Consumers - How to Escalate Your Complaint & Win

Escalation has been a term in currency within buyer service units for many years. It is the process of captivating a client's inbound call or complaint up from one level of support, or discretion, to the next.

Typically, at Level One, which is where most of us dial-in, unless we're corporate buyers who are sent to a extra cue, Csr's cannot give us anyone except excuses.

Att Call Conference

Yesterday, I attended a classical concert at Disney Hall in Los Angeles. The seats I bought online were miserable, perched way above the stage and to the right, and I got vertigo, finding down. There was no leg room, whatsoever, adding to the misery of my 6-2 frame.

With about 12 minutes to performance time, I went down to the ticket lobby and asked for a turn of seats. The First Level ticket jobber said I'd have to stay where I was or pay more for better seats.

I asked for her manager.

Reluctantly, she fetched the person, and I explained my queasiness. Declining her enticement to upgrade seats at a fee, she finally caved and gave me two seats that were far superior, and I enjoyed the show.

Level one couldn't say yes; she could only say no, and that's typical, whether you're on the phone or in their faces.

I've phoned At&T about my buggy Dsl modem and I've noticed that Level I personnel are offshore, in India, I believe; while Level Ii folks are stateside.

If you're savvy, you can cut to the chase with a Level
I by saying, "I'm going to need a new (unit) because
mine is buggy, and I've done all the tests to
determine it's not a software issue. Can you get me to
Level Ii so they can handle this for me?

I've found this works with At&T. They know you know the drill and they help instead of hinder your progress, but only if you insist.

There has all the time been a downward pressure on customer-
driven escalation. Csr's are discouraged from allowing calls
to escalate because it gobbles up internal resources,
the time of more knowledgeable, supervisory or
team leadership talent, if you can call it that.

But don't let that stop you from getting what you need.

If you seem like the sort of buyer that will escalate right to the very top, you'll ordinarily get the concession you need far lower than that in the organization.

Remember, don't hesitate; escalate!

Consumers - How to Escalate Your Complaint & Win