So, I go home and I look up service providers. Verizon offers plans more in my price range and better suited for my needs. So I chat with a customer service representative online (my preferred way of dealing with customer service) and figure out the plan that best works for me. This woman was much friendlier and far more helpful than the person I had just dealt with, which was a bonus. In the end, I go to the local Verizon store and switch providers with minimal hassle.
While I was going through the whole process, it made me reflect on some of the customer service experiences I've had.
In a roundabout way, I work in customer service. As one of our duties, we have to cover the help desk during the off hours. Typically, you do not catch people at their best moment when they have to call the help desk. So, I can appreciate that people tend to not be in the best of moods or that they might react to an inability to help rather poorly. As such, I try to maintain my temper when dealing with customer service representatives, because I also understand that they are just the face of the problem and that they rarely have a lot to do with whatever the solution may be.
That being said, some customer service representatives I've dealt with seem to go out of their way to make the problem, and the whole experience much worse. I think the all time worst experience I've had with customer service was when I was trying to upgrade my cable service.
I live in an apartment, and one of the perks is that basic cable is offered as part of the rental agreement. I have an HD TV and was looking to upgrade my service and perhaps add on a DVR. I had previously added cable internet to my service with no issue, so I wasn't expecting much of a hassle. I chatted with a representative online and determined that it would be a minimal change to my bill, and that I could get TiVo for not much more than that. So, I went to Suddenlink's local office to do the actual upgrade. At this point, I learned that TiVo is such a sophisticated piece of technology that requires a technician to come install it for you, so I couldn't take my new TiVo home with me and instead had to set up an appointment. I pick a time that I'm not at work and prepare for the wait. The technician arrives at a reasonable time and I am wowed by his extensive training as he proceeds to plug one hole in the box to the wall and plug the other hole to my TV and leaves. I regret not taking notes.
A week passes, and I start to learn how the TiVo works and I enjoy the service. Then, I start getting messages from the device saying I need to register the device or it will stop working. Well, the highly skilled technician didn't say anything about that. So, I go to Suddenlink's website, hop on the chat function and report the problem. They tell me that I need to go to TiVo's website to activate the device. Suddenlink sold the device to me, but fine, whatever. So I go to TiVo's website. I punch in the device number, and it says that for this particular device, I need to get Suddenlink to register it. That's not what Suddenlink said, but okay, whatever. So, I go to Suddenlink's website and jump back on the chat function.
I spend 20-30 minutes chatting with someone who ultimately decides that the problem with my TiVo is that I don't have an email address assigned to my Suddenlink account. I beg to differ, as I receive my bill via email each month and I find it hard to believe that this happens through the magic of the internet, but rather because I entered my email address in a box somewhere and they assigned it to my account. But, if it will fix the TiVo, fine, here is my email address again. I'm told it will take 24 hours for the update in information to trickle down to the device, so give it a day or two to see if the problem clears up.
It didn't.
So, I call Suddenlink. I spend 45 minutes on hold before I ever talk to a technician. During this time, I listen to the same static-garbled song repeated continuously, interrupted every minute by a recording reminding me that my call is important to them. I was glad to hear this, because I'd hate to think what sort of treatment they give to the customers whose calls are not important to them. When i finally reach an actual person on the phone, they start with the standard "did you try turning it off and back on?" nonsense that you open all support calls with. They also had me try all the things I had previously tried, such as going to the TiVo website. I'm skeptical that it would magically work on a 5th attempt, but I still follow their instructions, and lo and behold, the TiVo is still broken. So, I'm placed on hold again while my customer service rep calls TiVo's customer service line. My only regret is that he had a direct line to TiVo and didn't have to be placed on hold.
About 20 minutes later, my support guy comes back and says that they have everything resolved and that I should be able to log into TiVo's website now. That....wasn't the problem I called with. But I guess they mean now I can register the device on TiVo's website, so let me try that. Nope, still can't do it. So, I go back on Suddenlink's chat function. Now, at this point, I've used the chat function enough where I can just type all the information that they request without being asked. Here's my name, my address, my phone number, and my pin. (It baffles me that they request all these things, since you have to key them all in when you're opening up the chat window to begin with, which also baffles me that you'd have to do that at all, considering you're logged into the website!) Well, the customer service rep I talk to this time suggests that I call the number that TiVo gives me. The number for Suddenlink.
Ultimately, it is determined that the source of my problem is that my TiVo device was registered to a different account. Great, so just edit the database and make the device point to my account. They can't do that. Instead, they need to send a technician out to replace my TiVo with a new one. I'm tempted to tell them that the technician will be picking it up in pieces, but settle for pointing out the sheer idiocy of a system that cannot be edited in any way. Apparently when you order a TiVo, it follows you to the grave, because no one else can use that box once its been registered to you. So, they make an appointment for the technician to come out to my house the next day between 4pm and 6pm. So, I rush home from work the next day to catch the Suddenlink technician. At 6:30pm, it starts to occur to me that he might not be coming. I contact Suddenlink yet again, and I'm told that they closed my ticket. First of all, thanks for informing me. Second of all, why? Third of all, no seriously, why!? The problem is not resolved. They have replaced nothing. No work has been done!
So, I receive an apology for the inconvenience and a promise that a technician will be out tomorrow to replace it. Great, what time--? Hello? Hello!? Yeah, no clue when he's coming by. As it happened, I had the next day off of work (it was a Friday and I was working that weekend). Still, I had things to do that day, so I wouldn't mind knowing when exactly they'd be by. So, first thing in the morning, I drive over to Suddenlink's local office. I'm tired of dealing with them on the phone, or on a chat screen. I ask when the appointment is and I'm told that it is between 4 and 6pm. Well, that's not going to work for me. At the time, I had pretty standard plans on Fridays around that time. Can they reschedule the appointment for earlier in the day? I'm assured that they can. My customer service representative accidentally cancels the order instead. He'll try to get someone out to my house that day and someone will contact me about it. Fine.
Several hours pass and no word from Suddenlink. So, I go back on their website. I discover that rather than come out that day like they said, they would be out tomorrow sometime between 12pm and 2pm. The problem with that is that I worked that Saturday from 7:30am to 4pm, and on weekends we work alone, so I couldn't exactly take the time off. So, I had to reschedule the appointment yet again. Finally, it's decided that the technician will be out Monday between 10am and 12pm. I'm off work that day, so that works fine.
The technician comes out, and it's a different guy from last time. This guy actually shows me how to use the device and verifies the installation process instead of just plugging it into the wall and leaving. So, after 24 days, I can finally use my TiVo! That afternoon, I finally get a chance to sit down and enjoy some of the HD channels that come from my upgraded service.
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| Can't say that I saw this coming. |
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