Amazon released a new video feature for their new line of HDX tablets called Mayday. This is an interactive feature which will connect you up to a dedicated live agent from Amazon. They can circle things on your tablet, walk you through troubleshooting techniques or just take control of the device. Will Mayday revolutionize the way tech companies approach customer service?
Apple and Samsung enjoy the highest degree of customer satisfaction with their entire fleet of modern devices. There are a few extenuating factors that play into the recent report by JD Powers, such as price and customer service. Apple has maintained top spot for a number of years due to their Genius Bars, where customers can visit to get solid troubleshooting advice and even classes. Their phone system is also very reliable with agents being accessible within a few minutes and extensive follow up emails.
The vast majority of tech companies provide abysmal customer service. Kobo has one of the worst in the entire e-reader and tablet industry with their methodology of ignoring customers and passing them off to higher tier agents who never contact them again. We have had thousands of customers sound off on waiting on hold for an hour or having a level one agent saying only a level two can help you and then they never call or do email followups. The call center is located outside North America and most agents are unable to even provide basic level technical support.
There are hundreds of companies that market e-readers and tablets that don’t even have an established customer service system. Getting into contact with them normally results in you visiting a help forum and waiting days for people to respond. In other cases there is only a general email address to send your questions to, and those often go neglected.
Amazon is putting everyone on notice with their Mayday platform. You can access agents 24/7 and 365 days a year. Although you need a web-cam to talk to an agent they can’t actually see you, but you can see them. In order to initiate a session you need to be connected to WIFI and will not work with being on a dataplan. One of the cool aspects is you can drag the live chat window anywhere on your tablet, since its not being locked into place.
The essence of the established customer service paradigm is for companies to erect barriers between themselves and the customer. Instead of being lost in voicemail and waiting for an email to arrive you can now do it in seconds with Amazon.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.