Missed appointments, you know the ones. We’re talking about a delivery, repair or installation you’ve waited in for all day. Perhaps cable TV, internet or even for a plumber or metering engineer. The appointments are only date and not time specific so you have to stay in all day usually between 8 am till 8pm.
It won’t harm going to the shops, picking up the kids or popping next door for a cuppa. After all, you’ll probably see the van coming on the short walk to school or the market. Anyway they’ll call before they arrive (you hope).
No sign that anyone has called
You get home an hour later and there’s no card. Thank goodness for that you think, got away with that one! It’s now 7pm and still no show. That moment of dread hits you, maybe they did come while I was out; maybe I did miss them.
You call the company and they state that it’s only 7pm and the appointment is up till 8. They check the system and the engineer or delivery driver states they’re on their way. The call centre closes at 8pm and therefore if they don’t arrive by then you’ll need to call back the following day. Little do customers know that the engineer or delivery driver’s hand held terminal won’t update the call centre’s records until the shift has ended. They don’t show and you’re furious. Why couldn’t the agent tell you when you called at 7pm and why would they lie to you? Chances are you missed them while you were out but they didn’t have a card to leave you. This doesn’t enter your head, and then you start thinking about the compensation you can get for the missed appointment.
You weren’t in for your appointment!
You call the next day and are told the exact time they came (while you were out) but still as no card was left you demand compensation and normally get it. This isn’t because the engineer didn’t show; it’s just that the company in question can’t prove they did. Think about the money a lie detector test policy could save. These ‘failed’ deliveries cost companies between £20 and £40 per appointment. One energy company paid out 1.1 million in compensation in a year and not all of these appointments were actually missed.
This is where lie detector tests come in, they could help filter out all of the compensation seekers who did miss their appointment but were too ashamed or stubborn to admit it. We’re not saying that all people try it on but we do live in a compensation culture and many of us are guilty at one point or another of trying to get something for nothing.
Lie detector test policy
Asking company employees responsible for appointments to take lie detector tests for missed appointments could reduce repeated calls into your Customer Service Centre. They would reduce your compensation costs and give a new sense of trust to your brand. Advertising that you carry lie detector tests in your terms and conditions would instill confidence from your customers. The policy has the potential to generate revenue with new custom after word gets out that your company is trustworthy and keeps to their promises.
Your customers don’t need to call for compensation (you already know) as it would be automatically applied if the appointment was genuinely missed. Can your company afford to miss out on this unique opportunity?