I had one of those unpleasant customer experiences. One of our GSM sim cards has failed. So I walked into the Telstra dealer who does all out business. I explained that the card failed, want a replacement and hope we don’t have to pay for it. Not a chance said he, $33.00 would appear on our next bill. Without choices, we go through the motions of identifying myself and calling Telstra Mobile to activate the new sim. The sales guy butchers my surname in the process.
As I’m giving my account password to Telstra I gave it one more chance. Why do I have to pay $33 if the sim failed? “If it’s failed and not lost, you don’t have to pay” said the Telstra operator. Smiling I turn to my dealer, who says “No way – who’ll pay the $25 for the new sim?”
What?!?! I’ve bought 5 services and three handsets from these guys. Instead of working it out with Telstra, they grind me – the customer – in the middle. So I tell the Telstra operator I don’t want to do business with this dealer. Telstra agree and tell me to get a new sim anywhere – they’ll refund the charge in my next bill.
Dumb and dumber. That dealership had inside running on our new PABX for two companies, until then.
Make it easy to do business.
2 responses to “Customer Abuse”
I would like to say something, being a former agent for a popular southern california cellular phone carrier:
You must understand business to do business. Had you had any insight into the retail industry, you would know that every product in a retail store front stocks has been purchased by the franchise from the vendor it supports at cost. Literally, the SIM card cost would have been deducted from that low-payed, over-worked, way over-stressed employee’s wages. Maybe you should change your attitude, they were in the same boat as you were, facing a monetary loss. drop the “customer abuse” attitude, these people are human, and obviously the carrier knew they were in the wrong when they credited your account for their silly rules.
The employee could have won my loyalty by taking my case up with the carrier. When the “customer service representative” actually practices customer service I respond.
The carrier refunded the charge because I pushed for it. Had the store tried it, they’d have kept my business.
That dealer group has since gone broke. I am convinced it was because their marketing and customer acquisition team won customers, while their customer service team lost them just as fast.
If the only option to keep me happy was for the employee to pay for the SIM personally, he should change jobs. In this economy that is a valid option. Good, creative customer service staff have job options. Sadly unskilled, untrained and untalented workers are often chewed up and spat out by these companies.