the LGO journey

better technology is not always better

When I went to get money from Financial Aid this last week (living on loan money, yay!) I found out that they added a new feature.  Instead of getting a paper check and leaving with the “money” in hand, they had now enabled direct deposit and preferred for me to use that method.  As a lover of the internet and technology, I was pleased. The person told me all I had to do was enable the feature and then shoot my financial aid rep an email asking them to transfer the money.

I went home, enabled the feature and then emailed my financial aid rep to transfer the money.  I waited two days and heard nothing.  I called financial aid again and they said I had to email my account rep, not the financial aid rep.  Another email, nothing.  Waited over a weekend and then finally called on Monday morning.  They informed me that the system is not yet working and that they would transfer me to my account rep to get it in motion.  I talked to my account guy and he said he would take care of it.  By take care of it, I mean that he told me it would arrive by direct deposit in an unknown number of days, “maybe 2-3” or they would mail me a check.

The lesson here is that although the new process may save them time, it is a worse experience for the customer.  They lose transparency and control in the process and have to build in a buffer between when they need money and when they should start requesting it.  In my situation, the account person still had to deal with me, saving no time.  Instead of walking right out with a check I am still waiting an unknown amount of time for a payment through an unknown format (mail or virtual).  Before, I had one physical visit and talked to the account rep for 5 minutes.  After the change, I had one physical visit, 3 separate phone calls, two unanswered emails and an addition of 5-? days for a possible delivery of payment through an unknown format.

Granted, I save the time I would have to wait after depositing a check, but I’ve lost control and transparency into the process.  These are important things to think about when trying to make an improvement in the ops world.  What is the effect on the customer??

11 July 2011 · Comments