Verizon Makes Offering Service Blocks a Fireable Offense 370
Presto Vivace sends in a report from David Pogue at the New York Times, who learned from a Verizon customer service representative that the company has implemented a policy of punishing employees who suggest certain service blocks to customers looking to avoid unwanted or accidental fees. According to the representative, offering (for example) a web access block or premium SMS block without the customer asking for it can now lead to a reprimand or outright termination. The CSRs have also been directed to avoid issuing credits for such charges. "Essentially, we are to upsell customers on the $9.99 25mb/month or $29.99 unlimited packages for customers. Customers are not to be credited for charges unless they ask for the credit. And in cases such as data or premium SMS, where the occurrences may have gone months without the consumer noticing, only an initial credit can be issued."
Re:Surprise? (Score:5, Interesting)
It is in the "this is so outrageously disgusting that it can't possibly be true" sense of the word.
People who would offer service blocks are the same people who would endear a customer to the service provider as the company would then appear to show concern and interest in the customer's needs and interests. "Caring about the customer" was once the hallmark of a good and confident business and people were literally attracted to such companies. As I was growing up, this sort of behavior was simply normal and when a company didn't behave that way, I would tend to blame the employee rather than the company. Seeing this simply firms up my feeling about Verizon... and I mean ALL of Verizon.
Without fail, every service channel provided Verizon whether it is Verizon wireless, Verizon FiOS, Verizon business PRI service, Verizon T1 data service, Verizon DS3 or simply Verizon POTS is simply rife with bad customer service. Once the service is working, it stays working -- no complaints there, but every time PEOPLE get involved there are problems and while I have always suspected it came from the top, my suspicions have been increasingly with added evidence and now I get this story to add to it. I literally had to email the executive vice president of business sales to get ANY attention to my problems at all. The business office people would NOT respond to my emails or phone calls. And when I contacted their bosses I would get something along the lines of "I'll get someone on it right now!" and then nothing. Hell, even the EVP of sales didn't respond to her own email mail... she sent it to a lackey who is "showing interest" by investigating my claims before taking any action. So far, several days and NO action... just "showing interest" and "investigating."
* I would never willingly be a Verizon Customer * The character of the company is so rotten and corrupt that it simply makes me sick. If anyone wants this EVP's contact information I would be happy to provide it. They need a COMPLETE earful.
Re:T-mobile is great in this respect (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:T-mobile is great in this respect (Score:3, Interesting)
The outstanding thing about T-Mobile is that they are forthright about their fees.
If some app on my Android phone decided to start eating bandwidth like mad, I'd just have to deal with EDGE speeds until the next billing cycle. If this happened on another provider, I'd be owing them a lot of cash.
My idea for a compromise: Have a maximum limit of bandwidth, and throttle (not kill) to EDGE speed once a user hits it. For example, the customer can buy x amount of bandwidth base per month, then authorized y more to be billed. If he or she goes over x+y amount of bandwidth, throttle and notify the user that they got choked, optionally offering to lift the limit to a higher amount on a temporary or permanent basis.
Far weaker would be a "4G" speed service [1] that is truly unlimited in bandwidth ("business class"), but costs $100 a month. I'd rather pay more and at least know that my phone bill will have a maximum bound to it, especially if I just have 1-2 computers and am well off by just using tethering. Long term, this might make cellular providers more money because they would be an alternative to cable. Sprint/Clear is doing a great job at this. I would like it if AT&T would follow suit.
[1]: Technically 4G is all IP communication, compared to 3G/3.5G voice and IP over different channels. However, T-Mobile's HSPA+ is as fast as Sprint/Clear's 4G. Either way, a speed that is usable as a possible replacement for a home Internet connection.
Re:Customer Service (Score:5, Interesting)
All snarking aside - this is a case of CSRs forgetting who they work for. They work for Verizon - NOT the customer. They have to keep "what is best for Verizon" in mind when dealing with customers.
They work for Verizon... Which makes its money off its customers... Lose the customers, lose the money, lose the job. It's that simple. Ultimately, the customers are the ones providing your paycheck.
I used to work at Electronics Boutique. I took pride in my job and went out of my way to make sure that the customer left happy. This meant that I would often ignore our product of the month - a game or device that we were supposed to push on people whether they wanted it or not. I would, instead, recommend products that people would actually enjoy.
I had a number of customers who came back to the shop repeatedly specifically because of my service. They would come back and ask me specifically if there was something new available that I thought they'd like - because I actually considered their preferences and past purchases rather than telling them to buy whatever our home office was selling.
This resulted in many repeat sales for Electronics Boutique, even though I wasn't doing what the home office thought was best.
By contrast, my manager was one hell of a salesman. He could convince anyone to buy anything. We had a couple come in looking for a PS2 for their kid for Christmas. He convinced them that the Xbox was a far better system (and it just so happened to be the product of the month). They bought the Xbox.
After Christmas they came back in to return the Xbox, because it wasn't what their kid wanted. It didn't play the games that their kid already owned. It didn't play the games that their kid wanted. They were quite annoyed at my manager for ignoring their desires and selling them the wrong product. They wanted to know why he ignored the fact that they had Playstation games they wanted to play. They wanted to know why he didn't tell them that the games they wanted were Playstation exclusives.
They didn't buy a PS2 from us. They just returned the Xbox. They then went across the hall and bought a PS2 from our competition - even though we had them in-stock for the same price.
I don't know if they ever came back and bought anything else from us... But that was at least one sale that was lost because my manager did what the home office thought was best.
What is best for the customer is, ultimately, what is best for Verizon - whether Verizon realizes that or not.
Shaft your customers enough and they'll switch to a different company.
Re:Can you hear me now? (Score:3, Interesting)
OTOH, this is a great opportunity for the other carriers. People hate AT&T and Verizon has seen enough growth that they can afford to let CS slide. Sprint has had ever-increasing CS ratings over the past couple of years. If they stick to unlimited plans they will drive a lot of business their way as Verizon appears to be considering tiered pricing. T-Mobile has also seemed to make their customers happy, too. So this is the way the system is supposed to work. Let the big guys get fat and start to slow down and their competitors will take advantage.
Frustration (Score:5, Interesting)
I was given the task of overseeing our company's 102 user Verizon phone bill each month back in Oct. 09. Each month I downloaded the new bill Verizon they put up in an XML format and I threw it into my database. I reduced the bill from about $6000 to $5000 in simple waste and no reduction in service - I could easily drop another $750 with minimal impact affecting only the abusers. Anyways, I noticed in April Verizon started to charge about 60% of the users with a new $1.99 for 1MB usage charge. Now I've seen this 1MB usage charge before, but it was always with one of our users that downloaded a ringtone or had access to the mobile web - it was always attached to something they did. When I called Verizon and spoke with their CSR I asked what the 1MB charge and have they changed anything because there were all these new $1.99 fees. I was told there had been no changes and when I gave them specific examples of users with these fees they said it was for this or that. I had at this point almost 6 months of data and I gave counter-examples for each explanation of what these new 1MB charges were for.
The rep was quickly overwhelmed by my examples and they said they would escalate my case to a tier 2 technical representative. Days go by and I finally get the explanation that the 1MB was for connecting to Verizon's Mobile Web - which was total crap because it's blocked and you can't actually connect. When I asked for clarification they said it was for "trying to connect" even though it is blocked on our plan. I was not satisfied because we went from 2 explainable $1.99 1MB charges a month up to 60+ the next and so the representative requested all of my examples. Two weeks go by and I start to get complaints from our users that they can't text even though they personally pay for text plans. I found out that all of my examples were given full data blocks by the CSR. I had to call and make them reverse all their unauthorized changes but we are still up about $120 each month due to these new charges. It pisses me off to no end and I requested to personally meet with our Verizon rep but that was denied by management and I was told to just let the $120/mo go.
Re:Rife (Score:4, Interesting)
Very true. As a CSR your treated like shit by the customer because of restrictive policies that keep you from doing a good job and your treated like shit by the management because you are so easily replaced they don't have to care.
My usual line when it comes to Phone reps is that 20% will be fired within 3 months because they just got the job for the 6 weeks or so of paid training (I knew someone who decided to quit by just putting his headset on the table and reading a book, still in the phone queue, lasted a month before they found out his calls were just dead air) 70% are doing their jobs just to the letter and don't give a shit about you or the job their doing and 10% actually care and try to do what's best for you. That 10% usually quit after 6 months to a year from stress and disillusionment.
I work for Fido Wireless now. Our website actually gives you the steps and walks your through them for a complaint escalation all the way up to the ombudsman. I can, without fear of reprecusions advise customers exactly how to get what they need. I also don't work the phones anymore.
Re:Customer Service (Score:5, Interesting)
I used to work for a mid-sized drugstore chain that's since been bought out. I have a lasting memory about this very subject...
At my store, it was practice for us that if someone was buying an item and didn't know there was a weekly coupon out for it, we would tell them about the coupon and scan it for them. (This, despite guidance from our district management that "coupons are intended to attract new customers, not lower prices for existing customers, coupons should not be offered to people who don't know about them.")
One time, when I did this for an elderly woman who was shopping with a friend, she turned to her friend and said "That's why I love coming to this store. They look out for you here."
Verizon might take a hint from this.
Verizon is still better than... (Score:1, Interesting)
I worked for T-Mobile technical care (tseW) and there, we were instructed to tell the customer that we were "incapable" of blocking all those things even if they ASK for it!!!
Re:Surprise? (Score:3, Interesting)
That's actually not that far from the truth. Frankly, I'm surprised this wasn't their policy in the first place.
We went for approximately a year trying to get Verizon to block incoming SMS on one of our lines. Apparently someone with many stupid, non-English speaking friends didn't notify any of them of their number change.
Even after we repeatedly asked to block the SMS, they wouldn't do it (saying it wasn't possible). "We can't block incoming SMS" and other such nonsense - but we'll gladly charge you $$$ for the aggregate at the end of the month. Same thing for their so-called "Data plan", which would inadvertently activate by their hardware buttons in the pocket or by pressing the wrong button on the face (no, hitting 'cancel' quickly would not inhibit the data charge).
Now, just to get them to reliably deliver said voicemails and SMS on a timely basis. I just love receiving an important voicemail or SMS two days after it's been made... unfortunately, no other mobile provider is available in the area.
Re:Customer Service (Score:5, Interesting)
There is an old rule in business that one happy customer tells 10 people, one unhappy customer tells 100 people. With the Internet, they probably now tell 1000 or more people. Another important rule of thumb was that it costs 7 times as much, on average, to attract one new customer as it takes to retain an existing one.
For something like a telephone, where you pay a regular amount, this is really important. If you retain a customer, they keep paying you every month. If you lose a customer, you lose a regular income and have to spend a capital sum attracting a replacement customer. Good customer service shows up as a line item on the expenses side of the budget, but in the medium term it gets you more money than it costs.
Accountants don't run customer service (Score:5, Interesting)
Looking out for the customer's best interest in terms of the services that the business offers is in the best interest of the business.
Quite. Bean counters don't see this. They don't see the customers walking away...
I happen to be a Certified bean counter and you couldn't possibly be more wrong. If you ever want to understand what is going on in a company, ask the accountants. They know exactly how many customers have walked away, how much money those customers were worth, how expensive those customers were to service, etc. Most of the time they even know exactly why those customers left. If you want to know where the bodies are buried (so to speak) in a company, ask the accountants. But knowledge is not control and blaming the "bean counters" really is a case of shooting the messenger. The finance and accounting geeks just provide analysis and reporting in most cases. They don't control the purse strings.
Accountants are perfectly well aware of the value of good customer service. Accountants however (usually) don't control what gets funding and what doesn't and they certainly don't control how customer service is managed. An accountant's job is to present accurate financial information to management. Ultimately it is management's choice to provide (or not provide) good quality customer service. If you want to blame anyone for bad customer service, the blame starts right at the top where it belongs.
Re:Glad I just moved to Sprint. (Score:4, Interesting)
I worked for T-Mobile (Indirect) for just under a year, and then for Best buy Mobile (which in my area did Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T)
For the first year at BBM I had a line with all 4 carriers (Discounted, being a sales rep for all the companies) and I frequently called all 4 on a regular basis -- as some actions require you call in, including calling t-mobile when the customers had them and were switching.
My experience showed t-mobile had a consistently well trained staff of CSR's. The only problem with T-Mobile was coverage. Eventually I came to the conclusion that, if signal is fine where you use it, T-Mobile provided the best end-user experience especially when factoring in 'problems' that required customer service help.
Some common issues:
1. ~70% of T-Mobile standing stores are *NOT* Corporately owned by T-Mobile. A large percentage of AT&T And Sprint stores are NOT corporately owned. In these stores your experience will vary but T-Mobile offers their indirect dealers free training by their corporate staff. T-Mobile also is adamant about NOT SIGNING YOU UP if you have poor coverage.
2. T-Mobile's "Coverage map" is the most accurate of all 4 carriers. Verizons coverage map does not give you 'strong' 'moderate' 'weak'.. If you get 1/2 a bar (and thus frequently dropped calls) well.. your call connected, your covered! AT&T I'd put at 2nd best for coverage maps, but TMobile is far, far ahead in honesty here.
3. Customer service hates getting yelled at, avoid the yelling stage at least for 10-15 minutes
4. Sprint's Customer service generally is fairly good, if you can get one of them on the line, you're nice to the rep (after waiting 2-3 hours--though that's getting better), and you're not 'abusing' the system
5. If you buy from an indirect dealer, use them to make any changes for the next 6 months to help avoid breach of secondary contracts. Indirect dealers can frequently give you a better deal ONLY IF YOU COMMIT to features for 6 months. Otherwise the carrier revokes the commission they pay the indirect store and makes them pocket the loss for the phone at that point (so the indirect store *must* have a 2ndary contract to stay in business) -- same with ETF's.
6. Verizon has the "largest 3G network" but their technology limits their maximum speed to be about 60% of what AT&T & T-Mobile can get on 3G. If you have a "3.5g" (HSDPA+) AT&T or T-Mobile phone that variance grows even more -- Assuming you're (a) covered by t-mobile, and (b) not in New York on AT&T
Oh, final note, Verizon & Sprint Share towers, at least for basic calls
AT&T & T-Mobile share towers for basic calls
Make sure your roaming is enabled on your phone (sometimes the feature is well hidden since, obviously, carriers don't want you to roam). Data Services -- especially for at&t/t-mobile don't get shared at 3G speeds -- but are sharable at 2G speeds.
Re:Customer Service Is a Misnomer (Score:3, Interesting)
which is why the Chinese are royally fscking us over as they know our companies are beholden to the shareholders and must put short-term profit (ie. the next quarter's figures) ahead of the long term good of the company... our stupid corporate laws are at fault here... along with stupidly short-sighted execs who can easily parachute over to the next company after they've raped the current one and set it to go down the tubes... The Chinese, on the other hand, aren't tied up with this crap and are playing the long game... the end result will be the complete destruction of Western manufacturing capacity... we're outsourcing ourselves over a cliff...
Re:Rife (Score:2, Interesting)
Parenthetically - WTF is it with escalating a problem? I want a problem SOLVED, not escalated. I'm not fighting a band of rebels in the jungle, and I don't need artillery called in, with an airstrike. I just want the damned server rebooted, or the networking services on the router restarted, no escalations please.
The mind boggles at how someone posting to Slashdot could not be familiar with a tiered support model.
Re:Rife (Score:5, Interesting)
No, the 10% get fired when their bosses find out that they're trying to help the customers.
Actually, 5% get fired. The other 5% get fucked over repeatedly by the company until they quit, which looks better on the books. Things like:
Reprimanded severely for "missing critical training" that was announced and took place during the person's (approved) vacation or during a medical emergency.
Shifts changed repeatedly (day to evening to graveyard and back) or made insane (a day of 12 hours, a day of 8, 2 days of 4, a day of 12).
Supervisor changed repeatedly without notice.
Security harassing a specific person several days in a row because their car was parked improperly (where 'improperly' is trivial stuff like being 2 inches off being perfectly parallel with the parking space lines, not stuff like taking up two spaces). Though I admit that could've just been the security guards being dicks.
Re:Rife (Score:3, Interesting)
I was in that ten percent. Got a job with a sub-contractor for VZW (it was ABSOLUTELY verboten to tell ANYBODY that I wasn't working directly for Verizon Wireless)
Same for us with an HP subcontractor.
At least you were screwing Verizon over while you were screwing the customers. When I worked for an outsourced HP call center, our supervisors basically said to us "We get paid for number of phone calls we process for HP, not quality of service. Use every trick you can to get the person off the line. If they're on dialup, tell them to download something. If they're on highspeed, tell them to turn everything off for an hour and then call back. And if you can't get rid of them, hang up them, as long as you make it look accidental. But don't do that last one too much. "