Entitlement whores, scammers and destruction, oh my!

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Well, we've survived the wave of iphone SCs here at the Red checkmark, now we're just back to the general wireless SCs who are annoying as ever...

Waaah! Waaah!

There are a LOT more EWs out there than we'd like to think there are. I had a customer the other day upset that he'd had to go through a few prior calls and trips to the stores to get a phone problem and a billing issue taken care of.

He then asked for the classic "compensation for my troubles" and wanted to know if he could get a credit out of this mess on top of a credit he'd already received for the aforementioned billing problem.

In some cases we can give a small one-time credit for such situations, but I did something I do sometimes just to gauge the results. I asked the guy how much of a credit he felt would be appropriate.

His response: "Well I think it should be substantial."

Of course you do. Look dude, it sucks that we messed some stuff up but we did get everything fixed. You now have a working phone and a bill that's correct. I might be swayed to give you $15 as a courtesy but you're not getting anything "substantial" out of me or anyone else here.

It almost never fails that when I ask SCs this question they reveal themselves to be greedier than I'd thought they'd be.

In a similar vein, I talked to a guy who swore up and down that by overcharging him for data usage and violating our contract with him, we should not only credit all current charges on his account, we should ALSO let him take all 4 lines to another carrier with no termination charges.

So basically he wanted us to pay him to go away. Yeah...not happening.

Then there was the lady who thought because she'd been "such a good customer" and her iphone 5 was having minor issues we should upgrade to her a fancy new iphone 6 FREE of charge!

Well sure, why the hell not? It's not like we're trying to run a business and make money here. I do give her credit for having the stones to try that though.

Scammer ahoy!

That last one may possibly be a scammer. This one I'm pretty sure was. You know those change scams where the scammers try to score extra money by confusing the hell out of the cashier? I'm pretty sure I ran into a wireless version of that last week.

I've seen a lot of messed up situations and convoluted messes in my time on the phones, but this woman had an issue so contrived and so confusing I had an extremely difficult time keeping the whole thing straight.

Near as I can gather, she got an S5 active on our SHARP instalment plan, but swears up and down she sent the phone back and went back to her old S4 but we never cancelled the installment plan.

Her account shows she is currently using an S4 but I can't find any evidence she sent back the S5 active. So I ask her to clarify.

When I do, suddenly she sent back FedEx instead of UPS like she said the first time and now she's saying she sent it back in June instead of July.

She kept going over all this information. I think she was just trying to overload me with details to the point where I said: "fuck it, I want off this call", took her word, cancelled the installment plan and sent her on her merry way.

Too bad for her I'm not like that.

I stuck it out that whole call and told her straight up the ONLY way I would cancel the plan is if I had proof the phone had been sent back which would require me to contact the warehouse and check. That would take several days. She then hung up.

DENIED!

The Vengeance Factor

Had a warranty call where this guy swore up and down he did NOT send us a cracked phone and could we kindly take that $600 damage fee off his bill?

Sorry buddy, no dice. We went around in circles for a few minutes until finally he just cussed me out and said he'd call back later.

That in itself isn't much of a story, but it gets MUCH better!

You see sure enough, he called back...and wouldn't you know it, got talking to a good friend of mine who sits about about twenty feet away from me in this very same center.

And now he's saying the guy he was talking to earlier (i.e. me) said that we would take care of the $600 credit but the call dropped before I could do it.

Fortunately my friend truly is awesome. He led the SC along for awhile, acting all sympathetic and like he was actually going to do the credit and then he said this: "Wait, I see here the person you talked to her earlier actually works here with me, would you mind holding for a moment while I verify your story with him?"

The SC immediately hung up.

Dumbest threat ever?

I don't remember why this lady called but she was very pissed. She wanted a new phone, she wanted it free and she wanted it now, you know the type.

So we go around a few times with me saying that's not going to happen and then she drops this gem: "Either you make this happen for me or I'm taking this phone down to the nearest <Red Checkmark> store and smashing it to pieces with a hammer!"

Fighting every urge I have to say: "Can you be sure to put that on Youtube for me?" , I just sit dumbfounded for a moment.

I don't get the threat. Taking your phone down to one of our stores and destroying it doesn't harm us at all, it just makes you look like a raging idiot with possible mental issues.

My actual response: "Well you can do that if you wish, but it doesn't change the fact I can't give you a free phone."

[MoonCat]

then she drops this gem: "Either you make this happen for me or I'm taking this phone down to the nearest <Red Checkmark> store and smashing it to pieces with a hammer!"

*snerk* I know someone like that. For example, she used to have a solitaire game on her computer at work. One of the managers put it on for her; he didn't care as long as her work got done. Another manager made a snarky comment to her about it, and her response was to tell the dept. IT guy to remove the game immediately. She thought that would somehow show the snarky manager that he "couldn't talk to her that way!"

[Argabarga]

"Well, I'm going to pee ALL OVER MY PANTS! and THEN who's going to look stupid here?!"

[Chromatix]

"You will. Sir."

[BlaqueKatt]

Scammer ahoy!

That last one may possibly be a scammer. This one I'm pretty sure was. You know those change scams where the scammers try to score extra money by confusing the hell out of the cashier? I'm pretty sure I ran into a wireless version of that last week.

I'm sure if you checked the notes the phone was activated and likely switched to another line on the account or a friend's line. I saw that happen A LOT. including one who got an upgrade change from another manager(the position I was in we had "god power"*) because her phone "didn't work" it was active on another line on the account the same day, as were two other phones she had "returned" to the warehouse. sent her account to fraud.

*we approved ALL credits in the call center, could apply up to $500 in credit without approval, could change ANYTHING on the account(contract end dates, upgrade dates, discounts), and only had to deal with customers in emergencies. If you have any accounts pre-2007 my name may be on them.

[Gilhelmi]

The Vengeance Factor

Fortunately my friend truly is awesome. He led the SC along for awhile, acting all sympathetic and like he was actually going to do the credit and then he said this: "Wait, I see here the person you talked to her earlier actually works here with me, would you mind holding for a moment while I verify your story with him?"

And the best part is...

If anyone asks later about the call (ex: QA), your friend was only providing exemplary Customer Service.

[retro]

I used to love the ones that would call up with a problem and try to get an iApple for free. Oh so your line rental is only £10 per month? And you want line rental discount too? Do you know how much iApples are worth? Do you know that you would only pay us £240 over two years and you only want to pay less than that?

Er, no. Try looking at a cheap-assed Nokia or LG instead.

[Shalom]

If you have any accounts pre-2007 my name may be on them.

Probably... I've been with "red checkmark" since 12/25/1998, more or less, with the same phone since 2006 (well, the third or fourth iteration of the same phone, mostly scored off eBay since Nokia discontinued the 6256i). Still on ACII, too.

But then, the phone on the wall in my office is a 1940's-vintage WE 352. Just call me a Luddite.

[mathnerd]

Probably... I've been with "red checkmark" since 12/25/1998, more or less, with the same phone since 2006 (well, the third or fourth iteration of the same phone, mostly scored off eBay since Nokia discontinued the 6256i). Still on ACII, too.

But then, the phone on the wall in my office is a 1940's-vintage WE 352. Just call me a Luddite.

If you were a pharmaceutical researcher instead of a pharmacist, I'd swear you were my boyfriend. His cell phone is a 6 or 7 year old phone of average intelligence and the landline phone in his bedroom is a 1950's era rotary dial.