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Thread: Customer Service Winners and Losers

  1. #16
    Senior Member AirtrafficController's Avatar
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    I developed a technical issue yesterday afternoon in which I was unable to connect to the Internet. After trying to resolve the issue myself, I called Linksys tech support to see if they could assist me since I had a linksys router. They were more interested in profit as they wanted me to pay for tech support since my warranty ended last month. I called Verizon, my internet service provider, and they were able to resolve my issue in 7 minutes and get me back online.
    A tale of two companies.
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  2. #17
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    I flew home on Sunday in a US A321, so naturally, I wanted to try Gogo (wi-fi). US was running a free 30 minute trial promotion as part of 30 days for DC. The internet pretty much sucked. We're talking .3 MBits down and like .8 up. I emailed their customer service, and was promptly given a free voucher for up to $17.95 of Gogo. Pretty awesome customer care. Today, I received another email from them, this one a mass email:

    Hello Gogo Customer,

    Yesterday, we experienced a temporary issue with our network that likely caused intermittent or very slow Internet connectivity during your flight. We have worked hard to correct the problem and we’re happy to report that the issue has been resolved.

    We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this might have caused during your travels. Below you will find a promo code to receive a free Gogo session on your next Gogo equipped flight.

    More free Gogo. That's customer service and making sure things are right. Thumbs up for Gogo.
    Adam Sheinhaus

  3. #18
    Senior Member Fighting_falcon_51's Avatar
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    I've had a great experience with two companies recently.

    Cameta Camera (Amityville):
    So yesterday I go to put my 32GB Trascend SD card in my camera and it wasn't "clicking" in, I take it out to put it back in and it still wont fit properly. I take my maglite and I look inside and a shard from the card is stuck in the ejecting mechanism. I was able to get piece of the SD card out with a pin and some compressed air but the card was toast. Today I brought it to Cameta Camera and explain what happened and the associate looked at the damaged card, went to the shelf and grabbed me a new one and gave it to me. No hassle, no BS. Not the type of service you would get at Best Buy or trying to RMA something online.

    Duracell: âA couple of weeks ago I went to use one of my flashlights and when I was done using it smoke started coming out of it and it started to melt. I took it outside and it turned out the cells were expanding. I cooled it down, took pictures and then I threw the cells out. I sent Duracell the pictures and explained what happened and a CSR emailed me and said they were going to mail me a coupon for a free pack of batteries and other P&G products. I received it along with an envelope to return the damaged batteries. When I emailed them that I threw the damaged cells away they said no problem and they wanted to know the price of the flashlight to reimburse me.
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  4. #19
    Administrator PhilDernerJr's Avatar
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    Chase Bank finds new ways to serve up fecal sandwiches.

    I mysteriously received a new debit card in the mail, 5 years before my current one expires...odd. Nothing in the envelope explains why.

    I call Chase and the first rep says it was due to a breach of security and I am passed to a fraud rep. Fine, cool, let's see what happened. The fraud rep tells me that my card was compromised because Visa accessed my information. What? It's a Visa debit card, aren't they supposed to have my information? The woman, clearly reading from a script, talks about the security process. I know the process, and I actually do feel safe with Chase's security, but I just want to know what happened.

    Then I got angry, because I asked her "Wait a second...who has my information?" Her answer was "Yes," which isn't even a possible answer to me question, and the woman was still just not giving me info....with big pauses in between everything I said, which I assume is so she could find what she needed to read to me next. I asked for another rep, saying it didn't need to be a supervisor but just someone else, and she interrupted me, glad to put me on to a supervisor.

    The supervisor explained finally that Visa found the breach, but they have no additional info. A letter should have been in the letter that came with my card, but I didn't receive one. After requesting one, they said it is impossible for them to send out another letter (which shocks me), and that I need to go into a branch to learn more.

    I was fine with the fact that I at least received some information, but I wanted to share that I was bothered that I had no idea that my card was compromised, and that I didn't know that I should be expecting something as important as a debit card int he mail to replace my current one. I explained that, and saying that I suggest they modify their procedures with regard to their mailing process, and she says "Mr. Derner, here at Chase Bank, security is important us, and we monitor your account 24/7 with..." which was not only, again, from a script, but didn't even pertain to, and therefore basically ignores, everything I had just said.

    What a waste.

    So...does anyone know of any banks out there that actually value their customers' business?
    Email me anytime at [email protected].

  5. #20
    Senior Member yankees368's Avatar
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    There's a bank that values its customers? It's funny, I just switched from BoA to Chase for pretty much this exact story.
    I kept getting new debit cards issued to be from BoA, which was annoying. They never tell you where the breach is occurring, so even if it's at the same restaurant you frequent often, you will never know.
    Anyway, about a month after being issued a brand new card, I see a $500 purchase at Aerosoles.com, obviously not me. Call up, but I can't dispute it because the charge was still pending. Also find out that there was an $800 charge from QVC which was denied...only because all my money was already gone.
    BoA never alerted me, never stopped any (very) odd purchases, and just let me account bleed dry.
    And then there's Aersoles. They obviously had all the info of the person who frauded me, but refused to either cancel the order (which would protect themself, as well), or divulge the persons info.
    So, here I am. New bank, never doing business with Aersoles.
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  6. #21
    Senior Member megatop412's Avatar
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    I just had that new credit card thing happen a couple months ago. I think it was BoA. Had the same experience, some poorly-trained and poorly-trained sap reading from a script. It's the WORST when you ask a question and they just repeat a part of the script. Having worked as a call center supervisor I have had to take many escalated calls like that. The only thing worth doing in those situations if I couldn't explain something to their satisfaction was to assure the person I would personally research their issue and get back to them, as well as give them my direct extension. You know, basic human decency(and that wasn't even a banking environment).

  7. #22
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    Phil Chase totally SUCKS ASS if you want a great banking experience TD Bank has been really great for me. I was originally with Commerce even better then TD acquired them. Not as many branches as Chase but worth it just the same, give um a try !

  8. #23
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    I recently had a run-in with American Airlines, and the situation was an example of both good and bad customer service. I'll try to keep this as short as possible ...

    In June, I had an assignment in Spain, and booked American. The routing would be BWI-JFK-MAD-JFK-BWI, with the BWI-JFK-BWI segments being operated by AmericanEagle. I got a great Y fare, very competitive for summer travel. So far, so good.

    When the day of travel came around, the AmericanEagle experience at BWI was standard. Flight boarded on time, took off slightly late, and arrived nearly 30 minutes early into JFK, thanks to a 32-minute flight, a long block time, and a miraculously short taxi at JFK. Once we got into T8, we had slightly less than two hours to kill before our MAD departure.

    Upon arriving at the gate area, it became apparent that my JFK-MAD flight would be full or nearly full. A quick conversation with one of four (!) agents at the podium confirmed that the flight was, in fact, full in both cabins. Anyway, things were still running smooth at this point. The inbound aircraft had arrived more or less on time, and was in the process of being serviced and refueled. However, as boarding time drew closer, it became apparent that the flight would not board on time, and that there was likely to be a departure delay.

    Many of the passengers appeared to be Spanish, and apparently many were connecting in Madrid. Once our scheduled departure time passed by, and it was clear that we were not going to arrive on time in Madrid, (with no announcement by any of the agents, by the way), hordes of angry Spanish passengers approached the gate agent inquiring about connections. To make matters worse, the four gate agents that had once been at the podium had scattered, leaving one poor agent there to take the fall.

    This is where American's customer service really broke down. The agent could have made things much easier for herself if she made an announcement, at least updating the passengers on an estimated departure time, or giving a reason for the delay. The first semi-detailed announcement made was at 8:30 pm, nearly two hours after scheduled departure. She said that a maintenance crew was "working on" the plane, and that operations would "make a decision" around 9:00 pm. The latter comment sounded very ominous, and, being that I had somewhere to be the next afternoon, a cancellation would not have made me happy. So I pulled out my phone and tweeted @AmericanAir.

    This is where I have to applaud American for their customer service - within minutes, I had received a detailed response from @AmericanAir, citing a maintenance delay, giving an estimated departure time, and promising to keep me updated. It was a promise that they followed through on. Every time the flight's status or ETD changed, which I observed on the gate's FIDS (the agent, again, made no announcements during a status change), @AmericanAir would tweet me, relaying the information.

    Finally, at around 10:00, 3.5+ hours after scheduled departure time, we began to board. In the nearly four hour fiasco, the lone agent had made only about two announcements relating to the delay. I appreciate that she may have been overwhelmed, but you'd be hard pressed to tell me that it's impossible to make an announcement to a full plane of passengers when faced with a delay.

    Once onboard, the captain came over the PA and gave a detailed description of why the flight was delayed, and also apologizing for the breakdown in communication. Turns out that one of the exit door emergency slides' inflation mechanism was showing a low pressure reading, and it was a lengthy process to replace and retest the mechanism. To me, that's a perfectly good reason to delay the flight. It wasn't the delay that made me angry, it was the lack of information during the delay. American's JFK staff had an opportunity to impress (or at least mollify) customers that night, and they failed. It was American's Twitter team and the flight crew that really rallied, and salvaged the entire experience.

    The crew on the MAD-JFK sector made up for any shortcomings, though.

  9. #24
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    ON the banking thread:
    I dumped BofA for the same reason a lot of you all did: I kept getting new debit and credit cards – sometimes at the rate of once every several weeks. I figured that if they kept losing my information at a rate of every other month that they were doing a piss-poor job of keeping it safe. Switched to US Bank, haven’t had a problem since.

    On to airlines:
    First, the loser:
    Delta Skyclub JFK T2
    As many of you know I recently went to Ethiopia to cover ETH’s first 787 delivery. It was pretty awesome, but we’ll just say that the process of getting there, staying there, and getting back was not exactly – well – smooth. So knowing that I could be in for a (potentially mis)adventure I figured that I’d at least pick up my own tickets from Dulles back to Seattle. Having a Skyclub pass that I’d very much wanted to use I bought tix on Delta and routed through JFK – figuring that no matter how wrong things went I’d at least have that pass to look forward to (everything ended up going well, but trust me when I say that was not at all clear when I left Dulles several days earlier). I ended up utilizing the pass at the skyclub at T2 (probably my first mistake)…I wanted to go to T3 but didn’t have enough time and my plane left from T2 anyways. In any case, I walked up to the desk and presented my pass. A very disinterested person at the check-in counter took it, looked at the pass, then looked at me, then back at the pass. She asked me where I got it from, with a tone suggesting that perhaps I should not have had it and maybe mugged someone somewhere to get it. I told her, and she asked for my boarding pass – which I discovered I had left on my last flight. She printed a new one for me but not without adding a sort of unnecessary quasi lecture about not losing them. Then, seemingly reluctantly, she stamped the pass and let me in. I did not get the impression I was welcome. Continuing in the service experience a bit later I could not figure out what the wireless network was and after looking around for something that would tell me gave up and approached the same checkin desk staff. They were talking amongst themselves and after trying to interject to get my question through they tersely told me which network it was and then proceeded to go right back to their conversation. Perhaps they were that way with everyone, I don’t know, but I did not get the impression that my presence was welcome…or at least that they had better things to do than deal with me. Needless to say they left a negative impression that contributed to feeling as though I wasted my pass. At least I made off with a few handfuls of Biscoff cookies (I adore them).

    Second, the winner:
    Pinnacle / Delta Flight 4150 IAD-JFK
    In direct contrast to the disappointing experience I had minutes after completing this flight, this one went very well – even with a delay. And it was pretty much all related to one very professional, very cheery, very awesome flight attendant. One: she greeted everyone warmly as they board the CRJ2. It was obvious she enjoyed her job and was happy to be at work today. Two: after the first delay (engine wouldn’t turn over) she kept communication lines open – she was honest with her information and went up and down the aisle as we returned to the gate (granted it was small) talking with each passenger and assuring them personally that everything would work out. “Well sir, you might miss your flight, yes, but let me see if I can check the gate for you in New York…and if that doesn’t work out you’ll go here at the terminal to schedule the next available one.” She even found an interpreter for some very concerned limited English folks on board (something I feel strongly about, so major bonus points there). Third: once the mx problem was fixed we missed our slot, and weren’t informed that there’d be an additional 35 min delay until after we left the gate…she went up the aisle taking drink orders and giving out snacks while we sat in the middle of nowhere at IAD – once again checking on gate info and helping passengers who might be in a fix to craft a plan upon arrival. Overall it was obvious that she enjoyed her job, and it was really great to see someone not just handling a delay well but really taking control of it and excelling. I was very impressed with how friendly, how professional, and how helpful she was from start to finish with everyone on board. I admit the CRJ200 factor played a role in how realistic that level of service was, but even still…she truly left a solid impression on me. If only the SkyClub would hire people like her.

  10. #25
    Senior Member seahawks7757's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pgengler View Post
    Oh hey, a captive audience for my Orbitz story!

    In April 2010 I booked a flight through Orbitz from Newark to Rome for our honeymoon. The online process didn't have a step for picking seats, and we ended up with seats in completely different parts of the plane. I called Orbitz that same day and asked if they could change the seats to get us together, which they did...sort of. The website reflected the new seats, with a "These seats are confirmed" message. So imagine my surprise when I get to the airport for checkin and we're assigned to the original seats.

    At that point, there were only two seats together left on the plane, which we took. [They were terrible seats, right next to the mid-cabin lavs and in front of a row with enough legroom that people would cut through but not enough room to do that without banging into the back of our seats. It was a miserable flight.]

    While we were waiting to board the plane, I called Orbitz. I got some runaround about how "sometimes the airline needs to change the seats", without getting any attempt at an explanation about how they ended up being the exact seats we originally had (same for the return flight) or any explanation of how "These seats are confirmed" actually meant something more like "Some seats are confirmed."

    In short: Orbitz is terrible and no one should ever use them. Whenever someone asks me about what site they should use to book a flight, I get to tell this story to get them to use somewhere else. So, good job guys.

    I hate to say it but that is what you get for booking through one of those sites, if you find the deal on that site, look on the airlines site as it should be there too. The airlines don't honor the seats you select 9 times out of 10 cause you didn't book it from the airline them selves.
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