You really thought was going to work didn't you?

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

This is an SC story with a dose of CoC.

Back when I was working at the call center, we had almost a universal dislike for our company's retail sales reps. They got big commissions for activations so they would frequently promise all kinds of discounts and/or freebies to customers to get them to sign up but usually can't deliver on them because they don't have access to our billing system, leaving us to clean up the mess when the understandably upset customer calls us because they weren't getting their deals.

Occasionally we would get calls from the reps directly, which were usually interesting...

Me: Thank you for calling Horizon Wireless, how may I help you?
Rep (R): Yeah, I need you to fix something on a customer account here.
Me: Okay...(verify account and so forth). I have the account up, what's the problem?
R: She's not getting the discounts I guaranteed her. (Oh boy, here we go...)
Me: Ok, I see four lines on this account on our economy family share plan for $120/month, but I don't see any discounts. What kind of discount was this? (sidenote: We DO give legit discounts for various reasons, your employer for example, so it was possible there was actually a proper discount that was never added)
R: She's supposed to be getting 75 percent off every month.
Me: *spit take*
Wait...let me make sure I heard you correctly. Did you say SEVENTY FIVE percent??
R: Yes that's what I said, are you having trouble hearing me?
(Note: The LARGEST account discount we gave, usually for government accounts, was 30 percent. Nothing even close to 50 was ever offered, let alone 75)
Me: Um may I ask who authorized this discount?
R: I did. (impatiently) Check the notes.

I dig into the account history and sure enough I find:

STEVE @ STORE 2341 OFFERED CUST 75 PER CENT PLAN DISCOUNT (24 MOS) FOR 4 LINE ACTIVATION. CUST SERVICE REP, PLS HONOR!

Me: I see the note here about this discount.
R: Excellent, now can we go ahead and get that added for this customer please?
Me: No, we can't.
R: (pause) NO?? What do you mean No?
Me: I mean your customer cannot have this discount.
R: But you have to do it! It's IN THE NOTES!!

(note: There was, unfortunately, a mistaken belief among many sales reps that they could just tack on notes like this and we were required by some magical policy to honor them. We weren't.)

Me: We do not have to do it and we are not going to do it. Look, you work for us you should know that maximum discount we offer is usually 30 percent. Period.
I can't honor this discount.
R: Hang on a minute, the customer wants to talk to you.
SC: What's going on here? Why won't you give me my damned discount?!
Me: Because we don't offer those kinds of discounts.
R: This nice gentleman here TOLD me I could have this discount and he TOLD me you would have to honor it!
Me: I apologize ma'am, but he was wrong. We can't give it to you.
SC: This is bullshit! I want my discount! I want my GUARANTEED DISCOUNT!!
Me: The discount WAS promised to you, but unfortunately by someone who didn't have the authority to do that. I can't do it either.
SC: THEN FIND ME SOMEONE WHO CAN!!
Me: You're not understanding me, we never offer this kind of discount. Ever. No one here can do it for you.
SC: GET ME YOUR SUPERVISOR! NOW!!
Me: Hold one moment please.

Sup got on, went around a few times with the woman and eventually sent her on to cancellations who somewhat shockingly, did not cave either. This rep really pushed his luck offering that high a discount.

Also, my sup wrote the store number down from the notes, figured out which location it was, called that store and talked to R's manager about his conduct and the massive discount. Hopefully R didn't last long after that.

[MoonCat]

Un.Be.Lievable.

I hate co-workers who make up their own discounts and rules

[eltf177]

At least it was in the notes, I wonder how many salesmen make these promises to the customers, only to have customer support first learn about it when they call and complain that "the salesman promised me this, you need to make it happen now!"

The old adage applies here, 'if it's not in writing then don't be surprised later when you find out you were lied to!'

I too hope this clown was fired for promising everything including the moon to make a sale.

[mhkohne]

At least it was in the notes, I wonder how many salesmen make these promises to the customers, only to have customer support first learn about it when they call and complain that "the salesman promised me this, you need to make it happen now!"

The old adage applies here, 'if it's not in writing then don't be surprised later when you find out you were lied to!'

I too hope this clown was fired for promising everything including the moon to make a sale.

On the # of sales weasles lying: I suspect it's high, judging by the stories here.

Clown fired: I hope they didn't. I want them to give the customer the discount, by taking it out of his paycheck.

[Cia]

The customer was just as stupid as the sales rep since anyone with any brains at all would know that a 75% discount on 2 years of service would not be approved nor honored.

[Seshat]

There's a Dilbert strip along these lines, that many people believe was totally faked.

It wasn't. My husband sent the story to Scott Adams.

[EricKei]

The Dilbert bit made me think of a review for Saints Row 4 (iirc), where it was mentioned in all of the hype that it would be SO much better than its (then-current, very well-received predecessor)...This prompted the reviewer to quip that maybe he should just forget about buying part 3 and just hold out for the new one, then?

[bainsidhe]

And I thought it was bad when sucky sales rep told me I couldn't disable internet on my phone. Actually I could, and later did, when I started getting charged for random internet usage that I never used. Apparently reps got an extra commission for new plans with internet included, which means he bold-faced lied to me.

[emax4]

I think I would have told the customer, "So-and-so promised you this discount, which is higher than we can give. However, in order to provide optimum customer service, we will dock the salesman's pay in order to fulfill the discount he promised you. Yeah, we call it the 'Don't let your mouth write checks your ass can't cash' policy...why do you ask?"

[roxtar]

$120/mo * 24months = $2880
75% of $2880 is $2160

Guarantee he won't be making promises like that again.

[sstabeler]

is the profit margin even large enough to cover the promised discount? ( AKA, wouldn't a 75% discount mean you would be losing money on the account anyway?)

[NateTheChops]

It's definitely annoying when you're forced to deal with the aftermath of someone else's epic failure.

It's like when a customer claims "X did thus for me this time."

Even my supervisors know that the majority of customers are firm subscribers to the rule of always lying. But I've worked in the Bullseye long enough to know that some people will make exceptions to rules and cut corners that the customer then goes on to believe is always the case, thus forcing me to be the bad guy by refusing to do that thing.

Hopefully that sales person did get canned, because offering a discount like that would make me wonder what else they were up to.

[Luna Baby]

Question--if a customer is 'promised' these outrageous discounts and signs and agreement/contract and then it is determined that the discounts do not or will not apply, can the customer get out of the contract without a fee? Within the last year, I dropped our carrier and opted for a no contract carrier but my previous carrier kept after me to stay with them and they would do all kinds of discounts with my billing. Needless to say, I didn't believe them.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Question--if a customer is 'promised' these outrageous discounts and signs and agreement/contract and then it is determined that the discounts do not or will not apply, can the customer get out of the contract without a fee?

That would be up to retentions/cancellation as they are the ONLY ONES who can waive ETFs. Seriously, we could be fired if we did it. I would imagine IF the account is noted and supports the customers case then they might allow it but of course standard policy is to let people cancel without a fee during the first 30 days anyway.

A couple of other notes on this one:

- I've worked both call centers and retail in the wireless industry and I know the sales pressure on the retail side is enormous. The account in question was activated a few days before the end of the month, I wouldn't doubt this sales rep promised the crazy discount to make his end of month quota.

- Or it could also be he'd already hit his quota and was just looking to pad his commission. A four line activation could easily add an extra $100 or more (depending on what else he may have added to the sale) to his bonus check for that month.

- If the discount had been more reasonable, like say 15 or 20 percent, we might have been able to accommodate the customer, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

[snugglegirl05]

I'd want know who the bonehead is who offered that discount? that is a good way for a company to lose money