vB Easy Archive - I can't believe this lady got out of her contract without an ETF

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I can't believe this lady got out of her contract without an ETF
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Posted by: The Champ

I was working yesterday, Sunday, so CS is closed and after hours support is usually the only way to go if we REALLY need something.

A lady walks in and my coworker is dealing with her.

From what I understood, her Razr's screen wasn't working any more, and it was the 3rd time she had been sent a warranty exchange. She was pretty pissed, and she needed a new phone right away because it was all her "business."

Before I continue, this is one of the customers that like to make up their own rules, and thinks they regulate about how things should work.

My coworker initially tells her she can do warranty exchange and they will send her a new phone since it has been 3 times. She says denies, as she doesn't want to wait and needs her phone ASAP. She says that warranty exchange sucks, and she doesn't have 2 days she needs it now.

So then he offers her the 2610 for 39.99 (per CSP). She denies, as she NEEDS a flip phone and she won't settle for less. He said then the only other option is for her to buy a phone at full retail. She still had about 13 months left in her contract, so no early upgrade for this situation.

She started to blab about how things should be, and someone here can override it for her because she's been a customer for 10 years, etc. So since there was no manager on duty, she said call another store. We explained to her that other store managers have no authority on what goes on here.

She said thats not true, etc he should have authority. So I step in and I begin to lay the hammer down (or so I thought).

I retold the situation, then I specifically told her, this is her options. I mentioned everything my coworker mentioned, and I said you can go to Target, Walmart, or Best Buy and buy a prepaid phone from there and just stick your sim card in there. They have flip phones, and there are some decent phones out there.

She said no, I shouldn't I have to do that and we were inconveniencing her. Best Buy is 1 minute away from our store driving. It is literally right around the corner.

She goes on to tell us how we are inconveniencing her ,etc. She begins to make up her own rules to how things should be, and what we should do.

I told her that I stated her options, and she is trying to make up her own rules and make new options. She said no, and began to make up new options.

We put her on the phone with after hours.. she reexplains the situation and obviously starts making false accusations against the employees. We were supposedly not taking ownership of the problem, and we were standing around doing nothing to help her. How the **** are we going to help you when you're on the phone? Dumb *****. It sounded like the first rep she talked to tried to help her, but she even denied the early upgrade offer and didn't want to pay the price of the phones at the upgrade price. She said renewing her contract for 2 years with this crappy service is not an option. So by this point she wanted to cancel her line, but the rep told her you have to pay the fee.

She doesn't want to pay the fee because she has been so inconvenienced.

The situation is escalated to a manager, she reexplains the situation and somehow the manager let her get out of the contract without an ETF. We even checked the account afterwards.

I guess her business was so important that she would lose her number and cancel service on the spot right?

I was pretty pissed she got out of her contract with no ETF... but what a dumb *****

Posted by: classylady78

I would hate CS doing that. It sucks when you follow policy, stand your ground, and get overridden.

But you know what, good riddens. Let some other company deal with her. She is unreasonable, and everyone whose phone is broken uses it for their "business". If your business is so important you should have a spare phone. Otherwise it isn't that important. AT&T provides the service, we don't even make the phones. Customers drive me nuts about that.

Posted by: bigb252

She'll come back. Give her 3 months or so.

Posted by: Batman665

She may have been like LTV 1 and the manager was at the end of his/her shift, lol.

Posted by: holaDude

Quote:

Originally Posted by Batman665

She may have been like LTV 1 and the manager was at the end of his/her shift, lol.

Actually LTV1 accounts can be canceled on the spot for any of them that call in. The etf still will apply should still have more than 12 months of service left on the account, but might be waived if hey have less than 12 months.

Posted by: classylady78

What is LTV1?

Posted by: cingtd

Quote:

Originally Posted by classylady78

What is LTV1?

LTV = Life Time Value w/ 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest level.

Posted by: ivwshane

I would escalate the situation to your manager. Nothing may happen but if you are following company policy so should the care reps you are talking to.

Btw did you notate the account before she called care?

Posted by: cingtd

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Champ

I was pretty pissed she got out of her contract with no ETF... but what a dumb *****

One phrase comes to mind about the manager who helped her get out of the contract: "Spineless wimp"

Posted by: holaDude

Quote:

Originally Posted by cingtd

One phrase comes to mind about the manager who helped her get out of the contract: "Spineless wimp"

Sounds like it. I know mine can be, and that is why I tend to pick which manager I walk over to take the escalation should it come to that. I know which ones will tell the customer how it is, and which ones will just either give in to them'

Posted by: cingtd

Quote:

Originally Posted by holaDude

I can agree to that. I do the same thing myself.

Posted by: SuxBeingU

It certainly sucks they didn't back you up BUT at some point its better adb easier to let the other carrier have the headache. By cancelling now she loses the number so maybe that will cause her enough trouble to piss her off a little more

Posted by: blessd24

Is it wrong that if I don't like a customer I push them out the door?

If they don't treat me right I have interest in taking care of them.

Posted by: neodamonkey

Ok yeah so that sucks she "got away" with stuff. but what do you think sucks more paying the ETF or going to port your number to another company Monday morning and realizing that since you got pissed off and hot and cancled your contract on the spot you cant get you "super million dollar business number that you have to have because its on all your business stuff"? LOL. I love it when people want to cancel on the spot. Sure you can call customer wervice from right here in the store and I can watch you lose your precious number.

Posted by: AppleMac

I hate your CS too. I'm probably gonna end up dealing with her at VZW!

Posted by: Kelkin

Wow.. What great customer service, I'm glad I don't shop in your stores. A customer is inconvenienced because of faulty equipment and because you don't like their personality you're upset that they were relieved of their ETF and wish even more inconvenience upon them? Typical AT&T customer service.

Posted by: krisguy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelkin

Wow.. What great customer service, I'm glad I don't shop in your stores. A customer is inconvenienced because of faulty equipment and because you don't like their personality you're upset that they were relieved of their ETF and wish even more inconvenience upon them? Typical AT&T customer service.

Warranty exchange is done by mail for all AT&T customers. If a customer needs a phone right away, then they can buy one for full retail. If a rep gave a customer a loaner phone or exchanged the phone after the 30 day mark, it's a final written warning in most markets.

I'm sorry you feel that way, but I don't want to get fired for not following procedure in that case.

Posted by: krisguy

Quote:

Originally Posted by neodamonkey

Ok yeah so that sucks she "got away" with stuff. but what do you think sucks more paying the ETF or going to port your number to another company Monday morning and realizing that since you got pissed off and hot and cancled your contract on the spot you cant get you "super million dollar business number that you have to have because its on all your business stuff"? LOL. I love it when people want to cancel on the spot. Sure you can call customer wervice from right here in the store and I can watch you lose your precious number.

The most damage happens when tempers flare.

Posted by: Kelkin

Quote:

Originally Posted by krisguy

I understand that and wouldn't expect anyone to break a policy to accommodate a customer no matter how angry they are. I would never put myself in the position of losing my job either. My issue is that there is a vehicle in place which allows management to attempt to satisfy the customer at their discretion, in this case it was cancelling her service and waiving the ETF. Instead of sympathizing with the customer and understanding her frustration with her experience and wanting to help, it seems everyone is pissed off that she "got away" with cancelling her service at no charge. This post and the replies to this post are perfect examples of the poor attitude towards customer service I've experienced myself in AT&T stores. It's really sad.

Posted by: krisguy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelkin

Now that is a valid point! It's nice to see one of those on HoFo. I still feel that she should have paid the ETF, but I understand your view as well.

Thanks for keeping this civil, as well!

Posted by: SoCal91302

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelkin

The sad part is someone can call up with the exact same situation and not get the same results.

Posted by: ivwshane

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelkin

No the issue is with the customer care rep who did not follow company policy and who did not back up a fellow co worker who was following policy.

I'd imagine that if you expect us to do our job and follow policy, that you would expect others do theirs as well.

Posted by: Really_Annoyed

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelkin

First, I want to say that I get your POV and that it is certainly up to the management to ATTEMPT to satisfy the customer at their discretion.

However, in this very situation, the customer was being difficult because she demanded that a phone was placed in her hand at the very moment and NOTHING else would suffice. So how is cancelling her service (with or w/o ETF) a way to satisfy the customer's need? Did she get a working phone for her business that very instant, the reason why she was being a b*t*h in the first place? The answer is NO. That supervisor simply didn't want to spend the time to deal with a b*t*h on rags. If anyone showed poor attitude towards customer service, it was the supervisor on the phone.

As for the poor attitude towards customer service, while I agree that there are some reps who act as if the world owes them everything, the OP and his/her coworker did an excellent job (from what was described). They offered all available options to an unreasonable customer. OP could've easily said "here's the number for warranty exchange, now get out." That would be poor customer service.

Posted by: blessd24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelkin

Being upset in private about it is bad "customer service"? The customer service part is dealing face to face with the customer. After the fact, we come back here and vent...with other employees...which isn't you.

Posted by: Skins_kg

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessd24

+1 I'm sure the OP was a curteous as could be with such a pleasant lady. I hate when I follow procedure, just to have the customer call CS, right in front of me, and b**** and moan til they get what they want. Even when I notate the account.

Posted by: Quake97

Quote:

Originally Posted by classylady78

I would hate CS doing that. It sucks when you follow policy, stand your ground, and get overridden.

Welcome to corporate America!

Joe

Posted by: supercsr

I work for VZW and if I am reading this correctly, all of your warranty replacements have to be mailed out is that correct? If it is outside of 30 days its 50 bucks, is that correct also? Help me out if Im wrong. VZW has hundreds of frus (field replacement units) on hand in most if not all corporate stores. If a customer has a legit mfg flaw in the phone we replace it for free (within the first year unless its extreem circumstances). As I will not say that I wouldnt stand by policy for a complete douchebag customer, our company has different matrices. The other thing that I would like to know, and it seems as if it is true, that care over the phone has more flexibility and power than all of us reps dealing with customers face to face whether youre ATT or VZW.

Posted by: holaDude

Quote:

Originally Posted by supercsr

I work for VZW and if I am reading this correctly, all of your warranty replacements have to be mailed out is that correct? If it is outside of 30 days its 50 bucks, is that correct also? Help me out if Im wrong. VZW has hundreds of frus (field replacement units) on hand in most if not all corporate stores. If a customer has a legit mfg flaw in the phone we replace it for free (within the first year unless its extreem circumstances). As I will not say that I wouldnt stand by policy for a complete douchebag customer, our company has different matrices. The other thing that I would like to know, and it seems as if it is true, that care over the phone has more flexibility and power than all of us reps dealing with customers face to face whether youre ATT or VZW.

There is no charge for a warranty replacement within the first year of ownership so long as the phone does not have physical or liquid damaged and it is a true mfg defect. Should the phone be damaged beyond the mfg warranty and they have insurance, then there will be a 50.00 charge. AT&T does not stock replacement phones at its' stores and most exchanges are processed over the phone and are mailed out to the customer. In the rare case where there is a warranty depot, a customer maybe sent there and if they have that phone in stock, it will be replaced on the spot.

Posted by: The Champ

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelkin

Are you stupid?

Nobody is providing horrible customer service...she got out of contract without ETF. I don't think customers realize how serious that is, yourself included.

How can you judge customer service based on what you read? Do you know the tone we were using? At the end of the day, it shouldn't matter...let me ask you a question, what would YOU have done?

We accepted the problem, and we presented her options. We could do NOTHING ELSE. I even ADVISED her to go to another retailer to purchase a phone. Are we supposed to be doing that?

How about you think about the attitude she was giving us?

Your posts seem like we were talking **** to her face.

Listen, when you go into a store and treat employees like ****, what kind of service do you think you will receive? We even gave her the store number, and the business card of the employee who helped her, and let me this you, that employee provides exceptional service.

We stood in guidelines, and she didn't like it. What the **** do we do? She was offered an extremely early upgrade, she thinks the prices are absurd for an upgrade...what do we do?

You = another dumb customer.

Posted by: KG4PEQ

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Champ

Listen, when you go into a store and treat employees like ****, what kind of service do you think you will receive?

That's a hard lesson at least one of my customers has to learn every week.

Posted by: The Champ

Quote:

Originally Posted by KG4PEQ

That's a hard lesson at least one of my customers has to learn every week.

Exactly. We gave her exceptional service, we held her hand, dialed the number, and put her on the phone. Since the store was slow, we had 1 employee stand in front of her if she needed attendance. I would come and go because she was using the phone next to my computer.

I'm supposed to take money out of my pocket and pay her right? What else would a manager be able to do? If you don't want to do an early upgrade, then what?

She walked over to the Nokia 6555 and LG Shine and said she'd be more than happy to pay the 39.99 for those phones...

Then her being rude and threatening employees and the store because we wouldn't break policies for her?

Kelkin...

Posted by: fusiclover

The OP didn't do anything wrong. It sounds like you gave her many reasonable options--she just didn't like them. You can't help that. There are many customers like that, with every carrier. Most "true" business customers that I have will pay $$$$ on the spot to replace their phone if they can't afford to wait for a service or insurance replacement. To them, it's not a big deal. If their phone affords them the ability to make $xxxx.xx daily <or so most of them preach> then what's $50-$200... nothing. It's the customers who ramble on about "I shouldn't have to"... "I've been a customer for xx years.. this is how is SHOULD be..." that get under my skin.

Posted by: KG4PEQ

Quote:

Originally Posted by fusiclover

If their phone affords them the ability to make $xxxx.xx daily <or so most of them preach> then what's $50-$200... nothing.

I love it when they pull out the "I'm losing $5000 a day because of this phone" line in response to my quote of a 3-5 business days turnaround time for an Advanced Exchange. I'll stop what I'm doing and say "oh really? Wow, well, hey, let's stop the bleeding right now... I can get you in a new phone for just $200... I'm practically GIVING you $4800 today alone, what a deal!"

They get pissed because they know the "real" impact on their "business" and they're even more pissed because I was smart enough to see right through their lies.

Posted by: BlogNetChica

Escalationed call get whatever they want depending on who they speak to. In my center, (I'm a CSR) there are like 20 people in the escalation bay for whenever somebody asks to speak to a manager and they only get like under ten calls per person per shift so if you are in that position, he probably just told her whatever just to get off the phone.

People are retarded sometimes. You sign a contract, stick to it. Its a damn cell phone, of course its going to break eventually. And I love how every customer thinks that their problem is the bigest ordeal in the world and that AT&T is just going to curl up in a ball and cry if they leave us. Over 65 million customers, if an LTV1 is goig to make a fuss, its cheap for the company to just let them leave w/o the ETF to pay each employee who has to put time in on the clock to deal with a difficult custome like that.