You mean it gets disconnected if I don't pay?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Companies should not have "retention" departments or grade employees on the number of customers they retain.

It just leads those people to bend over and take it up the tailpipe from SCs when they threaten to go elsewhere or threaten legal action or whatever.

I'd be irate too, but the poor retentions rep is just doing what he has to do to keep his job.

[downforit2008]

Apparently, the corporate pricks never have and never will understand what people like us go through with a screaming customer. If every customer tried this and succeeded, every one of our businesses would go bankrupt because we're spending company money paying their personal bills.

This woman should realize that she has a responsibility to pay the bill on her cell phone instead of having the company pay for her. Her case would never hold up in any court. She might get free rent as well from her landlord by saying it's ILLEGAL to evict her from her house.

[MadMike]

And that's why "customers" like her throw tantrums like spoiled children -- because 9 times out of 10, it works.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Apparently, the corporate pricks never have and never will understand what people like us go through with a screaming customer. If every customer tried this and succeeded, every one of our businesses would go bankrupt because we're spending company money paying their personal bills.

This woman should realize that she has a responsibility to pay the bill on her cell phone instead of having the company pay for her. Her case would never hold up in any court. She might get free rent as well from her landlord by saying it's ILLEGAL to evict her from her house.

There is a story someplace on this board about somebody getting a credit on their cable service.

WHICH THEY HAD BEEN STEALING.

I like to go back and read it whenever I'm feeling too much faith in management types.

[downforit2008]

You sometimes have faith in MANAGEMENT types? I never need to be reminded when I see what the managers do for the customers at my work. They'll let the customers have a free 60-inch flatscreen TV if the customer throws a fit about it long enough just because "the customer shops here regularly."

Never mind that the customer in question probably spends only $10 a month at our store, right?

[lobo94]

All I can say is...crack kills. People really shouldn't smoke it. Unfortunately, it seems to be epidemic in the management community. Or maybe management is from Mars, or Planet McGoofy.

We have established SCs suck. Royally. I'm so glad for a place like this where I can read, respond, laugh my head off, shake my head, and vent.

And people wonder why I like cats.

[RealUnimportant]

If someone plays the "are you a lawyer?" card, the proper response is "no, but I know how the laws relate to my profession - are YOU a lawyer?"

[Mr Hero]

I read the topic title as "You mean I get discounted if I don't pay? " Sadly that is also accurate.

[Nemesis44UK]

Unbelievable. Not that there was a truly sucky customer, but rather, someone in corporate with the spine of a jellyfish caved in.

Do people not understand that there is such a thing as a "bad customer?"

If you have 5% of your customers causing 99% of your problems, is it not better to just shed those problem customers, thus increasing your profitability and work rate?

[sms001]

Saddest part, of course, is that WE are paying this woman's (or her fellow SCs) bill for her. Not the company or their shareholders, and certainly not corporate nitwits. It's a gray market price structure; scammers and EWs have one rate, us decent people have another, which includes making up for the part they don't pay.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I think it's time you went above those others heads that you work with and go to someone else to have them or some other team contact this SC, and keep the service shut off for nonpayment. You've already looked at the account and saw that she's scamming the system, so there's your proof. If management argues with you about it, ask them how they feel if you were to start making the remaining customers happy and causing the company to lose money by suggesting the customers follow the same behavior as this SC.

Realistically, there wasn't any way to do that. Our call center manager had nothing to do with customer service. His job was to monitor our metrics/upsells/etc. He was about the only direct contact we had between our company and the company we took calls for.

I did have the other reps ID (as it was logged in the account notes) and although we did have a system where we could file a report about a rep for something like this, I doubt it was very effective.

I've worked at a number of different jobs, many of which had shitty management, but far and away the shittiest management of all was at the call center. These people literally did not give a shit about their customers OR their employees. All that mattered to them were their almighty metrics.

[Pixilated]

Apparently, the corporate pricks never have and never will understand what people like us go through with a screaming customer. If every customer tried this and succeeded, every one of our businesses would go bankrupt because we're spending company money paying their personal bills.

This woman should realize that she has a responsibility to pay the bill on her cell phone instead of having the company pay for her. Her case would never hold up in any court. She might get free rent as well from her landlord by saying it's ILLEGAL to evict her from her house.

Emphasis above is mine. This is what I don't understand about this management mentality: do they think these people keep it a secret that they are getting something for nothing from X company? They will boast and brag about it to anyone who will stand still and listen. Then their friends start trying the same thing -- and bragging about it when it works. And as the paying customers' rates go up (because somebody's gotta pay for operating costs, doncha know!) they start looking for somewhere else to go ... and the company gets a steadily rising proportion of nonpaying customers! How is that good for business in the long run?!

[RootedPhoenix]

..............If I did this I have to kick my own butt.

What IS it that these corporate types smoke? Because I need to stay far away from it.

[vikingchyk]

SC: BULLSHIT! You can't do that, It's ILLEGAL to cut me off, do you hear me, ILLEGAL!
Me: No, it's not.
SC: YES IT IS!
Me: NO, it's not.
SC: YES IT IS!

Me: Oh, I'm sorry, just one moment. Is this a five minute argument or the full half hour?
SC: Oh, just the five minutes.
Me: Ah, thank you. Anyway, no it's not.

[emax4]

It's stuff like this that can easily get a worker unmotivated about his or her job. Yeah, you can look at it like "it's a job..", or "DAMN RIGHT! It's a JOB!". It just sucks when you're trying to follow the rules and be loyal to your employer, yet they clearly go against the rules blatantly and support the scammers.

You didn't seem really that frustrated from your typing tone when you explained the story, but I know how stressful it can get. In order to keep the stress down, can you contact your supervisor and ask him or her if you can transfer the scamm, er caller once they start to disagree with your answer and are trying to break/bend the rules? If those types of calls keep piling up, hopefully in time the higher-ups might do something about it. In essence, you'd be doing what you can do in order to work normally and without all that stress.