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Why you will never change my mind - Epik, Azeron, ect

aspirits

Nov 26, 2010, 1:22 AM
It's been so long since my last post(I forgot I even wrote it), I decided to start a new one.

Let me start by saying, to each his own. I'm glad you guys have empathy, sympathy, ect.. But I just don't. Not for grown people who know exactly what they're doing.

You are making excuses for your customers ignorance. Customers know the stipulations of a free phone, or a discounted phone, maybe 5 years ago they didn't, but they do now. Even so, this is not a free pass for ANYONE to act like a complete idiot when they do not get there own way. If a customer is going to be a complete jerk, I'm not going to bother to give them my best customer service. It goes both ways. And the only reason some reps are forced into the "every customer every time...
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Azeron

Nov 26, 2010, 1:38 AM
I have no interest in changing your mind. I'm just pointing out that your being a jerk is your own doing. I haven't worked in a retail store for three years or in wireless at all for a year so they are not my customers. I'm not making excuses for them. Many customers are spoiled brats. I'm just saying either deal with it or get out of the industry. They are not going to change.
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Dollgrin

Nov 27, 2010, 5:31 PM
*thumbs up*
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epik

Nov 26, 2010, 2:19 AM
I'm OK with that. I didn't make any comment assuming it would change your mind. Only you can do that.

I've outlasted a lot of reps just like you, and I didn't have to be a jerk. Does it mean I didn't have a bad day? No, I had plenty. I've made a lot of the same arguments that you're so passionate about. I just understand the futility of those arguments better, apparently.

Look, if you haven't gleamed my point from anything I say, take this to heart: if you don't like it, deal with it or move on. You get to deal with the pampered customer mentality that those before you fostered in the early years. If you don't want to deal with it, find something else to do - simple as that.

I'm not debating that some of what your say...
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mar29oct

Nov 26, 2010, 6:16 AM
I am a customer, and I have never seen more stupid statemenents you made here, and in my business with your attitude you wouldn't last a day.
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epik

Nov 26, 2010, 8:13 PM
I'm guessing this was directed to the original poster.
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mar29oct

Nov 27, 2010, 6:19 AM
Sorry, it was.
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Sigma1570

Nov 26, 2010, 11:39 PM
Whats your business?
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mar29oct

Nov 27, 2010, 6:21 AM
Does it matter?
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Sigma1570

Nov 27, 2010, 11:37 AM
Yes. If you are going to make claims it is important to divulge that information.
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erikpkp

Nov 26, 2010, 12:29 PM
Amen Brother.
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justmarried

Nov 26, 2010, 11:28 AM
I agree with everything you said. Unfortunately VZW has created this monster and must continue to feed it. If they don't feed it, it will bite back. The company wants us to give great service with each customer but the company continues to strap our hands when it comes to dealing with customers. Examples of that are discounting, replacing phones out of warranty...I could go on but I wont. The pressure to hit some of the crazy monthly goals are tough to do when we have some of the craziest customers demanding things that they will not receive. So I understand your position and applaud you for having the guts to say it.
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Sigma1570

Nov 27, 2010, 11:47 AM
I've been in wireless for 8 years. All in retail. I do empathize with you in many ways. Recently I had a customer come in spend 40 minutes talking plans just to "think it over"(go to a store closer to their house and port all three lines just to come back to my store to transfer all their contacts and show them how to use their phones) While in the back of my mind it made me very angry I would never express that to them. Its easy to say "You should know that I make commission and how what you did negatively effects me and what you are doing is rude" But in the end they are still my company's customer and I represent my company, and by being nice to them they will probably do their upgrades with me next time. And after all, I didn't close the...
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epik

Nov 27, 2010, 1:39 PM
I think there is a way out of it. It's something I've espoused for many years, and an ideal that helped establish a philosophy that became the site that Menno and I started.

Ultimately, the fix is to separate the phone purchase from the contract.

It's not an easy change, but it's quite possible. If customers were to buy their phone from a phone retailers or manufacturer, instead of with a contract through the carrier, the carrier would free itself from the cycle of enticement and restriction - entice the customer to buy with a good deal, then restrict their ability to buy again until the carrier is satisfied with it's revenue.

If you remove the initial enticement to buy, you change the expectation later on. Don't think for a m...
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slolearner

Nov 27, 2010, 12:56 PM
aspirits said:
"I don't call myself, I don't know my number" I'm sure you don't mail yourself letters either you idiot, but I bet you know your address.

🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
Stealing that line!
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Azeron

Nov 28, 2010, 3:20 AM
I totally understood this posters original rant. There are things you think and things you say. What goes on inside your head is your business. I've gone the extra mile for customers and received not a word of thanks. I didn't like it. My opinion of people in general was lowered and I moved on. I still provided top notch service to the next hundred customers. Posting here opened him up for criticism which he obviously does not care about but I do know where he was coming from.
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epik

Nov 28, 2010, 11:44 AM
I remember being in their shoes. It was frustrating to have customer act the way they did. I've had many conversations with my fellow coworkers about the lunacy of customer entitlement. But at the end of the conversation, most of us move on and get our job done, and the few who don't let those reactions and feeling fester inside. In time, some of them give up entirely and could care less about their job, eventually quitting or getting fired.

I'm fine with complaining about the way things are - it's how you cope. But if you can't let it go, you're only destined for more frustration and angst.

I've had some of the worst customers on the worst days of my life while selling wireless. I had my moment to vent, then moved on. I treated ...
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OrionsVantage

Nov 27, 2010, 2:45 PM
I've been thinking about this a little bit more and i've come up with another little tidbit.

You want to know why Verizon/Sales Reps come across as jerks?

They're just as selfish as anybody else, which happens to include the customer.
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Azeron

Nov 28, 2010, 3:22 AM
I cannot imagine what it is like in the C store where they have removed CSRs and Techs and these sales reps who were used to dumping customers who were not getting them paid have to deal with customer service issues now. It is probably pretty brutal.
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epik

Nov 28, 2010, 11:49 AM
For the stores in my area, it's made it better. They dropped techs from all stores (that had them) over the last year, and as stores were remodeled to Evolution stores, they got rid of CSRs. Now, the sales rep does everything. And those are the best performing stores in our area. Those are the reps getting promoted and making good commissions. The regular style stores, with about 60/40% sales and CSR, continue to have issues.

Somehow, equalizing the playing field removed some of the employee entitlement, and things got better. Those stores have low wait times, high sales figures, high commissions, and high promotion rates.

The same is true in my old area.
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allectronic

Nov 27, 2010, 5:50 PM
When you have an industry with outrageous penalties for overages, it creates an atmosphere of hostility. There should be no service that going over would rack up a bill that is more than some compact cars. The wireless industry has been that way for years, starting with overages for minutes and now data. Many customers walk in wireless stores expecting a fight and the slightest push back from a rep will make things worst. So the smallest win for a customer makes them fell like they prevented the company from getting over on them. It may not be right, but many feel it is us against the wireless company. Unfortunately the rep is in the middle.
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Dollgrin

Nov 27, 2010, 6:00 PM
That makes sense. I also posted this little bit on his original thread, but I'll repost in on here too.

"There is one thing I would like to add, and that is one's own pride. How much of the "The customer isn't right and I shouldn't have to bend to their will when they're being rude/crazy/etc" is because some people can't back down? When I first started selling phones I had a huge problem with being able to put my personal feelings aside. When I was able to take a step back and say "At the end of the day, I'm just a name tag to this customer. They aren't attacking ME, they're upset with the company I work for and I'm the face that represents this place. Of course they're going to vent on me, it's the only place they can spur of the moment...
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