Wife's Rezound won't take a charge anymore

[anon(94115)]

Sorry, but the thought that CS is simply giving the customer everything they want no matter what, is an outdated and misguided idea. If a customer comes in with a phone with physical damage, CS is not saying "Oh you've been a customer for X number of years, we'll overlook it this time". That puts the rep and potentially manager's jobs on the line. If you notice issues ni the return period, get it fixed, if not, get insurance.

CS =/= "Overlook policy to do whatever I want you to do"

I don't think the issue is the CSR giving everything the customer wants. Of course there are certain guidelines that must be followed, as well as a bit of leeway that the CSR has. I would think that the CSR would go the as far as they can for the good customer as opposed to the PITA customer that has a different issue every week, none of the directly related to a phone malfunction....

 

[BOBD1950]

Extended warranty.
Last 9 VZW devices.
Never an issue

 

[wythme2]

The fact is, when you get a rep that refuses to help you, nine time out of ten they are vendors doing the work for Verizon and not real Verizon employees. I work in customer service for Verizon's land line service and we see this all the time. I also worked customer retention for the original Nextel, then Sprint Nextel. And if a customer came on the line nasty, yelling or immediately asking for a supervisor, you more than likely were not getting anything from me. Supervisors will back their reps up. However if you came on my line and calmly explained what was happening then you would get a new phone, accessory or whatever. It is all in the delivery and no I did not have to escalate the calls because all reps were empowered and did not need sup approval. I have been a Verizon wireless customer for three years now and whenever I have had issues, I don't have to leverage anything, I am able for the most part to get what I want because I know how to handle the reps. I also make that I am talking to a real Verizon wireless employee and not a vendor.

 

[cmandd]

I also make that I am talking to a real Verizon wireless employee and not a vendor.

This.
Always make sure the phone CSR is not outsourced. And Verizon does use American outsourcing companies.


Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Android Central Forums

 

[dpham00]

How do you confirm this? Just ask them?

This.
Always make sure the phone CSR is not outsourced. And Verizon does use American outsourcing companies.


Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Android Central Forums

 

[wythme2]

Yes you ask. I ask are you an actual Verizon employee or work for a company that assist with Verizon calls. You can generally tell Who is an actual employee. This is with all major companies. Verizon mployees will be the ones that will actually help you because they can. Vendors have no leeway and have to treat you like cattle because they have a call quota to make.

 

[kulkaholic]

These are complaints I see all the time. Customers need to realize that they are not always right. There is no way, if not previously shown, for them to be certain that the damage was a defect and not mishandling. That type of damage is not uncommon and can be caused by many things like jamming the plug, picking the phone up by the cord, etc. Not to say that was the case here, just showing that you need to understand their skepticism.
If customers would see, on a daily basis, the number of people that "didn't drop the phone" "didn't do anything" "didn't make that call" "didn't subscribe to that service" etc. they would have a little more understanding as to why this can go in one ear and out the other. In the end, sometimes the customer has to take some responsibility, once an issue is noticed it should be reported.
Two things to take away, 1. getting "heated" will never solve anything and actually make your situation worse, 2. one of the worst things you can do is try to leverage with how many phones you've bought, how long you have been a customer, how much you pay each month, etc each situation is different and has different guidelines to be followed and these don't do anything to change that.
/end rant

I get it, I understand it, but how Vance was treated does not make it right. I have worked customer service for a majority of my working life. Some in technical support, most in High end business travel. I understand the erors of the principal that a "customer is always right" and the financial impacts it has on a business. I have had people yell at me...check that scream at me for the most rediculous stuff. There is a however though....

....however a company needs to view the customer. If it is someone that has a history if complaining and needing new services or products at no cost the company has a right to stand ther ground and say no. If it is a customer who has not just been with the company but continuously upgraded, bought, renewed services without a trail of complaints and issues than that customer needs to be handled differently period end of story. A customer should NEVER have to mention how loyal they have been when a situation is not being handled properly. A manager/rep should already know or at least take the time to review this info when a customer is unhappy.

Corporate America has let a few bad apples ruin their relationship with upstanding loyal customers by locking down their policies and making things difficult for people to get resolutions to their problems.

See I view customer service through a few principles.
1.) It is easier to keep a customer than it is to draw new ones. This is an actual proven marketing/business strategy.
2.) A service situation is a chance to prove how good your service really is
3.) Building long term relationships provides a company with a more structure and financial support than the flash in the pan customer.

I do not know all of Verizon's official policies. I am willing to deal with a two tier technical support that one is practically useless to me with my knowledge of phones and products. However as a consumer I refuse to be treated like a fool and an idiot. Granted I am only hearing one side of the story but I am willing to bet some serious cash that Vance lost his cool because he was presented with a smug attitude and shoulder shrug that basically told him "to bad, so sad, next happy customer please" solution(sic).

Customer service jobs blow, it is a thankless job where in many cases your empowerment often comes at a price. You are the face and voice of a company in every action taken wether that is with a customer or vendor. However that is the challenge that you can see some people embrace and some fail miserably. Unfortunately it is the failures that people remember or make light of.

 

[humpagardengnome]

Yes you ask. I ask are you an actual Verizon employee or work for a company that assist with Verizon calls. You can generally tell Who is an actual employee. This is with all major companies. Verizon mployees will be the ones that will actually help you because they can. Vendors have no leeway and have to treat you like cattle because they have a call quota to make.

Can you explain "call quota", I've never heard the term used in this type of situation w/ a VZ call center?

 

[chevyman29]

the crap vance had to go through is the very reason i dont bother going into the store in the first place whenever i have a problem . theres absolutley no reason ANY verizon customer shouldnt be givin the benifite of the doubt in a sitution like this . Does anybody here think verizon doesnt send defective units back to the manufacturer ? its not like verizon has to actually pay for you a new device .

 

[wythme2]

Can you explain "call quota", I've never heard the term used in this type of situation w/ a VZ call center?

Yes vendor companies are required per their contract to take x number of calls per rep. If they do not, they are fined by Verizon wireless or whatever company they are working under contract for. If they continuously fall short, they lose the contract. The reps productivity is measured with,aht- average handle time, hold time, and most recently, handoffs. I have been fortunate that I have never worked for a vendor, but while working or Nextel, then Sprint, and now Verizon communications we literally would and still do cringe when we would have to clean up and talk a customer off of a ledge because of what a vendor rep would say, do or tell a customer. I take my job as a customer service rep very seriously and when you work for the company directly you get paid very well to ensure that the customer is satisfied, not so for the outsourced reps.

 

[cmandd]

See I view customer service through a few principles.
1.) It is easier to keep a customer than it is to draw new ones. This is an actual proven marketing/business strategy.

Not totally true in wireless. People have no loyalty anymore and thanks to "free" phones, will jump ship at anytime for the dumbest reasons.

Case in point, I had a lady today that was going to switch to Verizon because her nearly 2 year old phone battery died and we could not just instantly hand her one. I tried to offer all I could (check to see if we could upgrade early, battery dealer up the road who might have one, etc) but the only solution she would accept was a new battery, now.

On the flip side, I sign up people all the time who leave Verizon, ATT, Tmobile, etc because of situations just like this. 90% of "new" cellular sales now a days is migration from one carrier to another.

the crap vance had to go through is the very reason i dont bother going into the store in the first place whenever i have a problem . theres absolutley no reason ANY verizon customer shouldnt be givin the benifite of the doubt in a sitution like this . Does anybody here think verizon doesnt send defective units back to the manufacturer ? its not like verizon has to actually pay for you a new device .

There is no benefit of a doubt. Physical damage is physical damage, not a manufacturing defect. Broken pins in a charging port don't just happen. With the Rezound, it is usually due to using a standard micro usb charger instead of the MHL plug since it causes so much wiggle room.

 

[chevyman29]

NO IN YOUR OPINION there is no benifit of the doubt . for all you or anybody else knows the phone came out the box that way . it wouldnt be the first time . his only fault is in not reporting it asap . with the attitude you have you wouldnt last a year running your own business if there was any competition whatsoever. I could actually see you going belly up in the desert with a monoply on water.

Do you think verizon provides 100% great service all the time ? of course not but you dont see 20 or 30 % of there customer base leave just cause the LTE went down again do you ?

there will always have to be some give and take in any BUSINESS or that business wont survive simple as that .

 

[cmandd]

NO IN YOUR OPINION there is no benifit of the doubt . for all you or anybody else knows the phone came out the box that way . it wouldnt be the first time . his only fault is in not reporting it asap .

Did you read the OP? The pin was broke so it wouldn't charge, that did not happen right out of the box. What did happen was the port was loose, though with the Rezound, any standard micro USB is loose, only MHL fits tight.

If you notice a problem with any product, you take it in as soon as feasibly possible. If you choose to wait until the minor problem becomes major, you take responsibilty.

 

[chevyman29]

Yes I did . did you ? he plainly states the wife said it didnt charge right from day one . in your eyes all customers are just lying to get something for nothing from verizon . if shes telling the truth and i think she is the phone was defective end of story . what i dont understand is why no insurance for a device that costs as much as these do .

 

[wythme2]

Not totally true in wireless. People have no loyalty anymore and thanks to "free" phones, will jump ship at anytime for the dumbest reasons.

Case in point, I had a lady today that was going to switch to Verizon because her nearly 2 year old phone battery died and we could not just instantly hand her one. I tried to offer all I could (check to see if we could upgrade early, battery dealer up the road who might have one, etc) but the only solution she would accept was a new battery, now.

On the flip side, I sign up people all the time who leave Verizon, ATT, Tmobile, etc because of situations just like this. 90% of "new" cellular sales now a days is migration from one carrier to another.



There is no benefit of a doubt. Physical damage is physical damage, not a manufacturing defect. Broken pins in a charging port don't just happen. With the Rezound, it is usually due to using a standard micro usb charger instead of the MHL plug since it causes so much wiggle room.

People do have loyalty especially in wireless carriers. And you should know this. Companies like high ARPU- average revenue per unit. It cost less to keep a customer than it takes to get a new one. Most of the loyal, long time customers have a higher ARPU than a newer one, and if you take care of that customer they will stay. Most consumers do not go for the free phone hype. It is common knowledge that people stay or leave because of an experience with that company. If anybody remembers Nextel before Sprint bought them out, they had the highest ARPU of any wireless provider, people would stay with them even if half of the time you could not get a signal in your home. Not because of free phones but because they knew how to treat a customer and had awesome customer service.

 

[cmandd]

Read further. He says it was loose from the start (all micro usb connectors will be loose) and that the pins were loose, which is just trying to use what they said against them. Pins don't cause the usb connection to be loose, these are not the old school LG connectors. I completely agree with them saying to bring it in before something major happens.
If you bought a car and noticed a strange vibration, would you take it back to the dealer or just make do until the wheel fell off then demand a new car?

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Android Central Forums

 

[kulkaholic]

I am guessing that you don't work at an individual retailer but someone that has multiple carriers. So a portion of your traffic would inherently be people that are looking to switch carriers. So I can understand your opinion but people are more loyal than you think.

I feel safe saying that everyone here understands that you have some people that are unreasonable. However handling all your customers based on a few is terrible for business. If people were not loyal than when vzw dropped their upgrade discount tons of people would have jumped ship which is not the case.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Android Central Forums

 

[MrSmith317]

If people were not loyal than when vzw dropped their upgrade discount tons of people would have jumped ship which is not the case.

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Android Central Forums

Or they haven't come up on their upgrade yet and so it doesn't effect them....yet. I can imagine that if carriers stop dropping upgrade discounts then more people will investigate alternative services where they can get a discount. Maybe even to the point of flip flopping between a few carriers for the latest and greatest devices every 2 years.

 

[dpham00]

verizon never dropped their upgrade discount. They did implement a $30 upgrade fee, which some other carriers already have, and which are typically higher in other major carriers. Verizon was also the last major carrier to drop the one year contract.

I don't think verizon will ever drop upgrade discounts unless other carriers started to do it. Most likely, they will give you an option like tmo value plan which is cheaper than their regular plan but has no upgrade discount.

 

[cmandd]

Or they haven't come up on their upgrade yet and so it doesn't effect them....yet. I can imagine that if carriers stop dropping upgrade discounts then more people will investigate alternative services where they can get a discount. Maybe even to the point of flip flopping between a few carriers for the latest and greatest devices every 2 years.

This. Some people get mad enough to not worry with the ETF, most wait until contract time is up.

... Most of the loyal, long time customers have a higher ARPU than a newer one, and if you take care of that customer they will stay. Most consumers do not go for the free phone hype. ... Not because of free phones but because they knew how to treat a customer and had awesome customer service.

Roughly 60% will either go for the "free" phone, or come in looking for their "free" upgrade. I wish I could make commission off of hearing people say "Where are your free phones" "I'm here for my free upgrade" "I've never had to pay for a phone, they always just give me one".

I am guessing that you don't work at an individual retailer but someone that has multiple carriers. So a portion of your traffic would inherently be people that are looking to switch carriers. So I can understand your opinion but people are more loyal than you think.

You would be guessing wrong. I previously worked for Verizon, left there and work for one of the other major carriers at the corporate level.
Maybe 25% of our new lines are people who have never had a cell phone (kids "coming of age", people who just "don't get why anyone would need a cell phone" etc). Most new line traffic comes from switching carriers either because they want to save money, get the iPhone or the carrier made them mad about something.