"Dunno." In one case, the technology actually worked perfectly. After phoning the ATO to change the address details for my tax return, I asked if a separate phone call was required to change the details on my ABN. The operator said it was. After a long to-and-fro on the second phone call, we finally worked out that when I had changed the address on my tax file number, this had automatically updated the address details on my ABN after all -- the second call wasn't required. This leads me to believe that a great deal of the time the problem is not so much the technology, but the training of the staff using it. This impression was strongly reinforced when I had to change my credit card number. Realising the futility of using the Web, I phoned all the relevant companies -- please enter your customer registration number followed by the hash key, we realise your time is valuable, your call may be monitored, hello, this is Nigel, can I start with your customer registration number? All this went smoothly until I discovered my Internet banking wasn't working. The first bank staff member I spoke to told me I had to register for Internet banking with my new card number. Which I did, to discover all my automatic payments and other details had vanished. After a second call, I was informed that it was possible to transfer details between an old account and a new one, but because I had already created a new one with the new card number, I would have to create another account, with a different number. Why the details had not been transferred automatically when the new card was issued, they couldn't explain. Neither was it clear why the first staff member had not been aware of the ability to transfer the details. While this is probably a series of boring anecdotes told by someone who will soon be complaining there are too many swear words on television, there are some points many companies could -- I hope -- learn:
- 1. Use the Web. Had I been able to change my address online, I wouldn't have been tying up call centres with my increasingly curmudgeonly demands.
- 2. Use your head. There's no point in building extremely clever systems if it still requires three phone calls to get everything working. Make sure things that should happen automatically actually do.
- 3. Train your staff. There also no point on building extremely clever systems if your staff don't know how they work. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go complain about something.
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