The best time to negotiate is end of the month. I don't mean like two weeks before. I mean like the 30th or 31st. Sales managers are usually willing to take a lower amount because they have to "get stuff out the door" to make their bonus.

Get 'em when they're desperate to move product, and you may be more likely to see the price move in your favor as well.

A Salesman Tells How to Negotiate for the Best Price on Electronics [Free Money Finance] (Photo: FredoAlvarez)

A posting on the internal Circuit City forums from an irate store manager upset over having to shrug his shoulders in response to a customer who had a $2,500 CC refund check bounce elicited this response from the CC accounting team:

Due to the Ch 11 filing, the bank had to put a stop on all checks that had not been deposited. We WILL be reissuing all bounced checks. I don't have an exact date to tell you, but we intend to make good on every single mail refund that bounced.

Adjust your spreadsheets accordingly.

1) Cash register, POS outage and Servers are down
2) 3-5 hours to checkout and sometimes the line never moves. See 1
3) No available shopping carts.
4) A line that wraps around the outside twice because of people waiting in line since Thanksgiving Day.
5) Checkout line that wraps around everything inside the store like spaghetti.
6) Parking lot is packed to a point you have to park on Walmart property.
7) Customers hording anything they can get their hands on.
8) Employees hording ad items.
9) Pushing, shoving, running, and running people over with a shopping cart.
10) Most sale items gone within 1 hour. Very low in inventory to begin with.
11) Customers punching each other in the face / and other fighting.
12) Customers and Employees getting away with stealing.
13) Customer walkouts.
14) Customers abandoning sales associates commission quotes.
15) Employees lying to you about items being sold out.
16) Employees lying to you to buy items they claim are on sale but are not.
17) Employees lying to you about the extended warranty and tacking it or other extras onto your quote. Beware of fake bundles.
18) Employees aiding customers to front of line for buying warranties, wireless installations, or fake bundles.
19) Customers cutting others in line.
20) Employees fighting over customers or commissions
21) Employees stealing other customers from each other.
22) Employees ignoring customers who are cheap.
23) Employees working odd hours from 3am to 12am midnight, with inadequate breaks
24) Customers start buying products they saw in the leaked Black Friday ad before Black Friday and try to get an Low Price Guarantee or price match on Black Friday will be turned away and be very frustrated.
25) Customers will steal products from other customers.
26) Your possessions will be stolen from your car while you shop.
27) People will get hurt.
28) People will get arrested.

Is the list complete? Add your predictions that he missed in the comments.

28 things that will happen on Black Friday 2008 at Fry's Electronics [Fry's Forum]

Best Buy says:

A Message from Brad Anderson, Brian Dunn and Bob Willett
To all employees:

This morning, we announced that we've seen a sudden change in consumer spending, in our comparable store sales, and in our expectations for this year's earnings. We'd like to provide more context around these changes and their impact on our business.

The year started off well, with total company comparable store sales (sales at stores open more than 14 months) growing 4 percent for the first half of our fiscal year, a period that runs March through August. Our results were fairly consistent until September, when our comparable store sales turned negative, declining by 1 percent. Then our comparable store sales softened further in October, declining by nearly 8 percent, amid unprecedented changes in the financial markets, a deteriorating economy and weakening consumer sentiment. From where we stand today, we could see total company comparable store sales for the rest of the fiscal year decline by 5 percent to 15 percent.

Revenue gains are important to our business model because the majority of our costs ─ such as rent and store operating costs ─ are fixed. Typically, when comparable store sales increase by 3 percent or better, revenue growth outstrips expense growth (including merit increases, rising health care costs and the like), and our earnings rise. Currently, due to comparable store sales declines as well as spending increases, we have expenses rising faster than revenue. That's why we're now anticipating an earnings decrease for the year.

Specifically, today we also announced a new range for our earnings expectations: $2.30 to $2.90 per diluted share. The midpoint of our range is a 17-percent earnings decline compared with the $3.12 per share we earned last fiscal year.

Let us be very clear. These reduced earnings expectations reflect the unprecedented tumult in the financial services industry, which has reduced consumer spending across the board in retail. The outstanding work of our 165,000 employees doesn't make us immune to our environment. We can't change the overall level of consumer spending, but we can focus on deepening our relationships with customers wherever we interact with them: in our stores, on our Web sites and through our call centers.

While our comps have been negative, we gained market share in September and October. So we're getting a bigger piece of a business that is currently shrinking. Customer satisfaction remains at all-time highs. Employee turnover is at historic lows. We firmly believe that our strategy of customer centricity is of great value in driving our performance versus the industry, and that's the strategy we plan to pursue to continue to strengthen our position in the marketplace.

We must find ways to win with the customers who are coming to us today. Serving our customers better than anyone else is the best way to create value for customers, employees and shareholders alike. We need every employee engaged in serving customers better, and more efficiently. We want your unique perspective on what we should do differently in this market, based on what you see and touch, and using the talents you have.

We could let today's turmoil distract us from serving customers. Other retailers might do that. But we will not. Instead, we will use these circumstances to redouble our efforts and deepen our commitment to each other, to our company, to our strategy and to the customers we serve. In so doing, we will strengthen and fortify ourselves as a team. A winning team. That's who we are, and that's Best Buy.

Brad Anderson, vice chairman and chief executive officer
Brian Dunn, president and chief operating officer
Bob Willett, chief executive officer of International and chief information officer

L says:

When we were told we our store was be closed, the liquidator told us that we would get a big bonus for sticking around until Dec. 31st instead of looking for a new job. Of course all the associates were very excited. The liquidator told us we would find out in about a week what that bonus is. We we found our on Sunday. They lied to us about it being big. It is only 75 cent an hour. If you are part time and work 20 hours a week, that is about $120 over two months before taxes. If you are full time and work around 40 hours a week, that is $240 over two months before taxes. Calling these big bonuses are an insult to the employees who are busting their asses while the stores are finally busy again, because of the liquidation.

After our manager heard that, he decided to give everyone unlimited hours, since he does not report to Circuit City anymore and to screw with the liquidator, since they are paying us right now. I've heard the horror stories about this liquidator in this forum before, but this is a new low to deceive the front line employees who have nothing to do with the mismanagement of this company that ultimately brought it down.

By the way, the liquidator raised many prices. True TV's are 10% off the MSRP, but in many cases Circuit City was already selling them for 30% off the MSRP. Smart customers are simply going to the Circuit City 5 miles away which is not closing and offering lower prices.

(Photo: Getty)

If an item does not have a price tag, don't buy it. You more than likely won't be getting much of a discount, you may actually be paying more than normal for it. The way Circuit Citys price tag system works is basically all the tags should be pretty much the same in every store.

So if the liquidator wants the price to be higher, they can't print a tag (easily at least). So basically what they do is just not put a tag on it, raise the price, then give you the 10-30% discount. So really the customer is just paying normal or higher prices. They suspect it to be like that for a while depending on how fast they sell through inventory. If they aren't selling through product, then they should start giving real discounts.

If there's a high dollar product you want, I would just keep checking back every day or so because of the limited inventory, until you can get the best price possible.

With "Few Deals To Be Had At Circuit City Liquidation Sales", and a number of the items available online for the same price, savvy dealseekers need to go into the 155 closing Circuit Citys cautiously and armed with price research about the goods they want to buy.

(Photo: Xurble)

A Consumerist commenter on this post says this story is true, and a few posts in Google Finance forums also attest to the store closing. One post there says the store closings will be effective 12/31/08.

The news wouldn't be entirely unexpected as WSJ reported on Oct 20th that the retailer was considering closing 150 stores. On Friday, Oct 31, CC was warned it get delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because its stock price averaged below $1 for 30 days.

You can already start to see which stores are closing by seeing which ones don't show up in Circuit City's online store locator.

Circuit City is officially fried.

UPDATE: A Consumerist commenter on this post and a message in the Google Finance forums have also said that the store closing are going to happen.

UPDATE 2: Another Circuit City insider writes: "A team of liquidators will be coming in and taking control of the store. They will set prices as they see fit, and price match guarantee, employee discounts, CC circulars, and the new one price guarantee are all out the window. The price you see is the price you will pay, although it ought to be at a bit of a discount. Firedog services as well as car audio installation are gone immediately. Returns and warranties have to be taken to a CC that's not closing. No new stock will be delivered, we just gotta crank away and sell off everything, and when it's sold, we hit the road."

UPDATE 3: A CC employee scanned and sent us this letter he received from CC about the store closings:

UPDATE 4: In classy fashion, Chicago CC employees were told the news at what was billed as a "holiday kickoff" meeting that instead became a "holiday layoff" meeting.

UPDATE 5: Another CC insider reports, "Liquidators will be coming in on Tuesday and the affected stores will be shut down. there is likely not going to be a severance package for us being affected by the layoffs but we were given the option to get a bonus based on how many hours we worked under the liquidation process. We are not allowed to transfer to other locations and have to wait out the liquidation process before we can reapply. So essentially, we will have to take a paycut, a position cut, and more than likely an hours cut if we want to still work for the company.

More importantly I tried to find out what was going to happen to all the warranty computers. Customers will be getting a call from their local firedog techs tomorrow (Monday) about either to pick up their computers and take them to a different location to do warranty work, or for those who have already had their computers sent out for repair be told where they can pick it up. As far as I've been told everything that is out at our repair depots has already been set in motion and will not be shipping back to the stores that are closing. During the liquidation process we will no longer be accepting gift cards, coupons, checks, or circuit city credit cards.

I would tell people to call up their store tomorrow and see where their laptop is being shipped to because obviously that could be a very big hassle for people."

(Photo: heartburn)

Good morning:

Each of you may have been receiving emails from anonymous individuals identifying his/herself as Wilt Chamberlain, Double Agent, Geek Squad, Agent Agent or Magic Johnson. These emails from an anonymous sender(s) are asking you to ‘unite’, directing you to the Communication Workers of America (CWA), directing you to a Forum and soliciting signatures on a petition for legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

http://www.cwa-union.org/
http://tellthem.forumotion.net/
http://www.freechoiceact.org

First, none of the emails are being generated by the company or by a manager.

We have been having meetings with you, asking everyone to voice their opinions and asking everyone to help solve the problems we collectively face in tough economic times. Your input is important. We do not solicit input anonymously.

Each of you was selected because of your professional experience, attitude and skills. Every single member of the Geek Squad should be proud of your personal contribution to the accomplishments of the team. You have each helped establish a brand that millions of people recognize and respect.

Economic times are tough right now.

Modifications are needed to get through this difficult time. This is happening in every company in America. Today, we are in a lot stronger position than most companies.. Economic times fluctuate. Decisions have to be made in both good times and in tough times. We always want your input. We want to hear your voice, your concerns and want to make changes in a respectful manner. We want to continue to work with you directly so that questions can be answered and so that misunderstandings can be addressed without filters. And we also recognize that as a management team we sometimes fail to follow the best processes – never intentionally - but your direct feedback and input helps all of us learn to be better in the future in service of our employee and customer.

One email suggested that Best Buy is afraid of Unions.

We are not afraid – We are concerned.

We are concerned about being able to talk with you directly.

We are concerned about being able to continue to get your feedback, input and suggestions in an open forum.

We are concerned that a union could result in a lack of flexibility to address market conditions, customer desires and your own desires and needs.

To whoever is using the name of the great Wilt Chamberlain.

Over the last thirty years, union membership has dropped from 35% of total workers to just over 7% of the private sector. Did you ever ask yourself why any business loses market share? In one email the CWA is mentioned. To find out more about the CWA, take the time to search around the links at http://unionfacts.com/unions/unionProfile.cfm?id=188

THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT

One anonymous email asks you to sign a petition supporting EFCA.

First, opinions on political issues and candidates are personal issues, and we believe that each individual’s opinion needs to be respected. This is one of the strengths of our company, and a basic tenet of democracy.

We are concerned about the EFCA because it will infringe on an individual’s right to express their opinion in a secret ballot government conducted election.

Under this legislation, employees do not get to vote in a secret ballot election but rather if a union gets 50%+1 of the employees to sign a union authorization card all 100% are considered unionized – without a vote. In fact, 49% + X may not even have a voice in the decision or process. And it is possible that any union authorization cards signed today may be held by a union and count as a ‘yes’ vote if the law changes. People may be stripped of their right to vote “no” after signing a card today.

We are also concerned that employees may lose their voice in the workplace under this legislation. Under current law, a company and union negotiate a contract to completion and then the employees get to vote yes or no on accepting the terms and conditions of the contract. Under this proposed legislation, the company and union are to negotiate for a specified time period and if an agreement is not reached, a federal arbitrator will decide the content of the contract. The employees get no say. That denies employees the right to vote on accepting or rejecting the contract.

We are also, concerned that EFCA may have a negative impact on Best Buy’s business model. Our business model works because we can deal directly with our employees and react quickly to changing business needs. The introduction of a third party into that relationship, may limit our ability to serve our customers in the way that we do now.

We encourage each of you to learn as much as you can about EFCA, and to form your own opinion about whether or not you believe it is something that is in the best interest of our brand and our company.

You can also express your opinion, whatever it may be, to the anonymous email authors.

If you disagree with the anonymous senders, it is your decision and you can show your disagreement in any lawful manner including responding to the emails of the anonymous senders. If you agree with the anonymous senders, it is your decision and you can show your support in any lawful manner.. It is your choice.

Let me say that we are not afraid of unions at Best Buy. We truly believe that union representation is not in the best interests of the company, our customers or our employees. If you have any issues, concerns or ideas please do not hesitate to talk to your immediate supervisor or reach out to me.

In closing, let me say that we are betting the farm on our employees. What we are concerned about is putting something or someone between our employees and their supervisors that eliminates transparency, honesty and our ability to win with our customers by creating a world class experience for each of our employees. Feel free to reach out share your thoughts, ideas or concerns to me at anytime. You can contact me at Christian.Babb@BestBuy.com.

Thank you,

Chris Babb

(Photo: ob1left)

The Americans would beg and plead with the Filipinos to not unblock the account, and over and over again they would. Says our insider, "if US security had been able to intervene from the get-go, he would never have been able to do so much financial damage. For the rest of his life, the true owner of that account will be dealing with the effects of this crime." It's not the outsourced place's fault, though. They're just following orders. It's whoever designed the laminated binder they were blindly following that should really be held accountable. Read the whole messed-up story below.

Our insider writes:

A guy calls up on the direct number, his voice is distinctive: deep, but nasal, like he has a cold. I ask for his name and account number. He tells me his name but says he doesn't have his card with him. Step two: I ask for his social security number. He "ums" and "uhs" for a second and I'm certain I hear a faint rustling of papers in the background. The number he gives me isn't linked to any account on file. As soon as I tell him this, he hangs up. It was odd, but I wrote it off. Calls came at a snails pace and it wasn't unusual to have 20 minutes in between them. So when a couple of minutes later I got another one, it was strange. Once again it was a call from the direct number. I ask for name and number and the voice is strikingly similar. The name he gives is different but again he has no number. I ask for the SSN and again I can hear papers rustling while he stalls. This time an account pops up. He fails verification of the mother's maiden name and immediately hangs up. By this point I'm laughing about it with my co-workers because he seems such an inept thief. As the nights go on, we start to get more calls from him. I say "we" because this was the only call center that the phone number goes to and there were only about 15 of us on staff at any given time. He had the same mannerisms for every interaction and it became such that as soon as any of us got one of these calls we immediately put him on hold (usually making up some innocent sounding excuse) and tried to put him through to security. The problem with the Philippine security department quickly became apparent.

The US security department had access to LexisNexis. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a encyclopedia of everybody's life. Previous addresses, family member's names, jobs, schools, anything and everything that could be linked to your name and/or social security number. As an example of how incredibly (and frighteningly) thorough it is, when my now 30 year old brother was a tot, he liked to respond to junk mail with a fake name; this fake name came up as a former occupant of my parent's address when I got a chance once to do a search on myself (we had it in collections). Chase didn't trust the Philippine department to have it though. In fact, the only information they had the ability to verify was what was on the account: name, social security number, mother's maiden name, and recent purchases if they felt like being that diligent.

Here's the part of the story where some poor guy's account get's completely f-ed. This thief had been bounced to the out-sourced to security so often that he must have made a check list of any possible questions they would ask him. Through whatever means, he managed to get the answers to these questions. Now when he called, he could give us the information we were asking for, but by this point we knew his voice so well that we still tried to get him to security. It worked like this: We put him on hold and dial the extension for security. We get a security rep and start to explain the situation; we tell them he was able to give the right information, but that we know is the same guy that's been calling for weeks and we are certain he is not the account holder. They begrudgingly take the call. Minutes later another one of us gets a call from a security rep saying they are giving us a customer who has been cleared by them. And here the thief was back in our department. For those of us who had come to know him, the fight waged on night after night.

Chase is a revolving door. If you work there longer than a year, you're considered to have seniority. The few of us who knew this account was being raped could do nothing to protect it. Some newbie wouldn't know about the situation and would let the thief have his way with the account. The US security department became aware of the issue and put blocks on the account as well as incredibly long notes that explicitly said to not remove the block for any reason at any time. But sure enough, over and over, the guy would call in overnight, talk to the out-sourced security, and the block would be removed. Again, they were only able to verify with him with information that he was already known to have, yet that never seemed to deter them from clearing him.

Things got quiet for a while, and we thought maybe he'd finally been stopped from unblocking the account. Turns out that he'd actually been caught, but only after more than $40,000 in fraudulent charges on this one account. I cannot stress enough that if US security had been able to intervene from the get-go, he would never have been able to do so much financial damage. For the rest of his life, the true owner of that account will be dealing with the effects of this crime.

I wish I could this was the only time I saw the security department failing at securing an account. There was a consistent problem with the overt cultural difference. A man calls in and says he's the cardholder "Angela" and you find yourself trying to explain to security that Angela isn't a man's name and the odds of it really being his name are slim. And they just see it as cut and dry: He says he's Angela, so he must be.

To be fairer than Chase deserves, I'll note that I've been out of there for almost two years, so it's quite possible that it's all ponies and rainbows now. I'm gonna go ahead and assume though that it's run as poorly as ever.

(Photo: brycej)

BENEFICIARIES
It used to be, only beneficiaries that were direct family members qualified for the $100k FDIC coverage. Now, any beneficiary will receive full FDIC insurance coverage.

TRUSTS
Our insider says, "Before, if a trust allocated assets to beneficiaries in unequal amounts, FDIC coverage was basically gimped. If there were 5 beneficiaries and 1 got 80% of assets and the rest were split between the other 4, FDIC coverage would not equal 500k

Now, regardless of allocation, FDIC will give 100k coverage to each beneficiary up to 5 beneficiaries. At 6 or more, if the allocation is not equal between all beneficiaries, it reverts to the old rules for amounts over 500k. If the allocation is the same, each beneficiary (to infinity) gets 100k coverage per grantor on the trust."

So, good news, there's more lenient FDIC coverage. A small measure designed to help stem the number of depositors, concerned about FDIC coverage, from yanking their accounts, These changes should be reflected on the FDIC website by Monday, said our source.

(Photo: andrewcarroll)

As a banker with 20 years experience in the industry and veteran of about 8 takeovers throughout the years I can give you the scenario with estimated timeframes.

DAY 1 THROUGH 3 MONTHS
Nothing changes, you keep writing your same checks. You get the same statement in the same format. You log in to the same website address for internet banking. Maybe you see some new faces in your office from the "Takeover" bank (in this case JP Morgan Chase)

3-6 MONTHS
Few changes, mostly minor. You order checks and it has the new banks name on it, maybe new procedures for sending wire transfers or making loan payments. Half of the staff at your local branch has quit or been "re-assigned" elsewhere. They start changing the signage outside the office and get new brochures, but your accounts stay the same.

6-12 MONTHS>
You get notice that the format of your checks will change in a few months but you still can use your old checks for now and you might get assigned a new account number or given a new format that adds or subtracts digits. Some freebies you used to get with your account have disappeared (ie. you now get charged for a safe deposit box rather than get it for free). They've changed the hours the office is open. The only person you recognize when you go to the office is old Ethel, the head teller who's been there since 1977.

1 YEAR ONWARD
You get notice in the mail that your old account type is being discontinued and you now have the some new "special" type of account. You're not supposed to use your old checks anymore, if you make a mistake and write one anyway they'll probably pay it. Ethel retired and you don't know a soul in your old branch and it looks like any other Chase office.

“Who would have thought, after 30 years, that we’d be a flying 7-Eleven,” Becky Gilbert, a three-decade veteran of the industry told me during a break in our training session in Fort Worth.

The author, Michelle Higgins, captures the dramatic shift from what was once a career loaded with perks—free travel, flexible schedules, plenty of time off, and even a bit of cachet—into a job that puts you on the front line of the war most airlines are carrying out against their paying customers.

At the start of one flight, for example, the crew is told the plane is moving to a shorter runway, and they have to carry out a quick count of the number of children on board to see whether the plane meets the suddenly-reduced weight limit—otherwise they will have to kick off passengers. (And those passengers will hopefully write to The Consumerist.)

We've no doubt that there are bad employees in the skies—the bigots, morons, burn-outs, and despots who provide us with so many infuriating stories—but it's revealing to see the level of stress that today's good flight attendants have to deal with, and something worth keeping in mind the next time you fly and want to reach out and hurt the person telling you there are no more blankets or cookies, or that you'll almost certainly miss your connecting flight.

"Flying the Unfriendly Skies" [New York Times]
(Photo: FaceMePLS)

"Every customer who calls in is a mark. It's a great big con," said Colombo, who estimates that she alone sold almost a quarter of a billion dollars in the four years she worked for MBNA before it was bought in 2005 by Bank of America."

The bankers told CNN that their job was to convince people that they needed to borrow more money than they thought they did. They were trained to look for "trigger words" — mentions of difficulty making car payments or college tuition, for example. They were even trained on how to get around the law — if someone called in to try to get a cash advance for a down payment on a house (not legal) they were told to say:

"I cannot give you money to use as a down-payment on a home. However, what I can do is, I can deposit some money into your checking account, and once it's there, the funds are there, it's yours to do with what you please."

Most disturbing of all is the fact that the bankers say that the vast majority of people didn't want to take on that much debt:

"I would say 90 percent of the time, people were pragmatic. They would say, 'I don't need $100,000,' and we would find a way to convince them they needed the money," Ellingwood recalled.

They also said they were pressured not to let the stockholders down — and were chastised for letting people get away without maxing out their available credit.

Bank of America, which now owns MBNA, says that these accusations are "inaccurate."

"Our call center associates are focused on serving customer financial needs and responding to questions about their accounts," said Bank of America.

Luckily, one of the former bankers provided her performance review to CNN.

"You cannot sell what you don't offer," it reads. "Understand the importance of selling at the highest possible rate."

Ex-bankers on pushing customers to rack up debt [CNN]

Hi, I work the counter for the United States Postal Service and right now we are in a really big financial mess, they claim to have lost about one Billion dollars this past fiscal year. I was told yesterday by my supervisor (and I saw the written memo from the District) that stated we are not to offer first class, parcel post, or media mail.

If a customer comes to the counter with anything other than a letter, we are not to offer anything other than Express Mail or Priority mail.

So if a customer comes to the counter with a 5 ounce small package I am supposed to say "Good Afternoon, would you like to ship this Express Mail overnight guaranteed, it includes $100 of insurance and free tracking for only $16.50?"—Customer looks at you like you are crazy, especially if the package is just going across town—"Ok, then we can send it Priority Mail and it should get to its destination in 2-3 business days for $4.80 and we can add insurance for loss or damage, and for an extra 65 cents you can add delivery confirmation." At this point I am supposed to shut up and let them either be duped into paying at least $4.80 or wait until they say - how about first class, or is there anything cheaper?—at that point I can offer the first class postage. For the package I described, a 5 ounce parcel, the cost would be $1.85 or almost $3 cheaper than Priority Mail. My advice is to always ask if there is a cheaper way to ship. Once asked we can tell you, but we won't volunteer the information.

Some tips if you are going to the Post Office, Express Mail will get it there overnight. Priority mail AND first class will usually get it overnight if it is going within your city or usually within your state. If the package is going farther than a neighboring state the Priority Mail will get there in 2 or 3 days, with first class usually a day or two later than Priority. We are not supposed to offer parcel post mail—I do agree with that, parcel post is usually within a dollar or two pricewise of Priority Mail and will take anywhere from 7-14 days or even longer to get where it is going. If you are only sending books, media mail is the ultimate cheap way to go, usually 1/3 the price of parcel post. A warning though—media mail can be opened, and we do open it if we suspect it is not media mail. In that case the person recieving the package will pay the difference in price.

(Photo: justmyowntwocents)

The insider writes:

I work in a Walmart store in KY, and I'm writing in to let you know that my store has raised the prices on all of its cell phone chargers by almost 50%. These price changes were automatically put into effect in our system by Home Office. This, I feel, is in direct response to Hurricane Ike.

Here in KY, we didn't get the rain, but we did get high winds on Sunday morning, which knocked out power to some 300,000 people here. The next day when we opened, people bought every car charge and battery we had because they were still without any power. Now today all of our car chargers go up nearly 50%. In fact, every charger, car or wall, in our store is a flat $19.00, when car chargers were $10.00 and wall chargers were $15.00 yesterday. This is hardly a coincidence, and it's so blatently obvious to our customers. I can't believe Walmart would do something so totally against their own mantra of Save Money, Live Better. This is more like "Raise Prices, Screw Suffering Customers!"

It could be a coincidence, maybe not. Either way, the timing is certainly suspicious.

(Photo: chasingfun)

I have noticed a lot of comments on my Confession from yesterday, and thought I would follow up on some of these.

First of all, anything that I mentioned having to do with bankruptcy was what I learned in investigating bankruptcy laws. I am not a lawyer, I am not in pursuit of a J.D, etc. If you happen to know bankruptcy law I would be interested to learn about it. From experience I have never seen or heard of a mortgage being forgiven by chapter 7. I guess I wouldn't unless they had called to gloat. I implore anyone to seek legal advice please! Don't take my word for it at all. I was told that when someone mentions bankruptcy (at all) to stop any collections and cease the call, even if they needed help. That's the reason I warned against it.

Secondly, it would seem that a majority of people think that I am either a homeowner with a bad experience or a disgruntled employee. I can admit that I was frustrated with Wells Fargo, hence me quitting, but that I did indeed work there. Collections, sixth floor, disaster, escalation, and some loss mitigation (cross trained to help out loss mitigation).

Now I don't know the site that Stanwell is referring to, but it could not have been my site. In my training class there were 4 people (myself included) that were over the age of twenty. My training class consisted of twenty-some people. Do the math. Out of those 20 or so people me and one other were the only ones with any college experience. Most of the people in that class had graduated high school the summer before. 2 of my 4 supervisors did not have college degrees either. I don't mean to insinuate that they were not intelligent because of this, it's just that I would like the biggest investment in my portfolio (the mortgage) to be handled by someone who knows what they are doing and can spell. The last part is no joke: in loan comments there were misspellings that would make E.B. White spin in his grave. One rep wrote "homeowner diseesed as of 05/07." Really?

Morale is low because, compared to everyone else at my campus, they treated us collectors like crap. The other WFHM collector mentions that time between calls isn't counted. It was for me. I was a part of a team that blended (because time between calls had been getting extended), which means that in between taking collections calls I was making collections calls. On a typical day I would say that any given "blender" would talk to (not necessarily collect on, though) 100-200 people. A good deal of those were frustrated people that would hang up. I was told that they needed to turn up the speed (how fast the calls come) because I had about 10% down time the day before. There were probably 9 or 10 of us that did this, all the while being paid the same as those of us who didn't.

As for QA: Wells records all their calls with date and time stamps, however *most of the time* they monitor the calls that they grade live, if it isn't a busy month. I have no doubt that they monitored a call as late as 9:30. I didn't mean to insinuate that they NEVER graded anyone after 12pm, they just listen less and less as the day goes on.

Loss mitigation is indeed overwhelmed, but they aren't doing anything to help themselves out either. I was told on more than one occasion to "just handle the call" when a borrower would call on an active loss mitigation account (which prime inbound collections at my site was told not to handle). I was also given information that I knew to be wrong at least half the time. On a few occasions loss mit reps would place me on hold but forget to hit the mute button, and I would hear them talking about me. This wasn't common at all, but if it happened to me I would imagine it happened to others.

My supervisors stressed to me that Wells Fargo wants to help your call, so long as it is within the 6-7 minute average handle time. That's not a lot of time to give customers the individual attention they need. Anything after 6 minutes and I was told "transfer it to customer service." Customer service was used as the panacea at my site, even though we would frequently transfer calls that had nothing to do with customer service. It wasn't uncommon to get a call from C/S that had originally gone to collections. It frustrated people, and frustrated people get mad.

There are multiple collections sites. I can tell you that from my experience, Fort Mill, SC is the worst. San Bernardino, CA seemed to be the best of them, and as always there are exceptions on both sides. I can only speak for my site, and the experiences that I had with others. I will say that I had a great experience with a rep in CA. She went totally above what she was expected to do and helped me out a great deal.

There are a few things I forgot to mention in my confession as well:

1. Make sure WFHM is reporting your credit correctly. More than once I found accounts where the credit reporting has been messed up by a representative. They aren't supposed to touch it, but frequently will. WFHM will dispute it for you, but it seems to be a long road.

2. WFHM's SCRA (Serviceman's Credit Relief Act) was changed about a year ago to reflect the new policies that they were putting into place. If you have the SCRA active on your account ask what is covered. From the calls I received it would seem that WF did not communicate this. I believe they changed the way the fees were assessed, interest rate, and ability to make collections calls. I am not 100% sure on that though. If you know more about this, Stanwell, please share. I don't agree with it, but there wasn't much I could do. I wasn't a part of Special Loans.

PREVIOUSLY: 12 Confessions Of A Home Mortgage Collector

A customer brought his desktop tower computer in for service, Microsoft Windows XP Home, will not post boot and rolls at start up at the XP GUI screen. The head technician without having run any diagnostics determines “it’s a virus that infected the hard drive and caused it to fail”. The instructions I received were as follows. Do not diagnose the issue, just remove the hard drive from the tower and connect it to a USB to PATA adapter, then take the 3.5 inch internal drive and adapter over to a floor display model, and connect it as we do not have a service computer. Transfer all the files and data from My Documents to the desktop, and “clean” the customers hard drive up. Now that the drive is powered and sitting in a static filled environment, on top of a metal display rack on a carpeted base for all to see, I was instructed to complete the next step.

Now that the customers documents are left on a floor model laptop for all to see, I am forced to leave the area and go to another part of the store and then reinstall the hard drive back into the case, and run the staples diagnostic utility, leaving this persons personal information for all to copy to a thumb drive. Having now altered the properties of the drive, and having changed administrator rights and privileges the data and drive comes back corrupt in the Staples antiquated diagnostic program.

The customer is then contacted and told that the 3 year old machine’s hard drive is dead, and that it’s not under warranty, and we have a replacement drive and can repair the computer while it’s apart and since it was a “good and expensive machine” it’s worth repairing. Now having left the customer with no option and not properly informing them about what to do the customer is really left with no choice but to repair it seeing as it is in pieces and we have the only copy of their data and school is starting to begin. The Easy Tech manager wrings up the bill, 1 charge service entry, 1 charge diagnostic fee, 1 hard drive service charge, 1 back up and restore charge, 1 format and restore, 1 copy of windows totaling around $480.00 if not more as I did not see the final receipt, which is the cost of a brand new Acer laptop that far surpasses the antiquated desktop.

After hearing what the head tech did to the customer and having put me in a position that compromised my integrity, I quit and told the customer all about it, and now I am airing it out for all to see and hear.

Apparently, when you push the Easy Button in front of a Staples Easy Tech, it activates one of those hinged arms with a white glove and it pulls cash from your wallet.

I was the best at what I did at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (WFHM) for years. What did I do? I was a collector. At Wells, collectors are in charge of most aspects of a loan, notably ability to repay (like repayment plans) and loss mitigation aspects (loan modifications, etc). I was also part of WFHM's disaster team. I no longer work there, thank god (and can take bathroom breaks that total more than 6 monitored minutes a day!). Here's what I learned that can save you from people like the kind I used to be:

1. Chances are your mortgage is serviced (worked) by someone who has just graduated high school. A large majority of WFHM employees in major call centers have no college experience.

2. WFHM Training barely mentions loan laws and regulations. I had to download my own copy of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and even then most people in WFHM have been told that they are "legally outside of the FDCPA."

3. Do not threaten bankruptcy. Legally we had to get the names of all those who mentioned bankruptcy to corporate attorneys, and that results in a fee. Bankruptcy will not forgive a mortgage debt.

4. Fight your bankruptcy fees with a passion! WFHM tacks on all fees regarding bankruptcies on to the loan, but these fees are not simple document fees. They are normally multiple $600+ fees regarding attorneys. WFHM will not talk about these practices with collectors. I have seen upwards of $4500 in fees regarding ONE chapter 13 bankruptcy, and when I was asked to send documentation of these fees I was told we "could not."

5. WFHM wants to appear concerned about foreclosure, but their actual policies tell a different story. In the two years that I worked in the servicing call center the repayment plans constantly went DOWN in number of months available. In other words, when I started we could spread out a missed payment or 3 over 18 months; when I quit it was only 6 (on a Freddie Mac loan). Making things harder to repay does not help people avoid foreclosure.

6. WFHM does not actively investigate instances of deceptive lending practices. More than once I got an account that was a predatory loan, and WFHM will not do anything about it (even after telling us they would).

7. The Loss Mitigation department has NO CLUE what they are doing. The department that is supposed to be in charge of Load Modifications and such will almost always "lose" key documents to the modifications, and you will go into foreclosure. I normally kept track of loans that went to Loss Mit and 85% of the time 3 months later it had not been touched. If the loan was 4 months past due that now makes it 7 months past due. These are not low numbers either, we are talking about 85% of tens of thousands of loans.

8. Call center employees frequently hang up or transfer homeowners back into queue to avoid work. I would say it happened on 1 out of 3 calls. If someone needs to "transfer" you for a simple question, politely ask why. If you detect any attitude whatsoever speak with a supervisor.

9.Call early in the day. Calls are monitored by Quality Assurance (QA) in the mornings. All the reps know this. Low QA scores for collectors means no end of month bonus (if other criteria is met). In some cases that means an extra $300. Collectors take this very seriously.

10. Morale is dangerously low at WFHM. Most employees leave without notice or give 1 days notice. WFHM wants to achieve 98% utilization, meaning that only 2% of the day can go without talking to someone (in other words, 540 seconds without talking to someone in an 8 hour shift). Nepotism is also rampant at WFHM. The employee handbook states that family members are not supposed to have a superior-subordinate relationship in the same department, yet on my floor alone there were at least 2 supervisor-underling families.

11. Don't argue about the due date. The due date, on 99.5% of loans, is the first. I cannot count how many people, on a daily basis, argue this. As soon as you argue the due date, don't expect any help from the collector. Collectors at WFHM hate this more than anything else. A grace period is a GRACE period, not a blanket due date.

12.Know what you are doing when you call, because likely the collector will not. Also, if you can, deal with a local agency about your loan being past due. It's not something to be embarrassed about. At the end of month Wells has a delinquency rate of something like 2.5% (grossly inaccurate). With an 8.5M loan portfolio that means 212,500 people are late with you. Use this website to find a counselor.

The videos have slightly NSFW language. Here's the first one.

(Thanks, David!)

Halo 3 Limited Edition Xbox 360 [Hot Topic]

Jimmy John's Guy writes:

I work at jimmy john's, delivering.. and there's something I just don't get. Why in the world, anyone... ANYONE.. would pay what they charge for potato chips.

Today I'm delivering some platters to [redacted].. they ordered 30 bags of chips, you know.. the small ones.. so i decide to figure it out.. 30 x 2.125 ounces.. roughly 64 ounces of chips.. how much did they pay for them? $52.50!!!?!?!??!?!?!!?!?!! for the chips alone.. WWHWHHYYYYYYYY????? that's insanity.. anything would be better than paying that.. it's like they found a way to charge 10 times what something should cost and got away with it.

that's all.. tell people not to buy chips..

Will do.

(Photo: strobist )

Joe writes:

1. Telemarketer calls company X and says “hello my name is Jim and I was looking for the person in charge of (ex.) Computer equipment. Often the secretary will say that he or she does not know who is in charge and other times they will get a name their first time up to bat. The telemarketer (if turned down) will then try back another time with “Can I please speak with your I.T. Manager.”

2. Eventually the telemarketer will get a contact name and that is what they build off of to begin faxing. Calls will continuously come in asking more information each time. For example, if you found out Tom handles I.T. then you (the telemarketer) would call into the office and say “Hello can I please speak with Tom in I.T. (which you are generally turned down because Tom has no idea who you are) that is when you ask the secretary “ I am just trying to get Tom some information, can I have his fax number quickly.”

3. As long as the companies secretary (or anyone at the company you are trying to fax) clears it then they are free to fax as much as they want until written notice is given. Generally they will call the company using the lines above and right before hanging up say “I am trying to send Tom some information is his fax number still 123-456-7891? Once the secretary says yes, that is his fax then they legally have the green light to start faxing. All calls are recorded so when these things go to court the telemarketing firm generally will pull out the tape of the secretary giving the verbal and the case is thrown out or the other company drops their complaint.

Really? That's all it takes to cover their asses? So how do you fight it? I guess by training whoever answers the phone to never say "yes" if a stranger over the phone asks for a fax number to be confirmed and to say something different instead. Any ideas?

PREVIOUSLY: "How Do I Stop Fax Spam?"

(Photo: Getty)

Hello. Love the site. Been reading it for years. I have been working at AT&T for a while now. While I have been working at AT&T I have always kept an eye out for ways that can save people money. i have found a way around the connection fee for new connections or transfer orders.

When you set up service set up Internet only, also known as stand alone fast access (STAFA) dsl. There is no fee for connecting StAFA dsl,but there is for hooking up phone service at the new location. Once your order has completed and your dsl is up and running, call us and then order your phone service. Since your dsl is connected we already have the connection needed for a phone line. Wwe flip a switch and your phone normally works by midnight. No connection charges are applied to the new phone connect or dsl if you order it this way.

Depending on what state you are in you can save between 40 - 46 dollars. I dont know if this works nationwide but I know it does for customers in the Southeast region (AL, FL, GA, MS, LA, KY, TN, NC, SC).

So will this work? Let us know in the comments if you try it out.

(Photo: qthrul)

"We at MAD were shocked and confused by this entire incident — mainly because we had no idea that Circuit City even sells magazines. Nonetheless, we accept their apology but hold out hope that their gesture of a $20 gift card is only an opening offer."

Har hars all around, yolks.

Circuit City Rethinks MAD Magazine Ban, Apologizes [Newsarama]
PREVIOUSLY

Hi, Ben,

I spotted the article about Circuit City and MAD Magazine on your site.

fyi, I became aware of this "situation" only this morning, and I have sent a note today to the Editors of MAD Magazine.

Speaking as "an embarrassed corporate PR Guy," I apologized for the fact that some overly-sensitive souls at our corporate headquarters ordered the removal of the August issue of MAD Magazine from our stores. Please keep in mind that only 40 of our 700 stores sell magazines at all.

The parody of our newspaper ad in the August MAD was very clever. Most of us at Circuit City share a rich sense of humor and irony...but there are occasional temporary lapses.

We apologize for the knee-jerk reaction, and have issued a retraction order; the affected stores are being directed to put the magazines back on sale.

As a gesture of our apology and deep respect for the folks at MAD Magazine, we are creating a cross-departmental task force to study the importance of humor in the corporate workplace and expect the resulting Powerpoint presentation to top out at least 300 pages, chock full of charts, graphs and company action plans.

In addition I have offered to send the MAD Magazine Editor a $20.00 Circuit City Gift Card, toward the purchase of a Nintendo Wii....if he can find one!

All the best,

Jim Babb
Corporate Communications
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Richmond, VA

Let's evaluate it on the 3-step system for fixing corporate gaffes:

1. Admitted they were wrong
2. Stopped doing the wrong thing
3. Made a material gesture of apology

Check check and check on all three, plus points for speed. You go, girls.

PREVIOUSLY: Circuit City Orders All Stores To Destroy Issue Of Mad Magazine Parodying "Sucker City"

UPDATE: Circuit City Sorry For Commanding Employees To Destroy Mad Mag's "Sucker City" Parody

The spoof:

The response:

What's wrong Circuit City? It's funny because it's true!

Issue #492 [Mad Magazine]

Then respond...
This offer is just one option for customers. It’s a choice! Comcast is committed to offering customer the best programming and services. We want to provide our loyal customers the best packages available. The package offered requires that the customer maintain the minimum level of services for 24 months.

If customer asks...
Are the rates guaranteed for 12 months for all of my boxes and services?

Then respond...
The rate of the plan (plus applicable taxes and franchise fees) is guaranteed for the Comcast Digital Cable package for a period of 12 months from the date service is activated. The package is limited to service to one outlet and does not include equipment, or other charges not specifically included in the offer (including without limitation, PPV and other non recurring charges) Upgrades to service are allowed on an a la carte basis, however, those prices are not guaranteed.

If customer asks...
What will happen to the cost of the services when the first 12 months is completed?

Then respond...
After the 12 months of the offer, Comcast’s regular service and equipment fees will apply.

[CAE Note: Please remind the customer they will start to receive the multi-product discount on their bill after their 12 month promotional rates ends.]

If customer asks...
What happens to my offer when I move?

Then respond...
If you cancel service because you move your residence to a location within a Comcast serviceable area and you reconnect to a Comcast Digital Cable service comparable to the package, the reimbursement fee will not apply.

If you move to a Comcast area without transferring service, reimbursement fees will apply.

* If you downgrade between months 2 and 12, your fee will be 100% of the value of the Wii, or $250.
* If you downgrade between months 13 and 24, then your fee will be 50% of the value of the Wii, or $125.
* If you only downgrade a DVR or HD service or any other added services above the minimum level, you will not be charged the reimbursement fee.

If customer asks...
Can I add services?

Then respond...
Since you are only required to maintain a minimum level of service you can upgrade or add services during the 24 months.

If customer asks...
What happens if I downgrade my service within the next 2 years?

Then respond...
If you downgrade service below the minimum level within the 24-month period, the reimbursement fee applies.

* If you downgrade between months 2 and 12, your fee will be 100% of the value of the Wii, or $250.
* If you downgrade between months 13 and 24, then your fee will be 50% of the value of the Wii, or $125.
* If you downgrade a DVR or HD service or any other added services above the minimum level, you will not be charged the reimbursement fee.

If customer asks...
Can I transfer the agreement into someone else’s name?

Then respond...
The redemption form is non-transferable and cannot be transferred to someone else’s name. The agreement applies to the current account holder. However, we can accept name changes due to marriage, etc. That person will need to sign a new redemption form.

If customer asks...
What happens if I lost the redemption form or I never received it?

Then respond...
A second redemption form can be mailed to the customer upon request. Please see supervisor for details.
An extension on the 30 days is at the discretion of the system.

If customer asks...
How will I know that the Wii has shipped?

Then respond...
A notification letter will be mailed up to five business days prior to the Wii system arriving at customer’s shipping address.
The letter will include a shipping address, UPS tracking number and customer service phone number for shipping inquiries.

If customer asks...
What shipping address will be used?

Then respond...
The shipping address will be the customer’s service address.

If service address does not accept deliveries or if customer requests alternate address, the Wii system will ship to customer’s billing address. Please note that the Wii system will only ship to customer’s service address or billing address [as default].

If customer asks...
How can I track the shipment status?

Then respond...
Qualifying customers can track Wii shipment status by visiting the following site: http://www.checkmyrebate.com/ComcastWii

Please note that qualifying customers should access this site AFTER they return their redemption form and 30 days have passed since Triple Play installation.

If customer asks...
Will a signature be required upon UPS delivery of the Wii?

Then respond...
No, the customer is not required to provide a signature in most cases. The only time a signature will be required is if the Wii system is shipped to a multi-dwelling unit.
We will keep record of every shipped Wii system, the UPS tracking number and ‘shipped to’ address.

If customer asks...
What happens if I don’t receive my Wii?

Then respond...
We would escalate the situation.

If customer asks...
What if I am subscribed to the Premier Triple Play Bundle and want to downgrade to Preferred Plus Triple Play Bundle in markets where the minimum level of service required for this offer is Preferred Plus?

Then respond...
Yes, you would be able to downgrade if you live in markets where the minimum level of services for this offer is Preferred Plus.

If customer asks...
I’ve heard that there were incompatibility issues between Comcast routers and the Wii. Is this true?

Then respond...
* In early versions of the Wii (pre-System Menu 2.2), there was some incompatibility with routers provided by Comcast.
* Nintendo has patched the incompatibility issues and all Wii systems manufactured since April 2007 have this patch built-in (including those allocated to Comcast for the Nintendo Wii promotion).
* There should be no issues between Comcast routers and Wii systems for this current promotion.

If customer asks...
I already have a Comcast service(s). If I add another service to make my package [Preferred Plus or Premier] Triple Play, can I get the Nintendo Wii?

Then respond...
This promotion is for new customers only [going from 0 to 3 services for a qualifying Triple Play package]. I apologize for any inconvenience this causes. However, we do have other offers available for our customers adding products to their existing services.

Termination of Redemption form terms

A reimbursement fee will be applied to the account for cancellation or downgrades from the minimum level of service between month 2 and month 24 after installation. In the reimbursement form, a local number is included so that disconnected customers can contact their former Comcast office and request the Reimbursement fee be credited.

If the customer downgrades or disconnects between month 2 and month 12, the reimbursement fee is 100% of the value of the item. ($250.) If the customer downgrades or disconnects between month 13 and month 24, the reimbursement fee is 50% of the value of the item. ($125)

Moving outside of Comcast footprint

* CAE explains a termination fee will apply

Moving within the Comcast footprint

* CAE sets up a transfer within the market or uses MoveCo.
* If successful with transfer within a system or MoveCo no Reimbursement fee applies
* If not successful, then Reimbursement fee will apply and the customer can send a Comcast bill from the new location to have the fee credited to account
* If customer does not want to tell CAE where they are moving, CAE will advise that a reimbursement fee will apply, until we receive confirmation of Comcast service has been installed *
* OR Customer can request an exemption letter for the Reimbursement Fee. This letter is to be completed and returned with proof of their new Comcast service.

Non-pay

* Normal Collection Process will be followed
* Work order will reflect customer has a Value Add offer (rate codes)
* If money is not collected at any step during collection process, reimbursement fee will be applied to account.

Downgrades

* Customer stays with Comcast, but downgrades from minimum level of service required by the Value add campaign.
* CAE probes for reason for downgrade and explains reimbursement fee applies if customer removes services below the required minimum level of service.
* Customer can upgrade to a higher level of any of the three services.
* If customer understands and wants to continue with downgrade, CAE requests manager apply the reimbursement fee according to the time left in the 24 month period.
* If the CAE is successful retaining the customer in the current service level, no reimbursement apply
* If there are extenuating circumstances that require a downgrade, account needs to be referred to management to determine if reimbursement fee will apply. An example would be the computer breaks down and customer is not getting another right away.

Death

* If CAE is advised that the customer who accepted the Value Add offer has passed away, show empathy
* CAE will advise relative that a Reimbursement fee will be applied, but can be immediately credited with fax/mail copy of obituary or death certificate *
* CAE requests manager to apply credit of the reimbursement fee and document this on the account.

(Photo: largeprime)

10. You can always install the product on twice as many computers as stated in the EULA. This is enforced via the backend and a grace number is allowed.

9. If you ask for a refund, Symantec will probably give it. If your order is more than 60 days old, Symantec may have to cut you a check, but odds are good Symantec will give you your money back.

8. When you get a order refunded, the product/entitlement/subscription is not disabled on the backend. You can continue to use your product as normal without any consequences.

7. We enroll you into our Automatic Renewal service on the www.symantecstore.com without giving you the chance to opt-out of enrollment during the purchase process. You have to access the link in the email we send you to disable this enrollment.

6. Customer Support in India is the best thing that has ever happened to Norton/Symantec . They take 1+ million calls a month. Prior to outsourcing, the most calls per month was less than 100k. You may hate the accent, but they do great work.

5. We know the performance of our product sucks. This has been an engineering priority for 3 continuous years, progress is being made.

4. You don't have to "upgrade" to get upgrade pricing. From the www.symantecstore.com website, select upgrade and you will pay a reduced price for the upgrade. You may be asked for prior proof of purchase, but you don't have to provide it.

3. When you upgrade from product X to Product Y, product y Does not inherit the subscription time from product X. Calling Support and asking to have the time transferred will provide you with this extra time.

2. Symantec support agents will do whatever it takes to make you happy. This includes giving away free things. We can give free shipping, eliminate processing fees and do price matching as needed. Just ask for it.

1. With the right search engine, you can find coupon codes to buy Symantec software for free. The store website has coupon codes, every company needs codes to test with, some are easily guessable.

BONUS: Here's the Complete Norton Symantec Executive Contact List

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 me