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I know what site I'm on, really I do. So it should come as no surprise to me that people today, are, by and large, not that big on taking responsibility for their own actions. That said, lately I've seen an EPIDEMIC of fire-breathing customers laying into me because THEY broke THEIR phone and there's nothing <red checkmark> can do for them....
One and Done
This guy, I felt bad for, to a POINT. He bought himself a shiny new Galaxy S6 and then had the misfortune to drop it and crack the screen THREE HOURS later. And what do you know? Mr. Genius did NOT get insurance on the phone. Of course that sucks and for awhile I had some sympathy for him, until he got progressively more angry and irate with me for not being able to do anything.
- No, you can't return the phone.
- Yes, I understand it's your first day.
- No, it's not covered under warranty
- No, you can't get a credit (ESPECIALLY not when we just handed you $300 for switching to us)
- No, you can't add insurance now (that's kind of ILLEGAL)
- No, you can't exchange the phone either
- Yes, you CAN cancel your services with us but you're still on the hook for the cost of the phone.
- No, you can't return the phone.
- Yes, you can sell it online but don't expect to get much for it
- No, we won't send you a check to cover the cost of repairs
- No, the store can't fix it for you for free.
- No, you can't return the phone.
He FINALLY realized he wasn't going to get anywhere and gave up...but not before telling me to do something anatomically impossible.
Double Whammy
This was a fun one. This poor unfortunate soul had managed to break not one, but TWO phones and *sad trombone...* did NOT have insurance!!
Oh but this gets better, he claims he did sign up for insurance when he got the phones...6 months ago. Our account notes show otherwise. So he starts going around and around with my rep while I'm listening (I was doing call observations at the time) about how he should have insurance and he needs to make a claim for these devices.
She points out to him what our records show and even though we might have been able to fix the issue a couple of days or weeks after the fact, we're 6 months out. It's not OUR fault that you don't read your bills and apparently failed to notice you weren't being billed for any insurance. She tells him he can contact the manufacturer to get it repaired at a cost probably close to what the insurance deductible would be.
They go around a few more times and he flies off the handle again. I walked over to my rep and asked her if, since this guy was obviously NOT taking the hint, she minded if I jumped in on the call and put a stop to this whole circle of insanity. She was fine with that.
So, I hop on the call, identify myself and explain to the SC that everything my rep had told her was true and that there's really not much else we can offer in this instance.
The SC FLIPS out on me when I revealed that I'd been listening on the call, telling me it is patently illegal to listen to his call without letting him know. I remind him of that automated recording that comes when you call us, the one that says "This calls MAY BE MONITORED for training or quality purposes", the one that practically EVERY FREAKING COMPANY HAS on their 800 number! Of course, that being the case, one should always expect a customer service call to potentially be recorded.
So we went around again about the insurance thing and suddenly he mentions how frustrated he is with this whole call and how he just wanted to call us and get the phones replaced under insurance by paying $50 each.
*record scratch* Wait, WHAT???
You see back when phones were a lot less "smart" and a lot less expensive, $50 was the going rate for insurance replacements. Now, with high end smartphones going for over $1000, the average insurance deductible starts at about $200. This has been the case for at least the last 3 years if not longer.
I explained this to him and he lit up like a Christmas tree, ranting, screaming, cussing. I told him to calm down and he told me to F off and hung up.
Well, that was fun.
I don't want to adult today...
Another SC, another broken S6 (what is with these phones lately??). This guy was actually a couple of steps ahead of the other SCs because - ta da! - he actually HAD insurance...but he was flaming mad about having to pay a $200 deductible when he already pays so much for his phone and service each month, etc, etc.
And away we go....
- No, I can't waive the deductible
- No, I can't give you a discount on it
- No, I can't send you a Galaxy S5
(Definite WTF on this one, I don't know why he even tried it)
- No you can't return the phone (This seems familiar...)
- Yes, you CAN use the upgrade on your other line to get a phone
- No, I won't waive the upgrade costs for you
- Yes, you CAN cancel your services
- No, I won't waive remaining balance on your SHARP plan
- Because that's not how it works
- That's not how it works.
- That's not how it works.
- No, I can't waive the deductible
So after all this, the guy decides he's just going to port over to <Death Star Wireless>. He has three lines, all on SHARP plans, so by porting out he'll be setting himself up to eat close to $2000 in phone charges. The credit bureaus will be so thrilled with him if he doesn't pay that I'm sure.
You must have a rabbit in that hat somewhere!
Guy bought a Note 5 about five months ago and it won't power on. Ooh, that stinks. No worries through, he's still under warranty so we can take care of this. What's that? He wants a manager now? Huh?!
As it turns out the guy was furious, not about the warranty claim but about the fact his phone would not power on and now he could not access all the "very important data" he had on there that he had apparently forgotten to back up.
For the record, there is very little on a phone that can NOT be backed up with a little ingenuity. Photos, videos, call logs, text messages, memos, calendar entries. On and on, it can all be saved pretty easily if you know what you're doing.
I had to explain to this guy FOUR times that, if the data was not backed up prior to the issue occurring, there was NO WAY to retrieve it. He just wouldn't understand that there is absolutely no way to get any information from a phone that won't TURN ON. (Tech sidenote: I know that's actually NOT true and with the right equipment and replacement parts the phone data MAY be retrievable but I'm sure as hell not about to go down that road with him).
As if that was bad enough, he starts demanding compensation because he thinks its completely unacceptable that a phone he has had less than half a year is a glorified paperweight and <red checkmark> is somehow responsible for all this.
Yes, I know it sucks when new toys stop working, but guess what? We're not the manufacturer, we're the service provider. You want compensation? Talk to the company that made your phone.
Finally, FINALLY he got it through his head that he wasn't going to get anywhere and gave up.
Not sucky, just odd...
In the past two weeks we've had three calls from people wanting us to troubleshoot their laptops. Don't have a clue how that happened.
One and Done
This guy, I felt bad for, to a POINT. He bought himself a shiny new Galaxy S6 and then had the misfortune to drop it and crack the screen THREE HOURS later. And what do you know? Mr. Genius did NOT get insurance on the phone. Of course that sucks and for awhile I had some sympathy for him, until he got progressively more angry and irate with me for not being able to do anything.
- No, you can't return the phone.
- Yes, I understand it's your first day.
- No, it's not covered under warranty
- No, you can't get a credit (ESPECIALLY not when we just handed you $300 for switching to us)
- No, you can't add insurance now (that's kind of ILLEGAL)
- No, you can't exchange the phone either
- Yes, you CAN cancel your services with us but you're still on the hook for the cost of the phone.
- No, you can't return the phone.
- Yes, you can sell it online but don't expect to get much for it
- No, we won't send you a check to cover the cost of repairs
- No, the store can't fix it for you for free.
- No, you can't return the phone.
He FINALLY realized he wasn't going to get anywhere and gave up...but not before telling me to do something anatomically impossible.
Double Whammy
This was a fun one. This poor unfortunate soul had managed to break not one, but TWO phones and *sad trombone...* did NOT have insurance!!
Oh but this gets better, he claims he did sign up for insurance when he got the phones...6 months ago. Our account notes show otherwise. So he starts going around and around with my rep while I'm listening (I was doing call observations at the time) about how he should have insurance and he needs to make a claim for these devices.
She points out to him what our records show and even though we might have been able to fix the issue a couple of days or weeks after the fact, we're 6 months out. It's not OUR fault that you don't read your bills and apparently failed to notice you weren't being billed for any insurance. She tells him he can contact the manufacturer to get it repaired at a cost probably close to what the insurance deductible would be.
They go around a few more times and he flies off the handle again. I walked over to my rep and asked her if, since this guy was obviously NOT taking the hint, she minded if I jumped in on the call and put a stop to this whole circle of insanity. She was fine with that.
So, I hop on the call, identify myself and explain to the SC that everything my rep had told her was true and that there's really not much else we can offer in this instance.
The SC FLIPS out on me when I revealed that I'd been listening on the call, telling me it is patently illegal to listen to his call without letting him know. I remind him of that automated recording that comes when you call us, the one that says "This calls MAY BE MONITORED for training or quality purposes", the one that practically EVERY FREAKING COMPANY HAS on their 800 number! Of course, that being the case, one should always expect a customer service call to potentially be recorded.
So we went around again about the insurance thing and suddenly he mentions how frustrated he is with this whole call and how he just wanted to call us and get the phones replaced under insurance by paying $50 each.
*record scratch* Wait, WHAT???
You see back when phones were a lot less "smart" and a lot less expensive, $50 was the going rate for insurance replacements. Now, with high end smartphones going for over $1000, the average insurance deductible starts at about $200. This has been the case for at least the last 3 years if not longer.
I explained this to him and he lit up like a Christmas tree, ranting, screaming, cussing. I told him to calm down and he told me to F off and hung up.
Well, that was fun.
I don't want to adult today...
Another SC, another broken S6 (what is with these phones lately??). This guy was actually a couple of steps ahead of the other SCs because - ta da! - he actually HAD insurance...but he was flaming mad about having to pay a $200 deductible when he already pays so much for his phone and service each month, etc, etc.
And away we go....
- No, I can't waive the deductible
- No, I can't give you a discount on it
- No, I can't send you a Galaxy S5
(Definite WTF on this one, I don't know why he even tried it)- No you can't return the phone (This seems familiar...)
- Yes, you CAN use the upgrade on your other line to get a phone
- No, I won't waive the upgrade costs for you
- Yes, you CAN cancel your services
- No, I won't waive remaining balance on your SHARP plan
- Because that's not how it works
- That's not how it works.
- That's not how it works.
- No, I can't waive the deductible
So after all this, the guy decides he's just going to port over to <Death Star Wireless>. He has three lines, all on SHARP plans, so by porting out he'll be setting himself up to eat close to $2000 in phone charges. The credit bureaus will be so thrilled with him if he doesn't pay that I'm sure.
You must have a rabbit in that hat somewhere!
Guy bought a Note 5 about five months ago and it won't power on. Ooh, that stinks. No worries through, he's still under warranty so we can take care of this. What's that? He wants a manager now? Huh?!
As it turns out the guy was furious, not about the warranty claim but about the fact his phone would not power on and now he could not access all the "very important data" he had on there that he had apparently forgotten to back up.
For the record, there is very little on a phone that can NOT be backed up with a little ingenuity. Photos, videos, call logs, text messages, memos, calendar entries. On and on, it can all be saved pretty easily if you know what you're doing.
I had to explain to this guy FOUR times that, if the data was not backed up prior to the issue occurring, there was NO WAY to retrieve it. He just wouldn't understand that there is absolutely no way to get any information from a phone that won't TURN ON. (Tech sidenote: I know that's actually NOT true and with the right equipment and replacement parts the phone data MAY be retrievable but I'm sure as hell not about to go down that road with him).
As if that was bad enough, he starts demanding compensation because he thinks its completely unacceptable that a phone he has had less than half a year is a glorified paperweight and <red checkmark> is somehow responsible for all this.
Yes, I know it sucks when new toys stop working, but guess what? We're not the manufacturer, we're the service provider. You want compensation? Talk to the company that made your phone.
Finally, FINALLY he got it through his head that he wasn't going to get anywhere and gave up.
Not sucky, just odd...
In the past two weeks we've had three calls from people wanting us to troubleshoot their laptops. Don't have a clue how that happened.
"Wow, really?! It's out of warranty and I signed the thing... are you sure?"
"Yes, really."
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