Category Archives: customer experiences

HSBC: Failing to communicate with a customer

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HSBC logo

I’m having a horrible customer experience at the moment with HSBC Malta. I currently have life insurance policy with them with a premium that needs to be paid at the end of January. I didn’t get a notice for them that I needed to pay my premium so I contacted them at the end of January. It’s taken them 2 months so far and I still don’t know what my payment should be. Only now they contacted me to tell me that as I haven’t paid my premium they are suspending the policy. I’ve contact them no less than 8 times in this period and they still haven’t managed to get the message that all I’m trying to do is pay for my insurance. I’m not ready to look for a new term insurance quote yet, but I’m getting pretty close to it.

It’s interesting to note that my original communication on the 28th of January actually has a case number on the reply, so it’s not like they don’t have the systems to cater for their client’s needs. It’s just that they don’t seem to be using them; or don’t care about using them. It’s a crying shame; because an experience like this can really turn a customer sour and they could end up blogging about their bad experiences. Anyway I’ve written them a letter explaining the circumstances and when I’ve tried to contact them. I’ll keep you all posted about whether I manage to get to the bottom of it.

It’s all a matter of context

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Have you noticed how things can be more successful if they are consistent with their surroundings? It could be the simple things that make this succeed, but sometimes people don’t tend to look at the complete picture when they have an idea in their mind. For example, beer sales are going to be higher at a ball game, than they are at the ballet. Or selling vaginal dryness cream is more effective if a woman is doing it rather than a man. It’s all a matter of context.

This advice is usually more valuable if you operate in a niche. Making your surroundings and product offering consistent with one another is the secret to success. The two must complement each other rather than being at odds. People’s purchase behaviour needs to be reinforced rather than questioned and a consistent user experience is the key to this. Sometimes the best way it to step away from what you’re doing and wear a stranger’s shoes. If you look at the big picture, does it all make sense?

Abusing your customers

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Image via Wikipedia

I noticed last night that HSBC in Malta has decided to start levying a charge for it’s customers to use their Internet banking facility.I normally have no problem for paying for a service, but this just feels totally wrong.

Let’s examine how Internet banking came about. It was born of a necessity to drive down costs for banks by reducing the number of interactions that required a staff member to process them. Staff costs are the largest section of variable cost that can be attributed with dealing with a client request and empowering users to service themselves is touted in all the textbooks as the premier way to increase service levels and drive down costs. So I find it pretty shocking that a bank still offers personal banking for free while introduces a levy for online banking.

There have been a couple of of letters in the paper about it, but I won’t be holding my breath that anything will change. HSBC may still have my business, but they have definetly made a great dent in my respect for their banking practices.

Where to stay in Edinburgh

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I’ve just come back from my MBA gradutation in Edinburgh and had an excellent experience as a consumer looking for a place to stay. As my parents were joining us for the trip, we decided to get an apartment rather than stay at a hotel as this would give us more flexibility as well as allow opening up other options for us. Camille found a services apartment called Castle Apartment which was just down the road from Edinburgh Castle. The price was slightly out of our budget so I found a cheaper deal down by the Waterfront. Camille was still keen on the original place though, and browsing their website I found that they did a price match against other quotes.

So I gave them a call and they agreed to match the price which I thought was an excellent example of customer service. We got the apartment we wanted at the price we were ready to pay, and as a result EdAparments.com (who specialise exclusively in Edinburgh Apartments) filled a vacancy which may have otherwise stayed empty. They also have a pretty mature offering, both the website and the reminder emails I received contained links to ancillary services that would have interested someone visiting Edinburgh.

I’ll be quite honest, we were blown away by the apartment. It was directly on the Royal Mile, 2 minutes walk away from the castle and packed with all the amenities you could need. There was a large TV with DVD, a fully equipped kitchen and a massive bath in the bathroom. There were even a couple of books to keep you busy in case you have nothing to read. The only downside (in my opinion) was the absence of an Internet connection; but then, I’m perfectly aware that my needs are slightly different to the norm, not many people feel the need to have high speed satellite internet when they’re on holiday.

I’ve bookmarked EdAparments.com for the future. Next time I’m off to Edinburgh (and we’ve already decided we have to visit again); they’re the first company I’ll call on to sort out my accommodation.

Testing Flybe

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British Aerospace 146, to be replaced from 200...

Well, a couple of days ago we got back from Malta and found a great big crack in one of our luggages. Ok, it wasn’t a Rimowa, or anything special; but I was quite fond of it and well, it takes a pretty substantial amount of force to break a hard case. Anyway, we filed a PIR and are now waiting for feedback from Flybe. It will be interesting to see how FlyBe progress the case and how it will be resolved. I’ll keep you posted!

Anyone else had their bag damaged while travelling?

Boots: Looking out for the customer

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Boots Group

Just had a brilliant experience at Boots the other day. The customer in front of me had a big pile of shopping that she popped in front of the cashier. The girl who was serving her took a quick look over the items in front of her and split them into two piles. She explained that if she processed them as 2 transactions, the first transaction would entitle the shopper to a £5 discount coupon which could then be used on the second transaction.

I was pretty impressed by this. The cashier had no incentive to help the customer out, yet her actions made sure that the experience was memorable to the customer, positively reinforcing the shopping experience and ensuring the client returned again. Retailers spend lots of time and effort in trying to entice customers back to their store but a positive experience can outweigh any promotional products or discounts that the shopper may meet. Now if I could find someone who would cut me a deal on some baby furniture, then maybe I can finish off Arthur‘s room ;)