel special. And, at the same time, explain to the customer up front that automation and self service is saving the customer money and providing better customer service.

[Sethro117]

Youre talking about IVRs Elcric and I agree. I hate those with a passion and think they have their places if youre wanting information or something. But you always have to go through a bunch of different options to verify you cant be helped with some automated response and the live people are always the last option.

I love how those things are like For this prerss 1, for this press 2 and then the last option is for a customer service represenative press 7. Its like they are afraid we will catch on and actually get someone or something. I agree I hate those, but Im meaning more for shopping experiences, etc.

[supersloth]

i don't use self-service. two big reasons:

1: the more you use self-service, the more the metrics tell a business it can cut hours for people. i don't like putting people out of work.

2: when i use self-service, i am doing the work myself, if i'm doing the work instead of the business, the products should be cheaper, but they never are. it's a way to increase profit margins by paying people less, but charging customers the same. if you are making savings, some should be passed down to the customer.

self-service is for suckers.

[Sethro117]

Good points sloth. But as a business owner, they are always looking for ways to save money. While you personally might not like putting people out of work from a owner perspective it cuts cost therefore making them more money. I agree though itd be nice if the saving were passed down to the customer but since its not do you that thatd a business stratergy to expand and offer other services for a customer or more so, greed?

[WolfCoder]

Elcric, on 28 Sep, 2009 - 11:50 PM, said:

Hello,

Automation and self service machines are taking over the world of customer service and they are frequently a major source of customer dissatisfaction. For example, if I have a problem with my internet service provider (ISP) I have to go through what seems to me an unnecessary long list of push number one if you want this, or push number two if you want that and it goes on and on and on until finally I am connected to a real person who solves my problem...

Press 0 over and over until a human picks up.

[BigAnt]

This reminds me of the self checkout at the grocery stores now. I go there and check my self out, but every other item it "says Invalid weight please wait for assitance." Or when I fill the bag and have to move it I hit Item removed, then it says it again for like every item I had that was in the bag.
They claim it is "Speedy Checkout" But it is designed poorly if this is the purpose

[Sethro117]

@Ant, its funny you mention the Invalid Weight. I work on NCRs SelfCheckout team on the WalMart contract and thats a VERY common error. If you get that errors its usually because the store doesnt reboot them often enough so the Weight Database isnt synced up with the new one.

If maintained properly then they are really useful, but its getting the stores to understand these things make them money. Even if they dont like using them in the store, customers use them and they need to be operational.