Seriously!?!?!

I just do not get it. I worked for several years in customer service. I started out as a lifeguard at a local water park in high school, moved on to a laser tag arena, then to retail at 3 stores at the mall, and finally to a customer service call center for FedEx. That’s all before I got married. At FedEx, i heard stories about how a package should have reached its destination, regardless of that tornado, flood or hurricane that hit the area that it was going to. I once got a call from a shipper that was mad the package didn’t make it because the FedEx station wasn’t operating… The ROOF was torn off in a hurricane!! I didn’t expect them to understand because to everyone, their package is super important, and needs to be where it needs to be when it needs to be there. If they got to a point where no amount of explaining by a “lowly customer service agent” would do, and they asked for a supervisor, we politely obliged, placed them on hold, and called our Manager Assist Group. It wasn’t difficult, and the “MAG” as we liked to call them, were always willing to help out.

More and more these days, I call a customer service call center to deal with an issue. Sometimes the CSA is able to help me out, and sometimes the call ends with me more confused than when the issue first started… I ask for a supervisor more often than not, and rarely get one. I just don’t understand it.

Case and point. We had received a call from a telemarketing company on behalf of Comcast Communications, offering us the fastest cable internet speed they have along with their basic cable for less than what we were paying for the slowest internet speed alone… We got an appointment scheduled for the following Thursday and were pretty excited at the prospect of a faster internet speed. The next Tuesday, we got a phone call from Comcast offering us a different deal that was more expensive. I told the agent that we already had an appointment scheduled, and we were good. Then I hear.. “Yeah, about that.. it’s been canceled.” No further explanation. I was livid. So I call back and ask the agent that answered the phone what happened. He said he didn’t know why it was canceled or who canceled it, and there was no way to get that particular deal again. End of story. I asked for a supervisor, and was told he would send a request through, and I’d receive a call from a supervisor within a couple of hours. No call ever was made so I called the next day and again asked for a supervisor. The agent gave me the run around and kept trying to dodge getting me a supervisor by offering me other various deals they had going on. I wasn’t having it…

After almost an hour of holding and declining any other alternative, I was finally passed to a supervisor who made all kinds of promises. She ended up offering me a deal that was comparable, and promised to call me back the next day when all the changes had been made to my account.. I never received a call back so I tried calling her back several times, and left a voice mail for her each time. She never called me back.

Finally after 2 weeks, I called back and asked for another supervisor. This time, I refused to tell the agent anything until I got a supervisor. At this point I was tired of repeating my story time and time again. Why didn’t they just get my account number and pass me on to a supervisor. If they really wanted to know what was going on, they could read all the notes that had been typed up in my account from every other person that I talked to.

Long story short, it took a whole lot of time and a whole lot of calling to get something worked out with a supervisor…

Just today I had an issue with Apple that was really getting to me, until I finally got a supervisor who restored my faith in customer service! Last Thursday, I bought an iMac, and then Monday they upgraded the iMacs. I called yesterday and spoke with an agent that told me the various options that were available to me. We ultimately decided on me just refusing the shipment so Apple would refund me as soon as they received my order back in the warehouse. He told me to just call back to Apple once the shipment had been refused so they could note my account and start processing… So this morning I called, and was then informed by another agent I spoke to that I HAD to go through the returns process which would then take 3-5 business days before I could get a refund. I was confused about the correct process so after I ended my call with this person, I decided to call back and speak with a supervisor.

I called back and yet another agent asked for my info, and when I asked for a supervisor, she continued to go through my order and tell me that everything was going through ok for delivery today. I advised her that was not the reason I was calling, and she asked me to explain… so I did. Then she told me that Apple requires the customer to go through the proper returns process, and that she would send a mailing label through to me. I asked her why the different messages, and she began telling me that she and her colleagues are very sincere to the customers, just that sometimes they get their information mixed up. Basically telling me that the first agent I spoke to was wrong. She was ready to release me from the call, but I insisted that I speak to a supervisor. She didn’t sound happy. All I could think was “Well, if you would’ve given me a supervisor to begin with, like I had asked, you wouldn’t feel like you wasted your time with me.” I didn’t say it, just thought it.

Finally I was put through to a supervisor who told me he was a little confused as to why I was calling. I explained everything to him, and he then told me that he understood why I was so confused with the return. He told me that the first agent was indeed correct, and that the way we had chosen (refusing the shipment) was actually better in my situation. The return label route is taken when the customer has already taken possession of the shipment, and since I have not, just refusing it works better. Finally, someone that could understand what I’ve been flustered about.

He was actually really great. I told him that this was my first time ever purchasing an Apple computer, and I really had heard a lot of great things about Apple, that this just couldn’t have been this difficult to exchange the computers out after their upgrade! He helped me out with the whole situation, and let me know that he was personally going to watch the account and the current shipment, and as soon as the RTS tracking number was placed on the package, he was going to credit my cards, and give me a call so I could re-order the new iMac…. WOOHOO! I’m so happy now!!! So Thank you Apple, and Thank you Arturo for finally restoring my faith in Customer Service..