A new spin on "I deserve a credit for that!"

[CrazedClerk]

So I get a call today from this woman, seems she was talking to a rep a couple of days ago regarding a credit and (surprise, surprise) it hasn't been done. This particular account requries credit reviews, which means a sup must evaluate the situation before a credit can be given.

She had a legitimate complaint. Due to an error in our billing system, she was billed for data usage charges of over $200 (the system is supposed to cap it at $50). Now even if these data charges had been billed correctly, she's still have a balance of $250 including past due amounts on her account.

So I explain we can credit her for the system error as it was our fault and not hers. The convo goes like this:

SL - stupid lady
me -moi extraordinaire

(picking up just after I told her I'd do the credit)

SL: Ok now the previous rep said that would zero everything out.

Me: Yes, this credit will cover the overage charges and your balance will be $250

SL: My balance? But the rep said It would be taken care of.

Me: Yes, I am taking care of it by applying this credit for overage charges.

SL: But she said they were going to make my balance 0.00 because of it!

(yes that's right, she was claiming the rep had told her we'd wipe out ALL THE CHARGES on her account!!)

Me: Well the rest of those charges ARE valid, for example you'd be paying your 59.99 monthly regardless.

SL: But she said you'd 0 it out!

Me: (nicely but firmly) Ma'am I will credit you as needed to make up for this error, but never in the history of our company have we completly zeroed out a customers account as such over a billing error that was only responsible for part of the current balance.

SL: Well ok then, I'd rather get some credit than no credit but why would she tell me she'd 0 it out?

Me: I have no idea, I can't speak on her behalf. Thanks for calling company X, have a good day.

----------------------------

I've heard of people who are a bit greedy, for example wanting a 70.00 credit on charges of 63.58 with the rest being "for the inconvenience of having to call in about this" but I have never had someone who actually believed we would wipe out their ENTIRE BALANCE, including valid charges, because of a bill error.

And of course I didn't believe the previous rep said that. Some of our reps aren't too intelligent, but they aren't THAT dumb. The only way I could maybe see this happening is she were someone's last call of the night and they wanted to get rid of her so they could go home.

[MrSunshineState]

And of course I didn't believe the previous rep said that.

No way the rep said that. Customers only hear what they want to hear. In my years of working at call centers (and now as a supervisor) I am very wellk known for writing a book in the account notes.

[CrazedClerk]

No way the rep said that. Customers only hear what they want to hear. In my years of working at call centers (and now as a supervisor) I am very wellk known for writing a book in the account notes.

There's a note in our cubicle, a coroporate written guide to adjustments.

One part in particular notes:

"If a customer claims a credit is needed due to a <company name> error but you cannot prove an error has occurred, It is appropriate to trust the customer and give an adjustment."

I added the emphasis myself. Fortunately we don't follow that rule as much as I bet corporate would like, but I wish I could strangle the person who wrote that. I get calls all the time "someone told me this", "someone told me that". There are times I'm thankful for notes, but if I can see that "someone" accessed the account and didn't leave any notes, it can make my job frustrating.

[TNT]

There's a note in our cubicle, a coroporate written guide to adjustments.

One part in particular notes:

"If a customer claims a credit is needed due to a <company name> error but you cannot prove an error has occurred, It is appropriate to trust the customer and give an adjustment."

We have a rule much like that, but it's never been interpreted to mean we take the customer's word that someone else told them something about a credit. For instance:

Customer: I'm had a two day outage, and the rep said he'd credit me $100.00.
Me: I'm sorry, but if someone told you that, they were mistaken.
Customer: But I can prove someone said that to me...
Me: It still doesn't matter. We can have the rep call you back and apologize for giving you bad information, but you're not getting a $100.00 credit for a two day outage.