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Credit Card Customer Service Roundup - Part 3 |
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We ranked the top five credit card companies on customer service (American Express, Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, and Discover), and here are our final results.
#5: Bank of America. Though offering the standard services, and having a widespread name and corporate recognition, the actual customer service perhaps suffers at the hand of being such a titanic operation. It’s difficult to find information on the Web site (at least, information that agrees with their live operators), and the personal care touch is gone. Perhaps Bank of America outsourced their customer service operation. Outsourced it to Mars.
#4: Chase. Although adequate, Chase has every one of those small-annoyance features that are frustrating to customers: limited information about APR and the like until agreeing to apply; hold time with crummy music; a slightly confusing Web site; dull and/or mechanical service representative interaction; and limited hours of live person availability. are all attributes that prevent Chase from boasting wonderful customer services. Not really a pain-in-the-neck customer service system, Chase is just average. Not bad bad, but not great.
#3: American Express. American Express does the job. No bells and whistles, but a well-rounded customer service department, with enough features to leave us generally satisfied. The rep made a card recommendation for me after only a few questions, and after further talking it turned out to be a good analysis. American Express’s customer service skills are much like the aesthetics of the card itself: not the most brilliant gold color, but definitely still gold.
#2: Citibank. Great customer service. It’s nice to report that there was almost a tie for first place rather than a tie for last place, and in this case Citibank should be proud of that close call. Nice clear Web site directory, one-touch access to a live person, and interactions with human beings who made it clear they didn’t hate working for Citibank at all. Agents told us about great featured bonuses for customers, but not in a way that made us feel pressured. Wonderful customer service upkeep, Citibank!
#1: Discover. Who knew it really pays to Discover™? Aside from offering the easiest, most practical perks (regular 5% cash back on purchases made at restaurants, gas stations, etc., as well as comprehensive security and credit rating services), the interactions with the Discover folks make you feel valued and respected. Be it hospitality or above-and-beyond professionalism, the general response we had after interacting with Discover is that we want to move to where Discover is headquartered, then raise our families and send our kids to school there. Talking to a credit card company’s customer service line rarely leaves you feeling so warm and fuzzy.
We hope our credit card customer service roundup is helpful, but as always your mileage may vary. The best way to find out is to call yourself. Good luck finding those 800-numbers, though!
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Credit Card Articles > Choosing a Credit Card > Credit Card Customer Service Roundup - Part 3
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