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Insulting your users

It can be easy to accidentally insult someone that comes to you for support. Saying something like, "Let me show you... it's so easy a child could do it." might be well-intentioned, but think about how insulting it can be to the customer. (We caution against that exact phrase in TPOSANA.)

Continental Airlines could use some training in this area. Today I spent 30 minutes on hold waiting to talk to a human (grrr...). The hold music included adverts for how great they were and while listening to them over and over and over I had a lot of time to analyze what they were saying. (What they weren't saying is, "We've reduced fares to the point that we can't afford to handle luggage properly and thus you are now on hold waiting 30 minutes to find out where your bag is", but I digress.)

Here's the insulting part...

The advertisement for their on-line check in service began, "Still haven't checked in online? Why not? It's child's play!" Ok, you've insulted me. Can it get any worse? Well, the script ended with the jazzy music playing as the announcer says, "So next time check in online! Or have you kid do it for you!"

Insulting to the max. Way to go. Now get me a human so I can find out where my luggage is!

Posted by Tom Limoncelli in Professionalism

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