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I want more! More, more, more!!

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  • I want more! More, more, more!!

    I don't think any customers prove the "give them an inch and they'll take a mile" theory better than wireless customers. I came across two egregious examples of this the past week alone:

    The Moon...I want it

    Our general policy is warranty replacements are like for like swaps. That means if you have a Galaxy S4, you get another S4. If you have an HTC One, you get an HTC One. That's usually how warranties operate across most products.

    Well, some SCs think they can use a warranty as a backdoor to get an upgrade or different phone. All the managers at my center pretty much stick to the policy and demand we do the same. Fine by me. Unfortunately there are other centers with managers who don't have similar levels of spine.

    Our story begins with a guy who had problems with three, count 'em three S4 phones in nine months and decided he'd had enough of that device and wanted something else. He happened to get on the line with one of the aforementioned spineless managers who decided to break policy for this guy and send him out a different phone on a warranty claim.

    Evidently he couldn't decide on a replacement device so he called back and got me when his mind was made up.

    The manager had given him a choice of the S4 Active or LG G2.

    He decided he wants the G2. And he wants us to ship it overnight to him at no extra cost. AND he wants a $30 credit on his account for the inconvenience of having to call us so many times because his phones never work.

    Of course I tell him no dice. We can send the G2 as agreed upon, but that's it. He demands a manager. Manager tells him (again), it's G2 or bust. He hangs up before we can even complete the order.

    If the other manager had done her job correctly, I never would have had to take that call.

    I should also point out that, if you go through THREE warranty phones in a year about 99.9% of the time, it's something YOU'RE doing, not any problem with the phone.

    Break the rules more for me!!

    This one is even more outrageous.

    Guy had a malfunctioning Moto X, but get this: It's off warranty.

    No problem, he's got insurance. But he doesn't want to pay the deductible. Problem.

    Well, as (bad) luck would have it, he too got in contact with one of our invertebrate superiors who, for some mind blowingly ridiculous reason offered to either credit him part of the deductible (a big no-no) OR send him a free phone (an even bigger no-no). So he opted for a free SIII. A slight downgrade from what he had, but still, no cost, out of warranty replacement. Not a bad deal.

    Except now he's decided he doesn't like the SIII. He wants the S4 instead.

    Ummm, let me think about it...NO.

    Look dude, you already got REALLY lucky that we twisted the rules into a pretzel for you to get you a free SIII in the first place. You've got all we're going to give you.

    Unacceptable, he wants the S4 and he wants it sent Fedex at no charge (maybe he's related to the guy from the first story...).

    Of course I tell him no again. I can replace the SIII if he likes, I can troubleshoot it for him if there's a particular reason he doesn't like it, but that's all.

    Like the previous guy, he asked for a manager.

    This gets better.

    He complained to the manager that *I* was being "unreasonable", "unaccommodating" and "disrespectful". He then requested that I immediately be retrained in customer service.

    Oh and he still wants his S4. And free express shipping. Oh and now he also wants a monthly credit on his account for "everything" we've put him through regarding this free phone he never should have actually gotten in the first place.

    Thankfully, sanity prevailed (as did our policies) and he got none of those things.

    I guess I am expecting too much from humanity to think that people might be happy enough with just getting unexpected free stuff.
    Last edited by CrazedClerkthe2nd; 06-28-2014, 04:24 PM.
    "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
    Boy, these asshats are taking EWism to new levels!

    Comment


    • #3
      The first one was bad enough but the second one was WAY worse because he tried to threaten your job (why else would complain and spread a pack of nasty lies?) just because he was being a greedy bastard and wanted way more than what he was already getting.

      Some people are fucking unbelievable.

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth Evannah View Post
        The first one was bad enough but the second one was WAY worse because he tried to threaten your job (why else would complain and spread a pack of nasty lies?) just because he was being a greedy bastard and wanted way more than what he was already getting.

        Some people are fucking unbelievable.
        People wouldn't do this if it didn't occasionally work.
        Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

        "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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        • #5
          This illustrates something I learned as a union steward.

          When you get what you wanted, SHUT UP and go away.

          One more word, especially more demands, will usually get you nothing, not even the thing initially agreed to.

          Most people still don't seem to know this.
          When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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          • #6
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pm4fQRl72k
            "First time I ever seen a chainsaw go down anybody's britches,"

            Comment


            • #7
              I got a free upgrade ONCE.
              From a Droid 1 to a Droid 2. Bought it just before the Droid 2 came out for a great deal.

              Reason! First phone BRAND NEW, six months, charging port stopped working. Given new referb phone, never complained, under warranty. Second phone, three days, screen died, the touch activation worked but the screen remained black no matter what you did. Given new refurb phone, never complained, under warranty. Third phone, a month, microphone busted, you couldn't hear anything spoken into it beyond vague murmurs. Went in, the same people this third time with me giggling as I told them the problem. They laughed, called the manager over and asked if I would take an upgrade free of charge for having serious problems that couldn't be fixed every time that were in fact under warranty. They were super nice about it and perhaps because I never complained I didn't have issues and they did it free of charge. :3

              Comment


              • #8
                The problem is, most folks (at least those looking for deals) have figured out that you can pretty much game any large corp system by just calling back and requesting what you want over and over (and over) again until you get a "yes". The fact that the "yes" column only accounts for a small percentage is mostly immaterial, it happens just enough to spread across the internets as to other deal seekers and they think "hey, I can jump on this too!". Cell phone companies are notoriously bad for this, or were, especially when dealing with retention departments. Personally I'm usually out of luck as I have a special employee account (Sprint SERO) that can no longer have credits applied beyond the 2 year upgrade. Heck, I couldn't even get an Airave when I offered to pay for it, and the rep on the other side blamed it on my "special account".
                But the paint on me is beginning to dry
                And it's not what I wanted to be
                The weight on me
                Is Hanging on to a weary angel - Sister Hazel

                Comment


                • #9
                  previously "big red checkmark" had a policy called "fru to new" wherein if the customer had 3 warranty swaps within 6 months(actual verified warranty issues mind you), the could pay $50 and get a new phone at the agents' discretion, as long as approval from tech support was given(and they'd approve it if the exchanges were actual issues).

                  So some customers, may have either had this issue and refuse to believe policies change, or they know someone who did but don't know the specifics or that it was a while ago.

                  Which of course SC translates to "being mean/unreasonable" or "not knowing how to do a job".
                  Honestly.... the image of that in my head made me go "AWESOME!"..... and then I remembered I am terribly strange.-Red dazes

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth Irving Patrick Freleigh View Post
                    People wouldn't do this if it didn't occasionally work.
                    Truth. This man speaks it. An unfortunate truth though.
                    "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


                    • #11
                      Many moons ago I had my Nokia phone stolen out of my truck at my apartment complex. I was in college and under my parents plan at that point so Dad did me the favor of purchasing a new phone. Sony Ericsson. Worst. Phone. Ever. Had many problems with the charging port. the battery would wiggle loose etc. For me it was a good 30-40 min drive to the cell phone store and I went at least three times. Went with Dad to pick out his upgrade and transfer his old phone to me. While there they said the third time they should have out and out replaced the phone if it was that deficient. Yay I get my dad's Nokia.

                      Drat. Now they are upgrading sim cards and I can no longer use this Nokia because the new SIM card won't work. Given no other choice I go with the go phone. I seem to have blocked out what went wrong with the first two. Fast forward living a short drive to cell phone store. Go to meet someone and can't call because the SIM card up and died. Go to store and they tried to tell me that my choices were send it in and wait for replacement and if I wanted a phone in the meantime buy one from them and then return it after new one arrived. I stood my ground at that point and explained I what I had gone through and that being without a phone for a week or so just wasn't acceptable. (Single female driving around feel much better with cell phone) It was also not acceptable to me to have to buy a replacement when they had them there in the store. None of the problems were through any fault of my own and they had not once gone above an beyond to help me in all the back and forth. Heck they did as little as possible causing multiple trips etc. I stood my ground and pointed out that if they could no help me then perhaps I would see about taking the entire family's business elsewhere. Eventually one rep and two managers later they miraculously gave me a go phone and took the other to send away. I may not have handled it in the best fashion but I was dealing with guys as a young looking girl and felt as though they were kind of figuring they could walk all over me. I tried to remain as polite as possible but after years of problems and back and forth I was at the end of my patience. I did not expect to be handed an expensive phone or anything super special or extras I just needed what they were giving me to work. I agree the 1st dude was an EW but I can understand the frustration of multiple issues with defective phones.

                      I have inherited my dad's old iPhone once he upgraded and am very happy. Love my dad! Much cheaper to inherit old phone. They still pay for cell since we have a good family plan. I remind them that if they would like me to chip in to let me know. I love my parents.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Oh my what silly men!!!! I love your stories! You never know how dumb and obnoxious people are until you work with the general public. Goodness gracious I hope I am never like that!
                        How have I not killed anyone yet?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth CrazedClerkthe2nd View Post
                          He then requested that I immediately be retrained in customer service.
                          Retrained? What, does he think there's some kind of ongoing remedial class offered in the call center for employees who piss off a certain percentage of their customers?

                          I did a call center gig for a while. There was no interpersonal relations training. There were rules trainings, and there were process trainings, but there were no personality trainings. You either had it, or you didn't, and as long as you got the job done, management didn't care if the customers liked you or not.
                          I suspect that... inside every adult (sometimes not very far inside) is a bratty kid who wants everything his own way.
                          - Bill Watterson

                          My co-workers: They're there when they need me.
                          - IPF

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Quoth HawaiianShirts View Post
                            Retrained? What, does he think there's some kind of ongoing remedial class offered in the call center for employees who piss off a certain percentage of their customers?
                            Yeah. They restrain you and tape your eyeballs open Clockwork Orange style and make you watch this.
                            Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

                            "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Quoth Irving Patrick Freleigh View Post
                              Yeah. They restrain you and tape your eyeballs open Clockwork Orange style and make you watch this.
                              Thanks, Irv. I'm trying to eat while reading the posts (I know, violation of Rule #1 . . .) and I have to have some dude trying to shove a pickle in my face?

                              I think I'd rather be shut up in a room of the garage and made to watch 2 hours of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman like Al Bundy and his No Ma'am gang used to do to members.
                              Human Resources - the adult version of "I'm telling Mom." - Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (NCIS)

                              Comment

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