Customer (dis)Service
Some companies just don't fucking get it. A handful of them do. I thought I'd start a list of customer service experiences I've had with various companies over the years. I guess I'll update it periodically. If you have any good stories, or nightmares, chime in.American Express- Generally very good. They have the reputation of standing by customers, and by and large, they do. I estimated the other day that I've had about 1,500 Amex transactions in the past 10 years, and 1,496 of them have gone swimmingly. I won the four disputes, but not without a fight, multiple letters, and persistent phonecalls. In my experience, Amex tends to side with the last party to make an argument. Remember- however good an American Express customer you are, the merchant is probably a better American Express customer.
Countrywide Home Loans- Horrific, at best. I'd rather have an airbag deploy in my face than keep using them. But I can't escape. Yet. Long waits on the phone, near-impossible automated navigation, hold-music that makes you want to commit hari kiri, and mortgage rates that you can always count on to be higher than everyone else's. Refinancing with them was a fairly miserable experience. So why the hell do I keep using them? Unfortunately, they are one of the only mortgage companies that won't "transfer your papers" to other mortgage companies, like a good mortgage company will do. What does that mean? It means you have to originate a new loan to refinance with someone else. And that means you pay taxes on the full mortgage amount. I didn't feel like ponying up $7,000 just for the satisfaction of getting away from them, although I did think about it. I didn't choose them- as is common after a closing, my mortgage was sold to another company. I just lucked out. Buying a house? I'd recommend a loanshark over Countrywide Home Loans.
Time Warner- I appear to be one of the lucky few who hasn't had the misfortune of falling into the endless vortex that is their no-help line. But I've heard stories. Anyone got one?
Verizon- Mediocre. Some people love them. I'm pretty neutral with this company. Overall, they appear to have their act together. I called them today to ask why all of their DSL deals are less than half of what I've been paying them every month for the last two years. After being disconnected twice by an automated woman who said their system couldn't handle the call volume (was this is a phone company I was calling?) I managed to get it lowered by $7 per month, as if that's going to make a difference in my life. They're not bad. And these days, that's good.
Chase- Run from them, don't walk. I transferred a balance from a credit card I had to a Chase credit card after being pummelled for months by 68773944577 of their misleading 0% transfer offers. It's been eight or nine months and without exaggeration, every single month I have to call them and question another strange charge on my bill. If it's not a dollar for some bogus charge, it's $11 for some useless credit protection service I never asked for. All the while, they rarely miss an opportunity to wake me up at 8:30am on a Saturday to try to sell me some other shit I don't need, in an accent I can't understand. You'll enjoy letting mousetraps snap on your eyelids more than you'll like dealing with Chase.
Con Ed- So far so good. I keep paying them, and they keep my lights on. It works.
Timberland- Very good. I've owned a few pairs of Timberland boots over the years- one pair actually lasted for 15 years, and they weren't even worn out. A week after I bought a new pair, the top edge tore off as I was pulling them on. Obviously, a rare manufacturing defect, because they make a great boot. I wrote them a letter and they exchanged them for another pair without question. So I'll keep buying Timberlands. And since you're reading this, you'll probably go out and buy a pair of Timberlands too. And this is the best kind of advertising a company can ever hope to have.
posted by Mark Feigenson at 10:12 PM
4 Comments:
MCI is a fucking nightmare. It's a Kafka story with computers.
I can't even recount my story without getting angry and ill. So I'll give an abridged version.
Six years ago, I got a job as a contract writer for IBM. I had an office in the city, but worked a lot from home. I decided to get two phone lines -- one for calling, the other for dialing in. (Six years ago. Remember dialup?)
When I moved out of my apartment, my landord was moving in. She asked that I leave on of the phones active for her. So I called MCI and set up a simple request: Transfer one line to my new apartment and keep one active at my old apartment, but transfer the name to my landlord.
Several months later, I got a bill for my old number. I called and explained the billing error. They said they'd fix it.
A month later, another bill came. I called again. This time I was connected to a different customer service center. They didn't understand why I just didn't pay the bill. I explained the situation. They finally said they'd fix it.
Another bill came. I called again. Got connected to some guy who told me just to pay. He basically said I was lying and trying to avoid paying. I asked to talk to his supervisor. He said she would call me. She never did.
I had many more exchanges like this. At one point, I got a bill that showed my address as being in Buffalo, where I went to school in 1988. Finally, I got a hold of a customer service person in Brooklyn. They said they understood me and would fix the problem.
Two years went by. Then I got another bill.
MCI is evil.
Trust me, that's the abridged version.
MCI is a fucking nightmare. It's a Kafka story with computers.
I can't even recount my story without getting angry and ill. So I'll give an abridged version.
Six years ago, I got a job as a contract writer for IBM. I had an office in the city, but worked a lot from home. I decided to get two phone lines -- one for calling, the other for dialing in. (Six years ago. Remember dialup?)
When I moved out of my apartment, my landord was moving in. She asked that I leave on of the phones active for her. So I called MCI and set up a simple request: Transfer one line to my new apartment and keep one active at my old apartment, but transfer the name to my landlord.
Several months later, I got a bill for my old number. I called and explained the billing error. They said they'd fix it.
A month later, another bill came. I called again. This time I was connected to a different customer service center. They didn't understand why I just didn't pay the bill. I explained the situation. They finally said they'd fix it.
Another bill came. I called again. Got connected to some guy who told me just to pay. He basically said I was lying and trying to avoid paying. I asked to talk to his supervisor. He said she would call me. She never did.
I had many more exchanges like this. At one point, I got a bill that showed my address as being in Buffalo, where I went to school in 1988. Finally, I got a hold of a customer service person in Brooklyn. They said they understood me and would fix the problem.
Two years went by. Then I got another bill.
MCI is evil.
Trust me, that's the abridged version.
MCI is a fucking nightmare. It's a Kafka story with computers.
I can't even recount my story without getting angry and ill. So I'll give an abridged version.
Six years ago, I got a job as a contract writer for IBM. I had an office in the city, but worked a lot from home. I decided to get two phone lines -- one for calling, the other for dialing in. (Six years ago. Remember dialup?)
When I moved out of my apartment, my landord was moving in. She asked that I leave on of the phones active for her. So I called MCI and set up a simple request: Transfer one line to my new apartment and keep one active at my old apartment, but transfer the name to my landlord.
Several months later, I got a bill for my old number. I called and explained the billing error. They said they'd fix it.
A month later, another bill came. I called again. This time I was connected to a different customer service center. They didn't understand why I just didn't pay the bill. I explained the situation. They finally said they'd fix it.
Another bill came. I called again. Got connected to some guy who told me just to pay. He basically said I was lying and trying to avoid paying. I asked to talk to his supervisor. He said she would call me. She never did.
I had many more exchanges like this. At one point, I got a bill that showed my address as being in Buffalo, where I went to school in 1988. Finally, I got a hold of a customer service person in Brooklyn. They said they understood me and would fix the problem.
Two years went by. Then I got another bill.
MCI is evil.
Trust me, that's the abridged version.
Reminds me of a shitbag phone company called Z-Tel, that bullied their way into my life a few years ago. If you get a chance, kill yourself before using them. What really gets me is that some of these lowlifes have the authority to damage your credit.
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