One more....long week

[TWOLF]

For the record I have nothing against anyone who uses their cell phone for buisness reasons, but to rely soley on your cell phone I have an issue with.
Meafter getting all the normal ssdd info) and how may I help you sir?
SC:My phone is busted and the only sales office in the area is closed and I need a new phone. I'm loosing money and need one fast.
Me:You can call the insurance company and they can give you a claim number to take into a store.
SC:But I need my phone now. I can't wait. Don't you have anything to help out buisness people who need their phones?
Me:I'm sorry sir but this is the only way and since the nearest office to you is an hour away, the only thing I can tell you is to call the insurance company and go to the store.
SCon't you care about your customer's? I need a phone NOW!!
(This goes back and forth for about 10 min and the guy keeps getting mad.)
Me: I apologize sir but we just don't have any phones we can send to you asap and you do need to go to the office.
SC:If you don't fix this now I'm going to sue you for me loosing buisness. I can't beleive you would treat a buisness man this way, I want a supervisor.
ME:A sup would tell you the same thing.
SC:This is not right, how can you treat me this way?(I wish he had started crying)
Finaly he hangs up. Oh the joys in my day. And he waits until 6:30 to call in about this.

[draggar]

Ever notice that those are usualy the customers with the cheap or free phones also?

I always get people who claim they lose "multi-million dollar deals" because of their cell phone. If it is SOOOOOOOO important, how come you're relying on a cheap piece of plastic and silicon so for it?

[Pinkie]

I get business owners/managers calling in all the time when the power goes out. They always want to know if we're going to compensate them for the lost business while they are without power. Now usually, the power is out because of an "act of God", meaning, something we had no control over, ie. thunderstorm, squirrel in a transformer, high winds. Other times, it's a drunk hitting a pole with thier car, or just last week a local pilot of a small twin engine plane hit a line and snapped it. They seem to think we do this to them on purpose.... Gee, no power, your meter isn't running, we can't charge you for usage......we make no money!!! And they think we want this to happen!! The biggest SC's are the ones who want to know when the power will be back on because they need to know if they should send the employees home or keep them there and pay them for not working. Sometimes, we just don't know how long the power will be out. It's not an exact science. Sometimes a pole or transformer needs to be replaced, or we may have to wait for a storm to pass so our crews don't get hit by lightening while trying to restore power. Now I understand they have a business to run, but don't get angry w/ me over something my company can't control.

[TWOLF]

I can understand the phone being broke but he wanted a 700 dollar phone, blackberry or palm trea can't remember which now

[myswtghst]

And he waits until 6:30 to call in about this

This used to happen to me all the time when I worked in sales and order management. People would call in wanting the moon and stars at 10 minutes to close. Some of the things they wanted (upgraded shipping, order changes, etc) would be simple as pie earlier in the day, but can't be done at night, once the orders have already been processed in the warehouse and/or handed off to the carrier.

[Pezzle]

Hey, I rely solely on my cell phone simply because i don't have the extra 33.99/month for the same deals I get on my cell.

[TWOLF]

Hey, I rely solely on my cell phone simply because i don't have the extra 33.99/month for the same deals I get on my cell.

I aplogize as do I, what I was meaning is that most buisness still have land line phones and this was not a buisness account, I should have specified. I think in that type of situation for this customre it's best to have a spare phone if you have to rely on your phone only. I know have talked to several customers who buy the cheapest phone or used phones for just in case.

[Bloodsoul]

...this is why I'm glad I still only use a rotary phone. ^_^

[RentalRacer]

Yeah I am guilty of only having a cell phone....my company pays for it so I don't feel the need to pay for either my own cell or a home phone, saves me $$$.

The bad thing is they switched me over to T-Mobile a few months back, no complaints on the service, but they gave me the crappy Razr phone(I don't get to choose what I get), I have gone through 3 already and I am by no means hard on my phones, and none of them have broken by anything I did according to T-Mobile.

Lucky for me I have my old somewhat basic Nokia that I just put my SIM card into whenever my Razr breaks.

Sometimes the low-tech is the way to go

[TNT]

I always get people who claim they lose "multi-million dollar deals" because of their cell phone. If it is SOOOOOOOO important, how come you're relying on a cheap piece of plastic and silicon so for it?

Yeah... I have way too many customers tell me about the "thousands and thousands" of dollars they're losing while their internet service is having a five minute outage. My stock response is, "Wow, your running your fabulously successful business off a $40 a month residential internet connection? I'm going to transfer you to our business services department... sure it costs a lot more, but your business obviously deserves a higher level of service."

Invariably, the response is, "Um, uh, don't do that... I can't afford any more than I'm paying."

Blech.

[powerboy]

Ever notice that those are usualy the customers with the cheap or free phones also?

I get the cheap ones, simply because I cannot afford the most expensive ones. But hopefully when I get paid, I can buy a new phone

[Kara]

SC:This is not right, how can you treat me this way?(I wish he had started crying)

We girls get emotional and/or hormonal, so crying is okay. But I have heard a guy cry one time over his bill. It was hilarious! He went way past his minutes and wanted a credit because he couldn't afford to pay it. I told him there wasn't a credit I could give him, and he starts bawling.

People shouldn't use their mobile phones for business. Not as their primary line anyway. In fact, we recommend that they don't use them for business. Think about it. Cell phones are unreliable. Networks go down, service isn't available everywhere. Not just us, but all providers have the same disclaimers in the contracts that we can't guarantee service in all areas at all times (if we did, we would be the only company). The contract also states that we are not liable for loss of business due to coverage and/or network issues. People call in all the time "I just lost a $XXX,XXX.XX sales deal because of you!" or "I make $XXXX.XX an hour, and I couldn't use my phone all day, so you owe me whatever ridiculous amount of money I may or may not have lost!" Nope, we sure as heck don't.

[ShockQueen]

Aren't those guys just the PEACHIEST? You hear them all the time.........

But I NEEEEEEEEEED this for my BUUUUUSINEEEESSSS!!!!

or

But I'm a DAAAAAYYYYY TRADER!!!!!

Oh....you're losing so much because your internet is down, and you're too much of a skinflint to think of purchasing a cheap dial-up backup? You didn't? Aw, well cry me a river then buddy if your business sense didn't include COMMON SENSE.