Contents

Author’s Note

1. Random Acts of Rudeness

Customer encounters, Comcast, and customer rage

2. What Would Alexander Graham Bell Say Now?

The telephone and the birth of today’s customer service industry

3. “You’re Going to Listen to Me”

Internet advocacy, Consumerist.com, AOL, GetHuman.com, and Sweden

4. To Send Us Your Firstborn, Please Press or Say: “One”

Automation, Amtrak Julie, artificial intelligence, and eavesdropping

5. The Other End of the Line

Call centers, JetBlue, reps, supervisors, prisons, and CustomersSuck.com

6. The Next Available Agent: John, Juan, Sean, or Sanjay

International outsourcing, Argentina, TeleTech, Egypt, and the United Kingdom

7. The Solution Is the Problem

The old AT&T Wireless, Sprint, consultants, cottage industries, and CRM

8. Absolutely, Positively

FedEx, Zappos.com, Credit Suisse, and CEOs

Acknowledgments

Notes