Sunday, May 13, 2012

Customer Service At Its Finest

I am usually quite critical of my cellular provider when it comes to quality of service.  I have been a loyal customer of AT&T for 12+ years, and while my experience with people and devices has been mostly positive, my biggest complaint has always been coverage (or lack their of).  This post isn't about AT&T's coverage, and the 3-4 times my conversation would drop from my office to house (8.3 miles), rather it is about a unique experience I had with their mobile app and international services.

While traveling last week out of the country for a personal trip, I realized at the airport that I forgot to add international text messaging to my iPhone.  I had a legitimate need to communicate with family and colleagues while on the trip, so a last minute addition to my plan was imperative.  I quickly launched the myAT&T app on my iPhone and logged in to my account.  I navigated to the 'My Services' area of the app, and scrolled down to the 'International Features' section.  I selected the Global Messaging plan that met my needs and accepted the terms.  Within 30 seconds I received an email to the primary account on my plan confirming that the Global Messaging had been added to my plan.  Also, within another 2-3 minutes I received a phone call from an AT&T representative confirming the change to my plan. 

Now, you might be asking what is so special about this?  All of this transpired within less than 5 minutes.  Less than 5 minutes.  I modified my cellular plan, received an email notification, and a confirmation phone call from the vendor.  If that isn't quality customer service, I don't know what is.  Upon my return from my travels, I used the same process to remove the Global Messaging from my plan. 

In technology, we are always searching for vendor partners who provide quality service such as I have described above.  1.  Immediate access to services and the ability to modify on the go.  2.  Customized notifications when changes are made or updates are provided.  3.  Quality assurance from a support representative.  4.  An intuitive and simple process that satisfies the customer. 

Thanks AT&T for providing a quality experience for this customer during a last minute change.  Now...let's get those coverage areas beefed up in the greater Chicagoland area. 

JDS