you did good speck, you're right you should always attempt to assist before getting to a supervisor/manager. Cust should have been happy he was even offered an upgrade w/ any kind of discount because he's had the phone for such a short time. LOL and since when do the custs charge the company, cracks me up. I once had a lady tell me that because her phone didnt work that I had to hand deliver her replacement and sit there in her house and program it for her, well needless to say the MUTE button came in very handy at this time, I let her know that wasnt possible but if she wanted hands on assistance, she could go to a store, she wanted to know how much I was going to pay her for having to leave her home. This lady then stated that she was a dr...
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Once they escalate a call, any offer a rep originally made is no longer standing.

I've heard many a time of a rep who's offered a courtesy credit toward airtime, or the retail price of a phone to try to be helpful, and the random individual they are talking to feels that ranting, screaming and swearing at a supervisor is going to get them something more.

Nope. If you escalate a call using foul language the entire time even after they've politely asked you not to, I can say from experience, the answer is "no" because it's not only unacceptable to talk to a representative that way, but beyond that they don't want to encourage a second call with similar behavior.

Generally when someone asks for some courtesy and it is a reasonable req...
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he should have been happy he got anything after only having it for a short time.

My store has one recurring cust. who's been with us for years, and is quite loyal to our store, she'll drive WAY out of her way just to come see us about a problem. I'll give it to her that she's gotten some crap lately with two or three replacement phones not working at all. She took the cake however the last time she came in:

Comes in the store for an upgrade on one line of service...sits for a half hour explaining that she KNOWS that the $18.00 upgrade fee isn't neccessary. We tried explainin what the fee is for and that even if they didn't charge it it'd be recouped somewhere else, like higher prices per month. Finally we just discount the phone $1...
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i had a guy in here who said he was going to go to Nextel. Why you ask? He has had service for just under 2 years, and was behind on his bill by 2 months. he repeatedly paid late, and this particular time, he was disconnected for non-payment. whan i stated he had to pay a reconnect fee on his next bill, he said this was bullshit, and that this wouldnt happen somewhere else.

Where else could you get service and not pay your bill for 2 months and keep your service?

or how about the people that require a deposit and think we're discriminating.

OR

i had this one guy who thought we were discriminatiing because we had a payment station to take payments. his rationale was "what about people that can't read?" if you can't read, WHY ARE Y...
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disturbed1 said:
why do people think we owe them the world because they pay their bill every month?

To an extent you do owe them because keeping a customer is much cheaper than getting a new one. Also, it's not just that they pay their bill on time (which is also more profitable for you given the time value of money and the costs it takes to get the bill taken care of) it's that they have been customers for so long and are therefore more profitable. Treating the loyal customers better than new/disloyal customers is a way to keep good word of mouth and to retain them. Business is built on the relationships between different parties and longer ties lead to better business.

yes, all these facts I'm aware of, but the bottom line is once you've bought your phone, and it's out of warranty, it's YOUR responsibility. It's not my place to GIVE you a new battery for your phone when the stock one won't charge to full capacity anymore. For a loyal customer I'll give a discount, and I'll even get rid of the old one for you, but frankly it's your job to maintain your own phone.

Besides, is a customer REALLY that loyal if he/she threatens to go to another carrier because I wouldn't GIVE him/her a $35.00 accessory? Especially when he/she was eligible for a new phone anyway?

OK, so maybe not a free battery, but like you said, there should be a discount, hopefully offered right away. Ever seen how a jewelery store works? They have customers that automatically factor in a sizeable discount on whatever they're going to buy because they know that they are rewarded for their loyalty. And that's how the store gets them to keep coming back.

As far as cingular goes, they seem to make you jump through hoops to to be treated accordingly.

Accordingly? Let's go through some history... Cingular is the only company that gave courtesy credits left and right... The only company in the entire wireless community that would let the customer push us around... If you saw the reports of how much money Cingular gave away... bcz which ever way you look at it... Discounts is giving money away... Once we stop doing it we're the enemy?

Discounts on phones are given when eligible... A customer does NOT deserve a thing because they pay their monthly service which is FOR ACCESS... Every other company that NEVER gave courtesy credits have done very well for themselves... So why can't we? Because a customer threatens us to go to another carrier that will put up w/ less crap? Be my guest.

No, you're right, a customer doesn't deserve a thing for paying for monthly service. But they do deserve to be enticed to be a repeat customer. You want to talk about giving credits, crack open an entry level marketing textbook and see what they have to say about banks and their policies.

And this is why the AT&T merger is being looked into more carefully by the FCC. Because now that their is less competition, the customers have less options which we've learned from the past is not a good thing.

Now don't get me wrong, I usually espouse cingular's positive qualities espcially regarding network coverage and signal strength. But lately I've been feeling that long-term, consistent, repeat customers are treated just the same as a new c...
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it's not just Cingular, it's the industry as a whole. There are less and less reasons to stay with ANY one company for very long. Plan structures change like the weather, and if you're on any one plan, at the end of your contract they probably don't carry the plan you signed up for. At that junction a lot of times you can't keep the plan that you've been used to for 2 years. So you have to change.

Phone discounts for repeat customers are getting worse too. At Cingular we treat an upgrade like a new activation and give them new customer prices. My gf was just told at Sprint that she'd have to pay for a new phone and then a few weeks later $150 would be mailed to her....what if she couldn't afford the phone she wanted without that $15...
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so... you think that a customer should get credits and incentives for being a customer? that's part of what has led to the nonsense in the wireless industry. when our beloved industry first started, customers would have to pay 1000.00 for a huge, ugly, battery guzzling phone and pay ridiculous amounts of money for the service. back then customers understood that wireless service was a LUXURY. In the past few years we've seen a shift by service providers to actually SUBSIDIZE the cost of the phones in exchange for contracts by customers. This, of course, has led to more customers because the customer rarely has to spend alot of money to get a phone and a new line of service. This just means that the COMPANIES are actually paying the customers...
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😈 😈

I agree with you 1000%,

i call them "credit junkies" or "credit pigs"


i had a lady call in 4 phones, for the last 5 onths of service she apid for 2 cuz she gets enough loyalty and goodwill credit to pay for her bills 3 months straight, and had the nerve to ask for more cuz her bill was too high

4 phones on shared plan 59.99+9.99 X 3 extra lines, no extra with tax $126.00, she tells its too high she only wants to pay 85.00 but keep the plan minutes and benifits, so asked me to credit her monthly fees fo her extra line and was upset when i politely said NO!, like i was supposed to do it cuz she asked 🙄 🙄

Why doesn't this happen to people like the power company? or even the Cable companys. When was the last time anyone called up to the Power company and said "Your power is too expensive I demand a credit" Of course your probably going to be sitting in the dark for the next couple of days eating cold food. Don't you wish we could ZAP stuppid people with their phones? Of course sometimes it is legitimate which i don't have a problem with.

hmmm.... phones that shock people. i'll have to try rigging that with an old phone. =oD

I usually use the example of cable companies, people do not call them when their tv breaks for credit, people are usually like "well we didn't our phone through them, we bought it through att wireless" and my response is "The phone is nokia and if you look at the manual the warranty exchange ceriticate is Nokia, not ATT Wireless), seriously people fron Florida have called in over the past few weeks looking for credits ranging from 10.00 - 200.00, we had a Category 2 hurricane that shut down many wirelss towers and utilities for 3-7 days, yet no utility provided me or anything I know of any kind of compensation.... 🤣

I normally use the "gas station".

I begin by asking if they drive 99% reply yes to that, then I ask the customer if they have ever received at least a "free gallon of gas" at their gas station where they most purchase gas from. Guess what their answer is? NO.

I simply let them know that when a company subsidizes the cost of phone it is the equivalent as pump gas here every week and perhaps one day we'll give you a "free gallon" or keep pumping and the cost will be reduced.

Not for nothing Liam, here in Central Florida was a complete disaster for a straght month...hurricane after hurricane afte hurricane. The regional call centers were actually advised to take into account that we didnt have power, phone, or other for quite a long time.

I had someone call me up once and his old Erricson phone shocked his wife while she was talking on it 😛 She was too affraid of using his phone now...lucky guy. I gave him a free phone...I told him he should call Erricson and they would probably bend over backwards and let him shove a steal rod up there...If he promised not to sue them or make a big fuss.

The reason it only happens with cell phone companies is because they always are offering free phones to new customers. The power company doesn't offer free things to new customers. When the cell copmanies offer the free phones it gives the perception that its not a big deal at all to them to give away free stuff. The million doller problem/question is if the company can give away free stuff to new customers why is it such a big deal to give something to an established customer. Its all about what the customers see and all they see is the handing out of free stuff to new customers. People work very hard for their money, they sacrifice family time to go to work and earn the money. This time value of money is what makes customers think that the...
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I think they should just do away with free phones since most of the time they are soon-to-be-discontinued models with older technology.

Just offer discounts based on contract length (which I think they already do), and maybe a little bit more of a discount to people who have had their service for longer than a standard 1-2 year contract. 😉

I know the company has to recoup money, but I think it does make a lot of people mad that the better deals seem to be offered to new customers, instead of to long-term customers as well.

I fully agree. Being a Cingular customer for 10 years has to account for something. With all of the other companies to go to give us some incentive as well as prospective customers.

If being a new customer is such a giggle, then go somewhere else and become a new customer.

Address the post dont just rant. DANG!! Issues

Are you the moderator? Let them rant if they want. 🙄

You are right, just don't pose it to me. I don't want to hear that.

I know you don't. But i say it anyway.

You CSRs have serious issues. Take a pill.

s'funny that whenever this deltadude runs out of things to say on a topic he just sits back and says that we have issues. I don't think I was ranting, I was merely stating the obvious.If a consumer is using product A and product B better suits his needs, then by all means, the consumer should and does have the right to go with product B. Now, there may be obligations that the consumer agreed to when they began to use product A, such as agreeing to a specific period of time that product A will be purchased or used, and the consumer may certainly agree to these obligations to receive some sort of benefit or added value at the beginning of their service with product A, and if the consumer fails to live up to their part of whatever agreement was...
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Point proven.

again, after a dispassionate attempt to explain the obvious to the willfully oblivious, a dismissive 'point proven'.

You're right I've dismissed you. You bring nothing to the table.

nothing but the policies of the company...but hey keep at it, reality will sinl in eventually...

Ha Ha Ha, LOL. It would go like: "you know what Mr. X? ZAP!!! Get out of the way and let the next customer by!"

I definitely have to agree with this last response... Customers that have been loyal customers forever and ever are appreciated by companies, but paying a bill on time and having been with a company for XXX years does not immediately mean special treatment and bending all the rules when they are not happy...

I do work in customer service and get calls all day long from customers that demand I give them special treatment or make exceptions because they "are an outstanding customer that the company would not want to lose" - well okay, be a good customer and understand that companies do have guidelines and policies and if those are continuously broken for people, it just keeps the cycle going and the company will lose anyway - and what's th...
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I do agree that companies have their on guidelines that must be followed.


I also think that Cingular should look at a the true value of a long standing and good paying customer. You would think they would throw in some perks for someone that has service for 5 years and pays their bill on time Versus leaving them on the same level of some chump that gets a line runs the bill sky high and forces cingular to pass the problems over to a collection agency.

Just a thought, not a whine..flamers stay away! 😁

why? you pay cingular for the service, you get the service -- I can only surmise that your life is somehow enriched by having the service-- why should there be 'perks' for people who are merely doing what they said they would do when they agreed to term of service? when that term ends, ask about getting a discount on the phone *then* don't think it is an entitlement.
The cellular service providers are businesses, not your friends.

Wow Cain, well put. I think you forgot to mention that is the customer with the $29 rate plan.

😳

I have had 5 lines with Cingular since 99. The original Bellsouth.

One of my phones died 8/20/04, had phone for 20 months. Promptly called Cingular customer service to renew my contract(up 12/5/04) and get a new phone. Was told by customer service contract not up for 2 weeks..you have to wait or pay full price 😢 or add insurance and pay the $50 deductible. ?? what is up with this?? Always paid bill on time no disconnections or anything didnt feel like I was asking for the world. Reps any changes expected for loyal customers??

Thanks 😕

Policies are the same for everybody, there's no getting around it. You may want to go in to a local store and see if they can put you into a loaner phone until the two weeks are up. I'm sure if you go back to that store for your upgrade they'll have no problem giving you a loaner at no cost.

Policy may be the same for everybody but there is getting around it. All I know is that my father has 7 phones under two accounts and since he was such a loyal and high paying customer, they let him renew his 2 year contracts after only one year. I don't know how much talking into this took but it IS possible to get around it. I'm sorry they wouldn't let you slide in for a measly two weeks. I agree that they should reward loyal customers.

🙂
Yea that is what upset me the most, knowing they could work around that 2 weeks. I felt that the Rep was trying to force me to buy the insurance. How do they expect these 10cent phone to last 20 months? As many of peers are I will begin to play the insurance game. 🤣

They still can't get around policy. The reason he was probably able to upgrade was because if you spend more than $75 a month (used to be $65) per line they let you upgrade after a year. Another option is to do an early upgrade exception through telesales, but you'll end up paying an extra $50 per phone plus shipping. Is it worth that for two weeks? Insurance is definitely a must, but I'd go into your local store to see what they can do for you. You might not be out any extra money at all.

Now I can't speak for Cingular but for instance with VZW, depending on the phone you get it's a good thing to have the insurance. First off retail price on a phone is normally anywhere between 150.00 to 700.00 depending on the model. Just because you paid .10 doesn't mean thats what it's worth. Now for instance with the higher end phone where the retail price is 350.00 to 400.00 those are the kind of phone you wanna get insurance on, because usually if you want that exact same phone as a replacement the best that can done is MAYBE 50.00 off retail. So 50.00 compared to 300.00...that is the reason for insurance or else you can pay a small ammnt and get an entry level phone of some sort. I understand your frustration with the situation. With a...
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I don't mind bending rules a little if Ithink the situation needs it, andasa business care rep for attws I have some little latitude to make descisions that are in the best interests for both the customer and the company BUT there is a big difference between going the extra distance for a customer and putting my job at risk by disregarding policy for some demanding jerk. My job pays the rent and feeds my son, and if you think that any customer's loyalty is worth my job then you are sorely mistaken.

Ouch...I wonder what's going to happen to AWS customers after they merge. AWS customers usually expect to get an upgrade every 12 months no matter what their contract is.

hahaha ya. 12 months since last discounted upgrade or less then 3 months left in contract is al thats required for an upgrade.

I think waiting 20mos out of a 24 month contract is terrible. I get the feeling that Cingular is trying to force their customers to use the insurance when a new phone is needed. 😲

of course they want ya to use insurance. If they gave up a new phone every year they'd go in the hole in just a few short years. Then we'd all be outta work.

Why bash on Cingular for this? VZW has it's "New every 2", Sprint has its guidlines. The loosest guidlines I've seen yet is ALLTEL and they still make ya wait til the last 90 days of your contract. If your contracts a 2 year and you've got a crappy phone, then you're still stuck with it til the last 90 days. It ROCKS for 1 yr. contracts though, you don't even have to worry about the warranty runnin out. (And we all know that ANYTHING only craps out after the warranty's either over or void!!!)

I was not bashing Cingular..at least I didnt mean for it to sound that way... 😳 😳
just my thoughts..

I have plenty of peers on other carriers that complain about that same thing so i understand its somewhat universal. Just seems like one company should step out and come up with a better idea maybe valuing trade-ins or something by giving credit for that.

Yea I am sure they want us to use the insurance but I gotta belive that insurance thing will be a big problem soon. I have had peers purposely sabotage their phone just to get a new one. 😳

AWS has 12 month eligiblity, no matter what your contract is or 3 months from end of contract.

I'm not flamin ya, just stating the facts. As far as insurance standards go, they're gettin tighter too. I actually heard a customer have a denied claim for a LOST phone!!!

I think one reason people keep complainin about upgrade policy is that as Americans we have the attitude that if it's not new or the latest in tech then it's no good. And with the phone industry droppin new phones monthly it's hard to keep up with what's new and different. So after a year we see 20 new phones out, and a bunch discontinued and it makes our year old v60 (yep, I'm guilty) look like crap in comparison. I had a customer come in the other day with a perfectly good V400 (that I'd love to have by the way) and got upset because we didn't have the L1400 i...
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I guess my question is why can't Cingular take that phone he had six months give him a credit on it based on wear. Then allow him to get the latest and greatest. Then cingular can sell the used phone to someone else. Everyone is happy including me. 😁

I suppose that COULD theoretically be done, but then again that'd be up to corporate. Plus the extra work in erasing all the contact info that most people store in thier phone not to mention refurbishing them.

Also, who determines the value of the used phone? There are too many variables in determining it's condition, and then you still have to find a buyer for their old one for the company to make any kind of profit off it. There isn't a simgle company that will take back a used electronic device or appliance outside of it's warranty period. If you want to set a monitary value on a used phone then you should take it to a pawn shop to see how much they would offer you.

Everyone is happy except the person who gets the used phone that is passed off as new or is told this is all they can get for an exchange etc.

so why doesn't the cust suck up the cost on the new phone and sell the old one on Ebay? same difference, and customer will probably get a better price selling the phone than the company will give for it.

disturbed1 said:
I'm not flamin ya, just stating the facts. As far as insurance standards go, they're gettin tighter too. I actually heard a customer have a denied claim for a LOST phone!!!

I think one reason people keep complainin about upgrade policy is that as Americans we have the attitude that if it's not new or the latest in tech then it's no good. And with the phone industry droppin new phones monthly it's hard to keep up with what's new and different. So after a year we see 20 new phones out, and a bunch discontinued and it makes our year old v60 (yep, I'm guilty) look like crap in comparison. I had a customer come in the other day with a perfectly good V400 (that I'd love to have by the way) and got ups

...
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Most carriers have a set guidelines for upgrades. All most all carriers out there require w/ in 2 months on a 12 mth agreement, and w/ in 4 moths on a 24 mth agreement. However, the best carrier to do an upgrade through is actually Nextel. Customers can upgrade their equipment any time regardless of where they are at in their agreement............

Cingular can upgrade at any time

😲 I didn't realize we had coverage on other planets!!! Here on earth our customers are only eligible for upgrade pricing in either the 11th month of a one year contract or the 21st month of a 2 year.

Don't forget the revenue option for those customers on a two year, and having already fulfilled one year, who have a high enough monthly phone bill.

umm cingular is not the only company to do this. I was with sprint and they used to give stuff away. same with att. noone topped att they would rerate bills no questions asked.


BTW i beleive there is 6-7 million custoemrs who change carriers every year a two regardless. all it takes is one overage or not being able to get a free phone. right now its verizons turn to gain these losers. watch in a year or two theyll be losing ppl like crazy. Ive had callers say "im cancelling att cause sprint is buying them. im like no its cingular they are like well I hate them too they rip people off also" hmm 3 companies ripping people off. my ass

you guys talk alot about people in collections, from an outsider standpoint (non rep) here is how i think the wireless industry should be run, once you go into collections you have a 6 month window (once your account is paid), if during that 6 months you miss ONE payment then your account should be cancelled and you should be required to pay the ETF (if they are in contract)...and i think that all providers should do that, that way it creates uniformity, then they could get customers to the real cash cow.....PRE PAID...and i still think that all phones should be sold from the MFG and not from the wireless provider

that's a pretty good idea, really. 🙂

But i dunno if i could handle all the angry calls that would come in as a result.

So very true. Mrkting 101. You build business on repeat customers.

soup said:

disturbed1 said:
why do people think we owe them the world because they pay their bill every month?

To an extent you do owe them because keeping a customer is much cheaper than getting a new one. Also, it's not just that they pay their bill on time (which is also more profitable for you given the time value of money and the costs it takes to get the bill taken care of) it's that they have been customers for so long and are therefore more profitable. Treating the loyal customers better than new/disloyal customers is a way to keep good word of mouth and to retain them. Business is built on the relationships between different parties and longer ties lead to better business.

...
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Hey, I wanna stop talking about business and get back to making fun of idiot customers. If you're one of those idiot customers reading this, then you should probably go get a part time job in retail and then come back and leave a post after you've dealt with your own evil twin.

It's alright... I had a customer escalate because he recieved a call from finance to try and take a paymnt before the account was disconnected... His argument?

He was upset that the rep used the word "disconnection" on the phone... And felt that it was threatening towards him... I escalated the call and gained incredible respect from management... The manager asked him "Well what was he supposed to say? Cell phone time-out?"

The point is however the customer wants to try and defend their "reasoning" and/or "actions" the poibnt remains the same... SOME of them have no reasoning and lack the proper mental capacity to be a respected consumer. (They're idiots.)

There are customers however that truly are exceptional customers and for th...
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For every time a customer has told me that they were gonna name me in a lawsuit against the company. I think that they get some good treatment from one rep, meaning a good credit or offer. Or they hear someone got a credit and they think they deserve it. They try to take advantage.

disturbed1 said:
why do people think we owe them the world because they pay their bill every month?

I wish I knew. I had one customer use that as an arguement in a vain attempt to get me to waive a shipping fee for an optional service she wished to use. She'd been with us for 6 months and has paid her bill "on time, if not early" for the entire time. She even threatened to cancel her "long time" service. She had the nerve to ask me "why should I pay you $15 for shipping rather than cancel my long standing account with you guys" I felt like saying "Ummm... $175 ETF?!?!" 🙄

This one I agree with you on 6 months does not show loyalty. Or does it the way the market is now?

it might as well, with those kinds of customers. 🤣

We dont' consider a phoen has tenure until it has two years of service on it.

But then yall still fuss when we have tenure and ask for a discount. Some of us will keep a phone for that long because we have more imp. things to take care of.

Oh well.

You don't deserve a discount just for paying the bill like you agreed to do when you signed the contract.

the "you" is not directed at you, personally. don't take it that way.

Look. I have had a tenant who made me go through the entire eviction process because he did't pay and moved early. The process is a doozy. Now I have tenants who pay on time and as a thank you I am letting them skip the rent for December.

That is just good business.

Good for you. you're a nice yguy to your tenants. But Giving handouts is entirely up to the company's management...If they don't want to practice it, oh well.

Delta....take those tenants and times them by multi-millions....that rent you waived would cost you $Billions!!! Same approach here.

Plus, now that you've done that for them once, they will expect it again in the future....in essence, you've created monsters when you were just trying to be nice. What goes up, must come down.

No, your goal should be repeat business. What I do is keep banking on the other 11 months that I don't have to guess about . No, it's not coming down because yes as long as they are loyal to me I am loyal to them and that means a break at Christmas time. That is a small price to pay to be able to bank on 11 solid months. 😉

Keep in mind I am doing this because of their good payment history. And to me that means that I dont have to track them down for my money or go through the eviction process. That's just a thank you for living up to the agreement you signed in a world full of people who just talk a good game.

By any chance are you talking about your fraternity house?!

Jealousy doesnt look good on you.

Jealously? I own 3 homes in Orlando already, and I'm only 25! No worries about my future....

When you grow up you'll do better.

Ha Ha Ha....Touche Touche. I'm not complaining about anything, I guess thats all that matters 😎

Besides, if youre older than me by much, I truly hope you are not working in Retail Sales still.

Nope. 😁

Read all the freakin posts before you post, it make you look stupid.

But he's right though....warranty doesn't cover user damage. He doesn't look stupid at all.

you're right. give the csr what they want but managers do not want to talk to csr's without knowing a little history of the account. csr's can try and twist your leg. i let the csr know that i need their number to route their account to appropiate manager. you have to have some type of info to give to manager. i do not work for cell phone company but our protocol is probably the same. need some info.

I agree.

deltasigmatheta said:
And.....He still should have done what the customer asked. Most of yall are ill equipped and we get tired off dealing with the sort. The caller could have possibly been calling in for the second or third time.

that is why he tried to get into the account to read the notes - to see if he had called in before. how would your boss look at you if you went to him and said, "i have Mr. Doe here for you" and he says "why?" and you say "i don't know."

And in a situation like this, i find it hard to believe talking to a supervisor would accomplish anything more than what speck offered him. if i were the customer, i would call Samsung and complain to them if it DID in fact fall apart, which...
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Take a chill pill. We arent writing a book here.

regardless of how many times he called, if everyone who asks for a manager would get a manager, there would be no need for csrs it would have to be a room full of managers. most customers ask for managers when they can't get their way, thinking a manager can override anything a csr says, if you give 'em all managers, next they'll be asking for the CEO.

No not regardless if the CSR could handle the call the caller wouldnt have to make numerous calls. Maybe there should be a roomful of mgrs. if that is what it takes to provide exceptional customer service.

You ever work in a call center? I doubt it.

If you had, you would know what all of us who have worked in them before know. A small percentage (1%-5% max) of a company's customers actually call in to the call center. Most of those calls are the mundane type. Whats my balance, can I pay my bill, I didn't get my bill, etc... Calls that can be taken care of in a minute.

Of the 1-5% of customers that call in, about 10% are the ones that we called at my old job hopeless callers. No matter what you said, your manager, or their manager said, they would not be satisfied until you gave them the everything they wanted, and compensated them for wasting your time and their time.

You have to put your foot down with those people and tell t...
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My sarcastic reply is, "No, I haven't worked or will I ever work in a call center. I may manange such a dept. but I would feel it a waste of my BBA,MBA,MS, etc." And 10% seems small to transfer to a Mgr. which in my little scenario would be me. 😲

He's one of those... he's probably stating to give everything to a customer because he is a customer that tries to pull off that very same thing.

I love it when cretins start boasting about their degrees online...

I don't work in a call center either, and I also have a few parchments from learning institutions as well. I happen to agree with the call center employees here. Managers are for MANAGING. They are not there to take calls. IF a rep can't handle the call or if AFTER the rep educates the customer, he/she can then transfer to a manager if the customer asks again. Customers at Cingular are treated differently if they have been repeat callers. We have a system in our call centers that handle NE REGION calls, and it lets the rep know if the customer has called back in the last 5 days or 30 days. This is a customer(like many others) that thinks the wireless service provider should pay him to be a customer. You find me a utility provider that buys y...
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I addressed this and agreed. Parchments... hahahaha. Sorry.

i agree, i deal with the same issues with dsl customers. they use the internet and download a virus and want sbc to come and clean their computer for free. i never thought anyone should get things for free. i've just experienced some very rude reps and wanted to get an outlook on issues from reps off of this site because from what i've seen you guys care. i applaud anyone who has to deal with a customer directly.

Anyone see that FedEx comercial? The woman is telling he FNG to send all there packages using the new FedEx software is so easy anyone can do it. Then he mentions he has an MBA and she decides she better show him how after all? Funny stuff. I don't even know what an MBA is. I'm is the science so everything is BSc for undergrade

I am really not trying to be funny, but I believe you that you don't know what an MBA(Master's of Business Admin) is or an MS( Master's of Science) or any of the other licensures or certificates I have are. I don't even believe that you have a BS with all the grammatical errors in that posting. You mention the commercial but what is really funny is trying to make sense of your posting. You should have used their(people) not there(place). I could go on but don't have the time.

I really dislike people who get on a high horse because they had opportunities that other people didn't. I respect the hard work and dedication you had to do to get all of your different credentials but you shouldn't through it in other peoples face. It really comes off sounding immature.

I guess you didnt read what initiated that. And that should be throw and not through. And typical that you had nothing to say about the MBA joke. You had the same opp. that I had, actually more. Not immature, confident.

I wouldn't call it confident, proud maybe, but it comes across as arrogant

I just have a question for you delta. If you're so secure in your accomplishments and/or "brilliance"; why do you feel the need to remind everyone of what certs and/or degrees you have? Honestly the only people I’ve come across that are this desperate to remind people of their wall collection are doctors, and from the 15+ reminders of your parchments, I don't recall a doctrine.

It is on the way. A few more hours for the DR. And you and sleekcat are the ones who come to me with it and I reply.

BTW: Would you like an invitation? 😉

Sure.

Yaya. My grammar sucks. I'll be the first to admit it. I don't have my BSc but i'm currently taking my BSc Engineering and english classes are hardly even mentioned in that. We get one gramar glass in the whole undergrad program and in a couple of diciplines there isn't even one. As you can see my spelling is just as bad as my grammar. That's why god invented spell checkers (Well I pray to him every day anyway).

If I were to make fun of someone, I would know how to spell it. That is all.

Oh come on. I was just pokeing a little fun. Besides it was FedEx doing the pokeing, i was just pointing it out. I had a roomate like you, big grammar nazi. He was a lot of fun because i'd give him my papers to proof read and he'd catch everything.

you're right, i agree with everything but it is a customers right to escalate a problem that you cannot resolve to the next step at least. some invironments have more than just managers, some have seniors or take over managers and all they handle are irate or pain in the butt cust. most customers will listen to managers and have an understanding in what they are saying even if your manager give them the same answers you did as a rep. if at that point the customer is still not happy then the smart ones go to puc and the others threaten to cancel which if you are not half way right no one cares if you cancel. most companies have retention for customers they think they can keep if they offer a little something extra.

Another voice of reason.

Keep your reasoning... Fact is, Cingular is not a company that "if you escalate high enough you'll get your way"... And Cingular WILL continue to re-educate the customers until they understand this.

that's fine and neither will my company just give things away for free. it's all about standing your ground and the csr being happy. the rep should not have offered the phone at a one year price. the manager could have offered that and the csr might have been satisfied. if the first rep offered that deal then i would have tried to get a free phone from a manager.

That was learned in Marketing 101. Oops!

That's not our policy... CSR's in Cingular have the same decision making that managers do... Everything my manager can offer you... So can I... customers have just been led to believe that it works differently... hence the "re-education"... after a while customer's will realize a Cingular CSR will give them the same answer a Cingular manager will and they'll learn.

they will never learn what your protocol is in cingular. cust does not care. what is your main goal as a csr? what is cingular's main goal as a wireless company? these questions will prove a point i think.

You are trying to pin Cingular's attitude towards customers on a small percentage of customers. The customer does not deserve a free phone. It is his responsibility. He was told that. If he cancels, his loss. EVERY cell company in the US would do the same thing.

I agree with CainMarko...as Sales Reps in the store or CC Reps in Louisana...you own the call. The customer is your customer unless it goes above your head and then once you have tried all of your resources transfer the customer to a mananger. I even asked my manager if he didn't mind if we gave him an escalation without any information and he said... "I hate is when people do that." He's just walking into a situation blind. The RSC could have fixed it themself and he has other things that he should be doing rather than fixing someone's voicemail or programming one-touch dialing.

Who ever said it... When you transfer a call to a CC manager you are guaranteed to wait at least 30 minutes...giving the customer just enough time to get even ma...
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I try to help customers the best I can... I want them to end the call w/ a positive experience... and like CainMarko said... It's a small percentage of customers that have the predetermined mindset that nothing will satisfy them except what they absolutely want... regardless of how reasonable it is... overall I think we have a great customer base... and i have maybe 5 escalations a week with irate customers... doesn't matter though... i'll hopefully get my promo by the end of the week...

don't get me wrong, i agree with you speck, i just wanted to know what is the goal of cingular wireless? does not have to portray your personal goals as a csr. my standpoint on this whole discussion is the fact that yes the cust. could be wrong, i do not think the cust. should be given a new phone if they destroyed the handset. it did not seem that the cust mean the phone was falling appart but maybe one of the number buttons were falling off or a changable faceplate was unfastening. the cust. may not be phone savy. i agree with you. some times some csr can be a little harsh with a cust.

I feel that a lot of custoemrs end up thinking a supervisor can do more because they are more experienced and have learned how to explore options with the customer. Most experienced care reps are able to do this too but when a customer gets a new rep that doesn't give them an option and they then escalate to a supervisor and are given that option it makes it seem as though the supervisor has more power. This will cause them to think escalating will get them more and better options. I'm with AT&T customer care and I know that in my center the care reps will bend policy quicker then the supervisors. Customers have to understand that no matter how far up in a company they go we all have the same policies. The main reason supervisors are put int...
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I'm surprised you could offer him that exception if he's only fufilled 6 months of his contract... It was definitely the best option he'll get for it. People always bitch when I offer insurance, but they whine even more when they need it and didn't take it.

In my experience, they treat all customers the same, which is not a good thing. They extend the same offers to a 2 year customer with 1 line as they do to a 15 year customer with multiple lines and a huge monthly bill. Doesn't it make sense that they should go out of their way to take good care of their long term customers? That's something you learn in any entry level marketing class. It's just like those verizon commercials where they are better to the new cutomer. That is why so many people get frustrated so easily.

Cingular has a policy that supports a consistent customer service experience throughout the company. Youhave been informed. If you feel this isn't fair, then choose another wireless service provider.

Supervisors are extremely unlikely to bend rules or even credit within policy if a call is escalated to them. Customers are far better off 9 times out of ten going with what the csr offered them, unless what is happening is a legitimate complaint -- and if the beef is legit the csr should be able to spot it within minutes.I work for a call center that was formerly AWS and while the dollar figures go up as you move up the food chain, the likelihood of the cust being credited decreases unless the credit a) falls well within company policy and b)is backed up by event notes on the account. Otherwise i have had supervisors who will not issue further credits and will rescind any offers made by the customer service representatives. Seriously people...
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That's why they pay you the big bucks. Calm down it's only a forum. Don't blow a head gasket.

Right but you cannot determine if you can help the customer or not if the first thing they say is "Transfer me to a manager"... That CSR may be very well equipped to handle the situation.

Quite a few CSR's are able to handle those situations quite well.

Don't get me wrong, I sent customers to either my manager or the escalation team, but I NEVER sent them without the customer at least giving me a chance to fix their problem, or at least explaining it to me. If I couldn't fix it, then they went to my manager.

I used to get in trouble because my talk time was always too high. Thats because instead of escalating an easy fix just because the customer was mad, I calmed them down and helped them. They were almost always appreciative of the fact that I didn't have to transfer them to someone else.

If you have to send them to a manager, do it. But don't just send them because that's the first thing out of their mouth. ...
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i agree with you. usually when a customer calls in they feel that no one has listened to their problem. i often advise a customer that my job is to help that person and i will try everything in my power to fix the problem and that i cannot change anything that happened in the past. this statement has worked 100% with irate or "i need a manager" customers. even though i am not a costomer service rep i talk to cust. re their dsl crcts, test their line and help resolve issues. and i think talking to a csr is the most difficult job. face to face with the pbulic is a horror story but i also know that they are making it possible that i can pay my bills.

I used to manage a 18-25 person escalation team for call center where the average call is 15-20 minutes. The CSR who do actually try to resolve a call before the transfer are excellent. We would get transfers asking for a manager the CSR would not ask for further info and if they would have, 70% percent of the time with a little patience the call could be handled. Instead every call transferred unnecessarily ups the AHT and Queue making customers who actually need the extra assistance hold even longer and become even further enraged.

Something I've noticed throughout my time with customer service is that when a customer is face to face they are usually more reasonable then over the phone. When I first entered the work force I started out delivering pizza and a customer would call in and curse and demand discounts or free food because of a mistake but when I took there remake out they would be all smiles and sometimes even tip me. I don't think they realized I was the same person they'd just completely cursed out on the phone.

Cool experience.

deltasigmatheta said:
No not regardless if the CSR could handle the call the caller wouldnt have to make numerous calls. Maybe there should be a roomful of mgrs. if that is what it takes to provide exceptional customer service.

you must be a complete moron deltasigmatheta.

He's definitely something...

Dont you wish you knew what.

No.

It wasnt my suggestion. And you can "believe it or not" ripley. 😁

Well, that's the facade you present here.

I don't believe all customers are that way. But there are some.

You mean you in general right? Because I haven't done any of those and if you would like to challenge that, post it. JJ tried and failed.

Get over yourself. You come off as a person(not a customer) as a genuine prick.

What in the world is a prick? hhahahhaha

If you don't know, you don't deserve to know. 🤣

Because you don't even know.
hahahhah

A prick is someone who wastes other people's eyeball strength arguing about something that no one could give a flyin' turd about. Take the hint.

Bud, I havent said anything to you, what is your problem. Or does she need someone to tell others what she means. I dont take hints well at all. And could have sworn we were on the net. No eyeballs.. ???!? 😳

You don't have to say anything directly at someone for them to feel the pain of your stupidity...any one who reads your posts has brains cells killed from the utter retard-ism emanating from your posts.

I know you understand that theory - tried and tested on you.

🙄 May i ask, how old you are?

Because this "I know you are but what am i?" thing you're displaying sounds like a 5-year-old.

I had to come down to your level. This is all you have understood since your first agitating response to a post to a friend.

So for now I am entertaining myself by replying to you.

For the sake of Mufasa, take it to the Jerry Springer show or autition for the Broadway musical "Cats."

As soon as I figure out what "autition" is. Go solve your imaginary friend's ringtone problem. 😲

an mba etc with so much time on his hands... the professional demands delt's career must be simply crushing 😛

Eyeballs to read with, oh smart one. This is a public forum which everyone reads, therefore I have no problem. I instead have the right, just like anyone else, to reply to any forum of my choosing, Bud.

yep

hmm I expected that response from you. So predictable and childish.

a prick is a jerk, or an assh()le

I see you know from experience.

yeah becuase I know what the word means from calling people that. Wow, you ARE antagonistic, aren't you? You always gotta get the last laugh but you just come off childish and desperate.

oooohhh I'm so hurt. No you know from being on the receiving end. You must have learned a new word, practicing it = childish. hahahah 😳

blah blah blah... 🙄

At least I tried... Lol... new day... 🤣

New Day.