DSL Provisioning: Redefining "Customer Service"

The case, based on actual experience, describes a nightmare of customer “service” interactions confronted when a Business School professor relocated from one state to another. The bulk of the case focuses on a several week’s long attempt to acquire broadband DSL service from a local phone company, MightyFone. Students are provided with a rich understanding of some of the downsides of reengineering initiatives that “empower” customers. The case also provides an opportunity to discuss “last mile” issues, broadband technologies, frameworks for delivering and assessing customer service, help desk management, systems integration, IT within the context of mergers and acquisitions, regulatory hurdles, and the management of potential public relations disasters.