Receiving good customer service is always a pleasure, but after Prostatis Tax and Comcast treated me shabbily the effect was multiplied. I must relate that there are still organizations where customers ae treated reasonably and sympathetically.
I ordered a package from Amazon two weeks ago, and it was shipped shortly thereafter. I used a Gift Certificate to pay, and bought enough to qualify for free shipping. The book was marked as "delivered" via Amazon's package tracking capabilities last week, but I had not received it. I waited a couple days to see if the carrier had left it with a neighbor, but that turned out to be a false hope.
I emailed Amazon telling them that my order was marked "delivered" but I'd not received it. No less than four hours later a replacement shipment was in the mail at no cost to me, and I didn't have to fill in forms or complain to the USPS. And the email notifying me contained an APOLOGY and a PROMISE TO DO BETTER.
This wasn't even Amazon's fault. The mail carrier either lost it, mis-delivered it, or left it to be stolen off my stoop. And yet Amazon assumed full responsibilty. On a gift certificate reward order, for the delivery of which they'd paid shipping.
At Prostatis, greed trumps competence and accountability, and at Comcast the customer is immediately assumed to be either mentally deficient or lying.
Amazon didn't even ask me questions. They didn't suspect me of shenanigans or subject me to abuse or never-ending phone queues. At Amazon they do things right.
Showing posts with label customer service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label customer service. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Not my department
Customer service "online chat" with Comcast rep:
Me: Hello. Back in late December I spoke on the phone with Comcast about transferring service to my new address. I spoke with a nice woman who told me service was not available at the new address. She gave me the number of someone to call the next day. I was on the phone with her for more than 30 minutes as she searched for information. The next day I was again on the phone for 30 minutes. The second person—a male—advised me again that Comcast had no service capabilities at my new address. I asked him to cancel my service effective in February. He said that was no problem. He said I should return my equipment within six months of the cancellation. He said he was sorry they could not transfer my service, but that he would put in a service call and alert me if they installed cable at my new address.
Now it is May and I just received, forwarded from my old address, a bill for two months service.
Lynda: Hi. I am sorry. You will have to call Comcast. I cannot help you in online chat.
Me: I refuse to spend another 30 minutes on the phone with a new person.
Lynda: You have no choice.
Me: I have no choice?
Lynda: You have no choice.
Me: I was billed for service at my old address, where I no longer live. Just look at my account, see that I called Comcast in the past as I said, and cancel my service.
Lynda: I can only answer customer service questions.
Me: So billing complaints are not customer service questions?
Lynda: No. They are billing complaints.
Me: Actually, I emailed customer service from your website. They told me to chat, and gave me this link to do so. They sent me to you after I told them what my problem was.
Lynda: Customer service made a mistake. They should have sent you to billing.
Me: Is there a billing chat?
Lynda: No. There is only the phone number.
Me: I told you, I am not calling again. I was told this was resolved months ago. It was not. This is YOUR mistake, not mine. I should not be troubled any more than I already have been.
Lynda: You have no choice.
Me: I have no choice? I already made my choice. I got DirectTV.
Lynda: I mean about your bill. You must contact us by phone.
Me: How about if I continue to allow you to bill me at my old address, for service that does not exist, at an empty house that is undergoing renovation?
Lynda: Then we will continue to charge you and your file will be referred.
Me: My file will be referred to whom?
Lynda: Collections. Collections uses third-party contractors to coerce payment.
Me: Is there a collections chat?
Lynda: No. This is the only chat. We answer customer service FAQs. We do not answer billing or collections or maintenance or equipment.
Me: What do you answer?
Lynda: Questions about who you should call.
Me: So the chat is functionally useless? You only exist to tell me I have to call anyway?
Lynda: You would have to ask complaints.
Me: Let me guess.
Lynda: There is no complaints chat. You have to call Comcast.
Me: What are you wearing?
Lynda: A Comcast shirt and black jeans.
Me: I read this Kafka story.
I ended up driving to Comcast in White Marsh at lunch. It took 20 minutes to get there, and I was yelled at by some guy for calling TOO SOON to cancel my service. “You should call the same week, not six weeks ahead,” he screamed. I told him that the customer service at Comcast was beneath contempt, and asked him who I should complain to. He gave me the link for the online chat. They are still trying to bill me for two months' service at the old house.
Me: Hello. Back in late December I spoke on the phone with Comcast about transferring service to my new address. I spoke with a nice woman who told me service was not available at the new address. She gave me the number of someone to call the next day. I was on the phone with her for more than 30 minutes as she searched for information. The next day I was again on the phone for 30 minutes. The second person—a male—advised me again that Comcast had no service capabilities at my new address. I asked him to cancel my service effective in February. He said that was no problem. He said I should return my equipment within six months of the cancellation. He said he was sorry they could not transfer my service, but that he would put in a service call and alert me if they installed cable at my new address.
Now it is May and I just received, forwarded from my old address, a bill for two months service.
Lynda: Hi. I am sorry. You will have to call Comcast. I cannot help you in online chat.
Me: I refuse to spend another 30 minutes on the phone with a new person.
Lynda: You have no choice.
Me: I have no choice?
Lynda: You have no choice.
Me: I was billed for service at my old address, where I no longer live. Just look at my account, see that I called Comcast in the past as I said, and cancel my service.
Lynda: I can only answer customer service questions.
Me: So billing complaints are not customer service questions?
Lynda: No. They are billing complaints.
Me: Actually, I emailed customer service from your website. They told me to chat, and gave me this link to do so. They sent me to you after I told them what my problem was.
Lynda: Customer service made a mistake. They should have sent you to billing.
Me: Is there a billing chat?
Lynda: No. There is only the phone number.
Me: I told you, I am not calling again. I was told this was resolved months ago. It was not. This is YOUR mistake, not mine. I should not be troubled any more than I already have been.
Lynda: You have no choice.
Me: I have no choice? I already made my choice. I got DirectTV.
Lynda: I mean about your bill. You must contact us by phone.
Me: How about if I continue to allow you to bill me at my old address, for service that does not exist, at an empty house that is undergoing renovation?
Lynda: Then we will continue to charge you and your file will be referred.
Me: My file will be referred to whom?
Lynda: Collections. Collections uses third-party contractors to coerce payment.
Me: Is there a collections chat?
Lynda: No. This is the only chat. We answer customer service FAQs. We do not answer billing or collections or maintenance or equipment.
Me: What do you answer?
Lynda: Questions about who you should call.
Me: So the chat is functionally useless? You only exist to tell me I have to call anyway?
Lynda: You would have to ask complaints.
Me: Let me guess.
Lynda: There is no complaints chat. You have to call Comcast.
Me: What are you wearing?
Lynda: A Comcast shirt and black jeans.
Me: I read this Kafka story.
I ended up driving to Comcast in White Marsh at lunch. It took 20 minutes to get there, and I was yelled at by some guy for calling TOO SOON to cancel my service. “You should call the same week, not six weeks ahead,” he screamed. I told him that the customer service at Comcast was beneath contempt, and asked him who I should complain to. He gave me the link for the online chat. They are still trying to bill me for two months' service at the old house.
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