28. September 2009 by admin.

This is the final installment of the AT&T saga.I called to terminate the service on the air card today. The initial customer service rep was very courteous and understanding, but the call had to be transferred to another department in order to terminate the service.  the rep was courteous, as I expected he would be but I quickly lost patience when he first suggested that the early termination fee could not be waived until someone from the tech support department recommended that it be waived. I asked whom I needed to speak to that I hadn’t already spoken to.  His next suggestion was that I convert the data number into a cell number and then find someone to take it over, at&t would handle all of it pending standard credit approval processes.  That had been suggested before.  I responded that I really didn’t think I should have to jump through hoops to get this done, it wasn’t my failure to perform that was causing the problem.  He had another suggestion, that I find someone to take financial responsibility for the plan and transfer it to them.  Agan, this is not my problem; it’s AT&T’s.  My final suggestion was that I’ll just pay the fee and make sure the world hears about it.  That’s where you, the reader comes in.No, everyone isn’t going to have this problem.  But when you are evaluating a mobility solution for your family or your business, you need to understand that AT&T doesn’t make any claims that the service will work when you need it most.

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22. September 2009 by admin.

There are some people who just excel at giving excellent customer service, and sometimes a good cs rep is hamstrung by policy.  I spoke with two excellent cs reps today from Sony who were trying to help me get replacement earbuds for the two sets that went bad within two months, a month apart.  They did succeed in getting me ONE set of replacement earbuds to replace TWO sets that went bad.  Okay, that’s not the fault of the reps.  That’s SONY policy.Just fyi.I try to be courteous to the cs reps I have to deal with over the phone, because they’re doing their job amid some very badly-behaved customers.  The CS Reps I work with are superlative examples of what CUSTOMER SERVICE means.  (You know who you are)  When a product is produced and doesn’t perform to expectations, the product should be replaced.  The Sony website states that without a receipt, one should expect refurbished goods.  I didn’t buy refurbished goods, and no, I didn’t keep my receipt after I found out that they did work out of the box.  A $30 item shouldn’t require a 7 year statute of limitations on proof of purchase!  I suppose that Sony would want to make sure that I didn’t buy them two years ago.  I understand all of that, and I understand that there are times when policy has to be the driving force.  But how long would you expect to hold onto a receipt for a $30 item, and what should I expect as restitution?

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4. September 2009 by admin.

The tech support rep from AT&T called again today.  They went and checked and of course, while everything is working nothing is wrong.  I finally got someone to verbalize this concept: If the problem occurs when the tech support center is closed, that is, after 6 pm on Saturday through 9 am Monday morning, there is nothign that can be done. Period.And they feel that they’re fulfilling their end of the contract.

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