Here’s the strange, sad tale of Short-Tempered Tim at New World Video Direct in Brooklyn, NY. When Nicholas called NWVDirect a week or so ago with questions about an extended warranty for his new plasma TV, he got terse answers from a generally unhelpful man on the other end. The call was abruptly disconnected. Undaunted, Nicholas called back and got the same man, so he asked to speak to a supervisor, which is when things started to spiral out of control at the NWVDirect call center.
He said his name was Tim and he then placed me on hold for a supervisor. About 30 seconds later, someone picked up the phone and said, “This is Timothy, how may I help you?” To my surprise, this was still the same agent but he was obviously attempting to disguise his voice. So I asked if he was the supervisor and he said yes. I told him that I was just speaking to him and I would like to speak with his supervisor please. He then called out to someone and said, “Who transferred this call to me?” – apparently attempting to continue to act like he was the supervisor.? It was almost comical that he felt that I couldn’t notice that he was the same person. He was trying to speak to me in a deeper voice and it was very obvious he was trying to cover up what he was doing.
He then said let me transfer you back and before I could say anything I was transferred back to “Tim” the agent again. I then asked Tim or “Timothy” why he wouldn’t let me talk to a supervisor? He claimed he transferred me to one but I told him that he didn’t do a good enough job in disguising his voice and that I wasn’t thrown off by the name either!
Timothy the agent/”supervisor” became very belligerent at this point. He started yelling at me, telling me to “Fuck off” several times and using other inappropriate language. There was one point in the recording where he told me to come down to the store and speak to him face to face, as if to provoke a fight.
Okay, so that was just a bad phone call all around, but then when Nicholas emailed an official complaint to NWVDirect, he got the following response a few hours later:
Hello. The person who helped you originally on the phone did not do anything wrong until you asked to speak to his supervisor.It’s that simple.
Maybe he was a bit tuned during the call due to an email he was replying to, but he was answering your questions to the best of his ability.
Everything that was said after that was a result of this and is considered fruit of a poisonous tree.
Your email was NOT read. The subject line WAS read ONLY as we were expecting your email.
Please do NOT reply as it will not be read.
Thank you, Our apologies, Have a good New Year.
Okay, so that didn’t work. Nicholas next took his complaints online to avsforum, which prompted the owner of NWVDirect to get involved and post his own response on the forum in what seemed like a good-faith attempt to make things right:
Hello. My name is Charles Hamaoui. I am appalled and very concerned about the events surrounding the original thread with respect to what occured that evening.It was confirmed by me this call came in after normal working hours on the east coast. The employee that answered the telephone was completely inapropriate and indeed rude. As it turns out, our shorter staffed supervisors were not in the vicinity to overhear the call due to the time it arrived.
This is NOT a reflection of our Company and should be condsidered an isolated incident.
Nicholas and Charles spoke on the phone at some later point, where Charles told Nicholas that Tim had been fired and that he was sorry for the whole ordeal. He also sounded genuinely shocked when Nicholas read the “fruit of a poisonous tree” email back to him. Nicholas responded that Charles sounded suspiciously like a calmer version of Tim. The phone call ended without anything resolved. Later, Charles posted again to the avsforum, a portion of which appears below—and which seems to imply that the whole “firing Tim” thing was just something Charles said to placate an angry customer:
Hello Nickerz.Thank you for calling this evening. I hope we cleared the air a bit. I doubt it though.
You seemed vindictive and more concerned with finding out who sent the email and if that person is going to be fired or not.
Question, lets say this person had a bad day, made a mistake, and apologized. Lets say this was the job that supported his wife and kids.
Would you still be persistent on getting him fired? or move on and get your answers answered the correct way?
. . .
Charles
Charles posted again later, and came across as even more weary and exasperated. We think he’s sincerely trying to make things right, but maybe he’s in a customer service situation that’s beyond his ability to resolve—it’s not easy to put the fuck-you-cat back in the bag after Crazy Tim lets it out to someone who just purchased an expensive plasma TV and wants to protect that investment. So in the end, all we can say is we hope you enjoyed this tale of customer service gone awry—and if you want to buy A/V equipment but would also like good after-sale support, look elsewhere. Oh, and Charles, you may want to keep Tim away from the phones.
Both recordings are below for those of you who want to compare and weigh in on the Charles/Tim identity issue. (This writer thinks they’re different men.)
1st Call – “Timothy” (121 KB)
2nd Call – “Charles” (453 KB)
RELATED
“Extended Warranty – DON’T DO BUSINESS WITH NWVDIRECT.COM!!!”
(Thanks to Nicholas!)
(Photo: donwiss.com)
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NWVDirect is just another scammy 1-2 man gray market reseller of cameras and electronics, like PriceRitePhotos.
I don’t think most of the posters realize that the picture in this article is an actual picture of the NWVDirect “store.” There is no supervisor, only the one or two guys who run the show. Tim should be glad he wasn’t threatened with a beating or a broken leg.
Shops like these have been around forevver, and are completely untrustworthy. They regularly employ bait and switch scams, or offer fantastic prices on some camera, only to tell you it is “out of stock” when you refuse their high pressure upsell for outrageously overpriced add-ons and accessories.Once they have your money, nothing short of a chargeback will get it back from them, and the only time they offer anything remotely close to good customer service is when they think they’ll be getting (more) money out of you.
When they get outed as a rip-off or a scammer, they threaten lawsuits to get negative reviews removed from forums where they are “rated” and flood the forums with positive reviews via sockpuppet accounts.
If all of this fails, they simply change their name, change their eBay userID, and keep going. Anyone considering buying a “too good to be true” electronis deal from some “storefront” in New York should read this article first.
I bought something from a shady Brooklyn electronics company once. Fortunately, I didn’t fall for the upsell and I did end up saving about $500 on my purchase (which wasn’t a gray-market product), but NEVER NEVER NEVER AGAIN. Ever.
GAH! “Nicholas should be glad he wasn’t threatened BY Tim” is what my post should say.
Good Lord I need my coofee, the second link in my post should be to THIS article, not back to Consumerist.
@pylon83: Thirded. I worked in retail for five years in high school and college, and then at a call center for a stint in college, and never lost my polite facade, even though there were some frustrating, horrible, rude customers and I had my share of bad days.
@KJones: I like the way you think.
Finally, to me, “Tim” and “Charles” did sound exactly the same. I’m very suspicious, because the psychology behind “Charles”‘s answers when asked why he sounds like “Tim” and what their relationship is would indicate that he is lying (he waffles, gives one answer, clarifies, changes the answer slightly, doesn’t seem to really know what to say — that indicates he’s making it up on the spot).
Swearing at customers over the phone is NEVER excusable. That’s what mute buttons are for.
(Yes, I’ve worked in two call centers, and became a bridge trainer at each.)
@humphrmi: “Does he talk to his wife and kids that way?”
Trust me, with some of the customers that I get to deal with, unfortunately, Yes.
@fluiddruid: any retail employee that can’t control themselves while dealing with a customer needs to find another job. it’s not the customer’s fault that the employee had a bad day/week/month/life. it’s the employees job to deal with customers–no matter what. these employees should have some freaking restraint and find a ine of worked they are better suited for.
@Jim:
Do you remember this post?[consumerist.com]
@fluiddruid: I think there are situations in which a customer can reasonably want to know if a particular employee has been fired. I think those situations are more likely in personal services (if your doctor’s office has an abusive nurse, are you going back if she’s still there? Or if there’s any kind of problem or inappropriateness in people who handle any form of care for your child?). But I recall one store I shopped at where this one clerk kept sexually harassing me. I ABSOLUTELY want to know if and when he’s been fired and I think I have a pretty darned good reason, because I don’t go to the store to have my ass grabbed, thankyouverymuch.
As for the behavior, yeah, people have bad days, even at work, but I too am getting really tired of these CSRs who say “customers suck, so I shouldn’t be blamed for losing my temper.” Well, you know, some of my students suck. Some of my clients suck. Some of them can get downright abusive. But I don’t lose my temper at them. It’s just unprofessional … and it gets you fired or disciplined in most worlds.
@Eyebrows McGee:
I agree… customers who have been mistreated by an out of control employee need to know that appropriate action has been taken (fired/reprimanded etc. etc.). The whole “its not the customer’s business what diciplinary actions (or lack thereof) were taken” is BS! This sounds JUST like the excuse police dept’s use when one of their own gets in trouble for abusing his power. Its a way of “no accountability” that businesses & Police dept’s hide behind to protect their own.
Back in my college days I worked at Best Buy part time. The closest I ever came to going of on a customer was on black friday. The usual wall-to-wall people with questions no biggie. I had learned early that you just had to take the good with the bad. But this one guy almost got hammered by me. I worked in the PC software/videogames/movies dept., as I was walking back to the desk to bring out more copies of a game a guy starts whistling at me. Of course with all the noise and press of people I didn’t know who it was or even where they were. I just heard whistling. As I am walking back to the last person who asked me for help he grabs my hair and yanks my head back while screaming at me “didn’t you fuckin hear me whistling bitch”? I had hair down to my chest and it was pulled back into a ponytail. I am a guy BTW and about 6’2 and 250lbs.
I spun around on him and was about 2 milliseconds from dropping him when I realized it just wasn’t worth it. I called a manager over and we booted him from the store. He was screaming and throwing things the whole way out, really acting like a baby. We actually had to call the cops because he refused to leave the store property and kept trying to get back in the store. I was going to press charges but I just didn’t have the time to go to court with class and work.
Anyone see ABC’s Wife Swap season premier a few weeks back? There was that one vindictive jerk on the show named Ralph Guastaferro. He’s the kind of guy you’d see tanking his own business by treating his customers this way.
@Nemesis_Enforcer:
SHould have called the cops on that guy. He physically assaulted you. Yelling & rude behavior is one thing, but physical assault is where the line is drawn.
Sad thing is… depending on the severity of the assault… if its minor …cops will often do nothing unlessed really pressed. But if anyone even touches a cop…. well then it becomes the utmost of importance to arrest & prosecute. I have had police tell me to basically drop it & stop wasting their time after being physically assaulted by another person(more severe than hairpulling) when there were no obvious signs of assault (despite the amount of witnesses I had).
Dugg- this is hilarious
[digg.com]
@forgottenpassword: They were there and I explaind what happened with several witnesses. They said more than likely nothing would happen because there weren’t any physical signs. And I was just too busy to push it. He tried to come back to the store several times in the next week. Stupid thing was another BB was only about 8 miles away he could have went to..
@forgottenpassword: “But if anyone even touches a cop…. well then it becomes the utmost of importance to arrest & prosecute.”
There is a reason for that, though. Part of respecting the police/courts/whatever is that kind of stringently-applied enforcement when you break the rules towards the law-keepers. It’s like how if two kids in a classroom get in a fight and one slaps another, you might not even involve the principal’s office, but time-outs and apologies and whatnot. But if a kid slaps the TEACHER, there’s going to be a full-on disciplinary action, because part of a legitimate authority’s ability to command respect and compliance is built on a foundation of enforcement.
Not that some cops (and some teachers!) don’t abuse it. But there’s good reason to take violence against the people who enforce the law very seriously, because that’s really violence against the law itself.
One of the reasons I love the company I work for is that we don’t have to take it up the ass from anyone. This is the policy, period. Customer service isn’t going to change anything. They will say, we’re sorry you feel that way. Here’s a coupon for next time. I have taken my managerial mantra from them: “I’m sorry you feel that way. I’m sorry you feel that way. I’m sorry you feel that way.” Not: “I will now do whatever you want me to.” I have very rarely had my associates be rude to a customer, but when they do, it has always been because the customer was rude first. I have been told to fuck off by more people in the last four months…I will never understand why these people think they can talk to me in that manner, just because I choose to work in retail. I’m a manager. I make more money than they do, quite often! But since I work at a store instead of an office, they feel they can say whatever they choose.
Meh, that in really in response to many of the comments here, as opposed to this story. I have never been rude to a customer from the get-go, only when they start being rude to me. And I would never say something so inappropriate as “fuck off” though I have often had it said to me.
Fabulously, one of my associates responded to a customer in this manner:
“Have a nice day, sir.”
“Fuck off,” growled the customer.
Henry smiled the biggest, sweetest smile: “I hope you choke and die.”
Bold faced lie!
He asked if the employee still worked there but he did not come across as vindictive at all. “More concerned” as opposed to what? He was treated badly. What else was he supposed to be concerned with?
Of course he should still get fired! You don’t get to swear at and lie to customers just because you have a kid.
Now he’s blaming the customer. He called customer service. How is that not the “correct way” to get your questions answered?
From the forum
Now it’s a setup?!?!?
Seriously, this guy could have just said the employee is being disciplined and left it at that. Instead he wants to end up on Consumerist and PassiveAgressiveNotes.com
I love the reviews that begin:
BEWARE: BAIT AND SWITCH!
“Only order from retailers not based in Brooklyn” is my motto.
@Nemesis_Enforcer: Freakeh, the one time I nearly attacked a guy in my retail days was on Black Friday working at Target, with my middle-back-length hair (I’m a dude) also tied back. I think the lesson is clear.
Funny how the digg button covers up the expletive in the headline on the front page
@themediatrix: We get a “company” that calls for my boss EVERYDAY, called Gary’s Sales, well Gary is the only one who ever calls. I have only worked here for a few months, but have been told that these calls have been coming in for like the last seven years, and nothing has ever been purchased from Gary. He doesn’t push, he just doesn’t give up either.
@shch: That was my doing- didnt want to get censored
@JackieJoy: I don’t think you ‘making more money’ than your customers is something that makes you less deserving of poor treatment.
@EyebrowsMcgee
Exactly what part of the constitution makes cops privileged persons with rights in excess of us mere peasants?
Screw that.
Yes, let’s say this IS the job that supports his wife and kids.
Shouldn’t that make Tim a little more concerned about KEEPING that job? You know, by treating it carefully?
I’m just sayin’.
@Eyebrows McGee:
If cops want stiffer penalties for violence committed against them, then cops should get stiffer penalites for crimes cops commit against civilians.
Were I to slap a cop I would go to jail yet if a cop beat me for fun, he gets a slap on the wrist? That’s nonsense. A cop should get a stiffer sentence than I would for the same action.
With attitudes like that, cops deserve no empathy when one gets killed on the job. Cops only enforce the law, they are not the law unto themselves and they should stop living on a power trip.
@KJones: “then cops should get stiffer penalites for crimes cops commit against civilians.”
I think they should. Lawyers, judges, etc., too. They know the law and they’re charged with upholding it; breaking it is especially egregious when it’s a member of the law-and-order professions.
@kbarrett: I wasn’t making a constitutional or legal argument; just pointing out how authority actually functions in the real world. Sorry if that bothers you.
Or, to turn your argument around, why should it be bigger news when the president gets shot than when a drug dealer does? Because the president isn’t just some guy; he STANDS FOR the country, the law, whatever. An offense against him isn’t just an offense against him; it’s against the nation.
Um no. There’s no excuse for swearing and yelling at a customer. Ever. Even if the OP was Satan or that Devil Wears Prada woman, he’s not at fault.
This so NOT about customer service. It’s about Brooklynn BABY!!! LOL! The e-tail rip off capitol of the world!!!
I got ripped off and treated the same way by one of these rip off online sellers in Brooklyn last year. Guy sold me a $2500 refurb tv that was supposed to be new. I stopped payment on my VISA and got all these mob like phone calls. This guy could not have been more insulting, rude and unprofessional.
I had made the mistake of letting someone make a purchase in a hurry and then letting someone else sign for it without knowing what to look for.
This went on for a year. And your not going to believe this but VISA gave me the TV and my money back!!!!!! I got a free $2500 TV out of this *sshole! Was such sweet justice!
You can check out the net and reselleratings but these guys buy urls and change names so often it’s hard to keep up and not get ripped off.
Check out every page on tigerdirect. They have a disclaimer that basically says every product could be a refurb. And they won’t email anything otherwise. From what I’ve read they do the same thing.
The guy on the phone is the same guy. He’s just playing damage control. But all he’ll do is buy a new url and ftp his site to it and be up and running again in about an hour.
I’d love to meet the Chamber of Commerce of Brooklyn! LOL! That would be fun and/or funny.
The digg badge hovered over the colorful language on the main page. Is digg censor the consumerist?