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Comment by ginko | Hacker News Reader

I never understood why so many companies prefer to be contacted by phone. I don't have a speech disorder, but I just don't like using the phone. Shouldn't interactions by email or chat be more efficient for companies as well?

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Broadly speaking, the easier it is for a customer to buy stuff, the harder it is to cancel them - gym memberships, internet etc.

This is why many online services don't send you an email when they charge you monthly (they hope you forget the subscription and this strategy works very well), you need to call them and wait for an hour to speak to an "executive" who is pushy and unhelpful etc.

There should be a law to force any subscription service to inform you every time they charge (a simple email). It would also be nice to have a "subscribe until" option. For example, if I am looking for a job and am confident that I'll find one in the next 3 months, I should be able to say "charge me $30 per month, for the next 3 months" ...

Or better, make banks allow you to cancel recurring payments for without a fee, and make non-payment the same as cancelling an account.

Europe is partially there; SEPA Debits can be blocked for free. The last part is missing, so you still have to cancel the account, but you can at any point deny them access to your bank account.

Generally this should only be used once you have notified the other party of the contract of the cancellation (preferably in a way that can be traced and proven, like signed receipt postal mail) and they then ignore your cancellation.

>This is why many online services don't send you an email when they charge you monthly (they hope you forget the subscription and this strategy works very well)

Reminds me of a scummy tactic by Spectrum - they never sent me a bill after the first month (or if they did they used the previous tenant's name), then charged me a late fee.

A typical pattern is to accept orders electronically but cancellations only by phone between 1:00 pm and 1:12 pm.

Should be illegal.

It is illegal.

(If they don’t accept correspondence from any other media)

Companies in every state in the US have to have a USPS mailing address. It’s a simple matter of sending them a proof-of-delivery letter to their business address registered with their state’s company register to request an end to your business dealings with them.

If they ignore it or claim they didn’t receive it despite USPS attesting it was delivered, then they aren’t monitoring their physical mail address and presumably there’s state penalties for that.

Hmmm! Startup idea: a dotcom website that sends USPS mail to business you hate dealing with to succinctly request service termination and no further contact. Any takers?

Presumably the inevitable Aereo-esque lawsuits are what keep people away.

Even forcing that should be illegal.

AOL used to be masterful at this. It was almost impossible to cancel them. A lot of people cancelled their credit cards to get rid of them.

Or fax. “Send us the request on a floppy disk and we’ll respond with the cancellation instructions cassette you could listen to on your Sonny walkman”

...with a hold time between 20 mins and 40 mins that must end within this time period.

I'm dealing with a company at the moment where the interaction tends to go like this:

1. They call my mobile number, but I am not available.

2. They email me to say that they can't get hold of me and ask me to phone them.

3. I contact their customer support on Twitter who tell me what the original message was.

Simply sending me the message by email in the first place would save some time. I'd also then have a log of any discussion, which I don't get on the telephone (but they record conversations).

People at this company may think that some potentially confidential information may arise in what they will (send to (or receive from) you. Many believe that the phone is better at preserving confidentiality.

Indeed. But, they still do this even after I have explicitly requested emails.

Telephone is voice which is better for salesmen to sell you stuff.

Employees who can answer a phone call are cheap and a dime a dozen. Employees who can type and appropriately communicate their intentions in written form, not so much.

Also, unless the phone calls are recorded by one party, telephone calls don't leave a paper trail for later accusations to be verified/denied, etc..

Usually because it provides an opportunity to upsell. Or to answer any questions in a synchronous fashion.

Great for sales and preventing abandonment - but not great for simple or routine transactions.

Yep, and many customers use a "cancel service" request as a pretext to get a discount or other benefit.

The call-center departments that handle cancellation requests aren't frequently named "Customer Retention" for nothing.

I've gotten discounts and free-bees from my NYTimes electronic subscription in this way.

Interactions by email or chat are less efficient for companies than the telephone. This is so, because for the vast, vast majority of people it is much easier to talk then to type. Specially when things get more complicated. With the phone you can also easier check, if the customer understands you. You can easily explain at the phone something that would need to type you out 250 words or more. With a chat you would not be able to do that. Also you would not be able to verify if the customer has even read the piece or just tuned out.

Speaking at the phone is faster than typing a chat comment. It is also more empathetic, the human touch makes people perceive the company as friendlier, closer to you and more empathetic.

Nothing says "friendly and empathetic" like talking to a robot to go through menu options, then being put on hold for 45 minutes listing to music being played through a tin can while waiting to be connected to some contracting call center.

Of course I know what you mean. Many very big corporations do it that way. But that is not how it should be done and as you point out that destroys the friendliness. A good customer service person at the phone will always be more friendlier and empathetic than one at the chat. It comes with the tools. This is so, because on the phone you can work with your voice.

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