It’s one week into the introduction of the Nexus One and this time Google might have bitten off more than they can chew. The hype about how the handset would challenge the iPhone for smartphone supremacy have now given way to angry customers. End-user customer service is not something the Internet giant has tried to do before, the inexperience is showing.
Google’s problem is threefold;
First, if a customer chooses to purchase the phone directly for $529 then all support and service communications are done through email and web. These communications channels are second nature to Google but not adequate for the level of service mobile customers expect these days. Google is promising a 48 hour turnaround to all support requests in relation to the Nexus One; yep, that’s right 2 Days without service in case of a critical failure.
Second, if a customer agrees to a 2 year contract with a carrier then the phone is $179 and the service is handled by the Carrier. In the mass market there just isn’t enough room in the monthly subscriber fees to cover the level of customer support that is currently needed. The introduction of a complex device like the Nexus One will (if it hasn’t already) cause more headaches.
Third, No company, not even Google, is taking ownership of communication with the customer in case of hardware failures. Reports of customers being bounced around between the Carrier, Google and the manufacturer of the device (HTC) are all over the message boards.
Google can fix this but they have to fix it fast in order to stay in this game.
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