Customer Service Rant
Can someone please, PLEASE tell me what I’m doing wrong? My computer problem was only one of many incidents involving companies not delivering on promised services and/or ripping me off. Here’s the list.
NTelos. NTelos was my cell phone provider before I moved to Maryland. I bought a phone in Maryland and signed a contract with Cingular a few days after starting my new job. That weekend was MLK weekend and I drove back to Richmond to pack more of my stuff. While I was there, I physically walked into an nTelos store to cancel my plan. I was told the phone would work for three more days – until the end of the billing cycle.
The next month, I got two cell phone bills – one for Cingular and one for nTelos. I noticed that Cingular billed me for the month ahead. I checked the nTelos bill and, sure enough, so did they. Except they shouldn’t have. I had canceled before the end of the previous billing period. I called and asked them why they had billed me. They said the plan had not been canceled until the Thursday following MLK day - four days after I had walked into the store in Richmond. I explained that I had canceled my plan by going to a store in Richmond and that I had not been in Richmond that Thursday, nor the previous day, nor the previous day. So something had to have gone wrong on their end. Since it wasn’t my mistake, they should adjust my bill. The customer service rep filed a dispute for me and said I would be notified within 72 hours of their decision.
The decision? They did not receive the cancellation from their store until that Thursday. They believed the store and not me, even though I could have produced about ten witnesses who would verify I was a 3 hour drive from Richmond on the day in question. If I wanted to pursue the matter further, they said, I would have to call the store in Richmond directly.
I did. I had to describe which seat I had walked up to when I had gone into the store. They said they would check and call me back. They called back and left a message that said that my bill would be adjusted and I no longer owed the extra month.
Problem, though. I had made several roaming calls while searching for apartments, which meant I still owed them something – I just didn’t know what. I called to ask. They said they didn’t know – the bill wouldn’t be adjusted until the end of the billing cycle. I was told to call back the day after my bill was due. “Won’t I be charged a late fee?” I asked. I was assured that they had a grace period during which they would not charge me.
I called the day after my bill was due. The bill still had not been adjusted. I was told I would be contacted by someone assigned to my case the next day. I wasn’t. After a few days, I called again. The bill had finally been adjusted, and sure enough, I had been charged a late fee. This was nearly two months after I had orignially disputed the bill and I was in the middle of the computer fiasco, so I just decided to pay the bill over the phone right then and there because I didn’t want to deal with it anymore.
Cingular. There was the whole cutting out in the middle of my conversations with tech support thing. But there has also been the problem of the rebate. I was told when I bought the phone that I would get a full rebate. The form (supposedly) had already been filled out. I just needed to sign it and mail it along with the proof of purchase to the given address. I bought the phone on maybe the 10th or 11th of January and mailed in the rebate form the next day.
Late February, again in the middle of my computer problems, I get mail from Cingular saying that I had not properly filled out my rebate form. My phone number had not been filled in. I filled it in and mailed it back.
A few days ago, the check finally came in the mail. But they spelled my name wrong! And it’s not like they put in an extra “p” or something. It was the equivalent a writing a check to Spak Laki instead of Spak Kadi. It’s enough of a screw up that the bank may not take it. Cingular, I have your number! And the not-so-free phone you sold me! And I know how to use them!
Cable guy. When I called the national number for Comcast, they claimed that my building was capable of receiving neither digital cable nor high speed internet. The complex had advertised that they could so get those things, but the customer rep insisted this was the case. I sighed and signed up to have the cheapest cable option installed since I wouldn’t be able to get rabbit ears to work in my apartment. When I finally got off the phone with the cable company, I went to the front desk to let them know that they shouldn’t be advertising that they have high speed internet if it’s merely a coming attraction and not currently available. “No, we have it,” Front Desk Man insisted. “In fact, the local rep is here right now installing digital cable. You can talk to him when he’s done.” As if on cue, the cable guy suddenly appeared, the remnants of his recent installation still in his hands. He assured me that he had just installed digital cable and that high speed internet was also available, so I made an appointment with him for the Monday after my move-in date. Installation was free, so I figured I’d let him set up the internet as well as the cable. The appointment was for 5 o’clock. Monday, at 5:05 (because I’m impatient and I wasn’t sure if some confusion hadn’t been caused by my making an appoint through the national number as well), I called to make sure he was coming. When I called, he said he’d be right over.
The digital cable was ready in about 5 minutes. High speed internet (a plug and play feature, people!) took about two hours. Who knows what he installed on this thing. Whatever it was, it’s gone now. When I got my computer fixed, I hooked up my ethernet card and I was on the internet. Now, was that so hard?
Radio Shack. Never. Going. Back. The first time I went to the Radio Shack near my apartment, I was trying to buy an AC adapter for my Space Invaders game console that my sister had gotten me for Christmas. I had already picked out the adapter I wanted – 6V, 300 mA, per the specs that came with the game - and just needed help picking out the connector. The salesperson took the game console over to some wires that had all the different connectors on them and tried different ones out until he found one that seemed to fit (which wasn’t the right one, but it seemed like the right one, so I don’t know if I blame him for that mix up). He put down the AC adapter I had picked out, pulled a 6V, 800 mA power supply off the rack (which was more expensive), and started back toward the register. “Um, excuse me. But I think the smaller one will be sufficient.” “Oh,” was all he said before he switched back to the one I had chosen. Yes, Mr. Man, I’m not going to let you rip me off.
This is the same store I lugged my computer to during the computer fiasco. Did I mention? Never. Going. Back.
TFN. The lean holder on my car, which I still owe money on, so I won’t name names so much (because I’m paranoid). To get my car registered in Maryland, Maryland needed my original title. I called them up to see where to send the form the MVA had given me. After I was put on hold, they told me to fax the form to a number with a Columbia, MD area code. I asked if I could just mail it, but they insisted on a fax, which costs me 2 dollars at Kinko’s as opposed to the 37 cent stamp I would put on an envelope.
I went to Kinko’s. The fax machine tried to destroy the form, but I managed to tape it back together and try again. I received a confirmation that the fax had been sent. However, when I went into the MVA a couple of weeks later, they had not received my title. When I called TFN, they claimed that they had never received the fax and that a copy of my title had been sent to the MVA after my call, even though I said Original, not Extra Crispy. I insisted on a mailing address this time. She said the fax was meant to expedite the process, but once again, the “faster way” that customer service recommends ends up costing more time than what I originally wanted to do. Destroy! I’m going to get registered tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Renter’s Insurance. Called to get renter’s insurance shortly after signing a lease but before I had moved in. A couple of weeks after I had moved in, I still had not received a bill or any information regarding my covered. So I called to see if there was a problem. They had the wrong address. I corrected it. A couple of weeks later, still nothing. I called again. I finally received information about my coverage today. Nearly four months later.
So, what, am I being too pushy? Not pushy enough? Do I need to get a voice changer so I sound more masculine when I call customer service? Am I expecting too much by expecting companies to actually deliver on advertised services? Why is this acceptable behavior for a business? Why? Why? WHY?
NTelos. NTelos was my cell phone provider before I moved to Maryland. I bought a phone in Maryland and signed a contract with Cingular a few days after starting my new job. That weekend was MLK weekend and I drove back to Richmond to pack more of my stuff. While I was there, I physically walked into an nTelos store to cancel my plan. I was told the phone would work for three more days – until the end of the billing cycle.
The next month, I got two cell phone bills – one for Cingular and one for nTelos. I noticed that Cingular billed me for the month ahead. I checked the nTelos bill and, sure enough, so did they. Except they shouldn’t have. I had canceled before the end of the previous billing period. I called and asked them why they had billed me. They said the plan had not been canceled until the Thursday following MLK day - four days after I had walked into the store in Richmond. I explained that I had canceled my plan by going to a store in Richmond and that I had not been in Richmond that Thursday, nor the previous day, nor the previous day. So something had to have gone wrong on their end. Since it wasn’t my mistake, they should adjust my bill. The customer service rep filed a dispute for me and said I would be notified within 72 hours of their decision.
The decision? They did not receive the cancellation from their store until that Thursday. They believed the store and not me, even though I could have produced about ten witnesses who would verify I was a 3 hour drive from Richmond on the day in question. If I wanted to pursue the matter further, they said, I would have to call the store in Richmond directly.
I did. I had to describe which seat I had walked up to when I had gone into the store. They said they would check and call me back. They called back and left a message that said that my bill would be adjusted and I no longer owed the extra month.
Problem, though. I had made several roaming calls while searching for apartments, which meant I still owed them something – I just didn’t know what. I called to ask. They said they didn’t know – the bill wouldn’t be adjusted until the end of the billing cycle. I was told to call back the day after my bill was due. “Won’t I be charged a late fee?” I asked. I was assured that they had a grace period during which they would not charge me.
I called the day after my bill was due. The bill still had not been adjusted. I was told I would be contacted by someone assigned to my case the next day. I wasn’t. After a few days, I called again. The bill had finally been adjusted, and sure enough, I had been charged a late fee. This was nearly two months after I had orignially disputed the bill and I was in the middle of the computer fiasco, so I just decided to pay the bill over the phone right then and there because I didn’t want to deal with it anymore.
Cingular. There was the whole cutting out in the middle of my conversations with tech support thing. But there has also been the problem of the rebate. I was told when I bought the phone that I would get a full rebate. The form (supposedly) had already been filled out. I just needed to sign it and mail it along with the proof of purchase to the given address. I bought the phone on maybe the 10th or 11th of January and mailed in the rebate form the next day.
Late February, again in the middle of my computer problems, I get mail from Cingular saying that I had not properly filled out my rebate form. My phone number had not been filled in. I filled it in and mailed it back.
A few days ago, the check finally came in the mail. But they spelled my name wrong! And it’s not like they put in an extra “p” or something. It was the equivalent a writing a check to Spak Laki instead of Spak Kadi. It’s enough of a screw up that the bank may not take it. Cingular, I have your number! And the not-so-free phone you sold me! And I know how to use them!
Cable guy. When I called the national number for Comcast, they claimed that my building was capable of receiving neither digital cable nor high speed internet. The complex had advertised that they could so get those things, but the customer rep insisted this was the case. I sighed and signed up to have the cheapest cable option installed since I wouldn’t be able to get rabbit ears to work in my apartment. When I finally got off the phone with the cable company, I went to the front desk to let them know that they shouldn’t be advertising that they have high speed internet if it’s merely a coming attraction and not currently available. “No, we have it,” Front Desk Man insisted. “In fact, the local rep is here right now installing digital cable. You can talk to him when he’s done.” As if on cue, the cable guy suddenly appeared, the remnants of his recent installation still in his hands. He assured me that he had just installed digital cable and that high speed internet was also available, so I made an appointment with him for the Monday after my move-in date. Installation was free, so I figured I’d let him set up the internet as well as the cable. The appointment was for 5 o’clock. Monday, at 5:05 (because I’m impatient and I wasn’t sure if some confusion hadn’t been caused by my making an appoint through the national number as well), I called to make sure he was coming. When I called, he said he’d be right over.
The digital cable was ready in about 5 minutes. High speed internet (a plug and play feature, people!) took about two hours. Who knows what he installed on this thing. Whatever it was, it’s gone now. When I got my computer fixed, I hooked up my ethernet card and I was on the internet. Now, was that so hard?
Radio Shack. Never. Going. Back. The first time I went to the Radio Shack near my apartment, I was trying to buy an AC adapter for my Space Invaders game console that my sister had gotten me for Christmas. I had already picked out the adapter I wanted – 6V, 300 mA, per the specs that came with the game - and just needed help picking out the connector. The salesperson took the game console over to some wires that had all the different connectors on them and tried different ones out until he found one that seemed to fit (which wasn’t the right one, but it seemed like the right one, so I don’t know if I blame him for that mix up). He put down the AC adapter I had picked out, pulled a 6V, 800 mA power supply off the rack (which was more expensive), and started back toward the register. “Um, excuse me. But I think the smaller one will be sufficient.” “Oh,” was all he said before he switched back to the one I had chosen. Yes, Mr. Man, I’m not going to let you rip me off.
This is the same store I lugged my computer to during the computer fiasco. Did I mention? Never. Going. Back.
TFN. The lean holder on my car, which I still owe money on, so I won’t name names so much (because I’m paranoid). To get my car registered in Maryland, Maryland needed my original title. I called them up to see where to send the form the MVA had given me. After I was put on hold, they told me to fax the form to a number with a Columbia, MD area code. I asked if I could just mail it, but they insisted on a fax, which costs me 2 dollars at Kinko’s as opposed to the 37 cent stamp I would put on an envelope.
I went to Kinko’s. The fax machine tried to destroy the form, but I managed to tape it back together and try again. I received a confirmation that the fax had been sent. However, when I went into the MVA a couple of weeks later, they had not received my title. When I called TFN, they claimed that they had never received the fax and that a copy of my title had been sent to the MVA after my call, even though I said Original, not Extra Crispy. I insisted on a mailing address this time. She said the fax was meant to expedite the process, but once again, the “faster way” that customer service recommends ends up costing more time than what I originally wanted to do. Destroy! I’m going to get registered tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Renter’s Insurance. Called to get renter’s insurance shortly after signing a lease but before I had moved in. A couple of weeks after I had moved in, I still had not received a bill or any information regarding my covered. So I called to see if there was a problem. They had the wrong address. I corrected it. A couple of weeks later, still nothing. I called again. I finally received information about my coverage today. Nearly four months later.
So, what, am I being too pushy? Not pushy enough? Do I need to get a voice changer so I sound more masculine when I call customer service? Am I expecting too much by expecting companies to actually deliver on advertised services? Why is this acceptable behavior for a business? Why? Why? WHY?
posted by SpakKadi at 1:04 AM
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