NOW TV

NOW TV has a clean and clear interface, and finding help is straightforward enough.

There’s loads of help topics here, with detailed FAQs for each one. There’s a customer service form that takes you through to an internal email system, and there are links to ask the NOW TV community.

I also like the help videos embedded in the bottom right corner of the page, with a link to more videos on Youtube.

Perhaps even more impressively, in the left hand menu there is a ‘Get help on Twitter’ link, which is great to see on a customer service page.

NOW TV’s Twitter account specifically states that its here to “Help”, so it’s an encouraging forum.

The working hours are stated as 10am-10pm. Does this transparency stop questions piling up out of hours? It’s good that NOW TV is clear on this, but perhaps a large brand should be operating 24 hours a day. Or is that just unrealistic?

NOW TV’s response time is actually very good on Twitter, often replying within the hour and offering clear information. 

If the query is more difficult, the customer is given a link to its livechat.

Twitter is definitely an effective channel for contacting a brand and provides much speedier gratification, if the brand is operating the account efficiently.

How easy is it to quit? Very. The option is highlighted with a black background directly on the help page.

 

You’re then taken through to a page that asks if you’re sure you want to cancel.

This is fairly effective, showcasing the films that are coming up in the next coming weeks. It’s a good mixture of genres appealing to many demographics. However if the fifth entry in the Die Hard series doesn’t float your boat…

There’s a brief survey to fill in. “Don’t worry it won’t take long” claims Sky. That’s it. End of the relationship. Simple enough. Time to move on and break some more hearts…

Netflix

The Netflix customer service page is easy to find and straightforward to navigate.

It also offers a handy livechat function. Paul appeared within one minute to ask if he can help.

Despite the plethora of FAQs, livechat and phone lines that promise a less than one minute wait, there’s no link to Twitter.

Netflix’s Twitter account is largely a broadcasting PR machine, however there is a link to a separate help account within the bio.

Netflix is reasonably good at responding. 

The channel operates between 6am-9pm, which is a few hours longer than NOW TV, however surely these hours would be better later rather than earlier? Can’t say I regularly watch Breaking Bad before 9am.

How easy is it to quit? Extremely. It’s even easier than NOW TV. There’s a clear ‘cancel membership’ button at the top of your account page. Then after only one click…

That’s it. It’s over. Not even an “are you sure?” or a “but we’ve got Die Hard!” Nothing. It’s like it doesn’t even need my custom. I leave despondently on to the final one…

LOVEFiLM

LOVEFiLM operates a fairly complex customer service page.

There’s little logic behind the order of this, which is frankly difficult to look at for too long with its stark text and dated layout.

LOVEFiLM doesn’t operate a separate customer service Twitter account. This is just its standard promotional account.

However LOVEFiLM does answer customer queries on it.

LOVEFiLM responds helpfully and in a timely manner. It’s difficult to say if it operates between certain working hours, as they’re not stated, however each question is answered quickly and with further positive feedback from the customer.

In the future LOVEFiLM could certainly do with operating a separate customer service Twitter feed and linking to it on its website. This would certainly remove some burden from the main Twitter feed. Does LOVEFiLM really want to be mixing its promotional messages with answering customer’s broadband issues?

How easy is it to quit? LOVEFiLM carries with it a major preconception here.

I have a friend who tried to quit LOVEFiLM via telephone yesterday. LOVEFiLM asked “Why are you quitting?” She replied “I’m too busy and don’t have time to watch films”, LOVEFiLM followed with “Why are you busy and and what are you doing that’s taking up all of your time?” There’s a certain amount of overstepping the mark here.

The option for cancelling your account is fairly well hidden on the site.

I finally found it as the third option in a separate account page, which then leads to this page…

This is even harder to view than the customer help page, and here’s the real kicker… You have to phone them to cancel. There’s no online function.

So I take a deep breath and give LOVEFiLM a ring…

The customer service representative picked up quickly. I told him I wanted to quit. He asked for a lot of security based information. He then proceeded to offer me all kinds of special incentives to keep me. Long story short, I got three months free LOVEFiLM.

I put the phone down feeling a little sheepish and realising I will be having the exact same conversation again in February.

In conclusion…

LOVEFiLM knows exactly what it’s doing in terms of hiding the cancel membership option. It’s also playing a devilish card in making the customer ring to cancel membership. It’s much more difficult to do this in front of a human being than it is to click a button online. Also that human being can tailor incentives to suit the customer in order to make them stay.

This however can cause a great deal of negative feedback, especially when you consider the ease of NOW TV and Netflix cancellations. Netflix however could really stand to put up a bit more of a fight to keep its customers. Perhaps Netflix feels open to exploitation if it offers incentives to those who quit. LOVEFiLM successfully worked its magic on me, but there’s nothing stopping me from trying the same tactic again.

All three operate reliable customer service pages, and it’s great to see them adopt Twitter as a customer service channel. With customers expecting ever faster response times from brands, it won’t be long before Twitter becomes the primary channel for feedback and service.