EECB Succeeds Where Stupid Sony Techs Fail
Remember back when some individuals referred to good things as "da bomb?" They probably didn't have the Executive Email Carpet Bomb in mind, since Consumerist didn't yet exist, but they should have. Here's to re-branding "da bomb" as shorthand for the EECB. Just look at what it did for c0crusader, a spurned Sony laptop customer who used da bomb to shake Sony down for $99.
c0crusader wrote this complaint letter to Sony:
Dear Sir/Madam:
I purchased a custom configured laptop from SonyStyle - the VGN-SR190. Before placing this order I called Sony technical support to inquire about the availability of an HDMI port on the SR190. I was told by the tech agent that the base model did not have an HDMI output but if I upgraded the graphics card to the ATI Radeon 3400 it would make an HDMI port available, as is the case when upgrading the SR290 to the same graphics card. I relied on this information when configuring my laptop and expended $99 on the ATI Radeon 3400 graphics card. Again, the only reason I made this upgrade was because of the information provided to me by tech support regarding the availability of an HDMI port with this upgrade.
You can guess what happened next. I received the laptop and found that even with the upgraded graphics card the computer still did not have an HDMI port. I called customer service to voice my dissatisfaction about being given false information by tech support and requested an adjustment. Owen R. from the Billing Department denied my request for a credit for the price of the graphics card. After escalating the issue to Beverly W., I was informed that because there was no record of me having placed a call to tech support prior to ordering, there was nothing that could be done. But why would I ask for a record when simply calling to inquire about a product. I assume the information a Sony tech provides about Sony products is accurate and thus verifiable without any extra records.
So I decided to make an after-the-fact record. I called tech support again to inquire about the availability of the HDMI port on the SR190 if you upgrade to the ATI Radeon 3400. No surprise, I was again reassured that the SR190 came with an HDMI port when upgraded to the ATI Radeon 3400, this time by John from Tech Support. I made sure to get an Event Number this time. I called the Billing Department to ask for the credit and again the request was denied. The agent, Daniel (ID# 4978), was very rude and refused to accept the new Event Number as proof. He claimed he had no "authority over technical support," and could not do anything because Owen R. had already made a decision. He said that issuing a return label was all that Sony was willing to do.
Not content with the free return label to settle the matter, c0crusader dropped da bomb on 40 Sony executives and found immediate success:
Not a day later I starting receiving emails and phone calls from the executives. Suffice it to say they immediately refunded me the $99 and promised to investigate the tech training issue. Moral, ask for a record when calling tech support and when all else fails send an Executive Email Carpet Bomb — it really works!
Oh, EECB, how unhelpful corporate underlings wish we could quit you.
(Photo: adam reker)
Post a comment
Comments:
da bomb? really?
something tells me it just wont stick Phil, no matter how many times you throw it on the wall.
Who would even know to ask for an event number? I'm sure Sony execs have underlings that handle these sorts of things but even still, if you were an exec, would you be mildly irritated to see something like this hit your inbox. Can you imagine these 40 execs getting together for something else and all come to find out someone hit them all with the same message?
@solareclipse2: I'm not convinced that those emails actually reach CEOs. I think CEOs probably have e-mail addresses that are internal and aren't published or in directories, and the public email addresses are looked at by assistants.
@MostlyHarmless: I have Queen's "Under Pressure" stuck in my head. Just thought I'd share...at least it's a new song! :-D
@pecan 3.14159265: Thanks. Now I'm downloading it. It's all your fault. Thanks to you Apple now has another $.99 of mine...
@katstermonster: GGAAAAAHHHH!! Whoever is monitoring my connection is going to be very puzzled by why youtube is getting so many pings.
I take your "Under Pressure" and raise you an "You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie"
@solareclipse2: Yeah I've worked for att wireless and comcast (4 years ago) both places didn't have event numbers. If anyone ever asked for one we were just told to make one up. I usually just started with the date added three more random numbers to the end like 10202009011 or something. Only numbers we actually got cases were for payments.
@pecan 3.14159265: Really? I have that scene from "Clueless" stuck in my head, where the dude is shaving the guy's head at that party.
-"You look good my brotha'."
-"As will you!"
Well it looks as though Sony hasn't changed one bit. I went through a meltdown of a debacle in the summer of '08 with my Sony 800WT surround-sound DVD player. What a nightmare. From my first phone call to the center in Texas, it took phone calls, emails, and a complaint lodged with the Texas State Attorney General's Office to get things right. Well almost. These folks down in Texas are fricking moron's and cannot follow simple directions and logic. First I was sent a replacement DVD player for my original which I had sent. They replaced it with a thin, cheap, used, scratched player that I could have bought at a pawn shop for $20.00. They then told me that they had lost my original DVD player. After my complaint was lodged with the SAG, they found my old player. It took me over 90 days to finally receive my old player. AND they lost my remote which I had sent along with my DVD player in the first place. Of course when I called them about my remote a very poorly Anglais-speaking Mexican told me that I never sent my remote. WTF? Well of course I sent it with my original shipment because otherwise I would not be calling about it not being returned. Honestly this is the worst experience that I had ever had in such a situation. Next time I will take my player and other electronics to a local "joe" and pay more to have it fixed.
@solareclipse2: LOL,,per my message below about my issues with Sony, I now remember the "Event" numbers. Talking to those monkey's in Texas used to get me really riled up. I did some research to find exe e-mail addresses but I never did. Sony has their website created to "limit" your ability to contact only certain areas and at times, it's like a dog chasing its tail; you never get to where you want to go.
@DreamTheEndless: Death's little brother: ha! perhaps you should submit an invoice to her for the 99¢? I do that to my buddies when they infect my brain with a song, oddly no one has ever paid up.
"Here's to re-branding "da bomb" as shorthand for the EECB."
No.
So he got a free video card upgrade out of it, cause he didn't do his research to double check to make sure it had a HDMI port, and only took the word of tech support.
Technically that card does support HDMI, it just that they was no port.
So, he still has the computer and got $100.00 back.
I wouldn't have given this person anything back.
@katstermonster: Even worse than Under Pressure:
Ice ice baby ...Vanilla
Ice ice baby (oh-oh) Vanilla
Ice ice baby Vanilla
Ice ice baby Vanilla Ice
Yo man let's get out of here
Word to your mother!
Da Bomb?
Nahs. It's Off the hook!
Sick off the HOOK!
I humbly suggest that anyone that scores off of using Consumerist's EECB donate 10% of the saved value to the site. Or at least send several packets of oatmeal and an array of bagged tea packets.
@Colonel Jack O'Neill: Remind me to never buy anything from you. What sort of research do you expect him to do? He asks the company selling the product about the product, and relies on their answer about their own product. How is that not a reasonable level of research?
@katstermonster: MIchael Jackson's Thriller. It was on the radio Sunday morning and it's been stuck in my head ever since!
I did this with a rental dispute with a nationally franchised apartment complex. Found the name of the CEO and Lead Customer Service Person, and of course, cc:ed the BBB within the headquarters' jurisdiction.
@pecan 3.14159265: I had a problem with a brand new Maytag whirlpool in our brand new house. Got nowhere with tech support, techs came out several times, ordered wrong parts, etc. Etc. After three months of no microwave, I sent an EECB, and we had a new microwave installed 4 days later!
I got calls from several executive assistants, and two VP's. Even a month after we got a call making sure the new microwave was working well.
So, yes, EECB's work, and i'll be remembering this next time I have a problem. Except I won't be waiting three months.
Yeah, but if you are dealing with Dell and for some reason your system has been transferred to Europe permanently, it does absolutely NO good. Those well-meaning numbers just vaporize. I still swear by it - always thought it was fool proof, but I have been proven wrong.
I'm having a lot of issues with a Bravia TV and I think I'm to the point where I need to try an EECB, but I have not been able to locate on this site such addresses. Am I just not searching correctly on this site or do I need to be looking somewhere else (i.e., a different site).
@pecan 3.14159265: You'd be surprised. An EECB hit my company's CEO and trickled all the way down to me to take care of. It was the world's stupidest EECB too. A call to 1st tier customer service would have taken care of it, but this customer thought he was too good to talk to the "little people." You know how I solved the problem? A call to tier 1 customer service on behalf of the customer. EECBs should ONLY be used as a last resort, as was the case in this story.
@bassbeast: You could also record your calls - I think either here or lifehacker has tutorials for that. It's legal just about everywhere in the US, though keep in mind that in many states you have to alert the other party and give them the chance to refuse to talk with you on record.
@wox42: But if they inform you that they are recording you for "whatever purpose" you are also free to record. They have informed you so that gives implied permission. And almost every CS and Tech call comes with that kind of warning. Some states are single party notification states and you don't have to give any warning in those cases.
I'm HankLCD4E from SonyListens and I have read your issue. We would like the opportunity to review your situation. Please contact us at SonyListens@am.sony.com. Please include the model number and serial number of your unit, detailed information regarding the issue you are having, and your contact information, including your telephone number.
It's the moral of this story that should be bolded and blown up to 48 point type. I can't tell you how many headaches I've avoided by ensuring there's an interaction number and employee name for EVERY customer service call I make.
In fact, I take 30 seconds at the end of the call to say to the CSR that I'm making notes, here's what I wrote down, and is it accurate. Often, they will quote me what notes they entered on their end and I will type them out verbatim. Guarantees that nobody will make a mistake on any end if the company knows you're watching.