Bad customer service!!

[SteveO86]

Sorry but I have to rant about this... Maybe it's because I got back from vacation at 3 am to go into work at 7 am but this really pist me off.

On my first BB my camera stopped working, so I called VZW they sent a refurb unit.. I have no problem with a refurb unit.. but this refurb unit has issues..

1. There is a scratch on the screen, I did not see this till I got the plane to vacation.. since I watched a movie on BB I found the scratch that was right smack in the middle of the screen very annoying.

2. The "S" button is sticking because I have an "s" in my password and password is incorrect half the time and my BB will want to search randomly.. very annoying.

So I am tired.. driving home from work (having only got like 2 hrs of sleep) and call VZW Customer Supp.. They argue with me to go into a store and run diagnostics.. I could have broken the phone myself... Me... I broke my own BB and will get charged full price. I pay over 200 bucks a month and have to deal with a broken refurb unit during my vacation and get accused of broking my own BB WTF.. I would have rather delt with the broken camera.. I had to hang up on the &^%$# and I was very close to cancelling my contract on the spot... very very close.

I went to my local VZW store (I know them, they know me I am in there very often) They are gonna swap out my BB tomorrow night after I backup all my stuff... No hassle no arguing no nothing!!! Why couldn't customer service do that to begin with!!

Sorry... I do feel better now

[ndub33]

They wanted to run diagnostics on a scratched screen? Didn't they mean "forensics"?

[SteveO86]

I brought up the fact it is a physical issue.. They wanted to run diagnostics for the suppressed key.... Honestly what would that prove..

Still I'm just very dissappointed never had that type of problem with VZW...

[BallHawk3]

eh, I called t-mo once about my trackball not being able to scroll left, they told me to wipe the device and reload the software.

[Helmdawg]

Wirelessly posted

Originally Posted by ndub33

They wanted to run diagnostics on a scratched screen? Didn't they mean "forensics"?

Hahhahahahah

[MERK350Z]

Wirelessly posted

When your on the phone reps can only deal with yoy from what they see on the screen . Going to the store where the sales people know yoy they tend to take care of good customers .

[jsconyers]

Originally Posted by BallHawk3

eh, I called t-mo once about my trackball not being able to scroll left, they told me to wipe the device and reload the software.

Prime example of being under trained.

[blue_and_gold]

Speaking from experience with vzw, you HAVE to ask for tech support. cust service will always try to pawn you off on the local store but tech support after finding out that it is a physical issues i.e. buttons, screen, scrollball should be a replacement right away (i have often abused this fact) and no more problems. the *****es workin in cust service just for the future remember that

[BallHawk3]

Originally Posted by jsconyers

Prime example of being under trained.

if you think that's bad, back before I had a blackberry, I had Motorola's, the most problematic phone I've had was the motorola V300. It got swapped a total of 11 times! Problems ranging from audio stopped working, screen would go out, and a very commong annoying problem of the audio wouldn't engage sometimes when you flip the phone to answer a call (I had to have the flip open all the time to prevent this).

I hated that phone!

Twice I recieved a DOA phone from them. One time, when I called them about it being DOA and to send me on ASAP, the guy told me to charge the phone for 24 hours upon recieving it. I told him phone does not power on, doesn't even respond to a charge. He said it doesn't matter and to leave it plugged in.

I told him that was absolutely retarded.

[daphne]

I've had good luck with customer service reps for the most part, but not long after I got my first BB, I called about something and the rep said maybe I had a virus on my device. I knew better and asked for her supervisor. The supervisor said the rep was very new.

[ekk20]

I've had good luck with customer service reps as well. It's all luck.

[complexx]

Yeah, I read about these horror stories about Verizon customer service all the time, but I've had nothing but great dealings with them. if you had a refurb unit sent to you, I would think that if you call them and say, look, the refurb unit has major wear and tear damage already, they SHOULD say, "ok, send it back, we'll send another." I don't understand why they would treat you otherwise? But yeah, apparently its hit or miss with CSRs, I guess I've been really lucky.

[SteveO86]

You would think.. My sister broke her phone over a year ago, they sent a refurb it was defective... They sent me a refurb it didn't work out too well, I'm seeing a pattern :(

I got nothing against refurbs as long as they work.

[wabbit]

verizon does not do refurbs, but imo there refurbs are junk, i had 1 phone ever warrantied by them, and exchange for a refub, that need to be exchanged again due to physical problems, buttons not work.


over all the cust service i cant really complain about. they try to resolve issues in 1 phone call, at most takes 2.

but as for refubs go, i think they just buy them in bulk at a really cheap price since they are junk.

[wabbit]

Originally Posted by SteveO86

I went to my local VZW store (I know them, they know me I am in there very often) They are gonna swap out my BB tomorrow night after I backup all my stuff... No hassle no arguing no nothing!!! Why couldn't customer service do that to begin with!!

this is one perk i really like with verizon over att, they will swap a phone in store att wont.

[SteveO86]

I guess VZW isn't all bad... I've just had really bad luck with replacements.. :(

[Jordan Coker's Mum]

that sounds bad

[wabbit]

no vz replacements are junk, it got to be 3rd party bulk retail. its junk.

[LunkHead]

I have always had way better luck going into local store and speaking face to face... The reps on the phone are probably tired of arguing with the 16-year-old who sent 14.3 billion text messages without a text plan and wonder why his/her bill is 3.2 trillion dollars....

Seriously, face to face with the local store is always the best...

Kris

[daphne]

I should write a rave thread about my local Verizon store. I've always gotten great service there. The last 2 times I went there I got a sales guy who is a BlackBerry enthusiast himeslf. He is very knowledgable about BlackBerrys and is even making his own themes. He took a lot of time showing me the Tour and features on his Storm on the day the Tour was released. I didn't get it then, but went back last Saturday to get it and he helped me again. Very professional, knowledgable, personable, friendly -- what more could you ask for!

[SteveO86]

I went to my local VZW store to get my brother a pair of headsets for his phone.. They didn't work, so we went back to swap them out, swapped them out.. The store rep handed my brother back BOTH pairs of headsets (I was busy eyeing up the Tour ) we got home and he mentioned... I told him to throw out the broken pair (why do I want to keep junk around?) The rep called me back almost a week later wanting the broken pair back..... My brother is lazy and did not throw out the headsets... So a simple pair of headsets cost me 3 trips to the VZW store.. next time I mist just go to WalMart.....

I have had some bad luck lately lol.....

[mastdog]

Steve O

It is funny that your original post is about the same time I left Verizon for a similar reason.

I had my wifes phone turned off for a while when she was having some health issues and I did not want to pay for the service she would not use. So when it came back on we had another line on there for the family plan, this was mid may. Well I gave the phone to my 13 year old, I should have known better.

I get a message from vzw in early June about her bill, I just turned it on 15 days earlier what could be the issue, well my daughter went over her text allotment by 3,800 messages, yes that is not a typo. Well that was a pretty hefty overage bill so I called on June 13th. The rep told me that she could fix it, upgrade me to unlimited text and then give me a credit for the 380 dollars, so all was well with the world...

{scene: dark clouds start to roll in and there is thunder in the distance, mastdog is drinking his coffee unaware of the dangers ahead}

So my wifes bill cuts June 26th and I get paid on the last day of the month so I go online to pay the bill, and what did I see? No credit and a huge late charge % thingy...

So I call in and I am thinking, this will be a quick fix. Well no. The rep tells me that she cannot help me, that there were no NOTES about my conversation on the 13th, that I just called in to see what the message was about. Well that is not true I say, I have my notes right here, and you are wrong. Too bad she says,but as a favor she will give me 90 bucks credit...90 bucks!!! Compared to 380! I was so pissed off it was not funny, so I asked to talk to her supervisor...

{scene: thunder and lightning are all around, a strong wind blows and rain beats mastdog on the head, a tornado is coming, ready to kill all in its path run run RUN}

The Supervisor came on and was very rude. My argument was that I only wanted what I was promised, I was a premier customer thing with the silver card and all that crap, but that I had been a customer for a long time, like 9 years. The supervisor said, and I quote, "I don't care how long you have been a customer, that won't change anything I do for you, if I do anything at all" She also told me that with vzw if you ask to speak to a supervisor that any offer the previous rep gave you is now off the table. So my 90 measly bucks are gone. But she said, " I will do you a favor and still honor that 90 dollars" and I responded that "Well maybe I will do you a favor and pay my damn bill so you get paid" I was furious!!!

Well I waited 4 days to calm down, and called back and got the same frustrating response.

That is why I am now an att customer. I had to leave BB (yes I know I am still hanging around here) because their BB's are not 3g, no wifi unless you drop 200 with contract etc, so I am now on the Nokia, but I can tell you Att has gained a lot of customers locally in the last month, the rep told me about 300 new signups from Vzw which he said is like a record, so something is up...

hope your luck changes, and remember when you rock bottom there are only two ways to go....up and sideways...

[Flight714]

VZW has a ton of things going for it, but when it comes to replacements, they're terrible. I've seen so many refurbs come into my store with issues right after they replaced the warrantied phone, it's ridiculous. Same thing with insurance, although that's probably Assurion's deal, not Big Red. So while a customer might get a model which has been an amazing success with the majority of the buyers in the past, they're continually getting refurbs with each warranty replacement. A customer recently told me they'd gone through 3 Dare warranties. My boss has gone through 3 Storm replacements.
I can't knock CSRs too much because I know they take crap from customers all day, but there are some incidents that I could talk about that should NEVER have ever occurred. A few days ago I was helping a customer activate his insurance replacement phone and our system wouldn't let us do it. I followed the instructions on the paper they sent him, which was supposed to be a simple, automated process, and was transferred to customer care. I explained to the rep that I'd been transferred and that I couldn't do it in my system. He told me that there were some pending orders (price plan changes, etc) set to go into effect later. I had no idea, and he talked to the customer about it, who yelled for a minute before slamming the phone down and walking out (why do people think it's okay to act like they're 5 years old in a cell phone store?). The CSR called back and yelled at me for not telling him about the pending orders on the account. I told him I didn't know anything about that until he'd told me, then he again yelled at me for not telling him about the pending orders (real genius here; look out Stephen Hawking, you got one on your tail) which I again told him that I didn't know about it, and he hung up on me mid-sentence. Jackass.


Anyways.

Good times.

[watadoo]

They wanted to run diagnostics for the suppressed key.... Honestly what would that prove..
<<<

You were on vacation. They would first check for Pina colada mix as the culprit and work their way back to Margarita mix and bean dip. Seriously, that was bad customer service. they should have apologized and replaced your refurb unit post haste. no sense in pissing off a customer over a cheap solution from their end.

[SteveO86]

One would think..

[mr_bb]

Try Three customer services... they just dont understand what you are saying to them and just say the same script......

[teetee198]

Customer service can stink sometimes!

[SteveO86]

Well. I am going to return the Storm2 and wait for the Tour2.. lets see if customer service can redeem themselves.

[Noodle22]

From a personal point of view, I do understand.

I work in customer service for a telecommunications company, I won't say which one (I know people will assume it's my carrier) and I'm actually in the customer relations department. Some of our care reps screw up so much, that I end up getting the call because the customer is at the point of cancelling. It's always some left out info, or a lack of caring, or just passing the buck. But not all are like that, and that gives me faith.

I'm sorry for your bad experience, with such high demand for a live person to talk to on the phone for help, I sometimes feel that training get's left behind at some point. Or people feel rushed to get the customer off the phone so they don't lose their bonus for not meeting time targets. And then mistakes happen or things are thoroughly investigated.

We're all only human, and it's those who care about helping that will give you the best experience.