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This has an element of "cursing out coworkers" but the real star is the SC.
Background: SC Bob gets a call from our company one day telling him he qualifies for a free phone. Bob, not being an idiot, thinks is too good to be true so he asks several times for confirmation that this will be a 100% FREE phone. No new contract, no new line, just a free phone. Rep says yes, so Bob says send it out.
I'm sure you can guess where this is going.
But it's more than what you might think.
You see, Bob gets his supposedly "free" phone and discovers that, in order to accommodate said free phone a new line has been added to his account, exactly what he didn't want (but what anyone should have been able to see coming a mile away).
So he calls Empire wireless and tells them about the fiasco and how he was promised a free phone with no additional line or contract. The not-so-well trained rep he talks to tells him that sure, he can just cancel that additional line and keep the free phone by transferring it to one of his other lines (WRONG!). Transfer is completed, third line is closed, everyone is happy...until the bill comes out.
Bob gets his bill and sees a $200 equipment charge tacked on to it. This is because when you cancel a line of service within the standard 30 day window, you MUST return the discounted phone you got for activating that line. If this policy did not exist, people would just endlessly scam cheap phones from cell providers by activating service, then cancelling days later and keeping the phones.
So then a very angry Bob calls Empire wireless AGAIN...and gets connected with me:
(we'll pick things up after he's already relayed the entire "Free phone" fiasco to me)
Me: I apologize for the misunderstandings sir, I really do but we never just give out free phones for the heck of it, even if you have been with us for awhile.
SC: I don't care, I was told it was free and I expect it to be free, it's not my problem you rep lied.
Me: I realize you are upset and there were issues on our part. I can certainly give you a partial credit on this, but only $50.
SC: $50??? $50?!!! No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!! You need to add $150 to that. I want the whole $200!!
Me: The problem with that sir, is that in order to get you that credit, I would have to do submit this to a review team to get it approved. Given the way things look on this account I can tell you they would deny the credit.
SC: WHY?!?!
Me: Because even though you are telling me you were supposed to get a free phone, there's nothing noted in your account supporting that. Now of course I could add a note on your behalf and certainly will but I still doubt that will be enough to get the credit approved.
SC: How long would this review group take to make a decision?
Me: No more than three days sir.
SC: Oh hell no! I'm not waiting that long. Connect me to this review group immediately, I want an answer now!!
Me: I can't do that sir, they don't take calls.
SC: They don't take calls??
Me: No sir, we have no phone contact with them whatsoever.
SC: This is ridiculous. You listen to me and you listen to me right now. I want the third line on my account to remain cancelled, I want every penny of this $200 credited to my account AND I want to keep this free phone!
Me: Do you realize sir that you are, in effect, asking me to commit fraud here and lose my job over this?
SC: You're damned right I am and you better do as I say because I have powerful friends, some of whom are lawyers and if you don't let me keep this phone for free I WILL pursue legal action against you and your company!!
Me: Just so I have this straight: You are going to send lawyers after me if I DON'T commit a crime?
SC: YES!! Why is this so hard for you to understand??
Me: (Oh the things I could respond with...) It's not sir, I just wanted to make the situation perfectly clear. Because you have threatened legal action against the company, I can no longer continue with this call. You can call our legal department at XXX-XXX-XXXX or if you prefer I can transfer you directly.
SC: F--- YOU! I'll have your job for this!!
Me: Thank you for calling Empire wireless, have a great day.
Now I freely admit my company royally screwed up dealing with this guy and when it came down to it, it probably made sense to give him a free phone BUT to be such an ass about it was unwarranted.
Also, I probably would have been fired if I had done what he wanted since (as I indicated above) there was no evidence in the account notes that the new phone was supposed to be 100% free. I'm not about to risk my job for a rude SC, even if he appears to have a reasonable case.
Background: SC Bob gets a call from our company one day telling him he qualifies for a free phone. Bob, not being an idiot, thinks is too good to be true so he asks several times for confirmation that this will be a 100% FREE phone. No new contract, no new line, just a free phone. Rep says yes, so Bob says send it out.
I'm sure you can guess where this is going.
But it's more than what you might think.
You see, Bob gets his supposedly "free" phone and discovers that, in order to accommodate said free phone a new line has been added to his account, exactly what he didn't want (but what anyone should have been able to see coming a mile away).
So he calls Empire wireless and tells them about the fiasco and how he was promised a free phone with no additional line or contract. The not-so-well trained rep he talks to tells him that sure, he can just cancel that additional line and keep the free phone by transferring it to one of his other lines (WRONG!). Transfer is completed, third line is closed, everyone is happy...until the bill comes out.
Bob gets his bill and sees a $200 equipment charge tacked on to it. This is because when you cancel a line of service within the standard 30 day window, you MUST return the discounted phone you got for activating that line. If this policy did not exist, people would just endlessly scam cheap phones from cell providers by activating service, then cancelling days later and keeping the phones.
So then a very angry Bob calls Empire wireless AGAIN...and gets connected with me:
(we'll pick things up after he's already relayed the entire "Free phone" fiasco to me)
Me: I apologize for the misunderstandings sir, I really do but we never just give out free phones for the heck of it, even if you have been with us for awhile.
SC: I don't care, I was told it was free and I expect it to be free, it's not my problem you rep lied.
Me: I realize you are upset and there were issues on our part. I can certainly give you a partial credit on this, but only $50.
SC: $50??? $50?!!! No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!! You need to add $150 to that. I want the whole $200!!
Me: The problem with that sir, is that in order to get you that credit, I would have to do submit this to a review team to get it approved. Given the way things look on this account I can tell you they would deny the credit.
SC: WHY?!?!
Me: Because even though you are telling me you were supposed to get a free phone, there's nothing noted in your account supporting that. Now of course I could add a note on your behalf and certainly will but I still doubt that will be enough to get the credit approved.
SC: How long would this review group take to make a decision?
Me: No more than three days sir.
SC: Oh hell no! I'm not waiting that long. Connect me to this review group immediately, I want an answer now!!
Me: I can't do that sir, they don't take calls.
SC: They don't take calls??
Me: No sir, we have no phone contact with them whatsoever.
SC: This is ridiculous. You listen to me and you listen to me right now. I want the third line on my account to remain cancelled, I want every penny of this $200 credited to my account AND I want to keep this free phone!
Me: Do you realize sir that you are, in effect, asking me to commit fraud here and lose my job over this?
SC: You're damned right I am and you better do as I say because I have powerful friends, some of whom are lawyers and if you don't let me keep this phone for free I WILL pursue legal action against you and your company!!
Me: Just so I have this straight: You are going to send lawyers after me if I DON'T commit a crime?
SC: YES!! Why is this so hard for you to understand??
Me: (Oh the things I could respond with...) It's not sir, I just wanted to make the situation perfectly clear. Because you have threatened legal action against the company, I can no longer continue with this call. You can call our legal department at XXX-XXX-XXXX or if you prefer I can transfer you directly.
SC: F--- YOU! I'll have your job for this!!
Me: Thank you for calling Empire wireless, have a great day.
Now I freely admit my company royally screwed up dealing with this guy and when it came down to it, it probably made sense to give him a free phone BUT to be such an ass about it was unwarranted.
Also, I probably would have been fired if I had done what he wanted since (as I indicated above) there was no evidence in the account notes that the new phone was supposed to be 100% free. I'm not about to risk my job for a rude SC, even if he appears to have a reasonable case.
I will admit, I do agree that the guy had a reasonable grievance, as he was given some bad information not once, but twice. All the same, YOU were not the one to blame here, and I would have lost all sympathy for him too if he had been that much a dick on the phone. I bet you would have been much more willing to try and help him if he had shown some class. Finally, he was getting along fine without the free phone before, what was so special about it that made him go apeshit over keeping it? What a tool.
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