Transcript - Customer service with O2

Here is a transcript of a customer service encounter/'moment of truth' I just had with 'Brad' from O2. Only slightly edited for reasons of personal information security.

Welcome to O2. Someone will be with you soon.

You're through to Brad.

Brad: Hi I'm O2 : Brad. How can I help?

Michael Harker: Hi, I received a replacement SIM for my iPhone 4S. SIM isn't connecting to O2 network.

Brad: No worries.

Brad: I'll help you with that.

Brad: Please can you tell me the first and third character of the answer to your security question?

Michael Harker: *_*

Brad: Thanks for the information. Please give me a few minutes while I check this for you.

Brad: Can I've the full answer to your security question please?

Michael Harker: ****

Brad: Thanks for the info.

Brad: Now can you help me with the 19 digit sim serial number which is on the back of the sim?

Michael Harker: Ok - 89441100**********

Brad: Thanks for the info.

Brad: Just a few minutes.

Michael Harker: tumtetum

Brad: Yes, just a few more minutes.

Brad: It's in process.

Brad: Thanks for waiting.

Brad: I've activated the new sim for you and you'll be able to use the services within a few hours from now (maximum 24 hours).

Michael Harker: Ok. Do I need to reset network settings or anything or just leave the phone alone?

Brad: Just leave the phone alone ans switch off and switch on the phone periodically until you get the O2 logo on the screen.

Brad: *and

Michael Harker: Ok. Thanks for your help. Bye...

Brad: You're most welcome.

Brad: It was nice chatting with you.

Brad: Bye and take care.

Brad: Have a nice day.

Michael Harker: I hope you have all those on macros

Brad: Yes, these chats are saved on your account.

Why 'Brad'? That isn't his/her real name. For a combination of reasons the operators are slotted into an artificial persona, rather than using their own. Next time I use this service it won't be Brad, and even if it was, Brad would almost certainly be someone else.

What can we infer about the real human behind Brad? Probably a native English speaker - note the recognition of tumtetum as a typed sign of impatience. The responses to my questions were a mix of macro'd responses - 'have a nice day' - and actual human input - note the corrected spelling. Also note that the word macro wasn't recognised.

Probably a Liberal Arts student! Only mostly joking.

In the last post we noted some of the new cases that will appear in the second edition - due late June 2012.

Here are the others to complete the list:

Tom's Shoes
General Electric - building business to business connections
Google - improving and speeding up innovation
Rolex - management of luxury brands
Zara - managing supply chains in the fashion sector
Movers and Shakers - leaders and innovators in European retail
Narrowcasting - creating bespoke communications
McDonald's in Russia - dealing with a different environment.

M.

Second Edition

The second edition of Armstrong, Kotler, Harker and Brennan - An Introduction to Marketing will be published by Peason Prentice-Hall late June 2012.

Available at all good bookshops, and quite a few mediocre ones!

The changes in content is a topic we'll save for later, but here are a few* of the new cases that replace material from the first edition:

British Telecom - corporate strategy in the long term.
Yourcompanysucks.com - customer complaint and company responses in the internet age
Doubleplusgood Market research - market research using social media
Steam Powered marketing - digital distribution of computer games
Angry Birds - the marketing of software applications


* In total there will be 14 new cases in the 2e.