Nothing like burning a bunch of daytime minutes or half your lunch break just trying to make a simple change to an account or handle a discrepancy on a bill. Well with FastCustomer those days are behind us. Check out this very handy app/service after the jump.
“People are sick of shitty customer service,†said FastCustomer co-founder, Stephanie Hay. And she and her team aim to do something about it.
Their first product, for the iPhone, Android, and other platforms, allowed you to search for a customer service number – say Adam & Eve – and press a button. The program waits on hold for you and then calls you on your phone immediately upon connecting. The company saw 100,000 downloads and estimates that they saved people 1 million minutes of hold time.
They’ve just launched a new telephone concierge service, 1855-DONT-HOLD (855-366-8465), that allows you to call in and perform the same operation. In short, this thing stays on hold for you. The whole process usually takes less than an hour.
“We asked ourselves ‘How can we remove the pain for the customer service experience for the end user?’†said Hay.
The co-founders are Aaron Dragushan of Wondermill, the aforementioned Hay, and Paul Singh of 500 Startups. They closed a $750,000 seed round last September.
The company currently handles 1,000 calls per day and hopes to handle more with the new phone number.
“After hearing ‘Please stay on the line, your call is important to us,’ on repeat, we talked about how awesome it would be if humans never had to wait on hold with technology again,†said Hay. “So now, with the introduction of our concierge-level service, we’re trying to make customer service experiences — dare I say — actually enjoyable.â€
The company works closely with companies to ensure proper routing. Premium services allow companies to completely control the user experience, from assigning the correct phone numbers to modifying the notification messages. They also white label the service for corporate clients.
The new phone service will launch shortly but you can try the in-app service now.
