Entitlement Whore powers, activate!

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Refurbished phones generally work very well, because they've been checked thoroughly during repair work. And of course there would still be a warranty. Now, if someone could come up with magic words to make "previously owned phones are better than new ones" for the customers ...

I love factory refurb. Since they have to go back to the factory to be tested, retested and tested some more to make sure that the device is still worthy of being given the full warranty on a new unit...you tend to get a unit that works.

Whereas a new unit just gets a quicky power up and they hope that all the functions are working. Usually they do but there are a few that slip through.

I bought a pair of iPhones two years ago. Once blew the speaker in a week, the other had the mic die within a month.

Took them to the Apple Store and they gave us a pair of refurbed units. They even took the time to transfer our data from the broken ones to the replacements.

They looked new, they had no scratches or cosmetic damage and the warranty I had (one year plus the extended year) was still going to be honored on the replacement units.

Looked new, worked like new, was warrantied as if new...

You know the saying about walking like a duck.

[emax4]

I've suggested this before, but since you can't hang up on the customer, let 'em rant and rave until they tire themselves out and let you get a word in edgewise. If they still cut you off when you speak, let a manager deal with em. They have more power than CSRs anyway. I'm not saying "pass the buck", but a manager has more control over what to do than a CSR, plus they might have the ability to put a customer in his or her place.

[PepperElf]

Refurbished phones generally work very well, because they've been checked thoroughly during repair work. And of course there would still be a warranty. Now, if someone could come up with magic words to make "previously owned phones are better than new ones" for the customers ...

not always. i've seen my share of refurbs that failed quickly or arrived broken. but still, they ain't gonna get a brand new phone even if that happens.

where i last worked i've had customers demand it, demand a manager etc and ... the manager says what i said - that it won't happen.

Even had one guy show me his receipt history and say, "See you did it there!" and "there" was when the phone broke within 14 days so they processed it as a return. it's been over a month now so nope, can't do a return. system won't let us.


We only had *one* way around this and it was not an option most customers wanted to use. We only had one customer who actually did it... instead of sending the phone in for a refurb she would specifically request a repair each time. So it would take her phone longer to process, but she'd always get the same phone back. And the managers agreed that after 4 repairs they'd process her for requesting a new phone.

[Caractacus_Potts]

SC - No, I don't want a replacement. I want a BRAND. NEW. PHONE. and I want it for free.

You: I'm sorry sir, did you use the phone before it broke.
SC: Stupid piece of junk died just over a month after I bought it!
You: So you did use it for a month?
SC: Yes and it died and I demand a new one!
You: So, if I understand correctly, you currently have a used phone in your posession that is broken and you would like us to send you a new phone to replace your used phone and you will not accepted a used phone as a replacement for your used phone?

[telecom_goddess]

I've done new phones and I've done refurbs before, they've all worked out the same for me.

One thing I'm curious about....I've had my cell phone number for about 16 years or so now, but it's on it's 4th company and previous companies kept getting bought out. I wonder how far back MY records go with them? Could I prove I've had this number this long?

[auntiem]

I've suggested this before, but since you can't hang up on the customer, let 'em rant and rave until they tire themselves out and let you get a word in edgewise. If they still cut you off when you speak, let a manager deal with em. They have more power than CSRs anyway. I'm not saying "pass the buck", but a manager has more control over what to do than a CSR, plus they might have the ability to put a customer in his or her place.

The problem is, where I used to work:
1) letting them rant and rave ups your call time and dings you points
2) transfering calls to a lead or supervisor dings you even more points
3) the lead or sup is going to say the exact same thing as you did- but often the SC listens to them at least (so you have dinged yourself a bunch of points for no reason).
I couldn't hang up regardless of how awful the SC was.

[Antares]

I took my replacement phone/refurbished phone into the repair center yesterday. They agreed that there was a problem and will be replacing it yet again. I received this phone as a replacement on 7/3/12. It has been problematic since 7/3/12.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

The problem is, where I used to work:
1) letting them rant and rave ups your call time and dings you points
2) transfering calls to a lead or supervisor dings you even more points
3) the lead or sup is going to say the exact same thing as you did- but often the SC listens to them at least (so you have dinged yourself a bunch of points for no reason).
I couldn't hang up regardless of how awful the SC was.

We didn't have a point system and weren't penalized for call escalations. We did have metrics though and it was important to keep the average call time low (goal was I think 6 minutes or so).

One of the tricks we used (agents and supervisors) with the "letting them rant" approach is to basically say we were disconnecting the call because there's nothing more we can do or because you are refusing to stop cussing, etc and NOT actually hang up the call, but simply mute the phone and put the headset down.

Quite often, people would give up and hang up themselves in less than a minute. Only the most hardcore of SCs would truly rant long enough to put a major dent in your average call time.

[Dadeo]

Quite often, people would give up and hang up themselves in less than a minute. Only the most hardcore of SCs would truly rant long enough to put a major dent in your average call time.

I was out on the back deck yesterday and my neighbour (3 doors down) put a MAJOR dent in some poor bastard's call time. I don't know which cell company she was on the phone with but her side of the call consisted of "I don't want to talk to you, please transfer me to somebody else" repeated about - and I'm not exaggerating - about a hundred times, interspersed with various other comments about the lousy service, etc. The call must have lasted a good 30 minutes. To her credit(?) I didn't hear her cuss once, which surprised me because she has a mouth like a teamster.

[lvceline]

I think we can all appreciate the situation and understand the frustration on the customer's side, however the way the SC responds is key. Acting like a total psycho and swearing and yelling doesn't help the situation and only makes him look like a bigger psycho.

[EricKei]

While I do understand the need to keep call times low, none of those scales seem to take into effect those times (read: most of them) when the duration of the call is completely out of the call center worker's hands, like Dadeo's back deck guy above.

[emax4]

The problem is, where I used to work:
1) letting them rant and rave ups your call time and dings you points
2) transfering calls to a lead or supervisor dings you even more points
3) the lead or sup is going to say the exact same thing as you did- but often the SC listens to them at least (so you have dinged yourself a bunch of points for no reason).
I couldn't hang up regardless of how awful the SC was.

I'd get out ASAP then. It's not worth staying. The system is working against you, not for you. I'd ask the higher ups how many complaints they've gotten that go, "Wow, they resolved my issue so fast!" as opposed to "they resolved my issue".

Since it was you that took the call, role-play with them to see how long it takes them to resolve the call and be sure to be as belligerent as the caller. When they go over so many minutes, inform them that you have to ding them just like they would have done to you.

If you get dinged for transferring to a supervisor, then what's the point of having supervisors? If you have to mouth off to the customer, explain to the supes that "but if I transferred to you, I would get dinged, so I can't win, can I?"

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I was out on the back deck yesterday and my neighbour (3 doors down) put a MAJOR dent in some poor bastard's call time. I don't know which cell company she was on the phone with but her side of the call consisted of "I don't want to talk to you, please transfer me to somebody else" repeated about - and I'm not exaggerating - about a hundred times, interspersed with various other comments about the lousy service, etc. The call must have lasted a good 30 minutes. To her credit(?) I didn't hear her cuss once, which surprised me because she has a mouth like a teamster.

Oh yeah, the transfer game. I remember that!

You see it's obviously easy to keep your call times low by transferring calls away. Of course some agents abuse this.

Where I worked there were very specific conditions where we could transfer the customer and very specific conditions where we couldn't.

If I answer you call and you immediately ask to be transferred to tech support, I CAN'T DO THAT. I have to know why you need to be sent there. You see, it may be a simple problem I can handle here.

Or if you call me and want to cancel service that's great, but I can't just blind transfer you to retention without first verifying your account and making a note in it.

Some people DO NOT GET THIS so they yell and scream at me to transfer them when I am not allowed to do it yet.

[Ironclad Alibi]

And don't even get me started on the people who think EVERY PHONE IN EXISTENCE should be FREE.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away (actually the US of A prior to about 30 years ago) phones were given for free by Ma Bell, aka The Phone Company. However, the Feds made Ma Bell break into many parts, and free phones were no more.