Contact Center Solutions Industry News

TMCNet: BLOG: TechBlog: Survey: Top 7 tech gripes [Houston Chronicle]

[November 29, 2009]

BLOG: TechBlog: Survey: Top 7 tech gripes [Houston Chronicle]

(Houston Chronicle (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 29--We love technology, except when we don't.

And when we don't is when it's more of a hindrance than a help, especially when it's misused or when it simply doesn't work as it should.

Then, it drives us bonkers.

Consumer Reports asked 1,125 Americans to rank 21 common gripes on a scale of 1-10, and the results appeared in the January 2010 issue -- the same print edition that includes the wireless provider survey I wrote about Saturday [http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2009/11/cell_survey_verizon_best_att_worst_in_houston.html]. And like the cell phone piece, this story isn't on the magazine's Web site [http://consumerreports.org].

What's interesting is that, of the 21 complaints, a full third are tech related. The tech complaints and their rankings are, in order of their appearance on the list: --Not getting a human on the phone -- 8.9, No. 2 on the list.

--Cell phone use by drivers -- 8.0, No. 4.

--Unreliable Internet service -- 7.6, No. 7.

--Discourteous cell phone use -- 7.6, No. 8.

--Spam -- 7.5, No. 10 --Unreliable cell phone service -- 7.0, No. 13 --Passwords and PINs -- 6.1, No. 20.

A disclaimer says that "Differences of fewer than 0.4 points are not meaningful", which means a lot of the complaints are lumped together. Unreliable Internet service and discourteous cell phone use, for example, get the same ranking as dog poop.

The story also breaks some of the complaints out by demographic categories. For example, women are more irked by passwords and PINs than men; older people are more upset by cell use while driving and spam than younger people. Oh, and urban residents are a lot more pissed off about dog poop than their country cousins.

Personally, I'd rank the tech items a lot differently. My top tech complaint would be unreliable Internet service, followed by unreliable cell service, discourteous cell use, spam, cell use while driving, not getting a human on the phone and passwords/PINs.

How would you rank the tech complaints? And is there anything that's not on the list that should be? Please leave a comment.

Oh, and be sure to read Bill Montgomery's thoughts on how air travel fares on the list in his Houston Departures blog [http://blogs.chron.com/houstondepartures/2009/11/some_good_news_sort_of_for_air.html].

Technorati Tags: consumer reports [http://technorati.com/tags/consumer+reports],tech [http://technorati.com/tags/tech],complaints [http://technorati.com/tags/complaints],gripes [http://technorati.com/tags/gripes] To see more of the Houston Chronicle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.HoustonChronicle.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Houston Chronicle Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

[ Back To Contact Center Solutions Homepage's Homepage ]


Related Contact Center Solutions Articles
[ View all Contact Center Solutions Articles ]

Socialize with us

FREE Contact Center Solutions eNewsletter

Click here to receive your targeted Contact Center Solutions Community eNewsletter.[Subscribe Now]

Industry News

Featured Resources

Contact Center Solutions Glossary of Terms

Press Releases

About the Contact Center Solutions Community

    Welcome to the Contact Center Solutions Community The Contact Center Solutions Global Online Community, Sponsored by Interactive Intelligence, is designed to serve as the industry's premier resource for information and research on Contact Center Solutions technology and deployment strategies.