The Volkskrant’s customer service

If there is one thing that will put me in a bad mood it is when the newspaper hasn’t been delivered on Saturday (of which this blog rant is the proof). Recently the process of getting in touch with the paper and getting one delivered to me has only made things worse. The Volkskrant now uses “speech recognition” and website login for complaints about delivery.

Speech recognition technology could be a fast and (for the user) effortless way of communicating in certain situations if or when it works properly. But, as I just experienced, it is infuriating when it isn’t. You’re tricked into thinking you’re being understood but later it is revealed that the computer cannot deal with the complexities of human life.

In this case the paper’s computer system cannot even deal with addresses with additions to the house number. In the Netherlands this must exclude half of the households from being able to use this communication channel. The Volkskrant answering service asks first for your postal code (and repeats it), then for the street number without the addition (and repeats the number). So you expect it to ask for the addition next (and repeat it). Wrong. The voice tells you they have no subscriber at an address with that number. (If they had, this person would have gotten an extra paper.)

Now I have to start up my computer to report the missing paper on their web site. After finding the right page I have to log in. In my case this means creating a user account for which I will have to look up my subscription number first. I am asked to login so that the paper can provide ME, the subscriber, with “maximum service” it says but it feels like the other way around. I won’t get a paper today so I give up and go eat breakfast.

My point being: the Volkskrant probably means well but if they can’t spring for a call center employee on Saturdays let an answering machine tell me so and don’t waste my time.