Customer service

[gldstwmn]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Customer service just seems to be getting worse and worse. I've been on and off the phone with Cingular Wireless for a good part of the day. When I wasn't doing that, I was on the phone with other customer care people. It's always the same thing. Talk to a machine, sit on hold and eventually talk to a human being who then transfers you to someone else. Lather, rinse, repeat. The only time I got decent customer service today was when I talked to the IRS. :shocked: :lol: The bad news from that conversation is that they are keeping my refund of $1200 for that year because I didn't file the return in time. So that money goes back to the US Treasury. End of rant.

[seeker007nmss]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Customer service just seems to be getting worse and worse. I've been on and off the phone with Cingular Wireless for a good part of the day. When I wasn't doing that, I was on the phone with other customer care people. It's always the same thing. Talk to a machine, sit on hold and eventually talk to a human being who then transfers you to someone else. Lather, rinse, repeat. The only time I got decent customer service today was when I talked to the IRS. :shocked: :lol: The bad news from that conversation is that they are keeping my refund of $1200 for that year because I didn't file the return in time. So that money goes back to the US Treasury. End of rant.


Why would they keep it, when you can refile for past years? Maybe you can appeal:

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/content/0,,id=98196,00.html

[DrummerDeanna]

Oooh cell phone companies are the worst - I completely feel your pain. I went rounds and rounds with Verizon -and it was awful - they kept transfering me - but I'm pretty sure they were just hanging up on me :laugh: I kept getting disconnected - and well literally 1 hour later I was in tears due to frustration and anger...I HATE dealing with customer service issues.

[gldstwmn]

Why would they keep it, when you can refile for past years? Maybe you can appeal:

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/content/0,,id=98196,00.html

Oh, I'm definitely going to appeal.:lol:

[gldstwmn]

Oooh cell phone companies are the worst - I completely feel your pain. I went rounds and rounds with Verizon -and it was awful - they kept transfering me - but I'm pretty sure they were just hanging up on me :laugh: I kept getting disconnected - and well literally 1 hour later I was in tears due to frustration and anger...I HATE dealing with customer service issues.

My daughter's phone is broken and they won't honor the warranty. So we have her old phone which we got from AT&T before Cingular bought them. We put the SIM card in the AT&T phone and it asked us for a bypass code. We call Cingular to get it becuase there is no AT&T Wireless now and Cingular doesn't have the bypass code for the phone. They bought the company lock, stock and barrel but they forgot to include the bypass codes for the phones? Are they kidding me?

[SuzeQuze]

I had a lot of problems with them, beginning with AT&T, and I left them for Verizon who has great customer service. For real!

[seeker007nmss]

Here is a trick I have used several times when you get frustrated by phone companies Etc. After you been through the gauntlet, (Making sure you have meticulous notes and asking for everyone's name you came in contact with)and got no where, go to the companies main web site. Find the Board of directors page (Usually under investors area). Call the main number listed there (or sometimes under the jobs area) - NOT the customer service line or 800 number. Ask to speak with the VP of Public Realtions, or VP of operations. You will probally get their flunky, but explain your situation and say you have been everywhere they try to transfer you to. If they do transfer you, call RIGHT BACK and don't go away. (Remember to always remain calm and professional). They will solve it just to get rid of you. I did this a few times and the problems were solved immediately. They were more stunned by the fact I got to the higher ups. Don't be intimidated, what can they do? Fire you? Plus with the names on your list the Sh*T will run back down to them because their boss's,boss's,boss's boss had to deal with it! It really works! I recieved free car rentals, bills disappeared, ...etc

[hayley]

A woman last week on the LJ knitting community had a huge problem with Lion Brand, a conglomerate of crappy ass yarn products, billing her checking account three times for the same large order, causing her student loan payments to bounce. Every customer service rep she reached basically told her they couldn't do anything, the bank would have to, it wasn't their problem, etc.- gave her the usual runaround, for over a week. Finally, the group advised her to call their PR department and let them know that she had posted about her horrible customer service on the most popular online knitting group, comprised of 5000+ members... they fixed the problem within thirty minutes and even though she wouldn't let them give the order to her free, they sent her an enormous care package of various (crappy) yarn worth over $200.

[DavidMn]

People just dont give a **** anymore it seems.

[skcin]

I'm in the middle of a credit issue & it's driving me mad. I have a very good credit score, my debt/available credit ratio is great, so I'm really scared this is going to F everything up.

I bought furniture at the end of Jan, no interest for 6 months. I've had the money available, I've just been lazy, quite frankly. I went to pay it in full July 5th & the store told me I can't pay it there, I have to send it in to the company. What company? I haven't received any statements from anyone! OK, fine.

Store calls credit company, they've had my address wrong the whole time. :rolleyes: Apparently, all statements were returned to sender. Did they maybe want to call me to verify my address, since they had my phone number correct? Guess not. So, I correct address & they say they'll send my statement. At this point, I have 3 weeks to take care of the bill.

A week goes by - no statement. Another few days - still no statement. I keep calling the number, can't get a human being. I get the payment mailing address & send the check. 10 days later, they claim they still haven't received it, so it hasn't been posted to my account.

What. The. F*ck.

I've called them 3 times in the past 2 days, trying to explain what's going on. They claim that they won't charge me the insane interest, as I've been trying to pay the bill for 3 weeks. We'll see. I don't want something like this to wreck my credit. :distress:

[SuzeQuze]

I'm in the middle of a credit issue & it's driving me mad. I have a very good credit score, my debt/available credit ratio is great, so I'm really scared this is going to F everything up.

I bought furniture at the end of Jan, no interest for 6 months. I've had the money available, I've just been lazy, quite frankly. I went to pay it in full July 5th & the store told me I can't pay it there, I have to send it in to the company. What company? I haven't received any statements from anyone! OK, fine.

Store calls credit company, they've had my address wrong the whole time. :rolleyes: Apparently, all statements were returned to sender. Did they maybe want to call me to verify my address, since they had my phone number correct? Guess not. So, I correct address & they say they'll send my statement. At this point, I have 3 weeks to take care of the bill.

A week goes by - no statement. Another few days - still no statement. I keep calling the number, can't get a human being. I get the payment mailing address & send the check. 10 days later, they claim they still haven't received it, so it hasn't been posted to my account.

What. The. F*ck.

I've called them 3 times in the past 2 days, trying to explain what's going on. They claim that they won't charge me the insane interest, as I've been trying to pay the bill for 3 weeks. We'll see. I don't want something like this to wreck my credit. :distress:

Don't worry about it. Everything will most likely be fine and you'll feel dumb for having worried for nothing. ;)

[desertangel]

Oh yea... I bought a new car last week. Tried to contact my insurance agent to get that stuff going. Couldn't reach him. Called another agent who advised I keep my old car on my policy until the paperwork was complete with the new owner... a total of 3 days. Upon leaving DMV, I call insurance company 800 number to drop my old car from my policy. Almost a week later I get a statement saying in less than a week they'll be taking money out of my account for both cars. I call 800 number again, get someone from India who can hardly understand English... I'm being very patient while we go back and forth over what happened. Both cars are still on my policy. That's it. I guess someone forgot to click the Save Changes button. She tells me she can't help me and to contact my agent. So what good is a customer service number if they can't help you? I called my agent, it's now after hours, so I left a very long detailed and somewhat terse message about this mess. My agent better hope he can get this turned around before they take my money. I work for our state's insurance commissioner and won't hesitate a second to march up to the fourth floor and talk to someone in the consumer advocate's office. They live for this kind of sh*t. And I will complain to the head office of ALLSTATE as well. I've been a customer in good standing for many many years and have generally gotten good service from them, perhaps because of my job, I don't know... but this really sux!!

Feeling the pain of lousy customer service too...

Laura

[gldstwmn]

I'm in the middle of a credit issue & it's driving me mad. I have a very good credit score, my debt/available credit ratio is great, so I'm really scared this is going to F everything up.

I bought furniture at the end of Jan, no interest for 6 months. I've had the money available, I've just been lazy, quite frankly. I went to pay it in full July 5th & the store told me I can't pay it there, I have to send it in to the company. What company? I haven't received any statements from anyone! OK, fine.

Store calls credit company, they've had my address wrong the whole time. :rolleyes: Apparently, all statements were returned to sender. Did they maybe want to call me to verify my address, since they had my phone number correct? Guess not. So, I correct address & they say they'll send my statement. At this point, I have 3 weeks to take care of the bill.

A week goes by - no statement. Another few days - still no statement. I keep calling the number, can't get a human being. I get the payment mailing address & send the check. 10 days later, they claim they still haven't received it, so it hasn't been posted to my account.

What. The. F*ck.

I've called them 3 times in the past 2 days, trying to explain what's going on. They claim that they won't charge me the insane interest, as I've been trying to pay the bill for 3 weeks. We'll see. I don't want something like this to wreck my credit. :distress:

It won't. They won't even report it until it's 30 days past due. Just make sure you document everything and if you're still worried after this is resolved, pull your own credit report online and make sure it's okay. If it's wrong dispute it.

[skcin]

It won't. They won't even report it until it's 30 days past due. Just make sure you document everything and if you're still worried after this is resolved, pull your own credit report online and make sure it's okay. If it's wrong dispute it.


Really? OK, that makes me feel better. Right now, it's only 3 days overdue. Payment is still not posted to the account..... :(

[DrummerDeanna]

Really? OK, that makes me feel better. Right now, it's only 3 days overdue. Payment is still not posted to the account..... :(


Yeah - and if this is the first time something like this has happened, then they won't report it to the credit bureau or whatever...I had a similar snafu and in the end it was fine....good luck to yoU!

[priestofnothing]

Here is a trick I have used several times when you get frustrated by phone companies Etc. After you been through the gauntlet, (Making sure you have meticulous notes and asking for everyone's name you came in contact with)and got no where, go to the companies main web site. Find the Board of directors page (Usually under investors area). Call the main number listed there (or sometimes under the jobs area) - NOT the customer service line or 800 number. Ask to speak with the VP of Public Realtions, or VP of operations. You will probally get their flunky, but explain your situation and say you have been everywhere they try to transfer you to. If they do transfer you, call RIGHT BACK and don't go away. (Remember to always remain calm and professional). They will solve it just to get rid of you. I did this a few times and the problems were solved immediately. They were more stunned by the fact I got to the higher ups. Don't be intimidated, what can they do? Fire you? Plus with the names on your list the Sh*T will run back down to them because their boss's,boss's,boss's boss had to deal with it! It really works! I recieved free car rentals, bills disappeared, ...etc

This is good advice and very true. At my job, the CEO's assistant sits two offices over from me, and I hear her take calls like this all the time. She goes straight to the location's General Manager and always gets the issue resolved for the customer. They pay attention when the orders come from the top.

[DestinyRules]

Oooh cell phone companies are the worst - I completely feel your pain. I went rounds and rounds with Verizon -and it was awful - they kept transfering me - but I'm pretty sure they were just hanging up on me :laugh: I kept getting disconnected - and well literally 1 hour later I was in tears due to frustration and anger...I HATE dealing with customer service issues.
The worst one I had was Motorola. I took my cell phone to a service shop because of a relatively minor problem that I could have lived with and had the technician there said my phone had evidence of user damage, I would have left it alone. However, he sent it to Motorola to get it fixed. The idiots sent it back unfixed claiming damage. The tech sent it BACK to them saying it wasn't damaged and Motorola still refused to fix it, citing user damage.

I was on the phone with Motorola several times, talking to reps and supervisors and no one was budging. Finally, I ended up having my dad's partner (who technically owns all the phones since the account's under his name) send an affidavit that I did NOT abuse the phone and he had to get it notorised and we sent that whole package to Motorola. Finally, they sent me an identical version of the phone I sent them to replace the one I had before.

I was ready to contact the CEO, find out his home phone number, and call him every night at like 3 a.m. his time until I got what I wanted.

[DestinyRules]

Don't worry about it. Everything will most likely be fine and you'll feel dumb for having worried for nothing. ;)
I disagree. Send a notorised letter to the company and/or the credit agency telling them you made every effort to pay the bill in good faith. If the collection agencies come after you, tell them that, send them the letter, and tell them to leave you the hell alone.

If they still call even after you've told them to back off, tell them you will notify the authorities.

[skcin]

My payment finally posted to the account, says it's at zero dollars. :D

As a side note, I contacted my local "help" line via email regarding an incident where I paid $25 for express shipping & the item arrived late, but the company won't refund me money (actually, they've completely ignored me.)

So. The local help line doesn't call me for 2 months. OK, fine, I figure nobody can help me. Finally some lady calls (operator 120) & leaves a message to call her - of course she doesn't leave the number. :rolleyes: I go online, locate the number & I return her call. They're only available Tuesdays from 11am -1 pm. Great. I call her back the next week. No answer. She calls me again the week after & leaves a message wanting to know if the problem is resolved - leaves no phone number. HUH? I dig out the number & call her right back and she says "I don't know what you're talking about." :mad: She has no record of my case. I get another message from her 2 weeks later scolding me for not calling her back.

Grrrrr. I email the help line & bitch. Another woman (operator 129) contacts me & is very helpful. She's working with me to get my money back. I swear to you, 2 weeks later, operator 120 calls me & leaves a message scolding me again. :shocked: I about flipped out. I called her right back - she was on the other line. I refuse to hang up, I tell them I'll hold. Finally nice helpful operator 129 gets on the phone & tells me she'll take care of crazy operator 120.

I contact you to help me because of poor customer service and you give me...poor customer service? Good God. :rolleyes: Anyhoo - www.canvasprinters.com is the company screwing me, so beware.