Lack of accountability, communication and respect for customers on all levels within the company.
Each dissatisfied customer is viewed as "It's just ONE customer, so who cares?" Most customers have a stuck up attitude and feel like they are entitled to getting everything for free as a favor, comp or perk. In similar fashion, most (not all) in management have a similar attitude and will make the absolute least amount of effort to resolve any issues. Even if they know it is a temporary solution, they will walk away as if it's not going to happen again and then act surprised when they have to deal with it again.
Employees arrive late without repercussions. Many times the customer service center is left without leadership, even in high volume situations when problematic scenarios are not only possible, but expected. Not just not available, but completely off-site. VP's, Customer Service Managers and all (read both) of IT will leave and assume everything will be okay.
There are rarely any hard deadlines. Everything is treated as "It's fine. Not a big deal." No sense of urgency whatsoever. If given a project, you have to ask for a deadline and even then you can go weeks without so much as a peep about it. You have to stay on top of everyone to get an answer to anything or you'll never hear about it again.
If they would raise the bar just a tad, this company would improve dramatically, but I don't think anyone there can even understand what that would look like. Some of them haven't had any previous experience in the roles they have, so they don't know any other way. Expect people to show up on time and do their jobs. Take care of each customer as if it's the last customer you'll ever get. Yes, efficiency sometimes costs money up front, but the reward is well worth the expense. Just because it's the cheapest way to do something doesn't mean it's the best way.
Last, but certainly not least: I don't care where you come from, how much money you make or who you know. Everyone deserves a certain level of respect. It doesn't matter if they are your customer or they are providing you with a service. It doesn't matter what they look like or what they sound like. You treat everyone with the same respect you would like them to show to you. If a customer calls to complain, how would you want to be treated if you were the one calling? If an employee has a question, do your job and answer the question. Just because it isn't important to you doesn't mean it isn't important and relevant to the them.
