Nothing to do with Diabetes but something that really upset me today

General
1

My wife and I are trying to get a loan to pay off some bills and have a little bit of extra money to do something when we are on vacation next week. Apperently something on my credit report from verizon wireless has not been cleared up. I payed them 5 years ago, but something with the way they reported doesn't show up on my credit report as being cleared off.

I called them to see what the deal was and that I needed a paper faxed to my bank saying that I don't owe them any money. I get on the phone with customer service and they tell me that they can't fax anything because it's against their policy. I would have to wait for it to come in the mail in 7-10 business days. Now, I dont know why they can't fax papers like that beings that I would think it would take about 2 minutes to do.

I asked to talk to a supervisor and was informed that I can put in a request and they would call me back in 24-48 hours. I told them that I need that paper faxed today and that it wouldn't be fair to other people if they faxed it for me because it is against their policy.

I continue talking with them and the lady from customer "service" told me that I was not as important to them because I had an account go bad while I was in college and couldnt afford to make the payments and because I was no longer an existing customer.

Needless to say I was not happy at all. I work in a very customer related field and if I told them that someone would be with them in 24-48 hours when they had a problem I would not have a job. They did tell me that I could come back as a new customer anytime I wanted too. I will not be doing that after the service I recieved today.

Anyone else have some horror stories of Customer "service"?

 

2

Josh,

I completely understand where you are coming from. I had the same issues with MCI 4 years ago. I was so mad (they lost a payment, didn't send a shut off notice, and then I had to get a new phone #, but would not start me back up until I faxed them a copy of my bank statement showing that they did get the money) that I kept them on the phone for 5 hours, because the average call center phone call costs the corporation $4.00 a minute.

However, with that said, I guess I will play the devil's advocate now. I work for a major appliance corporation, and unfortunatly, no matter how much we really want to help a customer, there are just times where company policy will not allow us to do so. When it comes to anything financial, faxing paperwork is a big NO NO, due to legal liability, etc. We all understand that a customer wants the issue resolved right away, but, sometimes that just is not possible. Try telling a customer that "I understand your (pick your appliance) dosen't work, and that it is an inconvienience, but it is going to be 2-3 days before we can get the part to repair your product". I hate having to tell my customers/trade partners this, but, if we can repair a product within that time frame, we generally don't want to have to spend hundreds of dollars exchanging the unit for them.

I have been on both sides of the phone lines, and completely understand where you are coming from. However, just understand that whomever you spoke with, both the call rep and their supervisor, were probably empowered enough to do what they can, but if they would have gone against corporate policy, they could have lost their job. However, corporate policy tends to suck most of the time, but, unfortunatly, going against policy is a great way to be on the unemployment line. I would, however, advise you to call Verizion 24 hours EXACTLY from your last call to make sure they are doing what they need to do.

**Lastly and most importantly, no matter how upset you are, keep your cool. Any call center rep will tell you that they are more likely to help and do what they can to find loopholes to bend the rules if the customer is cool, calm, not swearing or going off the deep end, and not yelling at them. (Not saying that you did, at all, this is more of a general piece of advise to all those out there)

I hope you don't think I was "bustin your chops" this was just me getting on my soapbox, and also enjoying use of my computer again, since it has been out of comission for a week!

Also, I hate to say it, but, you know when they say "calls can be monitored?" They ARE, and pay rates and evaluations are all based on these calls. They are required to hit certian points, and one of them is saying "you are welcome to come back" or the "Is there anything else I can help you with" speal, even if they know you are not coming back or that they have not been able to help you what so ever.

3

That's great info about the $4/min thing! he, he!

I feel like sometimes it's the opposite -- you have to get really mad for them to agree to do anything -- like transfer you a supervisor. Once, Sallie Mae deposited my $300 check for $3000, which I didn't have in my acct. It wasn't until I started yelling that the supervisor in India transferred me to someone in the US who understood how US banks work, etc, and was able to help me. In India, I guess their banking system is different, so they were useless. Arg...