The Death of Customer Service...

[kehlis]

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

That's the problem as to why most customer service is so crappy, the majority of people complain to their family and friends when they have issues instead of speaking up and letting the company know so they can correct their issues.

So who did you speak with at the company that can spark a change regarding your perceived issue??

As far as we know it's no one.


And this paragraph is incredibly ironic since it's literally the exact same thing you just did (unless you think anyone on OS can make a change with their support).

[SmashMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

Let me bring clarity to why it is bad customer service. 1. AT&T filed the wrong ticket for me. 2. When I asked about it they admitted they made a mistake. 3. They then didn't want to fix their mistake and asked me to fix it. Doesn't matter if the rep was nice and I was mean, those are the facts.

Nope, she didn't ask you to fix the mistake. She asked if you had tried unlocking on your own, you said you didn't know how to, so she provided a link that explains how one would do this on their own.

Quote: Originally Posted by ExtremeGamer

How many issues do you have if you contact Amazon chat "all the time"?!

I thought the same thing.

[Bellsprout]

Here's the thing about people in retail and customer service that you don't seem to realize, man: They're also human beings.

A lot of people forget this. When I worked customer service at Target there were people who were nice to you, and people who threw human decency completely out the window. There are people who respect that your job is hard and you get paid almost nothing, and there's people who view you as a peasant to do your bidding.

You appear to be the latter. The kind who, if I've dealt with you before, when you walk in I'm already in a bad mood because I know you're going to be difficult.

Let's review some of your chat with Sandy and see where you ****ed up, shall we?

Quote:

Sandy: Shaun, can you tell me when you submitted the device unlock request/ Sandy : ? SHAUN : yesterday SHAUN : i have a copy of the chat log, spoke to HAHREMM SHAUN : did you find the request and it's just not done yet or did you not even find the request?

Give her a ****ing second man. You just started and you're already trying to escalate the situation. She's here to help you and instantly you're jumping down her throat demanding answers and lobbing chat logs I'm sure she already has at her.

Let's continue.

Quote:

SHAUN : Shaun Hough SHAUN : Shaun Hough is the first and last name of the account owner, that is me

You probably lost me up top if I was your rep, but you definitely lost me here. You're talking to her like you're dealing with a 5 year old at this point. She's a ****ing adult, man. Treat her with respect.

Quote:

SHAUN : I need this unlocked today, I'm selling this in the morning SHAUN : so is a case that Hahremm going to get it unlocked by the morning? I'm having a buyer come and get it and it needs to be unlocked by 12/9 as Hahremm promised it would be SHAUN : hello?

Two things here. She doesn't care about your sob story yet. You've already burned up your goodwill. Second, "hello?"? Again. Give her a second. She's trying to fix a problem with you via a ****ing text chat. You don't know what she's doing on the other end. She could be working her *** off over there.

Quote:

Sandy : Shaun, did you attempt to unlock the device on your own? SHAUN : no, i'd have no idea how to unlock it

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=unlock+at%26t+phone

At least try.

Quote:

Sandy : ok, you will need the phone number and the imei and the first and last name of the account owner (you) and your At&t passcode. The website for customers to unlock their device is: www.att.com/deviceunlock SHAUN : why would I need to do that, i've already spoken to your customer service and they took care of it, that shouldn't be on me, it's your mistake

Ohhhh man. Oh I'd be livid. She told you how to do it. She gave you a link. She basically fixed your problem for you and you get snotty with her? Because it requires a little bit of work on your part?

Quote:

SHAUN : No, you fix your error and unlock it, I pay you guys $200 a month and quite frankly I spent 20 minutes talking to a guy yesterday and I'm not going to go off on my own and create a case, i've already done my part, it's up to you to do yours

Again, long past the point of caring about your sob stories. And you didn't do your part. She just told you what you can do and you blatantly told her to do it.

Quote:

SHAUN : then fix it, submit an urgent unlock request to get it done SHAUN : your agent made the mistake, not me SHAUN : I am not opening a new request, first of all I shouldn't have to because AT&T made the mistake and opened up the wrong ticket, and secondly if I do it won't be done in time by tomorrow, which is when your agent Hahremm promised that it would be completed SHAUN : If you cannot do it then please transfer me to a supervisor and I will speak to them

Yeah. Yell at her. Treat her like ****. If that's what makes you feel better I guess.

Anyway.

Dude, treat people in customer service with some ****ing respect. They're human beings too. If someone ever talked to you the way you talked to that poor lady, you'd ****ing hate them. And rightfully so. The golden rule, man. It's not just a saying, you should actually use it.

[ubernoob]

I wonder if everyone else in here has had decent experiences with customer service because we actually treat them like human beings...

[BunnyHardaway]

Quote: Originally Posted by ubernoob

I wonder if everyone else in here has had decent experiences with customer service because we actually treat them like human beings...

I just go to Chick-fil-A because they have to be nice

As a serious aside though, those people have me feeling like I own the entire poultry industry when I'm in there.

[ChubbyBanana]

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

Horrible idea, calling leaves you without any record of what was said.

Pretty sure a lot of those convos with companies are recorded, in case you want to ask the Ohio Attorney General to subpoena those records for your case.

[woodjer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bellsprout

Here's the thing about people in retail and customer service that you don't seem to realize, man: They're also human beings. A lot of people forget this. When I worked customer service at Target there were people who were nice to you, and people who threw human decency completely out the window. There are people who respect that your job is hard and you get paid almost nothing, and there's people who view you as a peasant to do your bidding. You appear to be the latter. The kind who, if I've dealt with you before, when you walk in I'm already in a bad mood because I know you're going to be difficult. Let's review some of your chat with Sandy and see where you ****ed up, shall we? Give her a ****ing second man. You just started and you're already trying to escalate the situation. She's here to help you and instantly you're jumping down her throat demanding answers and lobbing chat logs I'm sure she already has at her. Let's continue. You probably lost me up top if I was your rep, but you definitely lost me here. You're talking to her like you're dealing with a 5 year old at this point. She's a ****ing adult, man. Treat her with respect. Two things here. She doesn't care about your sob story yet. You've already burned up your goodwill. Second, "hello?"? Again. Give her a second. She's trying to fix a problem with you via a ****ing text chat. You don't know what she's doing on the other end. She could be working her *** off over there. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=unlock+at%26t+phone At least try. Ohhhh man. Oh I'd be livid. She told you how to do it. She gave you a link. She basically fixed your problem for you and you get snotty with her? Because it requires a little bit of work on your part? Again, long past the point of caring about your sob stories. And you didn't do your part. She just told you what you can do and you blatantly told her to do it. Yeah. Yell at her. Treat her like ****. If that's what makes you feel better I guess. Anyway. Dude, treat people in customer service with some ****ing respect. They're human beings too. If someone ever talked to you the way you talked to that poor lady, you'd ****ing hate them. And rightfully so. The golden rule, man. It's not just a saying, you should actually use it.

While I agree with your underlying message, wasn't there also a more respectful way to get your point across than going point-by-point through his post telling him every place he was a jerk? Besides, if you admit to going in with a bad mood because you've had a bad experience with a customer, how is it not ok for a customer to do the same because they've had a bad experience with the company? I'm not saying he was an angel, but treating people with respect goes both ways.

Also, I've had plenty of chats with support people that were obviously just following a script. For example, when I start the chat by saying that I saw a deal and verified that the service is in my area, why are the first things that I'm asked for are my address ("to see if it's available in your area") and then telling me about the great offer that is the exact same one I led with? If I'm expected to treat them as responsible human beings, why are they not able to do the same and a) listen to what I've already said or b) trust that I've done what I said I have?

Which leads to my examples:

1) Bought my first house and scheduled for cable to get installed. Of course, I'm given a window of time that I can't be there for so I ask my girlfriend (who was living with me) if she'll be home. Get home and she tells me that they didn't show up. Called the company and the first person tells me that nobody was home. After explaining that I had someone there waiting, they asked if it was a beige house with dark brown trim (it was) and then basically tell me I'm lying so I ask to speak to a supervisor. Supervisor gets on the line and looks up my record then tells me that they couldn't find the house. So which was it...they couldn't find the house? Or they found it but nobody was home? If you're going to tell me that it's my fault, at least stick to one story.

2) DSL modem stopped working. Called at 8:30 AM that morning and they said they would get one sent out to arrive the next day...something that they offered without me asking, much to my surprise. Nothing shows the next day so I call and they blame UPS for not delivering. Call UPS to see what I can do to pick it up and they tell me that the order didn't get to them until 11:00 PM the night before. Call the company back and ask if I could just pick one up at their wireless store instead (under the same company name, mind you) but am told that they are not affiliated (WTF?!) and that's not an option. When I ask for an explanation for why it took 15 hours for my order to get entered, they try to blow me off so I ask to speak with someone in the department that I spoke with the day before. Hold for a couple minutes and they come back to say that "they don't want to speak to you." WHAT?! I'm a paying customer calling because I didn't get what was promised.

3) Bought my second house and found a great deal on Uverse so ordered via their online portal. I get a call that the previous owners still had it connected and they couldn't schedule anything until that was resolved. Contact previous owners to clear it up and they replied to tell me that it was set. Contacted Uverse again to tell them that I had been told it was cleared up so they look up the address and schedule me for a timeslot. That timeslot comes and goes with nothing so I call to find out what's up only to be told that there was still an account active on those lines and that the install shouldn't have been scheduled. They try to arrange for a timeslot that's 2 weeks out. I explained that I took the day off of work to be there and asked what could be done to resolve it quickly. They said that they would elevate the issue and gave me a new timeslot (2 hours later). Sounds fine...until I get the alert that it had changed. I go in to check and they've totally wiped out the deal I had and want to charge me full price. Simple mistake and easy fix? Nope...I call to explain and they tell me that I modified the order so they can't do it even though the deal was still active. I explained that the mistakes were on their end so the guy works out a "deal" that's still $30/month higher than I ordered and was a lower package. I said it was unacceptable and, after spending 2 hours on the phone, I told him I'd call the next day. Strangely, when I called the next day, the person on the other end immediately saw the issue and fixed it in 5 minutes. Only had to spend over 4 hours on the phone arguing with a number of customer service people before getting someone that cared enough (or knew enough) to actually spend 5 minutes to understand my situation and resolve it.

[SmashMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by woodjer

Besides, if you admit to going in with a bad mood because you've had a bad experience with a customer, how is it not ok for a customer to do the same because they've had a bad experience with the company? I'm not saying he was an angel, but treating people with respect goes both ways.

His example would be going into an interaction with a specific customer based on a past negative experience.

Your example is saying it's okay someone to take out frustration on any random employee because they had a bad interaction with someone else in the company?

You don't see how those are different situations?

I could see going into a second chat with someone and not being optimistic based on previous experience, but there was no reason to start going after the second rep in this case and especially being ready to jump on them before even confirming there was an issue from the first chat.