The World's Going To Hell

I'm one that would, like most of us I'm sure, prefer blue skies, green lights and happy times. A world that I grew up in. Sadly, that world has changed. Without sounding all doom and gloom there's definitely a problem afoot. Customer service and doing things easily just doesn't happen anymore. And it sucks.

Case #1: My wife gets a Verizon Wireless bill for our cell phones and discovers that she has been charged for minutes she never used. The number is 777-000-0001. Weird, eh? 1 minute calls, over 30 of them, totaling $50 of additional charges. She calls Verizon and after being on hold for 15 minutes has someone tell her that she was "using 'get it now'". She doesn't use whatever "get it now" is, but this silly cow on the other end won't back off. "Well, you can register a complaint to our fraud department". She transfers Jeanette over.

"Sorry, we don't handle data usage fraud, I'll just transfer you back." "Wait, they just transferred me over here!" "Sorry, hold on!"

"Well, you used the internet." "No, I didn't. I never use the internet on my phone." "Yes you did." Uh.. okay.

Am I missing something? Sure, there are customers out there who aim to get everything they can and trick companies to make a few bucks, but does that mean every customer has to suffer? And what happened to being polite and trying to help rather than accuse and point fingers?

Case #2: I need a PIN number changed for my debit card. I call the bank and they tell me that it's no problem to issue me a new PIN. "I'm just going to send it to this address here..." And she reads me the address.

It's my old address. Even though Jeanette changed our address when we moved, and her debit card works fine, apparently DEBIT CARDS HAVE THEIR OWN ADDRESSES. And I didn't change it. So, to get a new PIN with a new address would mean a 30 day wait. Why? It's policy. They have to verify that the new address is correct and that takes 30 days. (!!!!???) Unless I wanted a new debit card issued, then I wait 5-7 business days for the new card, and 9-12 business days for the new PIN.

I'll tell you what's wrong here. There are MORONS running businesses these days. They don't take customer feedback, they don't make things easy for a customer. All that matters is money, and getting it any way they can. If you lose a few customers, who cares. You've got millions to spend on television commercials to get more customers.

This kind of thinking is wrong. I only wish I was in a position to stop it. It definitely makes one want to change careers, that's for sure. Write in, brothers and sisters of CS. Tell me your horror stories.

Comments

[Drew]

been there, done that. but how about when the Kaliforniastan state government bureaucracy levees FINES AGAINST YOU because said gov't. overpaid you when you were on employment - whooooops! .....and because your address changed, you never got the notice....then they get some lawyers involved to hunt you down (because they don't have your new phone number), and they start charging you 'court fees' that greatly exceed the original overpayment amount......holy focking shit batman!!!

anyway, shoot me an email. i got laid off again.

[suneel]

for case1 get a smart lawyer and sue them, perhaps you may get your revenge and chill by the pool with millions and millions of $s floating around ;) yeah but i totally agree the cellphone companies customer services can be thick like a brick. i guess thats what they want so they recruit people with such talents, in whome you may find a few neurons little more than your avg cow...etc. sometimes i dont know if i am talking to a poorly programmed machine or human? people are becoming more and more machine like...cold, uncaring, lifeless...dead

for case2: i recently did a debit card address change. i was asked to come to bank physically to change it. so i went to the bank and showed them my id and it was done instantly. i would suggest this route if its possible.

[Bryan]

Case 1 is any data services at all from the phone. Could be txt, could me picture messaging, web surfing, etc.

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/verizon-wireless-users/63597-confused-on-777-000-0001-a.html

[trinsic]

Couple of things I have learned about the cellphone industry, Verizon is about the worst cellphone company you could support on the planet. They are monolithic and are out of touch with their own customers. I would suggest trying t-mobile. I havent had a problem with them ever and I have been with them for 7 years.

I know I have been spending less energy fighting against companies that dont put my interests first, and more energy finding companies that I will. For instance Wells Fargo clearley do not care about customer service what so ever. So I moved to West America Bank, now I dont ever have a problem with customer service at all. i had to make some sacrifices though as they dont have a good online banking system, but I realized that any perks they dont have regarding features is worth not having to save my sanity.

Its a subtle thing, but it actually frees me to have more time in me life when I am not at odds with people or companies. I work towards removing negative distractions in my life that only bring me grief. The reason is that my values are not in line with theirs, when that happens I spend extra energy then I should be spending to try to make the relationship work. Its like trying to push a less aerodynamics car on the free way, you spend more gas doing it.

[Joshua Rodman]

http://www.cluetrain.com/#manifesto

Sadly, its predictions don't seem to be coming true, so far. I hold out hope.