Wherein I kind of snap at a caller

[CancelMyService]

So due to a big ass storm that left a large part of the area we serve without power (let alone cable), I've been dealing with a lot of the "I deserve credit, I'm a customer" types. Some are reasonable , others are not.

Guy called in saying his cable was out for a few hours, did the usual troubleshooting and it seemed his box was just loopy because of the storm. Did some rebooting and it appeared to be ok. Problem solved, right? WRONG. Guy started playing the "I want credit for the time I didn't have service" card.

At this point, I should mention that our system only is set up to give credit in increments of days. Mainly because if you divide the cost of monthly service into days, then divide that into hours, you're talking about only a few cents that's really not worth it.

I tell the guy this, and he decides he is entitled to a month's service free because of the OUTRAGE of having his service out for a few hours out. I say that's not likely to happen, and I get a barrage of "DON'T YOU VALUE ME AS A CUSTOMER, I'M PAYING FOR YOUR SERVICE", and at this point I snap and say "if I give you a month free for less than a day's service being out, not only is it likely to be turned down (credits need approved), but it's also completely inappropriate for the situation at hand since you've only had a problem for less than a day". He tried again with the "you don't value me" stuff to which I said "if by value you mean give unreasonable credit, then I guess I don't".


Yeah, I probably could have been nicer about it but between the floods knocking so many people's service out and this guy's general douchebag demeanor I just couldn't hold back any longer.

[MrSunshineState]

I remember those calls from my days in cable customer service. I think you did the right thing. You weren't out of line. He just had a false sense of entitlement. One month free for an outage that lasted a few hours is very unreasonable, especially since the outage was weather related therefore your company had no control.

[JustADude]

That reminds me of a story of my own that just kinda proves the whole "Honey == Flies, Vinager != Flies" thing:

I was having constant problems with my internet (cable modem) and while they were good about troubleshooting the problem and replacing the hardware (The model was defective. It got recalled later.), it happened about every week, leaving me without service for something like 8 days and change during the course of the month.

After the final time, when they'd gotten the recall on my model and told me they'd be replacing it with something different this time, I asked very politely about getting credit for the days I was out, and the person on the other end credited me my internet AND cable for the whole month. Turns out she was pretty high up in the food-chain, and that recall had caused a Black Hole's worth of Suck, since it was a modem used only for their (more expensive) ultra-high-speed option. I was, literally, the first person in over a week, of anyone on the staff she'd heard from, that was still civil about the issue, let alone understanding and polite, after a month of dealing with badly designed equipment while paying $15 a month more than people whose equipment is working fine.

The bandwidth is worth the cost and that early hassle, though. I've gotten actualized, sustained download speeds topping out over 1 MB/s (MegaBYTE, not Mb/MegaBIT) when dealing with a properly beefy server on the other end, and it will support 3 different computers on 3 different MMOs without noticeable lag on any of them, with enough left over for the 4th person on the router to cruise YouTube.

[solemnwarning]

The bandwidth is worth the cost and that early hassle, though. I've gotten actualized, sustained download speeds topping out over 1 MB/s (MegaBYTE, not Mb/MegaBIT) when dealing with a properly beefy server on the other end, and it will support 3 different computers on 3 different MMOs without noticeable lag on any of them, with enough left over for the 4th person on the router to cruise YouTube.

20Mb/s down, 768Kb/s up, just under £40 a month, I love NTL

[JustADude]

20Mb/s down, 768Kb/s up, just under £40 a month, I love NTL

Sounds about right for the speeds, and I'm paying about $55/mo, which currently breaks down to about £27.62. Sometimes having a weaker currency works in your favor.

[Bliss]

I pay $50 a month for 784Kbps down and 256Kbps up ADSL.

*weeps*

I hate you all!

[mscrybaby]

I have to say that my cable company and I don't get along. I moved from TIVO satelitte to DVR and cable, we got the whole package phone, cable and internet, and other then the fact I still have service when the wind blows, it rains or the sun shines, I hate the DVR. We had no problems at all at the other house but we have lived here for 11 months and had the DVR boxes replaced 7 times for them dying out. In all of this I have never thought of asking for free time on the bill since we have to generally go with out use of the creatures for 1 week at a time. We still have regular service IF we disconnect the boxes. The phone generally is out of service at least 4 hours a week but the internet keeps working.

[XXDarrienX]

Well with Dean possibly going to hit Houston and being as how our Call Center is located there we are gearing for the unreasonable nutjobs that like to complain for credit. I find it funny that we are told we have to come in regardless of a hurricane or get fired. According to the policy we are considered essential employees. This is going to be an interesting week no?

[CancelMyService]

Yeah, that's the one thing that I don't like about my job. Back around Valentine's Day we had an ice storm where everything (including the roads) were covered in about 2 inches of ice. I called off one day and got written up, and I asked my supervisor if I should take this to mean I'm required to risk my life to come to work. I got the song and dance they're required to do when asked about this, basically saying it's up to us since in the end it comes down to you making the call to go to work or not. I replied it's really not, since getting written up for not going to work pretty much implies you need to go and it's no longer my choice to make, but that got nowhere.

But a hurricane? Seriously? Fuck that noise. There's no job no where I'd drive to work in a goddamned hurricane for.

[MrSunshineState]

Yeah, that's the one thing that I don't like about my job. Back around Valentine's Day we had an ice storm where everything (including the roads) were covered in about 2 inches of ice. I called off one day and got written up, and I asked my supervisor if I should take this to mean I'm required to risk my life to come to work. I got the song and dance they're required to do when asked about this, basically saying it's up to us since in the end it comes down to you making the call to go to work or not.

Do you live in a 'right to work' state? That is one of the only things I don't like about Florida. An employer can terminate you and they are not required to state the reason or give just cause.

[CancelMyService]

But "Right To Work" protects you from the evils of unionism! Getting fired for no reason is just an added bonus.

Lucky for me PA isn't one of those states yet, but since my company has franchising agreements that require minimum service levels at all times. If it drops below a certain level, it costs my company money. It's apparently a great deal of money too, since they offer assloads of overtime to make sure we're at that level.

[MrSunshineState]

Still, if you are not in a right to work state, I don't think they can terminate you due for failure to appear during unsafe working conditions.

[XXDarrienX]

My sup gave us the same song and dance, basically telling us to pick your life or your job. Like its so easy to find a new job yeah ok that makes no sense. But with current forecasts it may miss but still I find it that they value peoples cable and internet over us.

[BookstoreEscapee]

"you don't value me"

waaaaaaaaa!!

According to the policy we are considered essential employees.

OK, doctors, nurses, paramedics, police officers, firefighters - essential people to venture out in a storm...cable reps? uh... yeah...

[CrazedClerk]

Still, if you are not in a right to work state, I don't think they can terminate you due for failure to appear during unsafe working conditions.

I would refuse to work for any company that did that.