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Well guys you are not going to believe this. I am posting this on behalf of my friend Chris, and this is his story.
Chris like me works at Cardinal Health, and like me gets a 23% discount. He was out of contract and was looking for the best deal. I told him his best bet was to call retentions, but he needed to be nice, and also be prepared to walk from nextel, if he didn't get what he wanted. I also showed him this thread to guide him.
Chris wanted to get the silver i880 because he read how solid of a phone it was on here. He also wanted the simply everything plan, but he wanted to know if he could keep his discount. I told him no, but Chris has this magical gift of haggling with people. Normally he uses brute force. But he took my advice of being nice and let me tell you, he got far with his dealings with retentions, even though he got quite the runaround and a headache as well.
It begins with his initial call to retentions. He dealt with a woman there, who said she could get him the i880 for $149.99 with a $50 mail in rebate. He tells her politely that when he called telesales, they offered him the phone for $99.99 with a $50 rebate. At this point I am very susspect of what he is telling me, but he goes on to tell me that the retentions rep then got telesales on the line, where he spoke to a guy named Tom.
Tom offered him the phone for $49.99 with a $25 rebate, because Chris was a loyal customer for many years, and always paid his bill on time. At this point Tom asks Chris if he minds that this call is being recorded, Chris says no. So Chris then asks is there anyway to get the phone any faster, "I heard it was on backorder". Tom said no problem I have it here, I will overnight it to you free of charge and I'll waive the upgrade fee. (Now I am really skeptical).
So now Chris has the phone he wants and he proceeds to changing his plan. He tells Tom he wants the Simply Everything plan, but can I keep my corporate discount. Now I mind you this call is being recorded, and Tom says sure, I'll change the plan, and you'll keep your discount so you will have the Simply Everything Unlimited plan for $75, but I need you to agree to a new 1 year contract. Chris agrees, and Tom says he will email him a confirmation once the order is processed. End of that call, and the headache begins.
During the course of the day Chris doesn't get that email, so he calls back to confirm the order. First the rep says there's no notes on the account, then all of a sudden, she finds them. She tells chris the phone is on the way, and he should have gotten the email. Chris about the plan. She says it will be changed at the next billing cycle, but there was no discount. Chris says there was supposed to be a discount, let me speak to account services. So he gets transfered to account services, and then they conveniently find the notes on the account saying he gets the discount, and that the plan will be discounted. That agent said that she would change the plan now, and it will be discounted to the $75 price. Chris says ok, thank you, hangs up and goes about his business.
The next day, Chris comes into work, and he has a brand new silver i880 out of a factory sealed box. I was in disbelief. He actually got it, but then he calls to check that his plan has changed and it is still his own plan. He is infuriated. After he finished work, he went home to his wife, who told him he is being petty, be glad he got the phone, and don't worry about the plan. Chris just wanted what he was promised. So he now does the CS retentions run around.
Seven dropped calls later, and a rep that could barely speak English and told him I can cancel your account right now, he finally gets a hold of Kim a supervisor at Account Services. Kim tells him he can have the plan but no discount and that there is notes about a discount. Chris tells her that the call was recorded, and that she can pull it up, since they played back the tape of a call he had in a previous incident back in January. So she obliged, she pulled up the recording of the call, played it back. Sure enough, there was Tom telling Chris he gets the discount. So Kim kindly tells Chris that I need to get a supervisor from telesales to OK that since I can't approve it. So she gets a supervisor from telesales named Scott on there who then sweetens the deal by knocking the plan down to $71 a month, and changed the plan while he was still on the phone.
I am still skeptical but he did get the i880 and not a refurb. I told him I want to see his next bill when he gets it. If you ask me that is the best deal ever.
So here's the cliff notes version:
- Retentions can get you a good deal.
- Even if a phone is on backorder, you can still get it next day.
- Being nice and persistent and using their own tactics against customer service can get you what you want.
- I am still skeptical he got his discount, but we'll see when he gets his bill.
Originally Posted by harrypalm
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