In most cases, customers dial into call centers when they have a complaint and wish to speak to an executive. Unfortunately, when you dial in, the recorded voice always gives you every other option that exists before you can finally reach an executive. In all the cases I know, complaints always correspond to one of 6/7/8/9 on your phone keypad. So you have to wait till the end of the recorded voice message to finally get through to an executive.

In case of Tata Sky, they first ask you to either dial 1 for English or dial 2 for Hindi. I chose 1 for English. This was followed by another menu to identify if I was an existing customer or a new customer. Then came a long list of items – dial 1 for account balance, 2 for recharge, 3 for additional packages, 4 to purchase a showcase event; and finally Technical Support comes in at 5. After dialing 5, you need to wait for another 10 minutes – listening to different Tata Sky offers – before someone attends your call. Finally, when you get through, you are greeted in Hindi no matter what option you may have chosen initially. Frustrating isn’t it?

These systems are designed for poor customer experiences. Anybody who is calling in to complain is already unhappy with the service. Shouldn’t companies be trying to serve them quickly? Why not have Technical Support or Complaint Registration as the first option in the menu? Having it in the end ensures it is the last straw that leads to an angry customer.