Our tipster writes:

If you aren’t aware, Asus makes an estimated 1 in 3 computer main boards sold globally and in addition to their own brand of products also provide system boards to a number of major OEM builders such as HP/Compaq and Dell. In January, AsusTek split into three separate entities – Asus, which deals primarily with Asus-branded PCs and laptops including the wildly popular EEE PC, ‘Pegatron’, which handles the motherboard business (though we keep the Asus brand name on them), and ‘Unihan’, which handles many of the other non-PC related Asus product line. As a result, each entity was suddenly responsible for its own profitability. No biggie, right? Well, as most of your readers know, customer service and support play a key role in the buyer experience. Given that so many products are similar in specification and performance these days, often it’s the after-the-sale support that can mean the difference in long term repeat business and losing a customer.

Not long after the company split, management began obsessing over numbers, and how to make what is normally an accepted expense (customer support) profitable. It was determined that the new company, ‘Pegatron’, would charge the parent company (Asus) for each technical support phone call, email, or live chat session that was received and responded to. While I cannot attest to the actual dollar amount charged for each call, I do know that phone calls generate the most income, followed by live chats, then emails. Ok, you say, no big deal, how does that affect me? Well, that’s what I’m about to show you, with 10 steps anyone can take in an attempt to get the best possible support by circumnavigating the games played with customers to generate revenue.

1. If you need technical support for any Asus product CALL.
Do NOT send an email, and use the live support feature at your own risk. A single phone call generates more revenue for the company than a couple of Live Support sessions, and more revenue than half a dozen email responses. As a result, nearly ZERO emphasis is placed on answering them, and emails are often replied to with canned ‘cut and paste’ responses which may not be relevant to your case.

2. Best Times For Calling With Low Hold Time
When calling, there are times that give you the best chances to get through with a minimal hold time. Since the support center is based in the Eastern Time Zone, and the best time to call is before 12 noon EST. The very best days to call are Tuesday through Thursday. From Noon-6pm hold times can be somewhat lengthy, as by that time working hours are in play nationwide. At any given time there are only 8-10 staff to take phone calls (yes, we’re grossly understaffed), email queries and answer Live chats. The U.S. office supports all of North America including Canada as well as Western Europe. That translates into a very heavy call volume for a small amount of people.

3. We're stressed, don't take it personally
If the representative you speak to seems curt, ill tempered, or rude, it’s not on purpose, nor personally directed toward you. All support representatives are instructed to strive for taking 70 calls per day. When you factor in a lunch hour and 2 fifteen minute breaks it leaves 450 minutes in a day. For us to reach our goal, we must be off the phone with you in 6.42 minutes. We aren’t supposed to care that it’s the tenth time you’ve called us (which isn’t toll free), or that you can’t stay on long enough to accurately even describe your issue.

4. Can I take a message?
We have recently adopted ‘messaging’ in order to achieve an objective from management that all incoming calls be answered in 60 seconds or less. To that end, we have hired a few people from temp services to answer calls, and when we experience a heavy load, they take your name and number with the promise of a return call. While calls are returned, it may take hours, if not days to get a return call. This serves three hidden purposes. If we message your call, we get paid for taking it even though no support was rendered. When we call you back, we get paid again for making a call. And currently, management has contests running offering cash rewards for most calls handled by a person during the month. Guess what? If we take a message, call you back once or twice, or you yourself call back out of frustration, we may get paid 2 or 3 times before you can speak with someone, all in the name of bonus money.

5. Don't get through? Call back in 10 minutes
If you do get ‘messaged’, you’re better off calling back in 10 or 15 minutes if you have the time. While messages should be returned within 2 hours, it’s often not the case, and generally messaging is done only long enough to clear the incoming call queue, so it’s unlikely you’d be messaged twice in that amount of time. (unless someone is intentionally messaging you, then calling back to generate more revenue and a chance at a nice cash bonus)

6. Write down your case number. Really.
When you FINALLY reach someone, you will likely be assigned a case number. This is a good thing, as it will document the nature of the call and enable someone qualified (hopefully, more on that later) to answer your questions. If you already have a case number, please state it when you first begin your conversation, it will give the technician more time to troubleshoot your problem.

7. It's just like in a game, except not fun
There are 3 ‘levels’ of tech support. Level 1 technicians primarily answer the phones and generate case numbers. There isn’t much point in trying to go into detail about your problem, as most will have a better grasp of basket weaving than solving PC issues. They will most likely transfer you to our level 2 support, where the fun begins. Many of our representatives are competent enough to handle your questions, but if you EVER question the accuracy of the advice you are getting, you can request to be connected to the top tier of support (Level 3) at ANY time.

8. We have the long-term memory of a snail
The reason you may wish to ask for Level 2 or 3 support immediately is this: Pegatron/Asus offers zero informational training about Asus products – past, present, or future. Typically we are not aware that a new motherboard/router/PDA has hit the street until we start getting calls about it. There is no ‘informational meeting’, no product info cheat sheets, or anything of the sort offered to the support team. Normally, the more senior members are tech-oriented, and stay up to date from home, so your chances improve greatly of getting the help you need by asking for a higher tier. Sadly, even some Level 2 agents are lacking basic skills and cannot help you with BIOS settings, RAID setup, installation of an operating system and so forth, nor will they know offhand the specs of the latest and greatest boards.

9. There is no such thing as a ‘known issue’.
Every company that has every produced a physical product has occasionally put out a junk product. We are under direct orders not to confirm ANY problem as a ‘known issue’, EVER. It doesn’t matter if every single model ‘X’ PDA plays ‘Jingle Bells’ every time you turn it on, it’s not a ‘known’ issue and we will not admit to one. If you happen into one of these products that turns out to have ‘known issues’, calling tech support won’t get you anywhere. We will offer to exchange it for an identical product only, which is just as likely to have the same ‘nonexistent’ issue. Since Asus does not sell direct to the public, you won’t be getting a refund either. Sad, but true, so you may wish to browse a few forums and seek outside input before considering any purchase.

10. Merchant refunds and returns are your special friend
If you do have a problem with a new Asus product and are within the return or exchange window offered by your reseller (often 14 to 30 days), don’t waste your time calling us. Simply return the defective product for an exchange or refund. Generally speaking, returning a product to Asus (motherboards in particular), can mean a 2-3 week wait before you see your board returned to you. In addition, it’s likely a refurbished motherboard which likely underwent no extensive testing before being dropped into a Fed Ex box and sent back to you. There is a separate department on the repair floor to handle 2nd and 3rd time returns, and once you’ve reached that level, you r chances of getting a tested board improve marginally. However, these boards won’t be cleaned, and may have thermal paste, grease, smudges, fingerprints, etc on them. It’s no fun to invest $300 in a new top of the line board, only to have an issue with it and get one back that looks like Timmy kicked it down the street for half a mile before putting it in your box. Not fun.

11. BONUS!!!!!
If you do weave your way through the Asus maze and find a helpful soul on the other end of the phone, don’t bank on he or she being there if you need them in the future. We have experienced close to 100% turnover in the past year, and those who remain are constantly threatened, both verbally and via email (proof available upon request, Ben) that they will lose their jobs for failure to make objectives. Sad, yes, but painfully true.

Do you have any tips for dealing with Asus, or Asus tech support stories to share? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

2. There are almost never any sick days in the restaurant business. A busboy with a kid to support isn't going to stay home and miss out on $100 because he's got strep throat. And these are the people handling your food.

3. When customers' dissatisfaction devolves into personal attacks, adulterating food or drink is a convenient way for servers to exact covert vengeance. Waiters can and do spit in people's food.

4. Never say "I'm friends with the owner." Restaurant owners don't have friends. This marks you as a clueless poseur the moment you walk in the door.

13. Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will cook your dinner right away. So while you're chitchatting over salads, your entrées will be languishing under the heat lamp while the dishwasher is spraying industrial-strength, carcinogenic cleaning solvents in their immediate vicinity.

Check out Readers Digest's article for the full list.

We can think of no better time to abide by the Golden Rule then when eating at a restaurant. On two occasions, I actually exited a restaurant before the food was served because I felt that I had displeased the staff and feared their retribution. After reading these confessions, I think my instincts were dead-on.

13 Things Your Waiter Won't Tell You [Reader's Digest]
(Photo: Getty)

1) When possible, Verizon buries the "drop line" (single fiber that leads to your house) - smart, right? No. Usually they're only buried 6 inches underground, and typically with no conduit or protection beyond the insulation around the fiber itself. Dig and break the fiber? Whoops, that might cost you a few thousand dollars to reconnect if the junction is too far away! Did we install your fiber connection over the top of the lid to your septic system and you can't have it pumped out? Better call us and pay out the ass (ho ho!) to have it moved.

2) We are only supposed to support setting up a wireless router if it has line of sight to your computer. That's right, within the same room. My trainer said their are exceptions you have to make, such as if your install tech stuck the thing up in a cupboard or strapped it to the optical box we install, but otherwise out of luck.

So, PRO TIP: if you want help with wireless, "yes, my router is in the same room as the computer" or "but the Verizon tech installed it that way" will be required verbiage for help from us if you're a normal person that wants to use wireless IN OTHER ROOMS!

3) If we determine you have an in-house wiring fault causing your home phone to not work (only fiber up to our optical box, you still have copper wiring in your house) our repair techs cost $90 just to show up - just to roll up to your house! and then $180 an hour. So if we talk about calling "copper repair" and you don't have a wiring service plan, hang the hell up and find a local guy.

4) One good thing is that FiOS agents have no barrier to the DRC, the people that control dispatches. In DSL, if your truck tech just up and left, or knocked and ran, you're screwed. FiOS agents can call directly and find out if your tech left to do an off-premises repair or get a tool and when he'll be back, or turn a "no access" dispatch around if a lazy tech didn't knock hard enough.

(Photo: davidbivins )

Inflating Home Appraisals: Buyers could borrow enough to cover closing costs, but ended up owing more than the house is worth.

Flipping Loans: Moving unqualified buyers to loans that don't require documentation, knowing they couldn't afford it

Coaching: Brokers told buyers to overstate or even double their stated income in order to qualify for loans.

Watch the clip, inside...

[via Today Show]

Checking

The Wamu Free Checking acct gets 3c per swipe for Debit Rewards. The total occurred from all your swipes gets credited to the account on the anniversary date of the account opening or being converted to a Wamu Free Checking.

If you have the old Free Checking account which doesn't have debit rewards, or any other kind of checking for that matter, it can be upgraded by the 1-800 number. Filipino bankers are unable to process that request but a US based banker or supervisor can, and it will be switched within 1 bus day.

ATM's

ATM deposits can be a lot more difficult that in-store deposits. ATM deposits are ALWAYS placed on hold, not 80% of the time. First $100 immediately available, then the rest above $100 goes on hold. BIG TIP! If you want it all available, make separate deposits of $100 (if its cash you’re depositing). If the deposit is made after 3PM PST, or 1PM CST, it will be on hold 2 business days, if before, 1 business day. If it is ever placed on hold longer, that will be because our risk operations department, who review the deposited item scans, cannot properly verify the item, and they will adjust it to 5-7 bus day hold. If you do the deposit in the branch all this trouble can easily be avoided.

We CAN usually see the item deposited. Just call the 1-800 number and ask, if the banker says they cannot, ask for a supervisor. We can. If it's a cash deposit, and it's still on hold, the supervisor can remove the hold immediately if we can pull it up in the system.

Our ATMs do have a fee for customers of 3rd party banks. It is $2 in most states and is increasing to $3 shortly.

Fees

The puppy commercial is horribly wrong. The 1 overdraft/NSF fee waiver is automatic and you don’t have to call/stop in the branch to get it waived. The commercial makes it seem like we will waive all overdraft fees, and we wouldn’t be a bank that way would we.

Overdraft charges depend on state because it depends on state laws and the average market going rate of an overdraft fee as far as other competing banks go. This depends on what state you OPENED the account. For example, California is $33, Texas is $27 for the first 5 fees occurred in the rolling year cycle, then $35 for all above the 5 mark.

You can only get courtesy fee waivers from the branch the account was opened at, or the 1-800 number by speaking to a supervisor ONLY. If it’s a bank error anyone should be able to waive it. At the 1-800 number courtesies are judged from an internal checklist. The account has to be opened for at least one year, have no returned deposit within the last 90 days, or have any kind of block on the account for account abuse/deposit fraud etc. The account cannot have had a fee waiver between the time you are calling and the last anniversary date of the account opening. As long as everything checks out we go by a typical grid to determine how many fees:

$0-$3000 - gets one fee waiver (such as OD/NSF/SERVICE)
$3000 - $5000 - gets two fee waivers
$5000 - $10000 - gets three fee waivers
$10000 or more - gets four fee waivers

Fees that cannot be waived unless bank error:
$100 legal fee (when levies etc hit account)
$10 Excess activity fee (for breaking the rules of Regulation D in a savings/money market acct)
$12 Return Deposit Item Fee - because that would mean an RDI within last 90 days.

There is a little-known secret about overdraft fees too. You will only get one if your CURRENT balance goes overdrawn. If you have a deposit hold for example, the account available balance will go overdrawn but your current balance won’t, so any debit card transactions that post will not charge the account unless they take the current balance over too. Now this doesn’t work for checks or electronic debits. If the funds aren't available with the overdraft protection, they WILL get rejected based on the available balance and charge an NSF fee.

The overdraft transfer service can bite you in the ass, because it goes by your AVAILABLE balance, unlike overdraft protection. If your available balance slips the system will kick in and transfer the amount you went overdrawn plus $12 fee from your savings. Because it goes by your available balance, ANYTHING that affects your available balance will ding the service if it goes below zero. If a merchant charges you incorrectly for example, and it pends against your account and takes the account overdrawn, it will activate overdraft transfer, but if the merchant doesn’t carry through with the authorization and debit the account, you’re out $12.

Check Holds

It doesn’t really matter what the check is, it will be placed on hold depending on:
A) The amount (Anything over $5,000 is typically held longer)
B) Recent overdrawn activity
C) Recent return deposit item activity
D) Whether it is in-state or out-of-state
Nice branch managers will call the other bank to verify the check, so that they can release it all for you. It is manager discretion at the branch to release any deposit hold.

Here's some extra tips:

-All US bankers go home by 10PM PST. Supervisors after this point are all in the Philippines, and don't have as much power as US supervisors. When you call during US banker hours ALL supervisors are American.

-We will fedex a replacement debit card free within 2 business days if you say that you are traveling within a week and say your card is lost/stolen.

-If a banker accesses your account, they leave a record of their employee ID and activity. If someone is pissing you off, make sure they at least give you your balance (so they live a mark), then speak to a manager to file a complaint. When we do this, we send an email to their manager.

-Even if a supervisor doesn't resolve your situation, you can go higher. Contact the executive response team. They can bend the rules further than the above fee guidelines also.

-Other banks ATM machines will cause a $2 balance inquiry fee if you use it to check your balance. Don't do it! Just pick up the phone and call instead, it's free.

PREVIOUSLY: 36 Confessions Of A WaMu Banker

I worked at BOA for about a year and half, first as a Teller and second as a Personal Banker, here is what I learned in that time -

5. We cannot do anything for you over the phone, so don't ask.
Don't call asking for your balance, or transfers, or pretty much anything. We aren't supposed to do it. That's what the 1-800 number is for. So to save you time and headache, don't call your local bank, unless you know someone there really well and they break the rules for you.

4. I'm only allowed to refund fees if the system allows, otherwise it's my job on the line.
Ah yes, a matrix, every customer's favorite word. Yep, we use a matrix to determine if you deserve a fee. If the system says no, tough. Sometimes I can make exceptions, but then I get "friendly" emails and talks with management. So basically I don't care if you're a single mother, elderly widow, or blind, you can't have a refund. The system keeps track of how often you ask and who you talked to. So if one banking center tells you no, don't go to another center, they'll tell you no as well.

3. Holds happen on deposits and there isn't much we can do about it.
Yep, BOA will put holds on deposits. And the best part is, generally we don't verify funds with other banks (privacy concerns) so you just have to wait it out. The teller is supposed to notify you, but sometimes they don't. Don't ask a personal banker to release the funds, we can't do anything about it. Also just so you know, BOA charges accounts based on largest amounts first. So if you go out on Friday and buy a TV for $700 and then food for $10, (an you only had $700 in your account) the $10 will get the fee, and your debit card will not get rejected, so it will keep working. And then you are stuck looking at point 5 on this list.

2.Honestly I don't know that much about loans.
This may come as a surprise, but most personal bankers (unless they've changed the policy since I've left) only have 1 week of loan training. Yes, one week, which means most personal bankers know basically nothing about the loans they are selling you. Yes you'll find some that do (and definitely look for these people) but generally no, we know nothing. The training consists of a few hours of explaining each type of loan is, and then sales training. Its odd that a bank would provide "loan" training by basically providing sales training. And when you are in states with difficult loan laws (Texas' home equity loans) its about impossible to understand in 8 hours (which is how long my training lasted on HELOC's and HELOANS). Also to tie into this a couple of things - auto loans rates are generally lower at pretty much every other financial institution in the US. And the banking centers do not handle auto loans, so don't ask them. And finally understand that personal bankers are expected to sell a loan of some type to every person that comes in the bank.

1. I'm not actually here to help, I'm here to sell you something.
This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has visited a banking center recently, but a personal banker's job is not to provide customer service first, its to sell products. BOA actually views their banking centers more as retail stores, than actual "service" providing banks. If you come in to cash a check and you don't have an account, expect a full out sales blitz. If you have a checking account but no savings, look out. And if you even as so much glance at the loan rates, be ready because we will try to offer you every loan product in the book. If you are a student (or look under 30) I'll try to sell you a credit card. Basically you are nothing more than a generic customer waiting to be sold a product, not a person here for the services the bank offers. BOA does not offer services, only "products."

(Photo: Getty)

"I've been reading the Consumerist for a long time and I absolutely love it. I'd like to provide some insight about my job, as a manager at Kmart, and what I've learned about the company since the merger."

1. The cashiers and service desk people are not properly trained.
The turnover in this area is astronomical, and we usually stick them out there with little to no training. So when they don't know about prices, sales, special offers, or even how to deactivate EAS tags, it's not their fault; they probably don't know any better.

2. We have a very small budget.
This is why you can never find anyone in a Kmart. The few employees you may encounter are running around, trying to put out product, marking things down, and resetting counters. Customer service should be the most important thing, but it rarely is.

3. The mystery shop is king.
Our bonuses, raises, and pretty much everything else are dependent on our mystery shop scores, not how many complaints we get or how hard we work.

4. No one gets their performance review anymore.
The store manager is, in so many words, instructed to not rate people too highly because they would get raises, and the company can't afford that. So the manager rates them a 2 out of 5, skips the review part of the process, and the employee gets nothing. It's not about their actual performance. It's all about saving money.

5. We still don't know what to do with your stimulus check.
We got an email around the time of the press release, and a few flyers, but we would probably give you a blank stare if you came in with your check and wanted your 10% extra. A black hole exists between corporate and the front line managers, through which little information passes.

6. When you call the 800 number, you're talking to an outsourced call center employee.
They email your complaint to the store manager, who probably already talked to you before you left the store. You will never talk to a district manager or someone in corporate. So you might as well take the 10% discount we give you in the store for complaining, because you won't get anywhere with the number.

7. We hate Sears just as much as you do.
When we have to call them, they are just as rude to us as they are to you. There is no corporate culture, no meeting of the minds...and we can't use our employee discount at 90% of their stores.

8. Sears credit cards are HORRIBLE.
Corporate pushes them on us and sends us nasty emails when we don't get so many applications per customer. We are forced to ask you to fill one out. Upper management and the cashier receive a (very) small commission on every approved application, but the only reason we ask is because we have to.

9. The stores are dirty because they don't give us money
...to replace fixtures, the leaking ceiling, the horrible bathrooms, or even decent cleaning supplies. We scrub shelfs with window cleaner because we aren't allowed to order new fixtures or take anything off the shelf that might actually clean anything. That costs money, you see.

10. Corporate just restructured the Loss Prevention position.
Most of our security personnel, who had been with the company for years, were terminated. This is a huge liability problem for our employees and our customers. Expect higher prices in the future as people steal us blind.

Hope this helps,

A Very Disgruntled Manager

(Photo: Getty)

A commenter to our Worst Company in America nominations picked Best Buy, his employer of six years, to win it all. His reasons, including the credit card fraud, phony bundling scams, and other schemes they made him do to keep his job he heard rumors about happening at other Best Buys, inside. UPDATE: The original commenter has contacted us to say that these things did not actually happen to him and he was not trained to do them by Best Buy. Rather, he heard about them happening at other Best Buys or read about them in other Consumerist articles, and, in a pique of anger, wrote a long comment that remixed all this information together and framed it as if it happened to him. Consumerist regrets the error, and the commenter has been banned.

1. Watch out for extra charges
"They forcefully signed up ignorant customers for internet contracts and magazine subscriptions without the customers knowledge," writes our insider. "I was trained in the way of how to act like the credit card wasn't recognized the first time through since we needed to scan it once for the contract and later for the purchase, and also to do a little X on the screen for them when they had to sign the contract."

2. They don't like warranty repairs
"If we found one single scratch on the phone, we would tell the customer it was sign of abuse and refuse their warranty . . . I think I saw 1 out of 20 phones handled under the service plan because of that." Eventually Best Buy corporate took over because of the complaints.

3. Tart it up if you're gonna ask for a favor
"You better be attractive if you want the easy road through a policy or friends with somebody. If you don't have much on your side, you won't qualify for a 'case by case' policy procedure."

4. Best Buy loves unnecessary charges and services as much as the next big box store
Remember the story about Staples charging $390 for a basic computer repair? Best Buy can beat that: "I remember when Best Buy first started selling VPR Matrix Computers. The machines came with virtually nothing on them but the operating system, yet we still heavily pushed a system optimization to eliminate background programs and make it work so much better. I think all we did on this particular PC was turn on automatic updates, and install the latest patches... There were no unnecessary programs on boot.

5. Bundles are a ripoff
"You want the 299 advertised core system? We have plenty in stock!!! But it's only available in the package with 10 extra controllers, all 32 games, 15 memory cards, 2 extra hard drive kits, and the Replacement plan! Oh and 10 years of xbox live subscription!"

Our insider didn't offer any advice for escaping these pitfalls, but one obvious solution would be to stop shopping at Best Buy.

(Photo: greggoconnell)

7. iPods have two fixes. Resetting and Restoring.
If both of those features do not work, your iPod is trash. Unless it's under warranty or you purchased AppleCare, then they will give you two options. First is to trade in your iPod for 10% off any model (except shuffle), or they will give you out of warranty replacement, Which usually means that you will pay around $100-$250 depending on the model you purchased.

6. We have 4 things that we will try to sell you when you purchase a computer.
AppleCare, of course, is your extended 3 year warranty, we are told to sell it as a service plan, but it does not do ANYTHING extra, but extend your warranty, and does not cover anything extra. .Mac is a ripoff unless you use the web site hosting. ProCare has to be the biggest ripoff. All this does is upgrade your AppleCare for one year. It has a little perk for business uses, but otherwise useless. Lastly, One-to-One training, which is the best deal in the store.

5. If you have a return outside of the return policy we will most likely take care of you.
If it's sealed we'll take it back, and open, if you speak to a manager and plead your case, they will most likely take care of you no matter what.

4. We do not know ANYTHING about when some product will come out.
And we aren't allowed to speculate on anything that isn't on apple.com. We can get fired if we even tell a customer that a 3G iPhone might come out.

3. Apple Employment: If you want full-time, do not get into this company.
To be full-time, it is a recommendation that you be with the company for a year or more. The shifts are horrible, and they typically have more than 100 people working in a single mall store. For part-time you can get anywhere to 4-20 hours in one week, very very unreliable."

2. Why we will ask you for your e-mail at checkout.
This is for two reasons. One, we will send your receipt to your email, and two there is a survey at the bottom of the email. This leads to the store being ranked on what is called detractors and promoters. The company takes an average from the surveys and ranks us. 10-9 is a promoter, 8-7 is a "passive" and 6 below is a detractor. Which leads to the next confession.

1. If you fill out the survey and rank us 6 or lower, a manager will call you the same day or the next, corporate policy.
They usually will ask why you had a bad experience, and offer to make it better, usually by discounting something or another for you. These are directly related to the salesperson who checked you out, so we get our asses reamed when we make a detractor. Also, If you complain to a manager, nothing usually gets done, it goes in one ear and out the other. Buy something very small, have them email your receipt, and fill out the survey. The management will wait on you hand and foot. Oh, and return the product.

(Photo: madmarch)

"I am a tech support supervisor for a very well known computer company. (If you must know, this company is notoriously secretive. I think that's a big enough clue.) I felt the need to respond to the "7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep" article you ran with some insights of my own.

I also started near the beginning of a new call center that was supporting three different product lines for said computer company. Customer service was stressed over and over and over again. I've been with the call center for about 5 months, but I've worked in other non-call center positions with the company since 2002. I thought someone needed to shed light on the fact that the seven confessions are not the exception to the rule — they ARE the rule in most cases when it comes to tech support call centers.

This particular call center is all "Tier" (or Level) one support. Within this center, we have Quality Assurance to monitor the agent calls in-house. If necessary, these Tier 1 agents escalate difficult calls to Tier 2 — which can be anywhere in the world. It will almost never be the same person twice.

You're not going to speak to someone's actual supervisor
There is a specific, direct queue line to "Supervisor Requests" for our agents. I don't know why most people think they will actually speak to the support agent's actual supervisor. We're too busy answering technical questions for the agents (regardless of the fact that they have many more resources to find these answers than we do), sitting in worthless status meetings, and reporting to corporate and/or operations about the metrics of our agents. These supervisor requests go to specifically trained Tier 2 agents who spend 90% of their time calming down irritated customers. It is a great perk as a supervisor to know that there are specifically trained agents out there to take the "angry customer" calls so I can actually get work done.

Metrics Rule EVERYTHING
We have very specific goals that we have to enforce as supervisors. 99% of our job (and job security) relies on our ability to keep our statistics within specifications. Handle time is 15 minutes or below at our call center as well, but with a hitch — if it is TOO far below 15 minutes, we also need to be able to reason with our supervisor why we know *for sure* that the agent is not just dropping the calls to keep handle time low. It's a delicate balance, as I'm sure you can imagine. It's the same with after call work — it needs to be below 1.5 minutes.. but if it's TOO low, then we have to be able to answer the questions that arise from that. Moral of the story? Don't over-perform, and don't under-perform and your supervisor will love you — because he/she will not have to answer to his/her supervisor. Quality Assurance AND supervisors are required to monitor calls — supervisors must listen to calls twice per shift (which is nearly impossible). Yes, agents hate this, but wouldn't if they would just do their jobs.

You're on hold so long because agents are ducking their work
To make metrics (and schedule adherence) agents do terrible things, like dropping calls, and something we refer to as AUX-hopping. This means that agents switch between various auxiliary codes (break, after call work, etc.) to not have to take as many calls. What does this mean to the customer in the queue waiting? You now have to wait longer because some nineteen year old punk doesn't feel like taking as many calls as the guy next to him. Now everyone else in all the call centers worldwide for this product have reduced time between calls, and calls in the queue back up even further. It's irritating for everyone involved.

Customer service skills are more important than tech skills, here's why
The tech support agent was correct. In management, we believe it is easier to teach anyone technical support than it is to teach common courtesy. Sure, we could hire only applicants with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from an Ivy League school, but call centers typically employ college students, retirees, and those with a less-than-stellar academic background. Bottom line is, it doesn't matter how well educated you are; we're going to pay you x amount. "But I have a BS in CS from (enter university here)!" That's fine, you can take the x amount or find another job. Our agents do not use scripts — we give them between two to three weeks of training (depending on the product) and then they take it from there. The bottom line is that "techie" people do not want to work for so little — so we hire people who will and make do with what we have. Even the "techie" agents can be some of the rudest, or most lacking in common sense (ie: don't scream at the customer).

Our QA department does not seem as bad as Verizon's. Mostly, they coach agents on ways to show empathy with the customer, how to obtain information without violating privacy policies, etc. Not one agent here has been let go because they did not use the right "buzzword." I guess that's the difference between call centers who use a script, and those who don't.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys Are GOSPEL
This is the number one way that management can evaluate an agent's performance. While our agents are not required to use a certain phrase, or even mention the customer survey, each customer receives one via email after a case is completed for them. They are rated from "Very Dissatisfied" to "Very Satisfied," and as a manager — nothing makes my job easier than telling my boss that all my agents have "Very Satisfied" on all their surveys. I know it is not the usual to fill out the survey or ask the agent to talk to a supervisor when you have received excellent service, but in our call center — that's our bread and butter. Those surveys help to determine who gets promoted, who gets fired, and who gets special perks (best shifts, days off, etc.).

The Verizon agent was also correct in saying that polite customers, even if upset, are more likely to get helped. Those customers are even more likely to get the above-and-beyond service, so please keep that in mind.

-Anonymous"

RELATED: 7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep

(Photo: hanapbuhay)

Anonymous writes:

I recently wrote to the consumerist about the fact that Verizon is acting in a manner most would consider inconsistent with a customer-first attitude. Only in bizarro world could the statements that were made be construed as an attack on it's employees. Unfortunately John Bonomo, Verizon's director of Media Relations, saw it as exactly that. He believes that it did 'his or her colleagues a disservice and dishonoring the work that they do on behalf of our customers.' Mr Bonomo also said that there were 'a number of inaccuracies', but failed to identify any. All he did was state that customers entitled to the tv will get them, and acknowledges that delivering the set would take some time, and we said that as a part of the promotion.' That's funny, I never stated that Verizon wasn't going to give everyone their tv's, only that it was taking longer then it takes conceive and deliver a baby.

Mr Bonomo goes on to say that employees should be commended and here I am in total agreement. For far too long we have suffered at the hands of individuals posing as management, people who have no clue how to properly run a company. They actually believe it's acceptable to refuse to credit a customer who we admit we over billed, simply because we're given too much credit to everyone else. They think it's perfectly fine to knowingly send out fliers advertising a price, then decide not to honor them, and to then claim they were sent out *in error*.

Some readers of the consumerist have asked 'how do we know what he said is true?' Excellent question. To prove it, I submit to you the emails from the director and the head of marketing which is the basis for most of what was stated in my previous article. I believe they stand for themselves, and I challenge Mr Bonomo to defend the policies that these emails impose on us as employees, and on the customers who they claim to value.

First is the NJ marketing summary which clearly state on the 2nd page that effective 2/18 the blitz offers were to be made permanent. Second is an email from Judy Peters stating that all offers are rescinded. Following this is a far more detailed email dated 3-15 detailing what has been rescinded, why, and what is left to offer. The language is very threatening (even to management, which is referred to as IHD) This email was sent only a few weeks after half a million letters offering these rates were mailed out, and it clearly stated as so in the NJ marketing plan on our website. After being rightfully called out for being so asinine, Judy Peters sent another email explaining that the offers are now back in effect, but ONLY if the customer indicates awareness of them. We can't proactively offer them. Note the specific use of the phrase 'letters sent in error' which contradicts Verizon's own internal marketing information, which indicates that the offers were in fact meant to be sent.

Following that is an email informing us of the first of what would be two times where we simply didn't give anyone their proper discount if they had a specific bill date.

Then we have three emails from our director and the head of marketing. The first one, dated March 3rd, tells us that we're been partially neutered and that we are now only able to adjust $150 without first needing to seek management approval. Pay particular attention to the last paragraph if you want real insight into how management thinks. Then there's a followup sent March 18th cutting it to $50. Finally there's an email telling us that we are not to give any credit to anyone for any reason for the remainder of the month.

PREVIOULY: LEAKS: Insider Says Verizon Isn't Fulfilling Advertised Discounts For Tens Of Thousands

RELATED:
Verizon Changes "Free LCD TV " Promotion To "Free Digital Camcorder" Promotion
Verizon Responds To Angry Customers Who Have Not Received Their Free LCD TVs
Verizon FiOS "Free LCD TV" Promotion Resulting In A Lot Of Angry Customers

(Photo: davidbivins)

1. MPA's (Master Protection Agreements) for HDTV's, Cameras and some Gaming Consoles

These are the biggest lie in the world! Never EVER believe what the associates tell you. The agreements cover nothing. When I started we were trained telling customers that the Master Protection Agreements would cover anything on the TV, including a single dead pixel on both LCD and Plasma TV's. However since January, the warranty has stopped covering this, and numerous people have been returning TV's for this very reason. If you read the fine print, all the Master Protection Agreement is an extension of the Manufacturer's warranty. So for most companies, this covers only the defects that come from the factory and not "normal usage". Also on TV's, the Preventive Maintance Check is a joke. A tech will come to your house, but all they will do is turn on the TV and say it works. As for your cameras, its the same as the TV's and if the techs even remotely think your camera was dropped, they will reject it and that would be end of your call. DO NOT BUY THESE they are useless, no matter what the salesman says.

2. Sears Credit Application

Never sign up for a new sears card. Associates are told to push credit no matter what. Even if there is a "0%" or a rebate its not worth it. If you forget about the 0%, most of the sears cards have a 25.8% Interest rate that will catch up with you. It is more than not worth it. Also, there is a high chance that unless you have stellar credit, you won't get approved due to the Citi Bank issued cards now. Also, if you forget your Sears card and the associate says you're not in the system MAKE SURE THEY SHOW YOU THE REGISTER SCREEN. Some stores have been so desperate to get credit that customers that have accounts and forgot their cards will look you up, your information will be there, but they will say its not and then make you apply for a new one. This is by far the worst aspect of sears and make sure that you read the whole fine print BEFORE you sign that dotted line.

3. Sears.com Returns

As an associate, I will say never buy anything off Sears.com. 99% of the time the .com orders will not include the proper documentation for a return. This then requires you to either find your email confirmation, or calling up Sears.com to get the information. Then if your lucky you'll be able to do a return, but not first without proving who you are by State ID's and also managers approval for the return. This whole process can take over an hour and I have had some that have lasted as long as 3. Also, the Consumerist is right when they say that orders get all screwed up, this happens so often, it makes Sears look like it's online store is run by idiots.

4. Accessories

I will tell you that the HDMI cable you buy from Sears is overpriced and if you have a computer you should buy it online. Associates are trained to push accessories more than anything else. That cable will cost you almost 75% less from an online retailer than buying it in-store. Be educated about the product you're buying, because associates are trained to push products that you don't even need. Keep this all in mind before you buy the accessories. I will say though, some of sales that you may find with Memory cards can be less than online retailers, but always do your homework before buying.

5. Price Matching

This is the biggest misconception of all time. No where does a Sears ad say this, but for Sears to price match another store they MUST have the PRODUCT IN STOCK. and when I say in stock I mean in the store ready for you to buy. The associate has to call and find out if in fact it is there and if it isn't, your out of luck. Also, Sears won't take care of past products that were bought if in the 30 days the product goes lower two times, you only get one shot — not mentioned anywhere. So you can only price match one time for your product. And if your product goes to a discontinued or clearance, you can't match it if you bought it at that price. Finally if something is a "Great Price" you can't price match that either..... This leads me to my next point...

6. Price Codes

There are various codes that sears uses that even the consumer can figure out and see if an Associate is snowballing them or is giving them a good deal. Here is the chart. These are all based upon the cents in the dollar.

.88 - Discontinued. This means that Sears will no longer be carrying that model and 99.9% of the time you can't get a new one.
.97 - Clearance. This means that it has gone beyond Discontinued and is on the fast track to being thrown out. Note that this is for Electronics. The other parts of the store use .97 instead of .88 (Exception is Appliances and Tools)
.93 - Clearance - Same as .97, except these products could be much older.
.99 - Normal Price/Sale
.00 - Great Price - Items bought at this price code can't be price matched

7. Do your homework, very rarely trust the associate

Associates that work in Electronics are given an "Advanced Commission" sheet that gives them extra money for selling a certain product. Understand that they will always first show you all the TV's or cameras that are on this list first before anything else. Know what you WANT and don't listen to them when it comes to your electroics. However, most associates can tell you about the differences in TV's and Cameras if you are confused, but trust consumer reports, cnet, Gizmodo etc before a sales associate.

n+1: So can you tell me what happened with Bear Stearns? What were the steps?

HFM: Bear was a bank that was very involved in the asset-backed and sub-prime market. Both as a principal and as an agent.

What happened this summer was funds managed by Bear Stearns—not things on their own books, other people's funds that they manage, other people's capital—those funds were heavily leveraged and invested in asset-backed securities. Those funds blew up—they went into uncontrolled combustion. They failed very quickly. One day they were there, the next all the assets were marked down, then they were insolvent and folded up. Now that's not Bear Stearns' capital, but there were guys sitting in the Bear Stearns office.

n+1: Which is where?

HFM: On, uh, 47th and Madison. Just down the street.

n+1: And they were sitting there; they had a little hedge fund—

HFM: Which means they raised money form outside investors—they get paid based on how the fund does, they get a percentage of the profits. And they traded in sub-prime assets where the capital was given to them by outside investors.

n+1: These were 10 guys?

HFM: I don't know the size of the team, but they were sitting there, buying asset-backed securities backed by sub-prime mortgages, they were borrowing a lot of money, they used the capital they had, they borrowed outside money, they bought sub-prime mortgages. They were highly, highly leveraged. 50:1 leverage.

n+1: Why was Bear Stearns in particular doing this?

HFM: Bear Stearns supposedly had an expertise in sub-prime and asset-backed securities; it is an expertise of theirs. They're still alive.

n+1: Really?

HFM: You know when somebody falls off a motorcycle, and they want to harvest their organs, they're still alive until they harvest the organs. Right now Bear Stearns, there's an EKG, it is pinging, they're technically still alive and JPMorgan is waiting for the healthcare proxy to sign and say they can start harvesting the organs. This is where Bear is right now. They had an expertise.

n+1: So it was 100 billion dollars? How much money?

HFM: I don't know. It was not huge. 1-2 billion dollars each. In that range. Which doesn't make them huge funds. Modest funds.

But from that moment forth, people on the market speculated as to how many similar kinds of assets Bear Stearns must own on its own books. There was a cloud of suspicion over Bear Stearns. As it turns out, I don't know that they were in that much trouble. They were probably much more careful with their own money than outside money, but once there's a cloud of suspicion the information asymmetry that exists between people outside the firm who don't know what's going on, and inside the firm, can create a crisis of confidence.

n+1: Can't the firm say, "Look, we have this, we have that..."?

HFM: What are they going to do, are they going to show you every instrument they have on their books? People don't know what these instruments are worth. Like an asset-backed bond—what's it worth? Nobody knows what's it worth, there isn't a market for this anymore. It's not like there are three bond issues, and that's it, there are thousands, and each one is backed by thousands of mortgages, it just becomes an information-processing problem. You simply can't prove to me in a reasonable amount of time that everything's fine.

n+1: They don't have other instruments besides mortgages?

HFM: They do, they have their building, that's one of the things that is probably worth the most. But Bear was involved in a lot of the asset classes that had problems. First it's sub-prime mortgages, then it's leveraged loans—they're exposed to all these things, 30 times levered, so a very small diminution of the value of these assets could mean that their equity is worth nothing. And it's just going to be impossible for these guys to prove to everyone's satisfaction in a short period of time with a high degree of precision that their assets are worth what they say they're worth. There's been a cloud over Bear Stearns for 8 months and in retrospect people were critical of their management for being insufficiently aggressive in trying to persuade people that everything was fine. They simply asserted that everything was fine.

n+1: Wouldn't it have been better to let them go bankrupt?

HFM: And let their counterparties face the music? Maybe, but the parlous condition of the financial system as a whole I think persuaded the Fed that this is not the time to experiment and see how interconnected the system has become.

If we were in a calm economic environment and Bear, for non-systematic reasons, failed—say they put all their money into cheesesandwich.com or something, and they failed for that reason, then it might be appropriate to let them go bankrupt because the rest of the financial system would be stable. Even if it inflicts losses on the rest of the financial system and causes a lot of brain damage for me, it won't be a risk to the system as a whole.

But every bank out there to some degree or another is suffering the same problems that led to the cloud of suspicion over Bear. So this is not a great time to test a proposition that the financial system can cope with disorderly unwinding of all these contracts.

Financial Meltdown [n+ 1]
(Photo:Getty)

After spending a year (one of the worst of my life) working at a debt settlement company, I feel that I am obligated to warn as many consumers as possible about how badly you can ruin your financial situation by using one of these companies. My new job is at an all natural bakery, I no longer wish to swerve my truck into a tree on the way to work. Debt settlement is the process of eliminating your debt by ceasing payment to the creditor, and then negotiating with the card companies or collection agency to pay less than the balance owed. The debt settlement company charges a rather hefty fee for this service; however, the consumer should be saving money on the deal because they are paying significantly reduced balances to clear their debt. This is how it is supposed to work. This is not how it usually works.

The clients at the company I worked for ranged from lower class/blue-collar workers who were unable to find jobs, and had mounting medical bills to upper-class white collar workers who had incomes upwards of $9k a month, stay-at-home moms and college students. Some clients were only in $8,000 of debt, and some were upwards of $100,000. Their reasons for accumulating debt ranged from sick children and unemployment to simple avarice.

Our program was designed to eliminate a client's debt in 36 months or less. The client would pay our fee, which was based on the amount of debt they were in, over a period of 12 months. At the same time they contractually agree (a contract I will elaborate on) to save a certain amount of money, so that when the time comes to arrange a reduced pay-off of their debt (usually 50% off of the owed amount), the money would be available, and the transaction would be complete. This sounds like a logical process, and when described to a potential client it is alluringly simple, convenient and quick. The sales person will convince the client that they will somehow be able to save money in their own accounts, and pay our fees for a year. It is nearly impossible for the client to save money due to the heavy fees. Other debt settlement companies will set up a savings account within their company, and the client is obligated to put a stipulated amount into savings every month. If they miss a month, they are canceled with no refund as per the signed contract. There were clients at my company whose income was only $900 a month, who were being asked to save $400 a month, and then put $200 a month towards the program's fee. The program demands that the clients save and spend unrealistic amounts of money for their incomes.

The "client service agreement", which I referred to as a "contract with Satan", confounded most clients.
The contract is written in legal rhetoric that most people wouldn't comprehend, but would end up being persuaded to sign anyways. The average client is not educated about credit reports, FICO scores, and legal vocabulary, so a sales person could easily talk them into the program. The contract actually states that the company is not responsible for any negative repercussions due to their enrollment in our program. It also stated we could cancel a client without refund at any time (which happened a few times in a year), and that if a client cancelled we were still due our year's worth of fees no matter what. Money that we were practically guaranteed because we drafted directly from the client's checking accounts. No person in their right mind would sign this contract if they understood what it meant.

Our sales team and client liaisons ensure clients that if they withhold payments from their creditors, our representatives will effectively negotiate with the creditor, and all will be well. Yet, it states in the contract that our company does not interfere with the creditor/client relationship, and does not instruct clients to cease payment to the creditor.
Many clients had their wages garnished, had liens put on their property and their credit ruined because of not making payments to their creditors. The company was covered by our air-tight contract. If anyone client threatened to see a lawyer my boss would throw the signed contract in their face, and dare them to seek legal council. Usually when a client had finished paying our fees they couldn't afford a lawyer anyways.

I worked in administration while I was at this company. My boss (the owner of the company) made around $17,000 a month from people in debt. Side note: I was only paid $14 an hour, with no benefits, no sick days, and of course no paid vacation. I also felt miserable every day of my life there. My boss was ridiculously petty, money grubbing, and in my opinion he was the definition of a pig. He is the type of person that would sell-out their own grandparents for an extra few dollars. Although, I wasn't one of the employees that were talking people out of their hard earned money and financial security, I felt sickeningly guilty knowing I was working at a place that basically stole from people. My fellow employees and I fielded calls all day from angry clients that weren't paying the reduced balance to their creditors that they were promised at enrollment. Interest charges and late fees pile up on unpaid accounts, so that by the time a 50% pay-off is reached, the client is paying almost what they originally owed. We also had irate clients calling about wages that were garnished and complete harassment by phone from their card companies. My boss refused to take any phone calls, although he was the main decision maker, other employees who were supposed to be client representatives did their best to avoid phone calls because they were sick of being yelled at, or hassled. Getting help from the people who were supposed to be giving it is impossible at this company, and I'm sure it is equally difficult at similar companies.

Here is a short list of thing that horrified me while working there:

• A client was convinced to let their vehicle get repossessed. The sales person told them that while it was secured debt, they couldn't deal with it, but if it was repossessed they could negotiate. Repossession stays on a credit report for 10 years, and can ruin a FICO score.
• A client with a terminally ill child had their wages garnished, although they were promised this would not happen. They were refused a refund, and lost the $3,000 they spent on the company's fees and were still in a huge amount of debt.
• A client that angered my boss was cancelled without refund after paying around $1800 for the service. My boss didn't like how the client spoke to him.

• I could go on for several pages about all the things that were horribly wrong and unethical that I witnessed alone.

  If there is a debt settlement company out there that is truly helpful to the consumer, I'm not aware of it.
  The old saying "If it's too good to be true, it probably is" is absolutely right. If a company is promising anything that seems beyond reason, they want your trust and then your money. The sales team at our company made a pretty decent commission rate from enrolling new clients. They will usually say whatever the potential client wants to hear, so they get that sweet bonus at the end of the month.

  If you are in debt there are a few things you can do that are helpful. If your credit score is decent you can usually negotiate a better interest rate or payment plan with the creditor. Always pay more than the minimum balance if possible because often only 1-2% of the payment is going towards the principle balance. If you pay off a card do not close the account, it's best to keep it open and occasionally spend and pay off a small amount every month. Avoid debt-consolidation. Debt-consolidation is a process where a client pays one large payment, which accounts for all of their debt, to a company that then distributes the payments to the creditors. This process takes 4-7 years to complete, the payments are large and usually carry an interest rate or fee, and 70% of people that use debt-consolidation are in worse debt within 2 years of the program than they were before they started. Avoid bankruptcy, it is on your credit report for 10 years and it is a question you answer for the rest of your life. If you are already behind on your payments, and you have a reason for financial hardship such as unemployment, illness, some sort of disaster, you can often negotiate a reduced balance on your own. If a credit card company does not receive a payment for longer than 6 months, they will often accept up to 50% less than the owed amount, although you normally need proof of financial hardship.

  The best advice I can give to get out of debt, is to pare down to the essentials. Sell some of your stuff, only spend money on necessities like essential food/gas/doctor's visits, if you rent and you can break the lease get a cheaper place, getting a roommate is always an option, don't be above getting a second job if it's possible. A lot of clients were in debt because they couldn't resist the siren call of a plasma screen TV, or a few new things at Banana Republic. They also drove cars that were beyond their income, and they couldn't resist eating out a few times a week. If you are motivated you can get out of debt on your own, it won't be easy, fun, or quick, but you won't risk getting screwed over worse than you already are.

  -C

I'm a former Sprint CSR (left in February this year) and I thought I'd shed some light on how things work in that company. Feel free to post this, but I'd appreciate it if you did not use my name.
 
Agents are trained NOT to escalate calls - Ever been frustrated when you repeatedly ask for a Supervisor but do not get one? Call center agents at Sprint are trained to try and de-escalate calls and only get a Supervisor for you if absolutely necessary. Some agents will do this to the extreme and either transfer you away or disconnect your call rather than actually get a supervisor for you. Also, the chances of being directly transferred to a supervisor are slim, you almost always have to go through an agent first.
 
Also, if you do get speaking to a "Supervisor" you may not be speaking to a supervisor at all but rather a team lead, a senior agent who is not a supervisor but does take escalated calls and is authorized to identify him or herself as a supervisor when doing so.
 
Agents can be punished for giving credits - We are expected to give credits at a rate of no more than around $2.50/call. That means if I take 50 calls I'm expected to give no more than $125 in credits TOTAL. I've seen instances where over $400 in credits were required ON A SINGLE CALL. If our adjustment rate is too high, we are first blocked from being allowed to do ANY credits or straight out fired if there is a pattern of us being too generous.
 
As a result of these controls, you might notice that a call you're on will magically be transferred or disconnected if a large credit is involved. Anything over $200 will likely have to be called in about multiple times.
 
Also we are prohibited from giving out courtesy credits for ANYTHING. The most we can give is 100 bonus minutes. Yep, that's it. I was once punished by a Supervisor and written up because I was giving too many courtesy credits. Apparently Sprint doesn't feel that being transferred 7 times and then hung up on is worth $10 in return.
 
We can't give you any deals on phones - Standard Sprint Care reps are prohibited from offering any extra discounts on phones or free phones when you are not eligible for upgrade. We can be severely punished or fired if we give unauthorized discounts or credits on phones.
 
If you want a deal on a phone, call up and threaten to cancel. You'll get to our account services department. They have more power than any other department to make deals for phones.
 
As long as our coverage maps show you have coverage, you have coverage - Even if you drop calls constantly and can barely get a signal in your own home, good luck trying to escape an Early Termination Fee due to this. If the coverage maps show you have coverage, that's good enough for Sprint, regardless of what the actual situation is.
 
A while back a customer called in with the situation above (virtually no coverage) and asked the supervisor if he could waive the ETF. The supervisor asked if the man had coverage according to our maps. Agent said he did. Supervisor's reply "he's out of luck then, he has to pay the fee."
 
If it's not in the notes, it didn't happen - VERY few calls are actually recorded, and of those that are, reps don't have access to them. Only supervisors do. The calls are organized by length of call and the ID number of the agent who took the call, not by the phone number it was regarding or the account number accessed.
 
The only thing agents have to go on are the typed notes in the system. Even if the notes are blatant lies. For example, a rep can give you a credit that results in a contract extension without you knowing. Then he notes in the account "customer agreed to extend contract", you call in to dispute said extension, having never agreed to it and unfortunately you are screwed since the notes say you did agree to it and even Supervisors are required to follow what they say.
 
You can also get screwed if there are no notes (something VERY common). Let's say you get offered anything outside the ordinary (i.e. free internet on your phone for a year), but it doesn't show on your next bill. If you call and say you were supposed to get it for free but there are no notes, do not expect Care to honor what you were promised. As far as they are concerned, you were promised nothing because nothing is in the notes. If you want to know what's contained in your account notes, good luck. Reps may relay certain details of certain notes on the call. Sprint considers this confidential information and will not release them unless required to under a subpoena.
 
Also the reps may be saying nasty things about you, I've seen the following opinionated notes:
 
"BEWARE! This customer is racist!"
"Customer is pathetic."
"Customer is very rude, kept cussing me out and didn't give me a chance to talk."
"Customer is a credit junkie! He just keeps calling up for more and more."
 
Officially agents are not supposed to put these kinds of notes in accounts, but it happens all the time.
 
Most agents don't care much about their jobs - At the center I worked at, the only qualifications you needed for employment were a high school diploma and the ability to speak decent English. Call center agents are frequently under trained, under paid and over worked. The reason you get transferred, treated rudely and disconnected so many times is that there are simply a lot of agents who don't give a crap about the customers AND keep their jobs simply because they are willing to sit at a desk and take calls for 8 hours a day.
 
Another reason is the turnover is so high there's a large percentage of lesser trained agents working the phones.
 
It's not always easy to get transferred back - We can't give out the number for our tech support department (as well as certain other departments) so if you get transferred there and your call drops, you have to call back to be transferred again. HOWEVER, we can't just simply transfer you back. We must verify your account again, find out what the issue is and determine that it is something that we can transfer you back there for.
 
It seems unbelievably stupid, but I once got a FAIL on a quality assurance review because a customer asked to be transferred to a certain department and I transferred him, without taking any of the steps mentioned above.
 
Agents can get away with hanging up on customers - Officially, hanging up on a customer is a fireable offense, however it's shockingly easy to get away with if you know what you are doing and many agents do it frequently and never get caught. I admit I did it too on several occasions (for example when I was already 20 minutes late leaving and the customer was driving me crazy). At my center there were agents terminated for swearing at a customer, but I don't know of anyone who was ever fired for hanging up on one.
 
Quality Assurance is NOT the customers friend - QA is not a tool to ensure agents are providing good customer service so much as a mechanism to ensure employees are following policy. Let's say you were promised a $50 credit but it wasn't noted and you never got it so you called back in to make sure it was done. I refuse to do it because it's not noted and you can't prove you were offered it. Even if that call gets escalated to a Supervisor, I can still get a perfect QA score on it because I followed policy. Conversely, I can FAIL that same call if I just give you the credit when according to policy you are not deserving of it.
 
Final Note
The items above are based on my experiences as a CSR and do not always ring true. There are agents who will never hang up on customers and do care about their jobs, there are reasonable Supervisors who will sometimes go against the notes and we are sometimes permitted to offer extra discounts and specials, but these instances only happen I would say on a 1:5 ratio where the 5 represents the number of customers who get trapped by the issue.

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"10 Confessions Of A Telephone Tech Support Quality Assurance Guy"

I saw just about any kind of retail renting you can think of. The biggest thing that I wanted to convey is that we, in the business, all did it. Managers, employee's and even the district managers got in the action too.

Sometimes, it was legitimate product testing. I never liked telling a mom that this camera would take great pictures of her children until I tried it out on my own. Other times, I "tested" the portable DVD player for a week while on vacation. But the rule was always that you paid for the item and then returned it when you were done with it. Nothing under the table.

Customers did it to. The occasional rental didn't really bother me all that much. What I found was that customers would on occasion buy a camera from me later on once they learned how lax we were about returns.

In fact, last week I "rented" a $1900 lens from [the store.] Now, normally I actually "rent" lenses from a company that's equipped to do so. However, I needed the lens the next day and [the store] was my only option. As far as I'm concerned, its a victimless crime.

The lens had already been opened and used by someone else. My thought was that if I beat up or damage the lens, I own it. If not, I return it and nobody loses anything. I know that for a fact as a former manager. The only time it would bother me would be when somebody got to return something well beyond the time limit. I sold a digital camera to a woman once who obviously had used her camera on her vacation. However, she had gone almost 15 days over the 10 day return window. Corporate allowed her to return the camera and I had a huge chunk of my check taken away. Had it been during the same window as when I received the comission, I wouldn't have minded so much.

I think that people need to understand that its really a victimless crime. In the world of cameras, unless the box has a factory seal you have to assume that its been opened and played with at some point. Some stores even go the extra step of breaking all the seals on all the boxes to remove that bias.

We sort of saw the idea of renting as another way to get people into the store to buy something. Even if they didn't buy a camera, they would on occasion become printing customers. This isn't something that we encouraged people to do mind you. Its not like you could walk up to me and say, "Hi, I'd like to buy a camera for the weekend and take it back," and I'd say SURE SIR HERE YOU GO.

What normally happens is the customer would come in and within 5 minutes would make a $500 camera purchase. Before leaving they'd take the camera out and have me spot check it to make sure it wasn't broken or anything. it was at this point that I realized they were renting. I wished them a nice day and started a pool within the store as to when they'd bring it back.

Some stores would try to "scare" the customer by warning them of return refusal policies or restocking fee's that don't exist. My guess is that they were banking on the fact that the customer would be too guilt stricken to question company policy. Some of them were right. But I always found it was hypocritical to stop customers from doing what we ourselves did on a regular basis

My first store manager bought and returned her home printer every month. When she quit, she returned it for good.

I guess what I'm trying to argue is that if its done correctly, its a victimless crime. The insiders do it in much worse fashion anyways. I would argue that if your willing to rent something, you might be willing to buy it (eventually). Allowing you to rent with me increases my chances of a sale. And that's what I really want.

Oh yes, but that's why you check out the equipment before you allow the return. That's where I put my foot down. If I couldn't sell the camera at full price to the person behind you, we have a problem.

The best is since [the store] has a warranty that covers customer damage, people assumed that if they broke it they could return it and the warranty would cover the repairs. Meaning we'd return their broken camera and fix it under our warranty and somehow not lose money on it.

You needed every plastic cover, every piece of wrapping to bring it back into my store and most of my customers knew that.

Most of them threw a fit. I would assume because they got caught. But that's what you get for disregarding how serious I take returns. Some people would rent without regard for the fact that I would still have to sell the product.

Sometimes we'd turn it into a sale. Well, I can't return this camera but I'll let you exchange it. Then i'd write "NO RETURN/EXCHANGE" on their receipt and the camera box. But yeah, they'd get pretty pissed. Especially when I found all the little things. I've denied returns because that little cover that comes with the batter (that everyone loses right away) was missing. Or a tiny scratch on the bottom of the camera.

My store was very thorough with returns.

Hmm....
Well, there aren't many stores where you can these days. I did "rent" a heater from Costco once. I needed to warm my house for a party. I rented a $200 space heater, though I did end up buying a $30 a few weeks later from them. So I don't think it was a loss. I even repacked the rented heater the exact same way it was.

I suppose renting out of simple need is ok. Habitual renting to me would feel like stealing, and in truth, I did consider keeping the heater.

(Photo: *** Fanch The System !!! ***)
PREVIOUSLY: Is Retail Renting Ethical?

• 30,000+ people nationwide have still not received the free HDTVs Verizon promised new FiOS triple-play subscribers
• Verizon totally screwed up the "blitz" promotion, leading some customers signing up and not getting their discounts, others getting too much discount, and others not getting their discount for months
• Employees issued over $1 million in credit in January '08, double what was given out in Jan '07
• $250 in discretionary credit has been reduced to $50
• Internally, Verizon refers to customer service reps who give out "too much" credit due are called "offenders."

If his allegations are true, they could prove fodder for the NJ AG's office.

Full letter scan, inside...

Confessions of a Verizon Consultant

I work for Verizon in customer service and I think it's time your readers knew the truth about just how screwed up Verizon's marketing and billing is. Your readers are probably familiar with the tv promotion, but that is only the latest failed marketing attempt. In fact it is one in a series of clusterfucks, caused either by our marketing department, our accounting department or both. I should first emphasize that I work in NJ, so what I've witnessed isn't necessarily representative of what goes on in other states, but I suspect it probably is.

Our primary offer at Verizon is packages or bundles of services: phone, internet and cable. In areas where FIOS is available, we offer that; where it isn't we offer Directv. The phone component is our freedom essentials which offers 3 services with unlimited long distance. Beginning in the fall of 2006 Verizon began aggressively promoting our packages with offer after offer in quick succession. Almost all of them have been disastrous. Among the mistakes made by our marketing department:

* advertising promotions before they were allowed to
* sending offers meant only for new customers to existing ones
* listing the end of promotion dates incorrectly
* failing to give the employees accurate information on the promotions

About 18 months ago we started offering what we call the blitz. It is a discount off of the freedom essentials price, and it was only meant to be offered to new customers. What's important to know is that it is incompatible with any other bundle offer or any other promotion. Unfortunately inadequate training and lack of ethics by some employees led to it's being offered to all customers, and being combined with other discounts. The amount of the discount was initially $15, then increased to $19 and then to $20. When we raised our rates on the plan by $it meant we had to increase the discount by $2 as well. With the change in the amount of the discount, and the change in the rate itself, it isn't surprising that accounting started fouling up. Some of their failures include:

* Some customers never got their $2 increase in discount.
* Others got too much and received a $4 increase in the discount
* Some customers get a double discount even though were eligible for a triple discount.
* Some customers don't see their blitz discount for 2, 3 even 4 months, despite multiple employees submitting a request.
* As a result of multiple requests by employees for the discount, some customers actually got the discount multiple times. In some cases customers got free service as a result.
* Some customers got the discount even if they canceled the plan, again resulting in some customers having zero bills. The same thing happened on accounts on winter suspension.

What happens if you are promised a price, and then your bill doesn't reflect that price? Shouldn't you get credit that month? Not according to Verizon. Employees were told to refuse to credit these charges because the discount, once applied, would last for 12 months. You would get your discount in months 2-13 rather then 1-12. Or 3-14 or 4-15, whenever we finally got it right. So your discount was deffered because of our inability to properly process the discount. Service reps who did credit customers in the 1st or 2nd month were called "offenders" in one email inadvertently sent to everyone.

Then there's the tv debacle. In October 2007 we offered a free 19 inch HDTV to anyone who signed up for a triple bundle. Customers were told they would get their tv within 4 weeks. Then we found out they get a confirmation letter in 4 weeks, and once they responded to it, then they get the tv 4 weeks from then. Except not everyone got their letter. Some customers got letters for the double bundle (which gave them a camcorder) when they were actually eligible for the tv.

Weeks stretched into months and by February we had many irate customers. Some went to ABC news and in their February 1 news report, a Verizon PR person was quoted as saying that there were only a "handful of complaints." A handful? 30,000 is not a handful. That's right, as if this moment there are 30,000 tv's nationwide that haven't been delivered and that's just the FIOS customers. Who knows how many non-FIOS customers are still waiting their tv's. Let's put that number in perspective. We added 250K FIOS video subscribers in the 4th quarter and an unknown amount in the the first 2 months of 2008, perhaps another 150K. If 30K still don't have their tv that means that roughly 10% of those eligible don't have their tv's. And remember that's just the FIOS customers.

Even those figures don't tell the full picture because that doesn't take into account the thousands of customers who think they're eligible for the tv but aren't. As I said at the start, the blitz offer and the triple bundles are incompatible. If you signed up for the triple bundle, you were eligible for the free tv. If you got the blitz or a combination of the triple bundle and the blitz, then you weren't eligible for the tv. Who knows how many people were verbally told they were eligible, only to receive the blitz price, rendering them ineligible? The only way for that to be resolved is for them to know that there's a price problem and to bring that to an employee's attention. When someone says they didn't get their tv, we just pass them to our fulfillment center, which will then tell them they're not eligible and no amount of complaining to them will help them. In the past few weeks we were told to look carefully for eligibility before referring a customer to the fulfillment center, but that's unlikely to happen. Management is all over our ass about sales, and opening that can of worms is not something many of us want to do.

At the same time that ABC news was being told it was a handful, customers who were waiting got letters saying if they wanted the original tv from the offer it may be another 8-12 weeks. Alternately they could take a Magnavox 19 inch HDTV and get it 4-8 weeks. Or they could take the $200 best buy gift card that was originally offered as an alternative to the tv.

Compounding the problem is that in FIOS there are no HD set top boxes available. Even if you got your HDTV, you won't be getting a HD picture any time soon.

As bad as the tv debacle is, it gets worse. In February 2008 we sent thousands of mailers out to customers offering them the blitz price on freedom essentials. or on a bundle package. Three weeks later Verizon decided we weren't going to honor the blitz price. So, you got ot a mailer that said you could have the blitz? Sorry, too bad. You were signed up 3 months ago and are still waiting for your blitz? Sorry, too bad. They're removed all ability to issue blitz discounts from our computers. Management has told us to soothe the customer, but tell them they can not have the blitz. If I made up prices I'd get fired, but apparently Verizon can announce one price, then decide not to honor it and that's perfectly fine.

Meanwhile, employees have issued twice as much credit as we did a year ago. According to Andrea Custis we gave out over 1M in credit in January 08, double the amount from January 07. Why might we have to give so much credit? Could it be that our billing systems are for shit? Or that our price quotes are completely off the mark because there's so many promotions and they're changing them every day that so we don't know what we're talking about? Or that people are out of service longer because we have so many techs dedicated to installing FIOS?

At a time when we are screwing up like never before, Verizon has decided: no more credit. That's right: we screw up, but you still have to pay. Service reps used to have the discretion to issue up to $250 of credit without needing to ask permission. Then they started cracking down on the "offenders" and two weeks ago reduced our credit limit to $150 and last week to $50. Today we got an email from our director Erica Kelly saying that "our adjustments are tied to our revenue" so no more credit is to be issued by anyone (including management) for any reason till after March 30th. So, we could charge you incorrectly and we won't adjust it and why? Cause finances are a bit tight this month. What a crock of shit! If a customer tried telling us that we'd shut their phone off!What unmitigated gaul they have, at a time when every thing we do is a disaster, every promotion is a failure, every promise is broken, to tell customers "tough shit if we made a mistake. Pay up anyway." Who do these executives think they are? And the worst part is WE (the frontline employees) have the pleasure of sounding like Ebeneezer Scrooge when we tell customers that yes we made XYZ msitake but no, we're not going to remove the incorrect charge from your bill.Send

Are these problems company wide? I can't say with certainty but judging by the responses to the tv threads here on the Consumerist I'd say it probably is..It's time Verizon stop treating customers like crap. It's time Verizon stopped expecting it's customer service agents to be the zookeeper who has to cleans up their steaming piles. It's time Verizon stoped lying to everyone, and stopped pretending that problems don't exists. It's time for Verizon to fix their broken systems, fix their lousy billing, train us properly, and only offer promotions they can actually make good on. It's time Verizon took action against the employees who purposely make up prices and say anything to get a sale.

We've told management about these issues and no one is listening. Maybe they will finally listen if you tell them you're not going to take it . Here's a few emails you may want to try. The penny pinching director for the state of NJ is Erica Kelly. Her email is erica.j.kelly@verizon.com. The head of NJ's Marketing department, the one that likes to offer you one price but and then tell you you can't have it is Andreas Custis. Her email is andrea.l.custis@verizon.com. If you want to go right to the top, contact Ivan Seidenberg, our CEO. His email is ivan.g.seidenberg@verizon.com.

If you would rather bypass the bureaucrats, then you can contact Anne Milgram the NJ Attorney General, or the BPU. Their numbers are in the blue government pages of your phone book. As for you Verizon sufferers outside NJ I would direct you to contact Ivan Seidenberg. He's the CEO for the whole company, not just NJ. Or you can go over their heads and contact your state attorney general or your board of Public Utilities.

Yours Truly

A Disgusted Verizon Consultant

In response to this post, John Bonomo, Verizon's director of Media Relations, writes:

The employee who anonymously faxed the "mysterious" letter to your headquarters is doing his or her colleagues a disservice and dishonoring the work that they do on behalf of our customers. It's more appropriate to cheer for thousands of our customer service representatives who are helping our customers every day.

Even worse, this self-described employee's letter contains a number of inaccuracies, and readers here should be aware them. For example, we've stated publicly that customers who qualified for the free TV under our recent promotion will receive one. We also acknowledged that delivering the set would take some time, and we said that as a part of the promotion.

We've also said that we have begun taking new orders from new customers for HD set-top boxes, and we are fulfilling back orders that we placed for some customers who had service installed during our temporary shortage. We have a strong commitment to serving our customers and for making things right when an issue is called to our attention.

Of course, any customer who isn't getting the service they deserve should contact us, and customer service representatives will work hard on their behalf.

RELATED:
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Verizon FiOS "Free LCD TV" Promotion Resulting In A Lot Of Angry Customers

(Photo: davidbivins)

The only thing worse than being a level 1 tech support rep is being a quality assurance specialist who listens to level 1 tech support reps ALL DAY LONG.

Here are my ten confessions from when I worked at HyperQuality, a quality assurance contractor for Accenture and AT&T DSL outsourced tech support call centers: Sykes, Teletech, Teleperformance, Telvista, and a few other smaller ones I can't recall.

1. "This call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes" applies to about 0.01% of all tech support calls.
This is considered to be "good sampling." Calls are recorded and then given to QA agencies for playback and scoring later. The idea is to select a group of call centers for monitoring and review at least two calls for each agent. In reality, call center management is allowed to select the recordings to send out for QA. Guess which ones they sent? That's right: 20 calls from their best agent over and over again. Good sampling, indeed.

2. Agents say stupid things because they're required to.
That excessively long branding at the beginning and end of the call, the annoying use of your formal name, the pointless verification of useless information? All are requirements forced on the agent by brain dead internal QA policies. Firms like Accenture and HyperQuality who are hired to improve these policies and procedures to improve customer service ratings, but are actually paid to reduce customer service costs. Instead of improving procedures and training so that agents know what they're doing, QA spins its wheels trying to figure out the nicest sounding script for why an agent needs to transfer you to yet another wrong department.

3. Outsourced call centers and QA agencies are in a race for supremacy.
AT&T executives know they can't trust their own internal QA, so they outsource. QA wants tech support agents to be outstanding for the executives. Outsourced call centers interpret QA agencies as threats (rightly so), a