This is even a nerve that hits my supervisor any more. I really don't know how companies expect to survive whenever they give in to a customer that finds a way around a policy, or a way around procedures set in place for other customers. Here are a few examples of what I am talking about:
1. This week, we had a customer who was getting DSL service, and made us go through all this trouble do dispatch a technician to her home, all because she (a) did not like the due date we gave her, and (b) because it escalated all the way to the top manager. In return, our manager allowed this woman to have a free dispatch to install her modem, because she did not feel like doing it herself, and does not have to pay the $100 professional install fee that other honest paying customers are usually charged. And, on top of that, this woman has a history with our collections department.
2. We had another SC that canceled their internet service, due to our billing her each month $5 in late fees. It was a total of $15. The e-mail address she had was no longer one she could get back, except under extreme circumstances, which three people explained to her. After a day, she called in, claiming she did not request this, and got her $15 in late fees waived, plus a free month of internet service, due to us having to work a while to even get her address back. Today, she canceled it again, got another $15 in fees waived, and was given a letter of apology for the inconvenience. I hate people like this. It's always the company's fault because they don't pay their bills on time, then they cause an issue like this to get that money knocked off their bill.
3. At one time, the phone company in Florida had a $25 credit provided for missed appointments. Not long after this came about, SC's were using it for other outlandish problems, such as their caller ID not showing who called them, or their call blocking not being able to block out that telemarketer that called them. Reps more or less were giving away this credit, because it was the only way to get the customer off the phone.
4. I had a snowbird, who was a Bellsouth customer, and she was disputing a $300 bill we charged for cutting her phone line. She was remodeling her kitchen, and the contractor she hired had cut the line coming in and the network device outside. It was explained to this woman over and over that her maintenance plan did not cover negligence or willful damage caused by something like this. I sustained the charges, three other reps did the same, yet later on, a supervisor credited this woman the full amount, all due to her threatening to leave us. A day after she was credited, she left us anyway! It should also be noted this was this woman's second home, had the funds to travel from New York to Florida every six months or so, had the funds to get $20,000 in kitchen perks, drives a $50,000 automobile, but balked about having to pay damage to her phone line. A Bellsouth technician was there, did the work (which took an entire day), and yet, it turned into a free job, all because of her threat to leave.
What really turns many of us off are after these low lifes get their way, or get freebies from their horrible temper tantrums, they run off and tell their friends how they did it! And, it's unfair for these people to get free stuff when the rest of us are paying our way fairly.
1. This week, we had a customer who was getting DSL service, and made us go through all this trouble do dispatch a technician to her home, all because she (a) did not like the due date we gave her, and (b) because it escalated all the way to the top manager. In return, our manager allowed this woman to have a free dispatch to install her modem, because she did not feel like doing it herself, and does not have to pay the $100 professional install fee that other honest paying customers are usually charged. And, on top of that, this woman has a history with our collections department.
2. We had another SC that canceled their internet service, due to our billing her each month $5 in late fees. It was a total of $15. The e-mail address she had was no longer one she could get back, except under extreme circumstances, which three people explained to her. After a day, she called in, claiming she did not request this, and got her $15 in late fees waived, plus a free month of internet service, due to us having to work a while to even get her address back. Today, she canceled it again, got another $15 in fees waived, and was given a letter of apology for the inconvenience. I hate people like this. It's always the company's fault because they don't pay their bills on time, then they cause an issue like this to get that money knocked off their bill.
3. At one time, the phone company in Florida had a $25 credit provided for missed appointments. Not long after this came about, SC's were using it for other outlandish problems, such as their caller ID not showing who called them, or their call blocking not being able to block out that telemarketer that called them. Reps more or less were giving away this credit, because it was the only way to get the customer off the phone.
4. I had a snowbird, who was a Bellsouth customer, and she was disputing a $300 bill we charged for cutting her phone line. She was remodeling her kitchen, and the contractor she hired had cut the line coming in and the network device outside. It was explained to this woman over and over that her maintenance plan did not cover negligence or willful damage caused by something like this. I sustained the charges, three other reps did the same, yet later on, a supervisor credited this woman the full amount, all due to her threatening to leave us. A day after she was credited, she left us anyway! It should also be noted this was this woman's second home, had the funds to travel from New York to Florida every six months or so, had the funds to get $20,000 in kitchen perks, drives a $50,000 automobile, but balked about having to pay damage to her phone line. A Bellsouth technician was there, did the work (which took an entire day), and yet, it turned into a free job, all because of her threat to leave.
What really turns many of us off are after these low lifes get their way, or get freebies from their horrible temper tantrums, they run off and tell their friends how they did it! And, it's unfair for these people to get free stuff when the rest of us are paying our way fairly.
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