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Payment centers are there for the customer's convenience, usually because the customer is unable to pay their bill on time via the mail service, or they do not have internet access to pay on line. However, to me, they suck big time not because of how they are run, but because of the SC's that visit them.
Bellsouth, er, the new AT&T, used to have payment centers at Sears. This was quite a convenience for customers being a Sears is located in many rural towns and customers can pay their bill while shopping or going into the mall. However, as the 21st century started to roll around, and rudeness started overlapping politeness, Sears decided to stop allowing Bellsouth payments all together. The reason was because customers were not going there to pay a bill. They wanted to speak to someone face to face about their bill and explain the charges on it. It was disrupting their business and causing nothing but headaches for Sears employees.
However, other centers, like Western Union, also are still dealing with this headache. The only thing they are there for it to process a payment, but customers think they are employees of the company they take payments for. About ten years ago, in Lake Worth, Florida, a disgruntled employee went into a Bellsouth payment center and shot the desk clerk in the face because of his phone bill. And yet, the Bellsouth customer service building was right up the street. It turned out he paid his bill there, and this same clerk had an argument with him because the clerk was not able to explain his bill to him. The things people get mad about.
Bellsouth, er, the new AT&T, used to have payment centers at Sears. This was quite a convenience for customers being a Sears is located in many rural towns and customers can pay their bill while shopping or going into the mall. However, as the 21st century started to roll around, and rudeness started overlapping politeness, Sears decided to stop allowing Bellsouth payments all together. The reason was because customers were not going there to pay a bill. They wanted to speak to someone face to face about their bill and explain the charges on it. It was disrupting their business and causing nothing but headaches for Sears employees.
However, other centers, like Western Union, also are still dealing with this headache. The only thing they are there for it to process a payment, but customers think they are employees of the company they take payments for. About ten years ago, in Lake Worth, Florida, a disgruntled employee went into a Bellsouth payment center and shot the desk clerk in the face because of his phone bill. And yet, the Bellsouth customer service building was right up the street. It turned out he paid his bill there, and this same clerk had an argument with him because the clerk was not able to explain his bill to him. The things people get mad about.