Shop Talk
Definition of Customer Service
As of late, the entire paradigm of Cingular has shifted with regards to billing and crediting charges. Before this shift, if you went over your minutes, got charged for roaming/long distance, and disputing your final bill after porting out, customers would call in and we (CSRs) would tell them, too bad, pay your bill, etc. Even when a customer has escalated a call to a higher-up, they would defend our decision and quote policy to the customer explaining why the charges are valid.
Fast forward to today now. Cingular's customer service has been "branded" the worst in the industry from every which way imaginable. Now, the primary reason why customers complain about a wireless company and their "customer service" is related to the first pa...
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Fast forward to today now. Cingular's customer service has been "branded" the worst in the industry from every which way imaginable. Now, the primary reason why customers complain about a wireless company and their "customer service" is related to the first pa...
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Of course after all the dust settles the plans will aslo be easier to understand as the dozens of old plans are phased out. It is confusing to customers to see advertisements that outline all the neat things a particular carrier has and they think; "Gee I have XXXX they now have free night and weekends."
Remember a lot of these folks ARE morons. So they think they now magically have the new feature. It is easier and actually makes good business sense to satisfy the customer ONCE and to make sure they understand they will get NO MORE credits.
Remember a lot of these folks ARE morons. So they think they now magically have the new feature. It is easier and actually makes good business sense to satisfy the customer ONCE and to make sure they understand they will get NO MORE credits.
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I agree, it is frustrating having to credit legitimate charges. Even when you try to be honest at the point-of-sale when summarizing the charges to be expected on the bill, people hear what they want to hear or what they are hoping for. They just cant seem to understand the workings of their plan, i.e. coverage areas and when certain charges apply. Some just boldly lie to my face that I was the one that told them such and such, when I know I never say things like that. I think it just boils down to people not wanting to accept responsibility for the actions they do, all in the name of time. I gotta get it now, gotta do it now, no time to wait, deal with it later. Especially when warranty coverage of the phones is spelled out in the manual th...
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It's not misinformation that's causing the crediting frenzy now. It's merely customers calling in not liking their bill and wanting us to credit them for it. They don't understand the concept of getting BILLED for SERVICES RENDERED.
That has been thrown out the window now where if a customer disputes something, they're automatically being credited (no pun intended) with having a valid point. Now us representatives are not brain dead and can tell when a customer is lying through their teeth to us. But, and I quote from my supervisor, "It doesn't matter what happened, make the customer happy." With this EXTREME mantra to abide by, we essentially bypass every single policy we've created just to keep customers, who are crybabies in the firs...
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That has been thrown out the window now where if a customer disputes something, they're automatically being credited (no pun intended) with having a valid point. Now us representatives are not brain dead and can tell when a customer is lying through their teeth to us. But, and I quote from my supervisor, "It doesn't matter what happened, make the customer happy." With this EXTREME mantra to abide by, we essentially bypass every single policy we've created just to keep customers, who are crybabies in the firs...
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I remember a wireless company not too long ago that adopted such a policy. Oh yes this mythical wireless company used to throw down rediculous credits on outrageous claims. They would give insane amount of minutes to these customers to keep them as customers. They would give out free phones left and right. Does anyone remember the name of this mythical wireless company?
AT&T Wireless.....
and look where they are now. A burning company bought by another stronger company. Now Cingular is adopting the same form of policy. It's like swallowing a poisoned pill.
The policy of throwing around credits like this is VERY BAD for the business. THe only person that will win in this situation is the customer. Ok, yes I will admit mistakes happen...
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AT&T Wireless.....
and look where they are now. A burning company bought by another stronger company. Now Cingular is adopting the same form of policy. It's like swallowing a poisoned pill.
The policy of throwing around credits like this is VERY BAD for the business. THe only person that will win in this situation is the customer. Ok, yes I will admit mistakes happen...
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I just never escalate a call to a supervisor, when a customer calls and doesn't like my answer. I ignore their requests for awhile. Using several de-escaltions, if they still want to escalate. I'll tell them my supervisor is with another rep, and esc to res. I will exp to res the situation and 9 times out 10 the res rep will agree with me and will back me up.
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Well I had a guy today who had recieved a warranty replacement phone and of course his phone was returned due to water damage.He was charged $165 and when he returned the phone he was given he was credited back the 165. Now that same month he went over his minutes by a lot and of course customer service did a rerate to a higher plan to help himout. NOw after these 2 credits his past bill of $436 was pretty much paid. NOw he comes in now complaining about phone being shut off and complaining of a balance of $280. FUnny part is he got the credit of 165 last month and thought we were going to give him a credit for the phone again hah. He kept calling customer service and of course someone gave him credit for for his roaming charges. Waste time ...
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I find that speaking w/an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice is quite effective.
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With this EXTREME mantra to abide by, we essentially bypass every single policy we've created just to keep customers, who are crybabies in the first place.
Disrespecting your customers is probably a bad start. Does this include yourself also, seeing as how you most likely are a customer of some business - thusly making you a crybaby as well?
Now us representatives are not brain dead and can tell when a customer is lying through their teeth to us.
Believing you have omniscient powers is probably a step in the wrong direction as well.
They don't understand the concept of getting BILLED for SERVICES RENDERED.
Most likely this is untrue since ...
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Plooky, your right to attack the manner in which this persons complaints were issued, they seem to be delivered from a soap box as most CSR complaints are; However, the issues are completely valid.
It's irrelevant that the rep refereed to a customer as a "crybaby" on a phonescoop forum. Reason being most reps have a nice plastic voice and we would never give the customer the impression that we were anything but empathetic to their issue. Thats a generalization, its not to say you cannot get a rep who is a complete dick. But lets be honest, we wouldn't keep our jobs long if we acted like that.
Yes we can tell when I person is lying... for the most part. It's not hard, but thats not to say we cannot be wrong. Don't try and convin...
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It's irrelevant that the rep refereed to a customer as a "crybaby" on a phonescoop forum. Reason being most reps have a nice plastic voice and we would never give the customer the impression that we were anything but empathetic to their issue. Thats a generalization, its not to say you cannot get a rep who is a complete dick. But lets be honest, we wouldn't keep our jobs long if we acted like that.
Yes we can tell when I person is lying... for the most part. It's not hard, but thats not to say we cannot be wrong. Don't try and convin...
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captainplooky said:
Now us representatives are not brain dead and can tell when a customer is lying through their teeth to us.
Believing you have omniscient powers is probably a step in the wrong direction as well.
Hmmm, interesting comment, considering you try to call people here liars when you have zero proof or backup. You don't even have a personal experience that the issue worked contrary to the point made. Because someone's experience with a feature or item used daily contradicts your speculation you call them liars.
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good point my friend, but you will never convince this jacka$$ he is wrong, everytime he is on the net he has wwww.dictionary.com so he can use big words and www.askjeeves.com so he has the answer to everything, just ignore him
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While lately I have tried to ignore his personal attacks, I cannot ignore the false statements he makes about Cingular Wireless and the Wireless industry in general.
His misinformation (intentional with Cingular, possibly ignorance with the rest) is dangerous to customers who may not be privy to his game of mudslinging.
Most of the veteran users here know he is generally full of ****. Occasionally he makes a good point, but even a blind squirrel can find a nut every now and then.
His misinformation (intentional with Cingular, possibly ignorance with the rest) is dangerous to customers who may not be privy to his game of mudslinging.
Most of the veteran users here know he is generally full of ****. Occasionally he makes a good point, but even a blind squirrel can find a nut every now and then.
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Misinformation eh?
You mean like claiming to quote the website and then being unable to produce a simple link to the information you claim to be quoting - of which to this day you have still been unable to do.
Furthermore, you have yet to answer me how I am being unreasonable with requesting you to provide a simple link to the information you claimed was on the website when all the information I have posted (with appropriate links to the website) clearly seem to demonstrate that the process works quite differently then you claim.
Once again you fell back on the "trust me", "come to my store", and personal attack route yourself.
I do not expect a reasonable answer from you in regards to this as you clearly demonstrated in
http...
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You mean like claiming to quote the website and then being unable to produce a simple link to the information you claim to be quoting - of which to this day you have still been unable to do.
Furthermore, you have yet to answer me how I am being unreasonable with requesting you to provide a simple link to the information you claimed was on the website when all the information I have posted (with appropriate links to the website) clearly seem to demonstrate that the process works quite differently then you claim.
Once again you fell back on the "trust me", "come to my store", and personal attack route yourself.
I do not expect a reasonable answer from you in regards to this as you clearly demonstrated in
http...
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As I have shared for all REASONABLE ACTUAL potential or existing customers...
You may simply visit your local Cingular store and ask for a demonstration of ANY feature you may wish to purchase. They, as would I, can not only SHOW you how the feature works but also how what is displayed on the phone relates to the purchase price.
For most REASONABLE and SANE people it is easy to understand that, when discussing a cellular phone, it is sometimes required for you to actually see the process on the phone (whether by demonstration or personal usage).
Oh, and this one is for you pooky bear. NO ONE, I repeat, NO ONE has joined your crusade (as you so eloquently proclaimed, many must agree with you) and stated in any way, shape or form th...
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You may simply visit your local Cingular store and ask for a demonstration of ANY feature you may wish to purchase. They, as would I, can not only SHOW you how the feature works but also how what is displayed on the phone relates to the purchase price.
For most REASONABLE and SANE people it is easy to understand that, when discussing a cellular phone, it is sometimes required for you to actually see the process on the phone (whether by demonstration or personal usage).
Oh, and this one is for you pooky bear. NO ONE, I repeat, NO ONE has joined your crusade (as you so eloquently proclaimed, many must agree with you) and stated in any way, shape or form th...
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Once again - you are missing the point and are trying to divert from the fact that you have made a claim that appears to be patently false.
You said the website makes a claim which you are unwiling to substantiate with a simple link to the information.
Your claim was further contradictory to information taken from the website which I provided.
You constantly tried to skirt and divert from the simple request to provide the link (as you are doing now again) in your vain attempts to mask the fact that you are in fact lying.
Until such time as you can provide a simple link to the information you claimed to be quoting (which as I said the website directly contradicts) I consider your response nothing more then a lie as told by a lia...
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You said the website makes a claim which you are unwiling to substantiate with a simple link to the information.
Your claim was further contradictory to information taken from the website which I provided.
You constantly tried to skirt and divert from the simple request to provide the link (as you are doing now again) in your vain attempts to mask the fact that you are in fact lying.
Until such time as you can provide a simple link to the information you claimed to be quoting (which as I said the website directly contradicts) I consider your response nothing more then a lie as told by a lia...
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The point has been clearly understood.
If you had any real desire to understand how this particular feature works you would have long ago stopped badgering me and actually visited a store to view the deomstration. Said demonstration would then show you my statement was correct. I don't have the time to find you the link you desire, nor do I have any guarantee that if I find something that may satisfy your needs you won't create some new fantasy issue and say you need a link for that. Life exists on this planet outside the internet realm. You should try it sometime.
Like I said, if you want to continue your personal attacks, go ahead but takle it off-line. You can email me directly.
If you had any real desire to understand how this particular feature works you would have long ago stopped badgering me and actually visited a store to view the deomstration. Said demonstration would then show you my statement was correct. I don't have the time to find you the link you desire, nor do I have any guarantee that if I find something that may satisfy your needs you won't create some new fantasy issue and say you need a link for that. Life exists on this planet outside the internet realm. You should try it sometime.
Like I said, if you want to continue your personal attacks, go ahead but takle it off-line. You can email me directly.
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texaswireless
I don't have the time to find you the link you desire...
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That is because it does not exist.
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Furthermore, you have yet to answer me how I am being unreasonable with requesting you to provide a simple link to the information you claimed was on the website
And you have yet to answer the simple question of why you're here if you hate cellphones so much! That's not an unreasonable request.
ANSWER ME!!!
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Haha I thought I had answered that. Well perhaps my stance is a bit harsh regarding them. I do concede they can be very helpful when needed and there is definitely some positive aspects to owning one.
However, with that having been said, I find the negative aspects of them very irritating and annoying.
For example, ringers. What is the purpose of a telephone ringer? It is to alert the person that a phone call is coming correct? This is why at home I find a ringing telephone to perfectly acceptable because you are not in possession of the phone the entire time.
Now compared to a cell phone - where it generally is on your person or in very close proximity at most all times I find ringers incredibly obnoxious. Why someone feel...
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However, with that having been said, I find the negative aspects of them very irritating and annoying.
For example, ringers. What is the purpose of a telephone ringer? It is to alert the person that a phone call is coming correct? This is why at home I find a ringing telephone to perfectly acceptable because you are not in possession of the phone the entire time.
Now compared to a cell phone - where it generally is on your person or in very close proximity at most all times I find ringers incredibly obnoxious. Why someone feel...
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Time tested rule
People need other People. They need to communicate with them in any way available to them so that their lives can be slightly more bearable. That is why the Telecommunications industry is so lucrative.
Yes, every cell phone company rips customers off, but for the most part the consumer is aware of this and is prepared to pay that price to have "fellowship" with another human being without their physical presence.
I will sometimes sit on the phone with my gal for 5 minutes or so without needing to say anything or hear anything from her, and feel satisfied at the end of the call, so is it really that surprising that I will waste that same amount of time with meaningless conversation about what kind of bubble gum ...
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People need other People. They need to communicate with them in any way available to them so that their lives can be slightly more bearable. That is why the Telecommunications industry is so lucrative.
Yes, every cell phone company rips customers off, but for the most part the consumer is aware of this and is prepared to pay that price to have "fellowship" with another human being without their physical presence.
I will sometimes sit on the phone with my gal for 5 minutes or so without needing to say anything or hear anything from her, and feel satisfied at the end of the call, so is it really that surprising that I will waste that same amount of time with meaningless conversation about what kind of bubble gum ...
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I'm not convinced that the credit system is the only reason Cingular gets such an abysmal rating on their customer service. Verizon and T-Mobile, the ones who rank highest, are not, to my knowledge, credit-crazed. Willingness to throw money at a customer isn't the only issue and won't make up for any other problems. If you have a rude, unknowledable rep on the other end it's not going to matter if they toss an extra $10 on your account.
I've had some great experiences with Verizon Customer Care when I had Verizon service. The Reps I spoke to were polite and answered my questions even if they were dumb ones. (This was years ago and I barely knew the power button from the # key.) When I canceled my service they handled closing the acco...
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I've had some great experiences with Verizon Customer Care when I had Verizon service. The Reps I spoke to were polite and answered my questions even if they were dumb ones. (This was years ago and I barely knew the power button from the # key.) When I canceled my service they handled closing the acco...
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ARE YOU KIDDING ME CINGULAR DOES NOT LIKE TO CRED I ASKED FOR AN RER ON AN BILL AND EXPL I WILL EXT MY CONTR TO DO SO AND THEY DENIED ME AND SAID THEY DO NOT DO ANY RERS AND ARE VERY STINGY WITH CREDITS ALSO THE REPS THERE ARE HORRIBLE I HAD AN REP HANG UP ON ME BECAUSE I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHY 3 DIFFT REPS GV ME DIFFRT INFO ON MY MINS USED AND MY #MIN GV ME DIFFT INFO THAN THE 3 REPS I DID NOT CURSE OR ANYTHING HE JUST BLINTLY HUNG UP AND WHEN I CB AND SW AN SUP SHE RUSHED ME OFF THE PHONE WITH NO CARE IN THE WORLD AND STILL DID NOT RESOLVE MY ISSUE.IF IT WASNT FOR MY 1 YR LEFT IN CONTR I WOULD BE GONE.AND I WILL MK SURE I CANCEL ON MY CYCLE END DT.CINGULAR IS SUPPOSE TO BE SO ALL THAT HOW COME THEY DONT HV AN SYSTM TO GIVE ACCURATE READ...
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Please take you caps lock off and try typing that again. Also please make use of little things called punctuation.
Once you've typed it again we'd be more than happy to discuss the merits of Cingular's view on customer credits like the adults that we are.
Once you've typed it again we'd be more than happy to discuss the merits of Cingular's view on customer credits like the adults that we are.
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If you talked to me the way you typed here, I wouldnt be able to understand you, so i wouldnt know what you wanted.
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first of all why do you have to be so sarcastic and as far as i'm concerned that attitude seems pretty much childish instead of being an adult . 🙄
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Actually, I wasn't being sarcastic. I was making honest recommendations to help facilitate an understanding of what the heck you were trying to say.
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I don't think he was being sarcastic. That was super hard to read. I think you were using a lot of notation short hand that you use when notating your accounts. Most of us don't understand your abbreviations.
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you know what you are right i'm so use to writing abbreviated in an call center and i'm sorry to assume you would understand being an employee of wireless but the way he said it was kinda sarcastic regrdless there is an way to talk to people instead of inderectly insulting them by saying we're all adults here.so for not understanding my abrrevtns i do apologize for and the reason why i wrote in caps was for expression of how i was mad about the situation.but its ok i'm over it ,and won't be any more replys ,i'm use to chatting with nicer people such as yourself.
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good evening everyone. customer service means treating every customer as if you would like to betreated. the golden rule. it means listening to the customers, recognizing their feelings, putting yourself in their shoes. it means thanking them for their business, without customers, we wouldnt have jobs, so whether you work for t-mobile, sprint, cingular, our job is to provide the best service possible. vzw sax
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I am a bit confused how can a cust run up a bill or even get roaming charges? I am in San Antonio and I know the companies that are here t-mobil, verizon, sprint, and cingular all have a regional plan and free long dist. The only way I can see is if they are skipping on their bill every month. But really if a cust has a roam charge it could be cred back for most places have no roaming and free LD 😉
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there is still roaming on a regional plans if the customer is calling outside of is home calling area(depending on the state) but that would be different on a national plan with national service....plus the guy could have gone up to Canada or Mexico. many possibilities
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Hey, here's some advice: Why don't you order a waaaaburger, and maybe some french cries.
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The definition of Customer Service is called "transfer wars." This is when you keep on transferring a customer until the hang up. If your department is receiving the call when they hang up. You lose! In your face Mark Hamill!
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Flight of the Pheonix is a good movie.. BURN IN HELL RAINBOW FLAVORD POP TART PHEONIX FACE HOLE!
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If we spent less time arguing about customer service and more time taking care of customers, maybe we would have less problems to deal with in this world. Practice what you preach, shut up, and free up space for more meaningful discussions on this forum. Geez! 😳
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Listen, I'll explain the reason why we... I mean, they credit customers. It is because they are all Greedy People that while having a conversation with customer service on the phone ONLY LISTEN to words like:
Credit
Money Back
Will call you with credits
As a result, 8 out of 10 agents at verizon wireless try over and over and over and over again to explain to a customer that if they change their plan during their bill cycle their minutes WILL BE PRORATED and they WILL GO OVER THEIR MINUTES instantly, and all they can say in the end is:
"So... what's my bill going to look like. Why? I've been a customer for 2 years and this is WHAT YOU can do for me? I'm going to Cingular!"
Translation:
"So... do I get any credits? Why not? Y...
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Credit
Money Back
Will call you with credits
As a result, 8 out of 10 agents at verizon wireless try over and over and over and over again to explain to a customer that if they change their plan during their bill cycle their minutes WILL BE PRORATED and they WILL GO OVER THEIR MINUTES instantly, and all they can say in the end is:
"So... what's my bill going to look like. Why? I've been a customer for 2 years and this is WHAT YOU can do for me? I'm going to Cingular!"
Translation:
"So... do I get any credits? Why not? Y...
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Those customers who threaten to cancel and switch services for the reasons you stated above also don't understand that they'll run into the same policies with any other competitor.
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I had a customer call me up and yell at me because i couldn't do a transfer of ownership 2 weeks from now 😛. I explained to her i that i had to talk to the customer that was taking it over on the day she wanted it taken over because i can only create accounts in real time (do today and it's done today). She told me she was going to cancel all her lines and stop doing buisness with us because of this 😛
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Hey I had a guy cancel over a $50 insurance deductible under contract so he paid $200!!! Someone please explain that to me!!!
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