So my day off last Friday was spectacular, between thunder, lightning, tornado force winds and pelting rain, it was a joy. I went to Costco in the morning expecting the place to be not too busy, during a week day and all that. WRONG. But at least there they know what customer service is and they opened up a whole lot of cashes and the lines cleared very quickly. Then there was my experience with my cell phone service provider.
When I went out in the morning, I went to their store near my home to cancel my daughter’s phone since she had bought an IPhone, and my service provider doesn’t provide service for IPhones. Well apparently you can’t make changes to your service at the store; you have to do it by phone. So when the sky started to get ominously dark around 3 pm, I decided this would be a good time to phone. I got a very nice customer service representative, a very polite individual. I explained to him what I needed to do and why. He explained to me the penalty for the unpaid portion of the phone and suggested a suitable new plan for me. Then he confirmed the order with me and put me on hold. I stayed on hold for I don’t know how long. He came back to check to make sure he had everything correct. He didn’t; we fixed that. He put me on hold. Then he came back and thanked me for waiting. He put me on hold. Then he came back and told me he would have to transfer me to a colleague. He put me on hold. Then I spoke to the colleague who confirmed everything I had already told the other guy. Again it was wrong. Again I corrected it. He also put me on hold. Then he came back and I told him that after 45 minutes of being on the phone I had to go out and he should do what he had to do and leave me a message to confirm that he had done it.
I went to pick up my granddaughter in the storm. I usually pick up my daughter first so after my granddaughter was safely in the car I sent my daughter a text to say I’d be late. A bit later, while I was stuck in traffic, I decided to check my phone to see if she had seen the message. The text wasn’t sent. Reason – my phone was out of service! They had cancelled the wrong phone. We had only verified at least three times which phone to cancel. My blood pressure at this point goes through the roof, because all I can think of is, what if the residence (where my elderly father who hasn’t been doing well is) is trying to contact me.
I got home and phoned the cell phone service provider again. Of course I get someone else and have to go through the whole spiel again. Oh yes, he can fix this – no problem madam. He took all the information. He put me on hold. After being on the phone and on hold with him for over half an hour he tells me it will be fixed in a few minutes and to take the SIM card out of my phone and restart the phone. He will call me to make sure everything is okay. I did what he told me and then waited. I check my phone, still no service. My daughter called my number – it rings on her old Blackberry! Madam, by this time is furious. Of course the guy never called back.
I call the cell phone service provider for the third time. Again I’m on the phone for at least twenty minutes; again I get put on hold at least three times. End result, they can’t resolve the issue. They tell me to go to one of their stores (which, if you remember, was where I had started out in the first place in the morning) with the two phones. I leave the house ready to kill someone or at the very least make them suffer profoundly.
I get served by a very nice young woman who looks at me and says “Just switch the SIM cards.” We did that. It worked. So what the hell do they have technicians for?!?
I went home and finished the bottle of Vodka I had in the cupboard.
The next day I received an email survey from my cell phone service provider asking me about my “Customer Service experience”. Man if my response didn’t burn up the email wires nothing will.
So, this past week was rife with less than exemplary customer service experiences. Except of course for the police officer that gave me the speeding ticket, she was very efficient. Thankfully, there was no vodka involved in that incident.
I think I could write a book about everything that is going on in my life at the moment. But first I need to buy some more vodka.
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