Thompson & McCarty, P.C. CPA

I recently wanted to check and see if I could save enough money to warrant refinancing my home.  I thought that it would be easier to call my current mortgage company than to call a new mortgage company or originator. 

My first attempt to contact my existing mortgage company was on the internet.  After making multiple attempts to log in I realized that they had changed their log in process and my old user name and password were not valid.  So I attempted to change them and the system notified me that my access had been blocked due to invalid input.  I would have to contact customer support to reset the system.  After an hour and 15 minutes of trying I got frustrated and gave up for the evening.

My second experience is described here.  http://www.jasonn.com/node/568

I finally got through to a human but only after the events as described above and a fourth phone call and 30 minute wait in the queue.  I wonder what these guys spend in customer acquisition every year and if they know how many people they drive away with such poor services.

To you small business folks this is where you can really crush the "Big Guys". High quality service is something that should be built into your pricing model.  It is much better to explain your higher price than to defend a lack of customer service.  This is particularly true when you are the face of the business and you can't insulate yourself from the customers wrath with low cost employees like big business does.  This is an opportunity.  Don't let it slip your attention.