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You would think that after spending over $400 for a Blackberry, I would
be considered a premium purchaser of some sort. This is apparently not the
case if you are a Verizon customer. I must say that without a doubt,
Verizon has the best U.S. wireless network, bar none. Equally incredible
is the stupidity they employ in their customer service policies.
Following is a case in point. Five weeks ago, I personally called Verizon
and ordered a Blackberry handheld for one of my TMC team members. The
process went well. I had great customer service from the salesperson, who
was both knowledgeable and helpful.
When the device arrived, it held a charge for only a day and a half, even
though usage was light. After about five weeks, I decided to call and
attempt to get the problem resolved. I connected with the department that
sold me the device, and they transferred me to tech support. After about
20 minutes, a tech support person (who was also very courteous) told me I
needed a new battery.
'Excellent,' I said. 'Please send me a new one.' If only life was so easy.
I was instructed to speak with customer service, which would need to
gather some information before proceeding. Once connected, I gave them the
appropriate information. I was told after about 20 to 30 minutes of
waiting that I needed to go to a Verizon store to purchase a battery.
I told them, 'That is a great solution, but most of the Verizon stores I
have visited don't carry Blackberries, so I doubt they carry batteries for
them.' The customer service person, who once again was very pleasant and
helpful, told me she would call stores in the area to which I was
traveling and let me know which stores sold the needed battery.
Thirty minutes later, my phone rang. 'Mr. Tehrani, no store in your
area carries the battery.' I though this was fine. I subsequently
requested that the new battery be mailed to me. I was told that if they
mailed me a battery, they would charge me $60 plus shipping. I mentioned
that I had been sent a defective battery, and asked, 'Why can't you mail
me a new one?' After all, I had purchased the device by phone. No luck.
The procedure, I was told, was to go to the nearest dealer and have a
technician inspect the device. The technician would then order the
battery, and it would be necessary for me to go back and pick up the
battery when it arrived!
I thought to myself that if I treated my customers like this for a
month, I would be out of business. How does any company set policies like
this? I don't feel like a Verizon customer, I feel like an enemy.
Still, the people with whom I interacted at this company were first-rate.
They would make any company proud. It is the policies of this company that
are beyond my understanding. I need more Blackberries for my company. I
don't want to give Verizon another dime. In fact, I want to cancel all my
phone service with the company. Perhaps when the Cingular/AT&T merger goes
through, the combined network will be of equal coverage to that of Verizon.
I hope this is the case, as I cannot ever recommend working with a company
that sets such ridiculous customer service policies. Do you have a Verizon
or other service provider horror story? Relate them to me in our forums
online on TMCnet.com. I would love to hear your opinions.
T-Mobile Has Its Issues
I had some time to kill in the car recently, so I decided to resolve some
problems I had with T-Mobile. My first issue is that when I call customer
service, I must enter a telephone number and the last four digits of the
primary account holder's social security number. Easy enough? Sure, but we
have a corporate account, so no social security number is on file. If you
decide to enter a phone number like the system requests, you are forced to
enter the social security number digits. I can't tell you how frustrating
it is to put in your number and waste time on the phone trying to outsmart
the IVR, only to find that not even your cleverest tricks will get you to
a live agent until you hang up and call again. This time, you must
remember to be silent. Don't enter anything, or the system will know that
you have touch-tone dialing, and you are forced to go through the loop of
insanity outlined above.
So when I finally reached an agent, question number one was, 'How can I
avoid your asinine IVR system, as I have a corporate account?' I was told
simply to enter the last four digits of my tax I.D. number. Simple enough,
I guess. I haven't tried this, but I will remember this tip in the future.
On to my next question. I have been using the MMS (multimedia messaging)
feature of my phone to send audio e-mails to coworkers and others for
months. One day, I realized that my messages weren't getting through. I
also realized that messages sent to my phone were often corrupted. I asked
if there was a systemwide problem, as I have experienced the same symptoms
in four other U.S. states. I was told that in fact, there was a problem
and I needed to be patient. 'Excellent,' I responded. 'I will be patient.
When will you fix it?' I was told they didn't know. 'OK,' I asked, 'How
will I know when it's fixed?' I was told that I need to just keep trying.
Do I expect too much from my service providers? Is it just me? Am I overly
demanding?
I am using my cell phone to run a business and make decisions that could
cost millions of dollars. I discover that T-Mobile knows that my messages
are being lost occasionally, and they are keeping the problem a secret.
Worse, when they fix it, it will also be a secret. Again, am I overly
demanding? Do I have the problem? I am beginning to think so.
In Password Hell With A Caffeine Buzz
Here's my final issue. The last two times I tried to access WiFi in
Starbucks, I couldn't get onto the system. I have had an account for
years, but for some reason, I just can't get on to purchase a single day
pass. I have spent two hours trying to figure out how to buy this
single-day pass. In both cases, I gave up and tried a new account. Due to
what is my own error, I try a user name that is taken already'I suspect by
myself. Realizing that my user name is in the system, I get inspired and
try once again to sign up for a day pass. Somehow, my password is never
right. I never want to call customer service or support for obvious
reasons.
As I write this article from my hotel room, I decided to visit
www.t-mobile.com/ hotspot and try again. I can't get in. This could be my
fault. I may have mentally misplaced my password. I can't find an option
to have the password e-mailed to me, either, which is pretty frustrating.
So to give them the benefit of the doubt, I sent customer service an
e-mail telling them I forgot my password. I received an automated message
telling me that they will respond within 24 hours. This would be great
news if I was at Starbucks'I imagine I could have a pulse of 250 and the
caffeine buzz of a lifetime waiting that long.
I was eventually informed via e-mail that my password had been e-mailed as
an SMS to my mobile phone. It never arrived. I sent an e-mail back to
them, informing them of this. The saga continues.
Let's get back to the tech support call. I was told that I could bundle
the WiFi service into my cellular service for $20 per month. The only
problem is that I am rarely at Starbucks more than twice a month, which
doesn't justify the expense. To get this wrapped up, however, I decided to
go ahead and pay the extra money to get off the phone. After all, I had
been on the line for 30 minutes dealing with these issues.
I relented. 'Sure. I give in' I will pay,' I replied meekly. As the deal
was being wrapped up, I asked, 'By the way, what is my user name and
password?' The agent responded, 'I'll have to get back to you on that,
please hold.' I mentioned that I was late for a meeting, and asked to be
called back, which Verizon had just done for me. 'Sir, I cannot do that,'
I was told. 'As soon as I hang up, I'll receive another call.' The wonders
of ACD technology, I thought. I have spent two hours trying to resolve
this password issue and am no closer to solving it. I hear McDonalds is
coming out with WiFi now. Perhaps it's time to switch coffee houses and
while I'm at it, I'll save a few dollars per cup.
Let's end this saga with a moral. Perhaps the best one is, 'Please don't
give me garbage for customer service.' OK, that isn't classy enough. How
about 'Great agents need great policies to give great CRM?' Or, 'Don't
handicap your best agents' or 'Deploy CRM-friendly policies to keep happy
customers.' I think I've got it. 'You need courteous agents and courteous
policies to keep your customers coming back.'
Sincerely,
Rich Tehrani
Group Publisher, Group Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
For information and subscriptions, visit
www.TMCnet.com
or call 203-852-6800.
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