poor upgrade experience = last straw for me

[grid]

<rant>
I went into a Cingular agent location to upgrade my plan to FT and activate a few lines not so long ago and I ended up spending four hours at the store trying to get all this done, FOUR HOURS! CS told me I could upgrade and activate, but activations didn't allow it. The agent wanted to switch me to Verizon after having trouble getting the activations through, but I've been a loyal customer for over six years. I wasn't ready to relinquish this tie just yet and I figure CS will be kind enough to compensate me for my time when I get a chance to contact them. I figured wrong.

The agent must have tried at least a dozen times to activate the lines each time CS told us we could go ahead and do it. I finally managed to talk to a manager at CS directly by calling CS myself and he finally notated my account to get activations to allow the upgrade to happen. Somehow, that magically worked and it took another hour to get the activations done, but not before they _had_ to run yet another credit check on me. Should an upgrade be this difficult?

So I walk out of the store four hours later, hungry, tired, but content with my new phones. I'm much too loyal a customer, I think to myself.

Then I figure CS could do something about this mishap to compensate me for all this time lost. Man was I wrong to assume. The moment I mentioned compensation, the CSR took a brief moment to think up what to say after the impending "Well...". To make a short story shorter, the answer was no, nada, nothing they can do. Will they waive the activation fees? No. Will they give me a beach ball? No. Tie my shoes? No. They don't have any reason to compensate me for my time, but if my handset is having trouble, says the CSR, then we could talk about compensation. WTF!? I asked to talk to the supervisor and she came back with a 'the supervisor agrees with me so there's nothing I can do for you sir.' and I don't even get to talk to the supervisor. WTF!? That's such a great way to make a loyal customer of six years feel. Such compassion these people have for wasting my entire day! There's no doubt that I was completely mistaken that my loyalty to this company would be rewarded some day.

As such, I'm done with Cingular. I've been with them for over six years and it's just completely upsetting that they care more about making money than making concessions for their loyal customers.

The grass may not be greener on the other side, but I suppose now is as good a time as any to leave.
</rant>

It feels good to rant.

[jmg_T21]

So you were NOT at a corporate store?
Been there, done that *sprint store* I talked to the manager, I emailed everyone I could... yep got nothing, and my story EASILY rivals yours...

I am surprised YOU WERE not able to talk to a supervisor... you gave up THAT easy, I would have DEMANDED and demanded until the CS rep had no choice... that was a sham... you were placed on hold and the Rep was probably just sitting there... that was unacceptable.

Sometimes our time is the cost for service also =( ; we would think the process would be a breeze...

[gdart]

The entity to be mad at is the "agent" They were obviously incompetent. Whoever you delt with didn't know what they were doing and if you contact the manager or owner of the store you may get something. An agent makes a lot off of you when adding lines. Your main problem of course was not going to a Corp. store in the first place. Everyone a HoFo knows that.

[JDScott302]

Originally posted by gdart
The entity to be mad at is the "agent" They were obviously incompetent. Whoever you delt with didn't know what they were doing and if you contact the manager or owner of the store you may get something. An agent makes a lot off of you when adding lines. Your main problem of course was not going to a Corp. store in the first place. Everyone a HoFo knows that.

Lets not go that far, i get people that come to me because they dont like going to the corporate store.

[nskgti23]

Agreed... The key word here is "AGENT" store.

[oldmaid]

then leave

happy trails

[Always Mobile]

In this case it was the agent store that wasted all your time and IMO should have throw in an accessory or two. I don't think a corporate store would have had this much trouble.

[oldmaid]

Originally posted by nskgti23
Agreed... The key word here is "AGENT" store.

Ok, all you agent bashers. Why dont you work for an agent then work for corporate, and come back and tell me how you feel. Most of you have no idea what it is like to work behind the counter. I dealt with a corporate locatoin, now have an account in collections because i refuse to pay for the CORPORATE stores mistake.

For one, you can have a bad experience at either location. Secondly, if you go to an agent that carries other companies other than cingular, then you're an idiot. Whether you go to a branded agent or a corporate store, you can get people that have no clue what they're doing. BUT, you will save money going to a BRANDED agent as you can barter with them. Corporate stores dont budge in pricing.

[Always Mobile]

True Edbaseball17 but corporate stores have something agents don't have: A manager who can go right into an account and decision for themselves an immediate upgrade. They also have access to departments which can waive deposits and issue refunds on the spot. What agent store can offer that?

[oldmaid]

Originally posted by Always Mobile
True Edbaseball17 but corporate stores have something agents don't have: A manager who can go right into an account and decision for themselves an immediate upgrade. They also have access to departments which can waive deposits and issue refunds on the spot. What agent store can offer that?

This isn't an agent store issue. it's a customer service issue. all that had to be done was customer service had to erase the customers contract and the whole process would have been done in less than 20 minutes. Customer service does not know ANYTHING. the upgrade department does not care what is in account notes, it cares what the contract in the system says.

[91RS]

Corp stores do not have to call CS to upgrade a phone. I went to a corp store and switched from TDMA to GSM and was out in 15 minutes, no phone call to CS needed. If you insist on going to an agent, go to a reliable company such as Best Buy, not Joe Blow's Cell Phone shop. Best Buy doesn't have to call CS either, I upgraded to my L1200 there and was out in 10 minutes.

Good luck elsewhere.

[DeltaOne81]

Originally posted by 91RS
go to a reliable company such as Best Buy

Hahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha

Oh man, that was the laugh of the week! Thanks.

I can't even count how many times Best Buy has screwed people on here.

[91RS]

Originally posted by DeltaOne81
Hahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahaha

Oh man, that was the laugh of the week! Thanks.

I can't even count how many times Best Buy has screwed people on here.

Yeah, I'm sure. I went therethe first time and bought my P107 and then went back later and even exchanged it no problem for the L1200.

[FL1134]

Originally posted by grid
<rant>
...
Somehow, that magically worked and it took another hour to get the activations done, but not before they _had_ to run yet another credit check on me.
...

They should be softs but, I hope that you didn't get TWO hard pulls on your credit report for just trying to upgrade.

[MikeMazz]

Originally posted by 91RS
Corp stores do not have to call CS to upgrade a phone. I went to a corp store and switched from TDMA to GSM and was out in 15 minutes, no phone call to CS needed. If you insist on going to an agent, go to a reliable company such as Best Buy, not Joe Blow's Cell Phone shop. Best Buy doesn't have to call CS either, I upgraded to my L1200 there and was out in 10 minutes.

Good luck elsewhere.

The agent only called it in cause he's an idiot. Upgrade from TDMA to GSM, 5 minutes, no phone call, and oh yes I'm an agent. It has little to do with agent or corperate, it has to do with brain or no brain!