Monday, October 30, 2006

Somebody Help Her!

Since I haven't had a bad customer experience story this week, we'll let Jen share her's....

Last month I was sorting through the mail, and I noticed an envelope from Sprint. It looked and felt like a bill. Addressed to me and with my address, I was a bit confused. 'I don't have Sprint,' I thought. Sure enough, it was a bill for roughly $510. There was my name, my address, and a bunch of calls that I did not place.

A bit irritated and frightened, I called Sprint. I told the story to one person. He transferred me to "someone who could help me." She couldn't help me and transferred me to "someone who could help me." I then spent a good 30 minutes trying to convince this person that this was not my bill. Once he understood my problem, he transferred me to (you guessed it) "someone who could help me." She did. She took notes on the issue and told me not to worry, that the account was flagged and the next time someone places a call with the account they will deal with it.

28 days later . . .

So I'm sorting through my mail this afternoon, and I notice an envelope from Sprint. I know this envelope. I am now pissed. Inside is a bill for $8.75. Again, my name and address but strange numbers that are not mine.

So I call Sprint and tell the guy my story (extended now because it starts with, 'A month ago . . . .'). He can't help me, so he transfers me to "someone who can help me." She's awfully nice and listens to me but says she can't help me either and gives me another number to call.

I am exhausted. I was up at 5:30 AM, I just wanted to have a quick bite of something and collapse into bed, but instead I am talking to everyone at Sprint. I call the number and have to go through a ridiculous phone tree.

I finally get to where I think I need to be. Then I hear the following: "Thank you for calling Sprint. The office is currently closed. Our normal business hours are Monday through Friday . . . ."

Click.

Jen make sure you keep me posted on any developments with Sprint. As always, thanks for sharing your story!

Remember to e-mail me your stories of bad customer service! And remember to spread the word!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

What's in Your Wallet? Rude Customer Service Reps!

Karey shares her story of a bad experience with Capitol One.

I have been a dedicated customer of Capital One for close to 10 years. They were the first company to ever grace me with a credit card. And, despite the fact they gave me a measly $700 limit after 10 years, I continued to carry their card next to my others.

I, like many people I know, pay my bill online. After such a payment, I noticed the amount hadn't cleared my bank or posted to my account several business days later. I phoned customer service and asked if they saw a pending payment for my account. The crap-weasel on the phone told me "no" and suggested I make another online payment. So, I did. And, what do you know..... TWO payments posted, and I now had a $370 credit on my card.

I did not want a credit on my card, so I contacted the customer service department, again, to let them know I would like the funds ACH'd back to my account, since the card was now paid in full. This new crap-weasel I got to talk to told me that they were going to have to send me a check and I would receive my funds in 21 business days. I said that was unacceptable, since it was their fault I made 2 payments in the first place, and I asked to speak to his supervisor.

After holding for about 30 seconds, the weasel picked up my line and began talking crap about me (thinking he was speaking to his manager). I said pretty loudly "Hey!! I can hear you!!!" He fumbled with his phone, while mumbling "uuhhhh...." and abruptly put me on hold. When the supervisor came on the phone, I told her of the uncalled for rudeness I had experienced from her staff member and gave her his name. She responded to me, "We don't have anyone who works here by that name"!!! WHAT?! I just talked to him!! I was at about a 10 by this point. She again informed me that this error was not theirs and that I would be receiving my check in 21 business days. I told her that I have never had such awful customer service in my life, to which she replied, "That is also not our fault".

Long story short, I no longer have a Capital One credit card.

Thanks for your story Karey! If you have a story e-mail me!

Thursday, October 12, 2006

The Movement is Spreading!

At least one person is tuned in to this blog!

Check out Marla's rant on some bad customer service in the Bay Area.

Let's keep the momentum going!

E-Mail me your stories!

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Jamba Juice Makes Good

I was going to post this week about a bad experience Sam and I had at the Jamba Juice on J and 19th in Sacramento. Let's just say that the young girls in there were not at all your typical Jamba Juice employees. Instead they were rude and lazy. Then they actually mocked Sam after she walked out of the store and I was still standing right there. But, I believe that was an isolated incident and on Friday I think I got my proof.

I went into the Jamba Juice again and noticed the supervisor/manager, Danny, from having worked at the Natomas Jamba Juice. I get a lot of smoothies and I spend a lot of time waiting for those smoothies and analyzing how Jamba Juice is run. It's clear that Danny's in charge and knows how to keep a team moving in that well-known Jamba Juice fashion.

So we started chatting, and he told me he was recently relocated to the Jamba on J street. Now one can only speculate that this was because the employees at the J street location are not cutting it in the Jamba world. While I was there he hollered at two girls that were screwing around instead of making my drink. I think changes are coming for the J street Jamba.

Oh, and he gave me a free Jamba Juice, so that never hurts.

Friday, October 06, 2006

No Soy in the Whole District?

In the past week I visited two different Starbucks on two different days at two different times, and in both experiences I was told that they were out of soy milk.

At the Starbucks on J Street in Sacramento on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., I was told simply that they had a rush on soy earlier in the morning and they ran out. I pointed out something my wife has pointed out when they've ran out of soy before: can't they just go buy it at the store? It's not like it's specialty Starbucks soy, it's just a store brand.

So I was even more surprised when I went to the Starbucks on H Street on Thursday at 8 p.m. and found that they too were out of soy! One of the employees informed me that the entire Starbucks district in Sacramento was out of soy milk. I again pointed out that it was readily available at the grocery store, and the two employees agreed, saying that when they run out of regular milk, they often go to the store.

So I emailed Starbucks today, inquiring about their policy when it comes to running out of non-Starbucks specific items. I'll update you if they respond and if they apologize. ;-)

First and Last Trip with American Airlines

Last month, my wife, 4-year-old daughter and I took a trip to Alabama for a friend's wedding. We chose to fly on American Airlines because it was the cheaper option and we were definitely on a budget for this trip.

Our flight left Sacramento at 6 a.m., so we made sure to get to the airport at 4:30 a.m.. We arrived to find a long, winding line in front of the American Airlines check-in counter. We waited for about 30 minutes, as the line slowly moved forward. There appeared to be just one person working two of those "self-service" kiosks that every airline has now. Finally, after lots of waiting, an irritated American Airlines representative comes over to the line and very rudely says "you know, you can use those over there," and points to unmarked, currently unused kiosks up against a nearby wall. The response from everyone in line, including myself was, well why the hell didn't you say that 30 minutes ago?

Everything went smoothly at the gate and we boarded our flight and left on time. We got settled in and flight attendants started making their rounds. When they got to us, I requested a muffin. And not a free muffin mind you, one that I was prepared to pay two dollars for. What I got was a rude response about how they only had 24 muffins on the flight and there were 150 passengers, and they had already run out. How do you only bring two dozen muffins on a 6 a.m. flight across the country? That's just poor planning. Then immediately following this exchange with the flight attendant, my wife asks for coffee and is told "we're out, we have to make some more, we'll come back later." Guess what? They didn't come back later. Throughout the entire flight, the flight attendants were rude and not helpful at all.

We arrived in Dallas-Fort Worth and wandered around until our connecting flight boarded. There was a slight delay because the crew was still cleaning the plane. Which is funny, because when we finally got on the plane, our seats were filthy. There was trash and food all over the seats and the floor, and my wife stepped in fresh, gooey gum. How do you step in gum on an airplane immediately after it was cleaned? We complained to the flight attendants, but they seemed completely disinterested and, just like the earlier flight, were very rude.

After we arrived in Alabama, I decided that I was not at all going to let American Airlines slide for this bad experience. So I called their customer service line and requested that we be given a free upgrade as a gesture of goodwill and an apology. I was shocked by the rude response of Kirsten, a customer service supervisor. She said, "I'm sorry we don't do that. If everybody who had a bad experience got free upgrades, we'd run out of seats." So basically she's admitting that they routinely get bad service complaints. Now, understand that I'm not saying they should give out upgrades every time a flight is delayed or there's a mechanical problem. Those kinds of things happen and they would run out of seats. I'm talking about holding your company accountable when your entire staff from top to bottom is rude. Needless to say, Kirsten and I did not see eye to eye and I didn't get my free upgrades.

So, I decided to email American Airlines, and outline my complaints to them, hoping for some kind of compensation. I got this:

"After reading your email describing your disappointment in us, we, too, are disappointed and can understand why you are upset. We are truly sorry we let you and your family down in so many ways during your recent travel with us.
At the same time, we are glad you wrote to us. We regard every single customer contact as a welcome opportunity to listen, learn and most importantly, improve. You can be sure that your constructive criticism will help us do a better job next time. In view of all you have endured, I can understand your request for a complimentary upgrade. Unfortunately, we were unable to comply. While we agree that in certain situations compensation is in order, we do not believe it is fair to our customers who purchase this premium service to offer complimentary upgrades as a compensation option."

So they did apologize, which is something. But being the cheap guy that I am, I still would have liked some compensation.

Sometimes being the squeaky wheel works, sometimes it doesn't. But I firmly believe that you can't let companies get away with stuff like this. Because if you do, it's only going to get worse and worse.

Trying Something New Here

I'm on a quest to improve Customer Service in this country and I'm going to start in my current hometown of Sacramento, California. I'm hoping that this blog will spark something inside everyone that reads it to either improve the way they treat customers at their job, or demand better service from places that they've had bad experiences at .. or those that are "featured" on this blog.

I'm going to start posting my bad experiences on here, and if you've had a bad experience, email me and I'll post it here too.

Also, I'll update everyone as to any success I've had when emailing or calling companies to complain about bad service.

We'll see if this actually works.

Also, I'd like to point out that I'm not a difficult person. I'm not one of those guys that yells at waitresses for no reason, or makes unreasonable demands of those in the service industry. In fact, when it comes to service, I let things slide A LOT. My intention here is not to bitch (though I'll probably do it), but simply to improve the way people are treated.