Disclaimer: I was only following policy and the terms and conditions of the service plan, but in this case an exception should have been made....
Woman calls in with an issue with her TV. Apparently, she bought a display model TV and it was missing the OEM stand. So, the store sold her an aftermarket stand. She told me the salesguy told her it wasn't made specifically for the TV but it will work.
Well, her "issue" was that the TV tipped over and although she and her kids caught it, the corner of the TV screen met with the corner of the table it was sitting on and cracked the screen. Of course, she said no one bumped into the TV and blamed the aftermarket stand for the TV tipping over.
I let her know that such damage to the screen according to the service plan underwriters is misuse and abuse and is not covered, and all diagnosis and repair would be out of pocket. She started ranting and raving that she would refuse to pay for such a repair as the issue was caused by the stand that was sold to her (please note the manufacturer would also refuse to pay for the repair).
Now, for one of the few times I have to side with the customer. If the issue was indeed caused by the the stand buckling and allowing the TV to tip over, IMO we should eat the cost out of customer satisfaction.
Client wanted to escalate the call, so I sent her over to the corporate complaint line. Right as I was about to transfer the customer over to the rep I was speaking to, the customer disconnected the call.
Later I looked at the notes. The complaint rep called a field manager and spoke to him about this, he said:
"When/if client calls back, explain to her that the aftermarket stands are as good or better than the OEM stand and this could not have been caused by the stand, explain to her that this damage to the TV is misuse and abuse and it will NOT not covered."
Well, that settles it I guess. I looked at the client's file and she did not call back all day. But what's sucky about this on our end is that the field manager automatically placing blame on the customer and refusing to even consider the stand may be at fault. Sure, the customer was dumb to buy a display model TV and spend extra on a stand when she could have bought a fresh new TV with the correct stand but that should not mean the store should take it out on her after the fact.
Woman calls in with an issue with her TV. Apparently, she bought a display model TV and it was missing the OEM stand. So, the store sold her an aftermarket stand. She told me the salesguy told her it wasn't made specifically for the TV but it will work.
Well, her "issue" was that the TV tipped over and although she and her kids caught it, the corner of the TV screen met with the corner of the table it was sitting on and cracked the screen. Of course, she said no one bumped into the TV and blamed the aftermarket stand for the TV tipping over.
I let her know that such damage to the screen according to the service plan underwriters is misuse and abuse and is not covered, and all diagnosis and repair would be out of pocket. She started ranting and raving that she would refuse to pay for such a repair as the issue was caused by the stand that was sold to her (please note the manufacturer would also refuse to pay for the repair).
Now, for one of the few times I have to side with the customer. If the issue was indeed caused by the the stand buckling and allowing the TV to tip over, IMO we should eat the cost out of customer satisfaction.
Client wanted to escalate the call, so I sent her over to the corporate complaint line. Right as I was about to transfer the customer over to the rep I was speaking to, the customer disconnected the call.
Later I looked at the notes. The complaint rep called a field manager and spoke to him about this, he said:
"When/if client calls back, explain to her that the aftermarket stands are as good or better than the OEM stand and this could not have been caused by the stand, explain to her that this damage to the TV is misuse and abuse and it will NOT not covered."
Well, that settles it I guess. I looked at the client's file and she did not call back all day. But what's sucky about this on our end is that the field manager automatically placing blame on the customer and refusing to even consider the stand may be at fault. Sure, the customer was dumb to buy a display model TV and spend extra on a stand when she could have bought a fresh new TV with the correct stand but that should not mean the store should take it out on her after the fact.
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