AIBU to expect some customer service in a post Covid world?

[allofthetings]

I seems to me that a lot of big companies (like M&S, John Lewis etc) have decided not to bother with their call-centres/customer service because of Covid?

Covid isn't new anymore, and it's here to stay. I am perfectly happy with people WFH - cuts down on pollution and traffic - especially as I have to travel to work, as least I get some benefit with a slightly shorter commute.

But why is customer service so shit now?
AIBU to expect these larger companies to have sorted out their call centres by now?

We’re not in a post-Covid world. You said yourself that it’s here to stay.

I haven’t experienced any shit customer service, but if you have, YANBU to be annoyed. Your OP is very general, though. What, specifically, has gone wrong?

M&S have been awful recently.

First you get a robot then, if lucky, an actual person at the end of the computer but there were massive delays. I mean waiting in queues for over 90 minutes. Connection would drop and you'd have to ho through it all again.

Post-First-National-Covid-Lockdown-World then four

I have always thought customer service (via telephone) was pretty good in the UK and I think I've had a bad run off shit service in the last month (March - June I don't include because you know, it's all new) we are nearly in Oct now and I would have thought these companies would have got their shit together by now?

Covid is just being used as an excuse now. Some companies have done fantastically during all this, and there’s no excuse that by now everywhere (particularly larger retailers) shouldn’t have it sorted.

Call centres are so crammed close; at best they’d be able to use one in 4 desks at a time to adhere to safe distancing rules. They won’t be able to take your calls with facemasks on. That means fewer people to take calls, and longer call queues. I worked in a call centre for 4 years and to see that call waiting number rising, and know that people are waiting longer and longer and more likely to be really unpleasant to you when you’re already stressed... it’s not nice for them either.
Just food for thought.

rather can use the phone, why not use e-mail - at least that way you can have a record of the conversation and no need to wait listening to tedious music?

Some company’s don’t have email e.g Curry’s. It’s a shame some companies haven’t found more efficient ways of working by now.