Customer Service

My Azaleas are popping this year.

This post brings me to Monday the 9th. My daughter wanted a new phone and her contract was not up so she and her boyfriend were going to pay full retail price for a smart phone. I won't go into this but we all remember when we first began making our own money and some of us (if not all) thought that money would stretch on forever.

Sigh. On Tuesday the 3rd, the sales lady talked us into purchasing the phone for half the retail price (retail was $500) and adding a plain line to our plan for $10 a month with a 2-year contract. (I was contacted over the telephone - I was  not at the store).  So either way my daughter was going to pay $500. Either all of it up front or half now and half over a 2 year plan. I could find somebody that could  use a cell phone number in my family. I have a brother who will be 70 and he has never felt the need for a cell phone. I would just find a cheap phone and set it up with the new number and give it to him to take with him when he was away from  home. Done deal. Sometimes people like the security of a cell phone after they begin to use it. I do not know of many people who stop using one after they started.

I decided to research the line to make sure that my brother had 500 minutes of call time and what do I find when I pull up my account? They are charging me $20 a month for the line instead of the promised $10. At $10 a month for 2 years it would have equaled $240, correct? At $20 a month for two years now we are looking at $480 total. That is double the amount quoted to us. With my daughter already paying $250 for the new phone, that would be a grand total of $730.

There is no rebate if you do not add this smartphone to a new plan.

So Mama bear decides to go into the cell phone store and question the bill. I give them my account number and I ask for the same clerk that my daughter had. That clerk is at lunch.  I told them I would wait for her. She came over to me about ten minutes later. She pulled up the account. She said that she had made a mistake. That since I was a previous Alltel customer that the fee IS indeed $20 a month. I gave her a stoic look. 

I can't recall exactly what it is I said at that particular moment. The moment is lost to me, now. I suppose I said something to the effect of "Fix it." To which I believe she replied "I can't. There is nothing I can do."  I do remember I raised my voice. I do remember I did NOT curse. I do remember the manager jumping up off her perch and running over to us. In other words in a fit of rage I lost it. As I am prone to do from time to time.

This is where it got ugly. For starters all I could see was the managers' eye make-up. I can't find an image on the web that even comes close. She wore coffee brown eye shadow straight to her brows. No shading, no lighter blending as you got closer to the brow - total black/brown all the way. She had the god-awful longest lashes I had ever seen any human wear outside of the theater. It was very hard to take her seriously. If I were not so angry I would have been amused.

She was not a kind manager. She treated me as if I were the problem. I repeated myself "She makes the mistake and I have to pay?"  She just kept saying "There is nothing we can do."  The manager took about 8 minutes of my time explaining to me all about how I was an Alltel customer and to move me over to their company I would probably lose money. Her sermon went on forever. I stared at my notebook. Yes, I take a notebook when I know I am going to get angry and cannot recall every word that is exchanged. I knew this was going to be one of those times. Names get written down.

I quipped "How about training your employees a little better?" Was it a cheap shot? I didn't think so. She icily told me "I don't need YOU  coming in here and telling me how to train my employees. She made a mistake. I bet you make mistakes. I have worked here for 5 1/2 years and I still make mistakes. There is a lot of details to learn. You don't need to come in here and berate her!"

Of course you think of a million things you could say back after the initial exchange. I should have said "Yes, you do need a customer coming in here to inform you that your training is sub par."  That is the first one. The second could have been "I  am not berating the employee who made the mistake,  I am pointing out the lack of training she received - so I guess I am berating the person who trained  her."

Ah, well. I know I said plenty. One was the option of returning the phone. She shot back "Yes, you have 14 days to return the phone, but we will have to charge you a $35 re-stocking fee!"  Again, I came back with "Excuse me? She makes the mistake and I have to pay?"  Incredulous. "I am sorry but we cannot waive the re-stocking fee."

At this time I was ready to end my entire relationship with this company. I have been an Alltel/this new company customer for over 12 years. "How much to get out completely?"  I knew there would be a fee to break the contracts.

She punched more buttons on the computer. I swear she laughed and sneered. "That would cost you $950. That is too much money. I know you won't do that!"  At that point I should have told her "I don't need YOU to tell me what I can and cannot do with my money" -  but of course I did not think of that until later.

I said "Money is not the issue."  She remarked "Well, it certainly was when you started."  I looked at her and narrowed my eyes. I said "Now it's about customer service."  She said that I was not going to get a better cell phone range with any other company.

I put my pen in my purse and snapped my notebook shut. "I am done here. Thank-you." I could see I was not going to get anywhere with this clown.   And I walked out the door. I waited 2 hours to calm down before I called the 800 number on my bill. Of course they would waive the $35 fee. This does not help me. My daughter wants the phone. The only thing to do is to return the phone (drop the extra line) and turn around and purchase the phone for $500.

My daughter was livid. Of course they spent the other $250. Actually the cash was all her boyfriends. He is the one that wanted a new phone. Since we added him to our plan he has changed his phone twice. He has apologized profusely to me for this mess. He wanted a new phone. It is his money. Nobody can predict how the company will treat the customer in this instance. I only know that we did nothing wrong but Verizon was saying that we had to pay and through the nose.

I was NOT going to let Verizon get away with charging me double what they quoted me, though. Would you? I have a letter to send to headquarters. My daughter has until the 17th to return the phone. When she does this I will send the letter. I called the corporate 800 number twice. I wrote a scathing e-mail on-line. Again, all reps will waive the $35 re-stocking fee. Still this does not do me a hell of a lot of good. What about the $35 activation fee to start up that fourth line? Do I get credit for that?

I just remembered that little bit. Her boyfriend paid that in cash on the spot. Christ. 12 years! 12 years and no major issues. Alltel's customer service was a dream come true. Now as each contract expires I may just move onto another provider. My daughter and her boyfriend can do what they want with their phones. I am pulling out. 

Unless miracles of miracles the corporate decides to make amends. I won't hold my breath.