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Call center classics #6: Let me commit fraud or I'll sue you!!

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  • Call center classics #6: Let me commit fraud or I'll sue you!!

    This has an element of "cursing out coworkers" but the real star is the SC.

    Background: SC Bob gets a call from our company one day telling him he qualifies for a free phone. Bob, not being an idiot, thinks is too good to be true so he asks several times for confirmation that this will be a 100% FREE phone. No new contract, no new line, just a free phone. Rep says yes, so Bob says send it out.

    I'm sure you can guess where this is going.

    But it's more than what you might think.

    You see, Bob gets his supposedly "free" phone and discovers that, in order to accommodate said free phone a new line has been added to his account, exactly what he didn't want (but what anyone should have been able to see coming a mile away).

    So he calls Empire wireless and tells them about the fiasco and how he was promised a free phone with no additional line or contract. The not-so-well trained rep he talks to tells him that sure, he can just cancel that additional line and keep the free phone by transferring it to one of his other lines (WRONG!). Transfer is completed, third line is closed, everyone is happy...until the bill comes out.

    Bob gets his bill and sees a $200 equipment charge tacked on to it. This is because when you cancel a line of service within the standard 30 day window, you MUST return the discounted phone you got for activating that line. If this policy did not exist, people would just endlessly scam cheap phones from cell providers by activating service, then cancelling days later and keeping the phones.

    So then a very angry Bob calls Empire wireless AGAIN...and gets connected with me:

    (we'll pick things up after he's already relayed the entire "Free phone" fiasco to me)

    Me: I apologize for the misunderstandings sir, I really do but we never just give out free phones for the heck of it, even if you have been with us for awhile.
    SC: I don't care, I was told it was free and I expect it to be free, it's not my problem you rep lied.
    Me: I realize you are upset and there were issues on our part. I can certainly give you a partial credit on this, but only $50.
    SC: $50??? $50?!!! No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!! You need to add $150 to that. I want the whole $200!!
    Me: The problem with that sir, is that in order to get you that credit, I would have to do submit this to a review team to get it approved. Given the way things look on this account I can tell you they would deny the credit.
    SC: WHY?!?!
    Me: Because even though you are telling me you were supposed to get a free phone, there's nothing noted in your account supporting that. Now of course I could add a note on your behalf and certainly will but I still doubt that will be enough to get the credit approved.
    SC: How long would this review group take to make a decision?
    Me: No more than three days sir.
    SC: Oh hell no! I'm not waiting that long. Connect me to this review group immediately, I want an answer now!!
    Me: I can't do that sir, they don't take calls.
    SC: They don't take calls??
    Me: No sir, we have no phone contact with them whatsoever.
    SC: This is ridiculous. You listen to me and you listen to me right now. I want the third line on my account to remain cancelled, I want every penny of this $200 credited to my account AND I want to keep this free phone!
    Me: Do you realize sir that you are, in effect, asking me to commit fraud here and lose my job over this?
    SC: You're damned right I am and you better do as I say because I have powerful friends, some of whom are lawyers and if you don't let me keep this phone for free I WILL pursue legal action against you and your company!!
    Me: Just so I have this straight: You are going to send lawyers after me if I DON'T commit a crime?
    SC: YES!! Why is this so hard for you to understand??
    Me: (Oh the things I could respond with...) It's not sir, I just wanted to make the situation perfectly clear. Because you have threatened legal action against the company, I can no longer continue with this call. You can call our legal department at XXX-XXX-XXXX or if you prefer I can transfer you directly.
    SC: F--- YOU! I'll have your job for this!!
    Me: Thank you for calling Empire wireless, have a great day.

    Now I freely admit my company royally screwed up dealing with this guy and when it came down to it, it probably made sense to give him a free phone BUT to be such an ass about it was unwarranted.

    Also, I probably would have been fired if I had done what he wanted since (as I indicated above) there was no evidence in the account notes that the new phone was supposed to be 100% free. I'm not about to risk my job for a rude SC, even if he appears to have a reasonable case.
    "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

  • #2
    You got handed a s**t sandwich on this one I will admit, I do agree that the guy had a reasonable grievance, as he was given some bad information not once, but twice. All the same, YOU were not the one to blame here, and I would have lost all sympathy for him too if he had been that much a dick on the phone. I bet you would have been much more willing to try and help him if he had shown some class. Finally, he was getting along fine without the free phone before, what was so special about it that made him go apeshit over keeping it? What a tool.

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    • #3
      Was it in the phone log that he was actually promised a 100% free phone? If not, how do you know he didn't just hear it was 100% free when he was actually told it was free IF he added another line?
      Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the restraints...
      TASTE THE LIME JELLO OF DEFEAT! -Gravekeeper

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      • #4
        My mind went where Skeptic's did. Just because he CLAIMS it was supposed to be totally free, doesn't mean that is what he was offered. More likely he knew he had to have the new line, and decided to bitch and complain he was lied to in order to get it free.

        Comment


        • #5
          *Rolls around*
          WHO are lawyers. WHO ARE LAWYERS. "Whom" is a object, "who" is a subject.
          Agn! This time around I can tell it's because he wanted to sound all sophisticated, only made me dislike him all the more.
          *done ranting*

          If he was truly lied to, then he does have a right to be annoyed. I probably would've asked if I could return the phone and just pretend like the whole thing never happened. He doesn't have a right to be a complete donkey tail.

          Though really? It didn't get through his head that he was trying to sick lawyers on you for NOT committing a crime? Really? *facepalm*
          My Writing Blog -Updated 05/06/2013
          It's so I can get ideas out of my head, I decided to put it in a blog in case people are bored or are curious as to the (many) things in progress.

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          • #6
            This is why you need get everything in writing... if the other cable company offers you a deal, write down how much, how long, what the rep's name is, their ext #, etc.

            Someone offers you a free phone, get their name, extension, etc.

            Always cover your rear end when dealing with any big company. Half the time their agents are trained poorly or just make stuff up to get a sale.

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            • #7
              I think getting his lawyers involved would cost him a lot more than the $200.00 he was trying to reclaim.
              "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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              • #8
                The OP mentioned that there was NO evidence in the log suggesting that he was due a free or discounted phone at all.
                Quoth AmbrosiaWriter View Post
                *Rolls around*
                WHO are lawyers. WHO ARE LAWYERS. "Whom" is a object, "who" is a subject.
                Agn! This time around I can tell it's because he wanted to sound all sophisticated, only made me dislike him all the more.
                *done ranting*
                I don't think either who OR whom fits, it should have been rewritten/respoken if the caller actually wanted to do anything other than SOUND intelligent ...but you don't have to take my word for it
                "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                Comment


                • #9
                  Quoth skeptic53 View Post
                  Was it in the phone log that he was actually promised a 100% free phone? If not, how do you know he didn't just hear it was 100% free when he was actually told it was free IF he added another line?
                  It wasn't in the phone log and I don't know what he was or wasn't actually told.

                  BUT...

                  Given the shenanigans our sales dept was infamous for it wouldn't surprise me if someone had actually promised a 100% free phone knowing full well they'd have to add a line but lie to the customer and say it wouldn't change anything.
                  "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    So as I'm reading all of this, I am thinking that I am actually going to be siding with the customer on this one, and the company really screwed up. Assuming he was telling the truth about the initial contact (yeah, big assumption, I know), the company should be willing to credit him back his money and take the phone off his hands.

                    That was what I was thinking. And then I got to this:

                    Quoth CrazedClerkthe2nd View Post
                    SC: This is ridiculous. You listen to me and you listen to me right now. I want the third line on my account to remain cancelled, I want every penny of this $200 credited to my account AND I want to keep this free phone!
                    And I realized that he wasn't a reasonably upset customer who was trying to return a phone he was erroneously promised for free and get credit for a bill he didn't sign up for.

                    No, he is a raging jackass that is greedy, unreasonable, and expects the world to bend over for him the moment he says so, and without him even buying them dinner first.

                    And then I got to this:

                    Quoth CrazedClerkthe2nd View Post
                    Me: Do you realize sir that you are, in effect, asking me to commit fraud here and lose my job over this?
                    SC: You're damned right I am and you better do as I say because I have powerful friends, some of whom are lawyers and if you don't let me keep this phone for free I WILL pursue legal action against you and your company!!
                    Riiiiight. He's going to send his "powerful lawyer friends" after a phone company for not committing fraud and letting him have it his way. If he had powerful lawyer friends (which I highly doubt), they would sit him down and tell him that he should either give back the phone or pay the bill. That is, they would sit him down and tell him that once they finished laughing their asses off at his idiocy.


                    Quoth CrazedClerkthe2nd View Post
                    I'm not about to risk my job for a rude SC, even if he appears to have a reasonable case.
                    But...he didn't have a reasonable case. While the first company rep clearly was in the wrong, and the second one was a bonehead, the fact remains that this yahoo wanted the phone without paying for it. There's a word for that, and it's not "reasonable." It's "bullshit."

                    "The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is
                    Still A Customer."

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                    • #11
                      Here (the Netherlands) its custom that you can get a free phone by extending your contract. He might have thought it was his time.

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Yarnil View Post
                        Here (the Netherlands) its custom that you can get a free phone by extending your contract. He might have thought it was his time.
                        Yes but check out the second paragraph where it says 'no new contract' Therefore he knew he wasn't entitled to one for nothing. None of the phone companies give a new phone for nothing

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