Here is the letter from AT&T:

Let your voice be heard: Internet regulation is bad for consumers, jobs, investment and universal broadband

TO: All U.S.-based managers

Over the last few weeks an extraordinary number of voices expressed concern over news reports that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is poised to regulate the Internet in a manner that would drive up consumer prices, and burden companies like ours while exempting companies like Google. According to The Washington Post, the FCC has received a dozen letters from Republican and Democratic governors, a letter signed by 18 Republican senators, and a letter sent by 72 Democratic members of Congress. In addition, letters expressing serious concerns were sent by many state legislators and minority groups, and our union partners, CWA and the IBEW.

We encourage you, your family and friends to join the voices telling the FCC not to regulate the Internet. It can be done through a personal email account by going to www.openinternet.gov and clicking on the "Join the Discussion" link.

The FCC has extended the period for receiving comments by allowing postings to its blog until Thursday, October 22nd. Those who seek to impose extreme regulations on the network are flooding the site to influence the FCC. It's now time for you to voice your opinion!

In addition to your own thoughts, any of the following points can be used when you develop your brief blog comments.

• America's wireless consumers enjoy the broadest range of innovative services and devices, lowest prices, highest usage levels, and most choices in the world. Why disrupt a market that's working so well?
• There is fierce competition for wireless and broadband customers. Competition drives innovation and encourages companies to develop products, services and applications that consumers want. There's been more innovation in this market than in any since the World Wide Web was introduced. The market is working for consumers. Don't burden it with unnecessarily harmful regulations.
• Network companies have to be able to manage their networks to ensure the most economical and efficient use of bandwidth, and provide affordable broadband services for all users. Network management is essential for consumers to enjoy the benefits of new quality-sensitive applications and services. The FCC rules should not stop the promise of life-changing, cost-saving services such as telemedicine that depend on a managed network.
• The "net neutrality" rules as reported will jeopardize the very goals supported by the Obama administration that every American have access to high-speed Internet services no matter where they live or their economic circumstance. That goal can't be met with rules that halt private investment in broadband infrastructure. And the jobs associated with that investment will be lost at a time when the country can least afford it.
• The FCC shouldn't burden an industry that is bringing jobs and investment to the country, but if it is going to regulate the Internet it should do so fairly. The goal of the FCC should be to maintain a level playing field by treating all competitors the same. Any new rules should apply equally to network providers, search engines and other information services providers.

Thank you in advance for taking action that supports our customers, our company, and our country's commitment to ensure that every American has access to broadband.

Jim Cicconi
Senior Executive Vice President - External and Legislative Affairs
ATT

Well, let's break that down. First off, the FCC's contemplated action would be "exempting companies like Google" because the rules are directed at the ISPs, not at the content providers. AT&T, Comcast, et al are the subject of the regulation, companies like Google, who produce the content that consumers access via the internet, aren't. You could just as easily say it would "exempt companies like Craigslist, or Gawker, or Meatspin."

In response to AT&T's offered talking points:

• "Why disrupt a market that's working so well?" The market is currently operating under net neutrality principles, albeit principles with little force of law behind them. Net neutrality has been the operating norm of the Internet since its inception; it's only recently that ISPs have discovered there's money to be made in ransoming certain content.
• "Competition drives innovation and encourages companies to develop products, services and applications that consumers want . . . . The market is working for consumers. Don't burden it with unnecessarily harmful regulations." You know what doesn't encourage companies to develop products, services, and applications that consumers want? Making them pay an ISP for the privilege of even showing their content to consumers. A great part of the internet is the low cost of entry for new ideas and products. Forcing start-ups to buy access to a customer base could kill the next big idea.
• "Network companies have to be able to manage their networks... The FCC rules should not stop the promise of life-changing, cost-saving services such as telemedicine that depend on a managed network." The FCC, which hasn't announced concrete rules yet and won't be until the completion of a lengthy factfinding process, has already indicated that in some circumstances network management may be necessary and would be allowable, provided it was done in a transparent manner. Telemedicine has in fact been used as an example where such management might be needed.
• "[Net neutrality rules would] halt private investment in broadband infrastructure. And the jobs associated with that investment will be lost at a time when the country can least afford it." First, content providers, like Google, YouTube, or Facebook, also employ people. Limiting the content that can travel through the internet would also risk losing jobs. But more importantly, there is no evidence that net neutrality would discourage investment in broadband infrastructure. Indeed, from 2006 to 2008, AT&T has had net neutrality rules imposed on it as a condition of its merger with BellSouth. As this article points out, "AT&T's network investments increased immediately following the imposition of the Net Neutrality merger condition and continued to rise over the two years of the merger agreement. When the neutrality condition expired on Dec. 29, 2008, the company sharply reduced its investment."
• "If [the FCC] is going to regulate the Internet it should do so fairly . . . . Any new rules should apply equally to network providers, search engines, and other information services providers." This is gibberish. Search engines don't transmit content; they can't, for instance, block torrent files. Only the tube owners like Comcast and AT&T can block or discriminate against content.

In conclusion, AT&T is full of it, net neutrality is awesome, and trying to stop the flow of information is usually a bad idea.

ELSEWHERE:
Now on Sale at the AT&T Store: Anti-Net Neutrality Propaganda [Public Knowledge]
AT&T Boss Asks Employees to Fake It [Save The Internet]
(Photo: quietmint)

Our tipster writes:

I'm a RadioShack employee who has become very frustrated with being asked to lie to customers in order to increase our profits. I forwarded the following email to ethics@radioshack and did not receive a reply or witness any correction from the managers involved. I feel that at this point your blog is my best chance to warn consumers about RadioShack and other retail outlets that might pull similar shenanigans. The email that follows has been transcribed from a printout, as our email system doesn't allow messages to be forwarded outside the company. In the email, we are given examples of things to say to customers in an effort to sell the RadioShack Replacement Service Plan - aka RSSP. Each example encourages lying to the customer about the benefits of the service plan. The full terms and conditions for the plan can be found here.

Subject: Wanna "SELL" RSSP after you offer it!

Here is some example verbage. You have to believe in this to make it work. The customer's can sense your indifference if YOU don't believe. Don't just offer, SELL IT!!!

1. Bluetooth especially, or anything that has rechargeable batteries.
"For only $5.99 a year this replacement plan will get you a new headset every year! Just make a claim, get you gift card, come back here and get your new headset and service plan for one more year".

2. This works with most replacement plans.
"If you get the replacement plan, its like buying one and getting one free" "If for ANY reason you are dissatisfied with the product, you can make a claim, get your gift card, then get a new product of the same, or use it to upgrade to something better. It's like an upgrade program for most everything in the store".

3. Multi phone cordless example.
"If you get this replacement plan for $29.99 on this four phone set, it's like getting $120 worth the future battery replacements for 75% off retail AND a full two year money back guarantee on the whole phone system for free! Even if you never have to make a claim on the phone system, you saved $90 on batteries.

The claims are par for the course. Salespeople upsell extended warranties by making grandiose promises that companies rarely honor. Save yourself the cash and stay away from extended warranties.

(Photo: Brave New Films)

As you might expect, it's a pretty cynical meeting. The groups in attendance proposed a $500,000 PR campaign to "get the BPA perspective in the media mix." Possible ways to do this include trying to scare consumers with misleading warnings like "Do you want to have access to baby food anymore?" or parading a young pregnant woman around to talk about the great things that BPA can do for her and her baby.

The Post quotes from the notes, but the blog Effect Measure has what it claims to be the entire summary, available here.

We've written before about the many adverse health effects that are being linked to BPA exposure, like increased instances of prostate and breast cancer, diabetes, and numerous reproductive system defects. A Harvard study last month found clear evidence that containers made with BPA, like hard plastic sports bottles, leach BPA into people's bodies.

Congress will soon consider the Ban Poisonous Additives Act, sponsored by Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.), which would ban the chemical in all food containers, including baby bottles, reusable sport bottles, and canned goods. Retailers like Target and Babies R Us have already pulled BPA products from their shelves and replaced them with similarly priced BPA-free alternatives, and at least three canned food producers use BPA-free linings in their cans, demonstrating that alternatives already exist at similar prices.

Strategy Being Devised to Protect Use of BPA [WaPo]
(Photo: fallenposters)

I wish there were uniform tips for dealing with CSRs, but there's such a variety of quality - anything from an outsourcer in the Philippines who is following a script to agents who are in their third year of working through a CS degree. Don't assume that just because you're talking to someone without a foreign accent they're going to be useful - we have several outsourced centers in Canada and the U.S. that are just following Logicall (our call flow guide) and even the inhouse call centers are encouraged to follow it, especially for their cross specialties. (a year ago upper management decided that we could sell more new lines of business if they cross-trained the internet centers in video training and vice versa. Then they decided that training is expensive so they only gave us two days of it and told us to follow Logicall)

1. We have a lot of outages. Some are planned, some aren't. The planned ones - "scheduled maintenance" - have ETRs; unplanned outages don't. For unplanned outages we are supposed to say "It will be up within 24 to 48 hours" but agents don't like listening to the "OMG TWO WHOLE DAYS WITHOUT SERVICE" that inevitably follows so they'll make up a time of 1-4 hours. Usually it will be fixed within that time anyways, but don't take any timeframe we give as a guarantee unless you're calling in after midnight (99% of scheduled maintenance is in the early morning.) If there is a verified outage you should get one day's credit for your services according to the official policy. However, it has become common practice that customers should call back after the outage for credit (and of course management has done nothing to discourage this) and it's up to you if you think it's worth arguing with the rep/requesting a supervisor or not.

2. There is no way to report an outage. If you suspect there is one in your area the best option is to encourage your neighbors to call in and schedule appointments to trigger an auto-outage. Occasionally our pathetic excuse for an outage management team will collect information on suspected outages, but we have no control over when they ask for it. This is incredibly stupid but there's no way around it - a sup won't be able to do anything else either.

3. If your tech is late, you should call for a $20 on time guarantee credit. This will only work if the tech arrives after the time in the billing system. For example: if you have a 10-12 appointment and the tech shows up at 11:50, no credit. This also assumes that the time frame in the billing system is the same as what we told you.

4. If you need a tech and aren't happy with how long it will take to get someone out, you can request a "must do" or next day appointment if at least one line of business is completely down. So, if you have no dial tone on any phones, or RF (bad lights and bad signals on your modem) or no TV service on all TVs, you can insist on one. You aren't eligible if you have slow speeds, intermittent connection, a busy signal, TV service on TVs without a digital box, or if your appointment is an install or for a line issue.

5. If you have a home office and you rely on the internet, please get a charter business account. Most of the time you'll get same day appointments and much better CSRs - CB is reached only by internal promotion so all of the agents there have been with the company for at least six months and most have taken or are taking some sort of IT courses.

6. The promotions we offer vary by area, but standard rates are $29.99/mo for 5 meg internet, $44.99/mo for basic, expanded, and a digital converter, $19.99/mo for telephone, and $5/mo for a premium (HBO, Showtime, or Stz/Enc). If you're being charged more than this you should do the standard trick of calling retention and (nicely!) threatening to cancel unless you can get those rates. This doesn't include any extras like faster internet, digital views, modem rental (not that you should be renting a modem from us anyways - buy your own and you'll save money over the long run), etc.

7. Our email service sucks. Please just use Gmail. And don't call for Outlook/Thunderbird/etc issues - all we can do is verify your server names and then tell you to use webmail.

8. Wire Maintenance is our version of an extended warranty plan and a complete rip-off. We try and pressure you into it because it's the highest commission non-truck roll item ($2.50), but you should only have it on your account if you have a signal issue done caused by something you did like installing your own splitter or having a dog who chewed your coax. You should call back and take it off after the tech comes out. The only reason to keep it on is if you've had ongoing issues with being mischarged for truck roll fees and would rather pay the monthly fee than worry about arguing with the billing department.

9. Our Wireless service (Home Networking) is also a rip-off. You're paying $10 a month for us to walk you through changing your SSID/wireless key and pin resetting your router. Buy a router, spend five minutes on Google, and save yourself the money.

10. We have to upsell, like every other call center. The highest commission is on new Lines of Business. If you want to be a horrible person, you can tell the rep that you're interested in getting telephone service (gives the highest commission - $15) if they can get your issue resolved and then change your mind at the end of the call. The rep will be highly motivated to help you but you'll never reach moksha.

(Photo: takomabibelot)

The unfortunate thing with Webloyalty is that they manage to stay just this side of legal. The customer has to authorize the subscription to Webloyalty. The problem is they do this with a form that says "Give us your email address for $10 off your next order" and then stipulate that doing so authorizes the subscription and transfer of CC data. All of this info is available to the customer, they just don't read it. Not defending these guys, but if memory serves it's saved them before.

Their quasi-legal business is lucrative enough to be worth millions of dollars a year to their reputable affiliate retailers. If your readers want to complain, they should cancel their orders when they see the Webloyalty screen, inform the CSR that they cancelled because the retailer works with webloyalty, and reference those cancelled orders (with dollar amounts) in letters/emails to the corporate office/CEO. Even many legit retailers aren't going to pass up the kind of money Webloyalty offers if it's not painfully clear that they're losing enough customers to make up the difference.

RELATED: Webloyalty Reservation Rewards Under Investigation
Watch For Baloney "Reservation Rewards" Charges On Your Credit Card

He writes:

For lost/stolen card you must explicitly ask: "I would like my card overnighted, can you help me?" The rep is trained to say "Yes, I'll be more than glad to overnight you your card at no additional charge!"

For a damaged card you must explicitly ask: "My card is completely unusable, can I get a new card overnighted?" The rep is trained to ask for the Customer Identification Number on the card, and will overnight the card at no charge.

There you have it, the secret words for making sure your American Express card gets overnighted to you with no fuss.

(Photo: Plutor)

I'm not sure this list was entirely comprehensive. Feel free to add your additional suggestions to AIG employees in the comments.

AIG Corporate Security's Tips for Surviving an Angry Mob [Gawker]

(Photo: j.buck)

If only U.S. Airways had the foresight to charge their own emergency escape fee they could've collected a smooth $3,750 from the passengers of Flight 1549 before letting anyone off the wings.

Message 9222744 [b3ta board] (Thanks to Geoffrey!)
PREVIOUSLY: RyanAir Thinking About Charging For Toilets

Every businesses needs documents employees can refer to, pantra-laterally, to help steer their decisions through times of uncertainty and deal with rapidly fluxing global business enterprise environment, secure touch points that provide direction and solace, Rocks of Gibraltar in miniature, if you will.

Like when you need to make a new pot of coffee.

Inside, Comcast's official new pot of coffee making policy and instruction manual...

We're confused, what do we do after pressing Brew Start?

PREVIOUSLY: Comcast's Official Water Jug Changing Policy

Rich Piotrowski writes:

The reason so many Franchisees are not honoring this coupon is that the company delayed this promo TWICE, as many of the Franchisees said they would not go along unless Quiznos Corporate (which makes about a hundred million a year selling food to its franchisees, and prohibits them from buying food from anyone else) paid for the food in this promotion. Late last week, Quiznos decided to roll it out anyhow saying no, franchisees would have to pay the entire cost. Every other system (such as Denny's Arby's etc) the cost of the promo was shared by both parties. In addition, most of those system sell food at cost to Franchisees. Like those other systems, Quiznos makes money by collecting a 7% royalty and 4% from franchisees which they say is for advertising. Unlike those other system however, on top of those fees, Quiznos makes that hundred million IN ADDITION by selling food to them. And you wonder why Franchisees are not honoring the coupon?

Internal memo:
We also received the original instruction memo sent out to franchises on Feb 20. It makes no mention of how many coupons Quiznos will pay for.

Message to us from Quiznos:

The response to the Quiznos Millions Subs Giveaway has been nothing short of overwhelming. That's great, right? Right... but given that we have had over a million consumers respond in only three days, there are a handful of people who have reported some problem redeeming their free sandwich. If you're one of them, please let us know right away by emailing millionsubs@quiznos.com. We're working hard to address every issue very quickly.

When asked about Rich's comments, Quiznos responded:

In this current economic environment, Quiznos is continually working to develop new products that offer great food at a great value for its guests, while still helping its franchisees control costs. America's response to our offer to get a high quality great tasting Quiznos sub for free has been nothing short of overwhelming. In light of this, Quiznos is reimbursing it's franchisees for the cost of all of the free subs.

PREVIOUSLY:
Troubles With Redeeming Quiznos Free Sandwich Coupons
Free Quiznos Subs
(Photo: Ben Popken)

Balance Down Initiative
DETAILS: On February 13, 2009, American Express began 3 promotion to entice Cardmembers to reduce their outstanding revolving balance on CCSG Lending products by offering them Pre-Paid Cards or Statement Credits.

Handling Procedures: If you receive a call from a customer concerning the Balance Pay Down initiative, please refer to the Q&As below:

Prepaid card test FAQs
Q: Why was I selected for this offer?
A: We'd like to offer you the opportunity to simplify your finances and pay off your existing balance.
Q: My neighbor/friend received this offer but I did not. Can I enroll?
A: We apologize, but we can only honor this offer for selected cardmembers. However, if you're interested in paying down your balance, I can help you with that.
Q: Can you help me enroll in the offer?
A: You can enroll in the offer by visiting americanexpress.com/prepaidcardoffer and using the unique RSVP code provided to you on your mail piece. If you would prefer to enroll by phone, please call 800-794-1308 and use the code: 138580001. Please note that your account will automatically be cancelled when you enroll in this offer. You will need your account number to enroll in the offer.
Q: I don't have access to the Internet; how can I enroll?
A: If you would prefer to enroll by phone, please call 800-794-1308 and use the code: 138580001. Please note that your account will automatically be cancelled when you enroll in this offer. You will need your account number to enroll in the offer.
Q: I lost my mail piece that has my unique RSVP code; can I still enroll?
A: Yes, you can call 800-794-1308 and use the code: 138580001. Please note that your account will automatically be cancelled when you enroll in this offer. You will need your account number to enroll in the offer.
Q: I missed the enrollment period but am still interested in taking advantage of this offer?
A: We apologize, but we can only honor this offer for cardmembers who enrolled during the stated enrollment period. However, if you're interested in paying down your balance, I can connect you with a Customer Care Professional who can assist you with that.
Q: I would like to pay off my balance, but keep my account open. Can I do that?
A: By enrolling in this offer, your account will automatically be cancelled. If you do not enroll, but pay off your balance by April 30, 2009, your account will remain open but you will not qualify for the Prepaid card offer.
Q: I enrolled in the offer, but I can't pay my balance in full. What happens?
A: As communicated in the enrollment letter, your account will be cancelled. You must continue to make at least your minimum payments until your balance is paid off. However, you will not receive the prepaid card.
Q: My payment is due prior to March 1, 2009. Should I wait until then to pay so it qualifies for the Prepaid card (officially called Encompass Card)?
A: To avoid any late fees, you must pay at least your minimum payment by the due date. As long as you make another payment for the remainder of your account balance between March 1, 2009 and April 30, 2009, your account will qualify for the Prepaid card (officially called Encompass Card).
Q: Where can I use the Prepaid card (officially called Encompass Card)?
A: Your card can be used at select merchants that welcome American Express® Cards. The Card cannot be redeemed for cash and is not transferable. Card terms and conditions, usage restrictions and guidelines apply; please see your card carrier for details.
Q: How long will it take for the Prepaid card (officially called Encompass Card) to arrive?
A: Your Prepaid card (officially called Encompass Card) will arrive 4 weeks after the end of the promotional period (April 30, 2009).
Q: I enrolled in the offer and paid off my balance, but didn't receive a Prepaid card (officially called Encompass Card)?
A: I apologize for the inconvenience. Please give me a moment to review your account and confirm if the payments have been reflected on your account.

If Cardmember has not received there offer connect to a TSC CCP to complete the request

Q: I submitted a payment prior to April 30, 2009, but I see it did not post to my account until after the end of the offer period. Will I still receive the Prepaid card (officially called Encompass Card)?
A: All payments must be reflected on your account by April 30, 2009 to qualify for the Prepaid card (officially called Encompass Card) offer. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Q: Is my account considered closed at my own request, or at American Express's?
A: Your account will not be reported in a negative manner to the credit bureaus, however it will be reported as "closed at consumer request."
Q: How will the account closing be reported to the credit bureaus?
A:Your account will not be reported in a negative manner to the credit bureaus, however it will be reported as "closed at consumer request.".
Q: Will I receive a confirmation of the account cancellation?
A: Your statement will reflect the account cancellation in the month following the account cancellation. Please note that depending on your account billing date, it is possible that you may not see the cancellation on your statement for up to two months.

CCPs: If the Cardmember asks for a confirmation letter connect the Cardmember to TSC.

Q: How long will it take for my account to be cancelled?
A: It may take up to 2 weeks for your account to be cancelled after enrolling in the offer.
Q: I enrolled in the offer, but my account still looks active. Why?
A: It may take up to 2 weeks for your account to be cancelled after enrolling in the offer.
Q: How long is my prepaid card valid for?
A: The prepaid card will expire May 31, 2010; unused points will be forfeited the first day after the valid thru date, subject to applicable law. For additional information about your prepaid card, please see the full terms and conditions enclosed in your card carrier.
Q: What do you mean by a $300 value prepaid card? How is the card denominated?
A: The Card is point based with 1 point = $1 in purchasing power. Terms and conditions apply. Please see your card carrier for details.
Q: I enrolled in this offer, but would like to reinstate my account? Can you assist?
A: Let me direct you to the appropriate person who can assist you submitting that request. (CCP: Connect the Cardmember with an existing Customer Service CCP)
Q: I am a Blue from American Express® Cardmember or Optima® Cardmember. What happens to my Membership Rewards Express® points now that my account is cancelled?
A: Any points accrued in your Membership Rewards Express® program will be forfeited upon account cancellation. See Membership Rewards Express® program details for full terms and conditions.
Q: I am a Blue Cash from American Express® Cardmember. What happens to my rebate now that my account is cancelled?
A: You will forfeit your entire Rebate for the Rebate Year if your account is cancelled before the Rebate posts to your account. See your Cardmember Agreement for full details.
Q: I received the offer for the prepaid card, but I would like a statement credit instead?
A: We apologize, but your account qualifies for a $300 value prepaid card, and we cannot offer you any other incentives at this time.
Q: I took advantage of the offer you sent me, but received a letter saying that my account was cancelled by American Express/for a credit reason. Why?
A: Let me direct you to the appropriate person to discuss this with you. (CCP: Dial-transfer CM to RLA team).
Q: If my account was cancelled prior to enrolling in this offer, can I still enroll?
A: We apologize, but you are not eligible to receive the $300 value prepaid card if your account was cancelled by American Express prior to enrolling in this offer.
Q: I enrolled in the offer, but subsequently received notification that my account was cancelled by American Express for credit reasons. Am I still eligible for the prepaid card if I pay down my balance?
A: Yes, as long as your balance is paid down, you will be eligible to receive the $300 value prepaid card.
Q: What does the footnote regarding taxable income mean?
A: Any income provided by American Express may be considered taxable income to you. Please check with your personal tax advisor with any questions regarding tax implications.

PREVIOUSLY: AmEx Pays Some $300 To Zero Their Balance And Leave

[via creditcardforum.com]

According to an inside source, these posts about the Teleperformance USA call center in Fishers, Indiana got sent up the company ladder. When they hit the Senior VP level, there was much teeth grinding. A Sprint vendor manager was hauled in on his ass to explain himself. Guess it wasn't very convincing. Then again, it could just be the economy. Whichever the case, no matter, all roads lead to Rome.

Sprint closing call center [Indystar] (Thanks to Josh!)
RELATED:
Call Centers: Teleperformance USA Is A Cancer
Teleperformance USA: Call Center Of Customer Service Nightmares

(Photo: robertDouglass)

1. Drugs are sold almost openly in the Fishers call-center. The keyword is 'almost' because the management that is aware of it wants to maintain a plausible deniability.

2. There have been multiple instance where agents have had sex in the restrooms.

3. Fortunately, our call-center was by the Fishers PD. Unfortunately, the officers pretty much knew all management by name.

4. Teleperformance is a giant cesspool for credit card fraud. Especially within the Sprint project. When it is caught, we are supposed to inform Sprint and the customer. That never happens. I was involved in catching an agent who committed credit card fraud. In ended up in a chase as the agent made a run for it to her car, the we filed a report with the Police, fire the agent and that was that. Even after we got the agent to admit they had written down a ton of CCN's and stashed them in their car.

5. The Fisher center HR manager is racist. I'm white and I'm not afraid to say she is racist. She parked her car in the front visitor lobby close to the door so she could get there as soon as possible because as she stated she "didn't want these hoodrats to mug me".

6. Major conflicts of interest. There are assistant call-center managers dating each other, therefore no matter whether one of them is wrong or not, they always have each other's back. The Call-Center Director fires employees who file complaints on other agents that are valid. Yet, when someone makes an outrageous claim with no solid proof, the person who had a complaint on them would be fired within minutes.

7. Agents, Trainers and Supervisors were hardly paid their overtime and commission-based-pay. For example, trainers were going to make a $1,400 commission for training and meeting metrics (Well those who did their jobs and actually trained). Teleperformance changed their metrics the day before the checks were going to be mailed to us and considered our commission invalid. http://tpclassaction.com/ is a good example of what we had to do.

8. Like in the Convergys post, "training" consisted mainly of of web-surfing and breaks...long breaks. A few months after I became trainer, I was more or less the Assistant Training Manager, meaning that my manager took vacations every other week and managed to have important personal matters on days during important teleconferences leaving me to take all the heat and backlash. On those days, if I didn't have a new-hire class to train, I would walk around and check in on classes, where I saw trainers sitting on YouTube showing everyone stupid stuff.

9. Because Trainers and Supervisors surfed, agents would as well. Yet it was a double standard. Agents though would e-mail their friends or themselves customer information. Surfing and Texting was supposed to be a warning then termination, but it never happened, because the agents who did that stuff were personal friends with the supervisors or other management.

10. Around I believe March of this year, HR decided to spend two full days running background checks. Within those two days, the call center became barren. Agents and supervisors were fired en-masse. They also called Fishers PD to pick them up and escort them off the premises.

11. Military Leave was a battle with the HR Manager. It got to a point once where I over heard a Colonel on the phone raising hell and had to re-educate her on Federal Law. That didn't deter her though in other Military based LOA's.

12. Agents who used their paid-time-off were called and forced to come in on one of their days off to make up for "Lost Hours." That started to disappear once I called my lawyer buddy and he gave me a run-down on some laws that I could shove on them.

13. The police was there daily. I worked there for four years and just before I resigned was when the police started making daily rounds in our parking lot.

There is so many things I could say about that place, but it would take days. I was one of the few "Veterans" of that center. There were six of us that remained that were there since the center opened and somehow none of us managed to make it to upper management. We all worked very hard and honestly. I still have some friends that work there and they still ask me for help with stuff. I find it disappointing that agents can't rely on the still-employed supervisors and management staff, and have to call and e-mail former trainers who actually helped.

Teleperformance is a cancer.

PREVIOUSLY: Teleperformance USA: Call Center Of Customer Service Nightmares
Convergys Call Center Sucks Because Agents Are Stabbing Each Other And Making Out In The Halls

Anonymous writes:

Subject: Verizon Online, Apple, AT&T, Sprint, AOL, Boost Mobile, DELL, Microsoft, X-Box Live Support and many others

When customers have issues with the company/service listed in the subject, I can honestly state it is most like not because of the company themselves, but a company named Teleperformance USA.

Chances are that the reason a large portion of consumers receive poor customer service is because the reps they are speaking with are employed by Teleperformance USA. Human Resources basically severely lowered the bar in standards when it came to hiring.

Training for each project varied between two weeks to five weeks. Sprint being a four to five week training course, Verizon being two weeks and so on.

The clients such as Sprint and Verizon had policies set for us to follow, but management would over-ride them and set their own policies. For example, Teleperformance hired absolutely non-technical people for Verizon Online and would pretty much force the agents to refer to vendor for even the most minor issue.

Verizon provided a very large knowledge-base for the agents that would help resolve a lot of issues. Supervisors and Trainers alike would have the representatives get rid of the call because it "wasn't their responsibility".

When it came to training new-hires or even updating current employees on new standards, it was more like babysitting a room full of children. Trainers were pretty much told just to provide "numbers" for our clients to make it look like they were being trained. After many years of that being done, it was practically impossible for trainers to actually help train and uptrain. Management looked the other direction when it came to "cheating" on the final exams for training for new hires to be fully employeed or current employees to be considered 'certified'.

Due to the fact that agents weren't being properly trained, policies weren't adhered to. Simply because, no one knew them. Their supervisors don't care what they do. Especially in Sprint. In training, we told new hires that they are there to help customers with billing and phone issues and upselling is the least of their concern. On the floor, supervisors told the agents that trainers did not know anything about working on the floor (which was an outright lie, since we had to have high QA scores and Customer Satisfaction ratings from Sprint to be a trainer) and told them that sales was their highest importance.

So, agents didn't care about billing issues, blamed the customer for it then tried to upsell them more junk. That way agents would make a commission and supervisors got a percentage of their teams overall commission amount.

The overall attitude within Teleperformance is that their clients demands do not matter for the most part and will lie, cheat and steal to make number look good to provide back to these clients. On more than one occasion, Sprint, Boost, and Verizon has came through call centers and pulled projects because Teleperformance was not doing their job.

Teleperformance holds about 70% of Sprint Call Centers. Sprint holds pretty much only the Consumerist Line, Executive line and a group called White Glove for VIP members.

Now, there are some agents that really do want to do a good job there, but they are few and far between. So the only thing I can say is that the consumer needs to exercise caution when contacting the listed companies.

In this case, the customers are getting ripped off just as the companies who hired Teleperformance USA. No wonder it's necessary to keep telling aggrieved customers to escalate to executive customer service or send an EECB just to fix basic issues.

"To print or not to print" gift receipts around this time of the year was a daily "knee jerk" reaction. One minute the CEO then (Bob Ulrich) would send down a mandate to "print gift receipts on all transactions." Of course the word of Bob was "God" so we'd jump right on that change to implement across the chain of stores ASAP.

The next minute, the EVP then (Bart Butzer) would walk down to the closet Target store (just a block from headquarters in downtown Minneapolis), make a purchase, see the gift receipt being auto-printed (without a customer asking), run back to his office and dictate to someone else on our team "stop printing gift receipts on all transactions." And, of course they'd jump like a "good little soldier" and implement that ASAP. Then, we'd have a team meeting or discover the contradiction and it would go back and forth ... turn this function on/off, on/off...

By that time the "rule of law" ended up being sent down from good ol' Bob Ulrich (he loved getting involved in small little details of the business operations) that he did not want ANY REASON or EXCUSE for a guest to not have a receipt to make a return. So, his mandate won out and we printed them for every transaction (even if you just bought a pack of gum or soda).

However, if you need to get a gift receipt for your purchase, just take the receipt to the Guest Service area of any Target store. They should be able to scan the barcode on the receipt and issue you as many gift receipts as you like.

So there you have it, a little bit of inside track on the furious battle over gift receipts, and a solution if you need one printed. Thank you, anonymous former Target employee, the mystery is solved.

PREVIOUSLY: Target No Longer Automatically Prints Gift Receipts?

(Photo: IntangibleArts)

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

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)

PREVIOUSLY: Sprint To Start Discounting ETFs Monthly (Photo: Sam Wilkinson)

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

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.

Halo 3 Limited Edition Xbox 360 [Hot Topic]

"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

They also add, "Don't be afraid to use the "Tell Randy" forms. He really does read every single one. If its a complaint, mail it yourself so it doesn't get lost. You can find these at the Front Check Out, or by the PIC Podium."

President
Randy Fry - wrf@i.frys.com
[He is very involved with the everyday operations of the company.]

Vice President
Omar Siddiqui - aos@i.frys.com
[Very rarely in the office. Handles the purchasing side of the business. Also in charge of all ads & "ADORS". More on that later.]

Director Of Operations
Ken Lutz - kjl@i.frys.com
[In charge of all Store Managers and their subordinates. Works closely with Randy.]

Director Of Customer Service
Shahriar Saraj - shs@i.frys.com
[Handles front checkout, returns, customer relations, & cafe.]

Head Of Legal
Kathy Kolder - kjk@i.frys.com
[In Charge of Fry's legal affairs, also part owner]

Components Department - (Memory, Processors, Motherboards, Hard-drives, Cases, etc)
Director - Vacant
Purchasing Manager - Steve Monnier - smm@i.frys.com - (408) 487-4665
District Managers
D1 Lerida Gomez - (408) 487-4696
D2 Leo Lopez - (408) 441-0831
D3 Eric Maxwell - (408) 487-4697
[Steve is a good guy. If you can get a hold of him, he will take care of you.]

Computers Department - (Desktops, Notebooks, Monitors, Printers, Thumb Drives, Office Supplies, Apple Computers, etc)
Director - Rajesh Seth - rks@i.frys.com - (408) 487-4520
Purchasing Manager - Inderjit Khera - ijk@i.frys.com - (408) 487-4522
District Managers
D1 Joseph Kerr - (408) 487-4756
D2 Vacant - (408) 487-4757
D3 John Norris - (408) 441-0249
[Rajesh is a pretty busy guy, so getting a hold of him will be tough. Inderjit can be contacted a bit easier so use him to get to Rajesh.]

Software Department - (Movies, Software, Games, Books, etc)
Director - Rayman Cheng - rwc@i.frys.com - (408) 487-4530
Purchasing Manager - Vacant
District Managers
D1 Lynda Luu - (408) 487-4565
D2 Molly Talooi - (408) 487-4761
D3 Jennifer Haddan - (408) 487-4565
[Don't know him too well, but he seems to treat his people well, so maybe he'll do the same for a customer.]

Service Department - (Service Center, All Warranty Repairs)
Director - Jeff Staat - jes@i.frys.com - (408) 487-4542
District Managers
D1 Vacant
D2 Ricky Cheng - (408) 487-4544
D3 Vacant
[Jeff is actually under Rajesh Seth, so if he can't help you escalate it to Rajesh.]

Audio Video - (TV's, Home Audio, Car Audio, Cameras, Telescopes, MP3 Players, etc)
Director - Gopala Ajjarapu - gba@i.frys.com - (408) 487- 4550
Purchasing Manager - Vacant
District Managers
D1 Randy Eaton - (408) 441-0251
D2 Cesar Perez - (408) 487-4593
D3 Eric Weers - (408) 487-4592
[FTP]

Appliances - (Appliances, Cell Phones, AC Units, etc)
Director - Sanjeev Shera - ss11@i.frys.com - (408) 487-4677
Purchasing Manager - Vacant
District Managers
D1 Andrew Patty - (408) 487-4557
D2 Dimpy Sidhu - (408) 441-0264
D3 Vacant - (408) 487-4738
[Good guy. Customer Oriented. Will go the extra mile to help you.]

District Managers. These are the guys who you would contact if you cant get something done on the store level. Each Department (Computers, Software, AV, Service, Appliances, Components) has 1 District Manager per district, so there are 3 DDMs per department. Some are great, others make you wonder what on earth upper management was thinking when they promoted them. Along with reporting to their own Director, they also report to a DDM of Store Operations (listed below), who then report to Ken Lutz.

District 1
Reza Davariar - (408) 487-4716
[On his way out. If you've shopped here in the bay you'll understand why]
Palo Alto, CA
Campbell, CA
San Jose, CA
Sunnyvale, CA
Sacramento, CA
Wilsonville, OR
Fremont, CA
Concord, CA
Roseville, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Renton, WA

Dsitrict 2
Mike Millar - (408) 487-4773
[Very tough guy to work for, but pretty fair and balanced]
Manhattan Beach, CA
Fountain Valley, CA
Woodland Hills, CA
Anaheim, CA
Burbank, CA
San Diego, CA
Tempe, AZ
Phoenix, AZ
San Marcos, CA
City Of Industry, CA
Frys.com
Oxnard, CA

District 3
Todd Smith - (408) 441-0210
[Don't know much about the guy, seems okay]
Dallas, TX
Arlington, TX
Austin, TX
Houston, TX
South Houston, TX
Downers Grove, IL
Alpharetta, GA
Plano, TX
Webster, TX
Irving, TX
Duluth, GA
Fishers, IN

REBATES
If you don't get a satisfactory answer, contact Ginger Bautista at (408) 487-4743. She is the person in charge of all rebate issues at home office. She will cut you a check and ding the vendor who refused to pay. It's written into every contract that Fry's reserves the right to deduct any unpaid rebates from their account. (Please make sure that you did everything as requested. They can't help you if you missed the deadline, or possibly just failed to read the instructions.)

PREVIOUSLY: Departmental Phone Extensions For Every Fry's
(Photo: bryce_edwards)

Comcast Offers Wii™ Systems To New Triple Play Customers [Press Release]
(Photo: BohPhoto)

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.

• Buyers will be 'pre-qualified' via a series of questions.
• Customers with corporate/business plans will have to go to AT&T to purchase their phones, only phone for personal use can be purchased at the store.
• You will be required to present valid US government ID to purchase the phone
• You will be required to provide your social security number to a store employee in order to do a credit check.
• You will be required to pick a plan and pay the activation fee at time of purchase.
• Phones will be activated in the store.

The last two have already been disclosed to the press but I think the rest is new information. If true, it looks like they're really trying to cut down on iPhones being unlocked and getting resold overseas. Be sure to bring your driver's license and memorize your social security number before camping out on Thursday night.

(Photo: hanapbuhay)

The powerpoint, created by a Comcast account executive and currently getting passed around inside one of their call centers, sounds a giant klaxon that the company is extremely screwed up. It warns of the perils of not addressing bad tech behavior, demoralized employees, high turnover, baroque customer service templates, and metrics that force employees to upsell additional services on top of the ones that aren't even working right in the first place. There's quotes and stories from real customers, like the one about the tech who said he had to go out to his van to get a screwdriver, and just drove off, rather than bother completing the install. Or how routine it is for techs to ring or knock and then bust out before they can even get to the door. Or how customers are getting lied to over the phone about plans and pricing. The embarrassments just keep coming and coming. Some choice quotes:

"On average, gas is $4.07 (too high for unnecessary truck rolls) and very shortly cable will go from a 'need' to an option for some people."

Comcast Quits Early

Technicians are not showing up for appointments and it appears they are not being held accountable.

* Comcast technicians and subcontractors routinely cancel/reschedule customer appointments without approving or even notifying the customer of the change when they are tired of working.

* Several of my customers have complained that the technician was rude or short with them when they refused to let him come earlier than scheduled.

Scott of New Hudson MI (01/29/07) “I made 3 separate appointments to have Comcast come out and install cable, phone, and high speed internet as part of their Triple Play deal. The first appointment came and went, nobody showed up or called. Set up another appointment, but they did call to cancel that one…”

We've got it here in Google Doc, but for the full effect with all the nifty sound effects, download the original powerpoint (right click and "save link as).

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