Why do people expect my kind of store to be different?

[draggar]

OK, so you walk into Best Buy and if you want to walk out with something, you expect to pay for it, right?

How about Costco, a grocerey store, Victoria's Secret, Sears, Target, whatever. If you want something in the store you expect to pay for it, and wait in line.

SO, why is it that most people who come into my store (corp owned wireless phone store) expect to have everyone in the store ignore all other customers to hand them everything in the store for free?

Oh yes, they also want free unlimited service. Just because they've been a customer for 37 years, they want free night and weekends, free text messageing, free picture mail, free phones, free minutes and so on.

I'll tell you what, I'll call my ISP, home phone, AND cable TV providers and give them the same shpiel and see what they say and I'll match it.

Oh yes, and have some fun: http://www.illwillpress.com/cell.html
(Language warning and a little slow, but worth it).

[greensinestro]

Come to my workplace. I work in a call center and deal with this all the time with the internet. It's $9.95 a month for dial up, no DSL and I still get asked about what lower rates we offer. That is it, folks! $9.95. Take it or leave it.

I also dealt with this at Bellsouth. Now, there's a place with customers who have been customers since the invention of the telegraph! lol And because they have been around since that time, they will ask "So, what are you going to do about my high rates?" or "What do you mean I have to pay a connection fee to move my service? I've been with you for 50 years! Back then, I wasn't treated like this!" OK. Let me see if I can "dig up" that employee and find out how they treated you in those days.

[Noelegy]

Oh yes, and have some fun: http://www.illwillpress.com/cell.html
(Language warning and a little slow, but worth it).

Great, now I have a new time-waster...

[TNT]

I'll tell you what, I'll call my ISP, home phone, AND cable TV providers and give them the same shpiel and see what they say and I'll match it.

I work for cable/ISP/phone company... trust me when I tell you that's pretty much a normal call.

For reasons unknown, a lot of people have the idea that what they pay for cable is pure profit... that cable has zero costs. As in:

Caller: I need you walk me through setting up my home network.
Me: We don't support your home networking.
Caller: So you're telling me I pay $40 a month for nothing?
Me: Well, you know, it does cover your internet service.

Or...

Me: Okay... the services you've selected come to $115 a month.
Caller: I can only pay $50.
Me: Then you'll have to cut back some services.
Caller: You're telling me you'd rather lose $50 instead of giving me what I want?

Or...

Caller: My husband got angry and threw the DVR against the wall and it don't work no more. We need a tech out here ASAP.
Me: We can have someone out there sometime, but since the DVR was intentionally damaged, you're going to have to pay for it.
Caller: WTF?! Why?!