Here's what I call good service

I recently signed up for an OCBC bank account and applied for internet banking.

There were a lot of mailers sent to my home regarding banking, promotions and pin numbers etc after that. I find it a hassle dealing with such stuff and a pain reading all those information, and simply chucked them away.

However, when I needed to access internet banking later, I could not find the necessary documents. I then called up the OCBC hotline to enquire.

Over the past week, I called up three times, each time to ask about a different issue.

Just an hour ago, I made yet another call to them to enquire why I was unable to check my account online.

My call was answered by a customer service officer by the name of Eugene. He patiently explained to me what the reasons could be, and initially he told me to call back tomorrow morning after 8.30am, as it was only then that the configurations for the account could be reset. Later on, he checked and said he could do it for me over the phone.

He put me through a verification process and I was told (by a pre-recorded message) to key in my access code and pin number for phone banking. Eugene said that my line would be transferred back to him after the verification.

However, I keyed in the wrong access code which did not match the pin and could not pass the verification. Eugene then painstakingly clarified the correct method to key in the access code and pin and put me through the verification check again.

This time round, I keyed in the pin wrongly twice and used up the maximum number of chances to go through the verification process. My line to Eugene got cut off and it got connected to another operator Nicholas.

I had to explain my situation to him again and he too nicely listened and put me through the verification process. I did not know what came over me(!), but for the second time, I keyed in the wrong access code and pin! When my line went back to Nicholas, I asked him to let me try the verification test once again. I think I must have become too confused with keying in numbers that I made a mistake yet again!

My line got cut off and I then got transferred to a third operator. This time, a female operator (whose name I could not catch) took my call. Let's call her Nadia.

For the third time in 20 minutes, I had to run through my difficulties and why it did not work the first two times I tried. Like Eugene and Nicholas, Nadia patiently explained why I was unable to view my account online and advised me on the verification process.

Finally, I managed to get through the verification and Nadia said she would help me do the necessary and that I should be able to view my account online from tomorrow.

Although I had to go through quite a bit of phone transfers before things were eventually settled, I put down the phone with a smile on my face. What struck me was what Eugene, Nicholas and Nardia all had in common--good service.

I believe I am not the only blur and troublesome customer who calls up the the OCBC hotline, sometimes just to enquire about certain trivial issues. For the previous calls that I made, I found that the customer service operators were equally polite and sincere.

When they said they would call me back, they really did. When they said they would check out things and return my call within five minutes, they kept to their promise.

That felt really pleasant.

You might say that customer service officers are expected to answer calls with patience and courtesy as this is their job. But I have had rather bad experiences with operators from other companies that I think such good service should not be taken for granted.

Kudos to Eugene, Nicholas and Nadia!