Customers Demanding Credits/Refunds

[baileysinmycoffee]

OK here we go...

I work for a major cable/internet/phone company as a "billing" representative. However I do get service/trouble calls as well.

Why do customers call in, claim their services haven't been working "for months" and demand 2-3 months worth of credit? The kicker is, this is the *first* time they've called to notify us of the "problem."

Typical conversation is as follows:

Me: Thank you for calling XYZ, my name is XYZ, how can I help you?
Customer: I've had nothing but trouble with my service since December. I'm paying you people $--- a month, if you don't credit me, I am going to switch to XYZ company or XYZ company or XYZ company.
Me: I'm sorry to hear that, may I please have your account number so I may better assist you?
Customer: Acct#--------. My internet has been down for 2 weeks and the cable was missing my HD channels since December.
Me: Thank you, please bear with me while I run some tests on your equipment

I run the tests while I look over the account. I go to the activity screen, and I see that the last time this person called us was in October 2009 It is now March 2010. He claims he's had problems since December. This is going to be interesting...

Me: Sir, I see that all of your equipment is online and the signal levels are within spec. Are the services working currently?
Customer: Well, yes, but I've had nothing but problems since December
Me: (chuckling in my head) When you called us in December, did we troubleshoot the problem or dispatch a technician to your home to solve the issue?
Customer: No. I didn't call. Look, it was the holidays, I didn't have the time to call and wait on hold for an hour to talk to you people.
Me: I understand. I wish you had called so we could have done some troubleshooting with you. I'd be happy to credit you 2 weeks of service, but unfortunately I cannot credit back to December. I'd be happy to dispatch a technician to your home to check everything over for you.
Customer: I want to speak to a manager.
Me: Please hold while I connect you

Needless to say, my supervisor told the customer the same thing that I did. There's no way in hell we ever credit that much $$ unless there are documented repeat service calls to the home and approval from the higher level tech support. If this guy was really having such severe trouble, he would've found the time to call us between December 1 and March 3 to report it.

Just another day in paradise...LOL

[vstorevigilante]

"I rented this movie last Friday, it was scratched and wouldn't play. I need it credited."

"Wait, you got a 7-day rental, which is now a day late today, so you've had this movie, which you say is defective, for 8 days and are only just informing us of the problem now?"

"I live in Town X (*note that no where is more than half and hour's drive away from the store. NO WHERE!*), I didn't wanna drive all the way in."

"Yeah, I understand. Did you call us so we could make a note on the account?"

"... no...?"

"'Fraid there's nothing I can do. Oh, and that late fee is $1.13. Thanks."

I hate people. Really.

[shenzee]

"I rented this movie last Friday, it was scratched and wouldn't play. I need it credited."

"Wait, you got a 7-day rental, which is now a day late today, so you've had this movie, which you say is defective, for 8 days and are only just informing us of the problem now?"

"I live in Town X (*note that no where is more than half and hour's drive away from the store. NO WHERE!*), I didn't wanna drive all the way in."

"Yeah, I understand. Did you call us so we could make a note on the account?"

"... no...?"

"'Fraid there's nothing I can do. Oh, and that late fee is $1.13. Thanks."

I hate people. Really.

Now I have had this happen, but without the late part. I don't always watch a movie on the same day I rent it, but have had instances in the past where I realize I better watch the movie because it's due the next day, only to find out that it's scratched and unwatchable. However, I don't ask for a refund, I just make sure to mention it to a staff member so that they don't put it back on the shelf for some other unsuspecting customer.

[Racket_Man]

back when I worked for the gas station.

SC - I went through your car wash but my car was still dirty.
Me - (thinking she just ran it through) OK. Where is your car parked and do you still have the receipt?? As I need to see both for verification purposes.
SC - Well it was three weeks ago. we were in a hurry going up North and did not have time to say anything. WHAT ARE YOU GONING TO DO ABOUT THIS???????
Me - (head explodes brain reboots ----> reboot failure also note that it had rained at least 3 times during that 3 weeks) UMMMMM I am very sorry but there is nothing I can do for you. If you would have brought the situation to our attention at the time we could have given you anther wash right then.
SC - BUT MY CAR WAS DIRTY after it went through YOUR car wash!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS??????????????
Me - I am very sorry but there is nothing I can do for you. If you would have brought the situation to our attention at the time we could have given you anther wash right then.

wash lather rinse repeat

what I wanted to say was "AND I am just supposed to take YOUR word for it and give away a FREE car wash to anyone who says their car is dirty????? FUCK NO LADY"

[Shalom]

Back when I lived in Buffalo, the car wash on the corner of Niagara Falls Blvd and Maple Rd in Tonawanda, NY used to give a seven-day guarantee on car washes... if you got the deluxe wash (which was something like nine dollars, rather a high price for the time) and your car got dirty within a week, they'd wash it again for free. Even if it rained in between. I have no idea how they managed to make a profit on this, given that this was effectively giving 2-for-1 on all car washes.

[bsaana]

I always hate those that call in and say they've had nothing but trouble, or it has never worked right, or call in with a problem but it happened yesterday and they want to know why. If you don't call in we don't know anything is wrong and have no reason to suspect otherwise, and no I can't tell you why it didn't work yesterday.

[baileysinmycoffee]

I always hate those that call in and say they've had nothing but trouble, or it has never worked right, or call in with a problem but it happened yesterday and they want to know why. If you don't call in we don't know anything is wrong and have no reason to suspect otherwise, and no I can't tell you why it didn't work yesterday.

Exactly!!! I do get *a few* customers who do call in with legitimate repeat service problems. I check the call log and sure enough, they call us at least every other week to report a service outage or issue. I go ahead and credit their account and then get the tech managers involved and out to the home so we can finally get this resolved so this person can stop complaining and we can all move on with our lives! *whew*

But the ones who expect us to just start waiving half of their bill and just taking their word for it? I don't think so...

Or, I love the ones who have a history of calling in with made-up stories so they can get $$$ taken off their bills. Even if you move and get service at a new address, we still keep your old account on file and yes we do look at it when you call. I had one guy who told me some song and dance about the poor service. So I look up his old address/account with us, which dated back 5 years ago, and sure enough, I saw a bunch of service calls where the technician noted that this guy was running all sorts of lines and splitters on his own. He didn't want to pay the technician to install things the right way. Ok, fine. But don't expect us to credit your bill when in reality, you are causing your own service problems! When I offered to send a tech, he declined, saying his wife "doesn't like strangers in the home (gee, I wonder why?)

[sweetj82]

i got a fews ago a guy insisting the we fill his gas tank b/c he chose our store to shop at.