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

Three CR Teams to Handle Reward Zone Premier Silver Customer Calls

As of Monday June 9th, three teams in Customer Care will be skilled to receive calls from Reward Zone Premier Silver Customers. The role of these three teams will be to support normal BBY retail customer issues, not to adjust RZ Points or address escalated RZ issues. The three teams are Jane’s, Scott F.’s and Esau’s.

Any calls received by those teams requiring RZ point adjustments or involving an escalated RZ issue should be transferred to the dedicated Premier Silver Customer Support Representatives in Reward Zone using the UTC extension #533.

The three CR Teams have been chartered to handle Reward Zone Premier Customers in order to give those customers more immediate response to help through our phone systems, and to provide a heighten level of both service recovery and policy exception consideration from Customer Care.

All CR Agents should have a high-level knowledge of the qualifications to be a Reward Zone Premier Silver, and know the policy exceptions provided to RZ Premier Silver Customers. RZ Premier Silver Customers will be identified in fcClient in as “Premier Silver” in the Tier Fields in the fcClient “Search” and “Case” Screens.

If a CR Agent other than agents on those three trial teams happens to receive a call from a RZ Premier Silver Customer, they should transfer the call to an agent on one of those three teams. Even if the nature of the issues is within the scope of normal issues of a CR Agent, for reporting purposes, we would like those calls transferred.

The qualifying requirements to be a Reward Zone Premier Silver Customer:

The customer must spend $2,500 in a calendar year to qualify for RZ Premier Silver status.
The $2,500 can be purchases at a BBY Store, Best Buy.com, or purchases at another retailer if the customer uses a RZ MasterCard

The Benefits of being a Reward Zone Premier Customer:

Extra Points
1.25 Points earned for every dollar spent (as opposed to 1 point for every dollar for other RZ levels)
1.5 Points earned for every dollar spent using a Reward Zone MasterCard at a BBY Store or BestBuy.com
Premier RZ Customers can bank points (unique to Premier Members)
Special Offers from Geek Squad
Free shipping on BestBuy.com purchases
Dedicated support services – CR, BestBuy.com & Reward Zone
Priority Access to Reward Zone Program member events such as concerts and private concerts.
(All RZ Customers will need to accumulate the same 250 Points to receive a $5 GC )

Policy Exceptions for being a Reward Zone Premier Customer:
45 day product return policy
45 day price match time period
No 15% restocking fee on those products that would normally be charged that fee.

MyRewardZone/Premier [Best Buy]

These steps assume that you have gotten treatment and are certain that your policy covered your doctor, service, and diagnosis.

"1. Call the insurance company to get a clear explanation of the denial.

2. If they do not believe it is an error, ask if there is any way that a 1 time "pay and educate" exception can be made to cover it. For many small dollar situations, large companies will make a one time exception without having to proceed further.

3. For denied claims, ask the insurance company the exact reason for denial.

3a. If it is a policy exclusion, they should be able to reference what the exact exclusion is in your policy. If it is truly excluded, the company may have no right to actually pay the claim. Polices represent contracts and paying an exclusion for you can potentially get the insurance company in trouble with the department of insurance.

3b. If the denial is due to the provider not participating with your policy/insurance company, ask if there has been a change in the provider recently. For situations where that has not happened, be sure to include why you believed the doctor to be in your network in your appeal.

3c. If a denial is due to a medical guideline, check with you doctor. You should be able to get guidelines on the exact medical criteria from the insurance carrier, sometimes just from the website. By consulting your doctor's office, you may be able to provide information to show that you do meet whatever criteria led to the denial.

4. Finally, if the above does not work, be sure to follow the appeal process that is outlined in your policy document. In the appeal, make sure to explain exactly what happened and why you felt the process you followed was correct. In the appeal letter, try to explain your case to show that you understand the process/coverage now and that you would have followed the guidelines if you had known before the service.

5. If your appeal is turned down, follow the steps to continue to the next level appeals process, but make sure to respond to the denial letter with more information rather than just resending the same letter again.

If you follow these guidelines, this should provide what you need for getting a fair shake with the appeals team."

Thanks, Deep Ears, Nose, and Throat! Have any of you readers been in a situation where the insurance company denied coverage when you thought it was covered? How did you deal with it?

(Photo: Getty)

KarmaChameleon wrote:

The way most systems in call centers are set up, you can't have multiple screens open to view info, so writing things down is a necessity if you don't want to have to keep clicking back and forth between workflows. I can't imagine the nightmare it would have been working at Chase and not being able to write things down when working accounts.

PREVIOUSLY: Tmobile Forbids Use Of Paper and Pens In Call Center
(Photo: Getty)

An insider reports that a Tmobile call center has outlawed customer service reps having pens and paper out in the open. According to our source, the outsourced Business Care facility in Sarnia, Ontario is concerned about reps making off with data. Pens, paper, pencils are not to be left out on the work areas. If they are used, they must be put back inside the desk and locked after use. This has "made life considerably less pleasant for them...There are a number of reps who write faster than they type, so they use a notepad as a sort of buffer." Even photographs and other paper items on cubicle walls will have to be laminated to insure they're not used as illegal writing surfaces. The tipster says Startek-run call center is conducting an audit today to insure compliance with all of its new, policies. It's a good thing that no one working at Tmobile might have access to a small electronic device capable of data input and transmission.

Here's a bunch of contact info for Qwest executives, lifted straight from their company directory. Got an issue with a residential landline or DSL? Problem with Qwest iQ Networking products? Concern about Qwest business related network support? Concern about Qwest marketing? Need to know who to send a lawsuit? Just need to get a message straight to the CEO? Inside, executive contacts for all of the above.

Issues related to residential dial tone lines (POTS) or DSL sales/installation:

Kruger, Paula
Executive Vice President-Mass Markets
Mass Markets
Qwest Corporation
1801 California St, 52nd Floor
Denver CO 80202-2658
United States
paula.kruger@qwest.com
Office: +1 303 992 4005
Fax: +1 303 296 4252
Assistant
Williams, Cheryl A
Sr Executive Admin Assistant
+1 303 992 4001

Concerns regarding installation, order delays, or activation/turnup issues related to Qwest iQ Networking products (such as the popular Qwest Office Connect product):

Coon, Christina L
Vice President-Network Ops and Eng
Network Services
Qwest Communication Corp.
1801 California St, Floor 51
Denver CO 80202-2658
United States
Christina.Coon@qwest.com
Assistant
Anthony, Diane M
Sr Executive Admin Assistant
+1 303 992 5949
Office: +1 303 992 6565
Fax: +1 303 296 4798

Concerns regarding any Qwest business-related network support (DS1, DS3, Ethernet services, trouble and repair, etc.)

Lucero, Amador B
Vice President - Network Ops and Eng
Network Services
Qwest Corporation
700 W Mineral Ave, MNA1622
Littleton CO 80120-0000
United States
Amador.Lucero@qwest.com
Office: +1 303 707 7168
Fax: +1 303 707 2005
Assistant
Rojo, Jaimee B
Sr Administrative Assistant
+1 303 707 7192

Tregemba, Robert (Bob) D
Executive Vice President - Network Operations
Network Services
Qwest Corporation
1801 California St, 5200
Denver CO 80202-2658
United States
Bob.Tregemba@qwest.com
Office: +1 303 707 8000
Fax: +1 303 296 0286
Assistant
Eitel, Carolyn J
Sr Executive Admin Assistant
+1 303 707 8013

Concerns regarding Qwest marketing, possible PR contact:

Karlis, Richard
Director Marketing
Corporate Relations
Qwest Corporation
1801 California St, 50th Floor
Denver CO 80202-2658
United States
rich.karlis@qwest.com
Office: +1 303 896 4465
Fax: +1 303 896 4982

Another possible PR contact:

Padilla, Frederic (Ric)
VP-Corp Social Responsibility
Corporate Relations
Qwest Corporation
1801 California St, 50th Floor
Denver CO 80202-2658
United States
Ric.Padilla@qwest.com
Office: +1 303 896 9338
Fax: +1 303 896 4982
Assistant
Barbour, Debra (Debbie) J
Executive Admin Assistant
+1 303 896 5532

Legal contact (good to serve a lawsuit to):

Baer, Richard N
EVP-Gen Counsel
Legal
Qwest Corporation
1801 California St, 5200
Denver CO 80202-2658
United States
Rich.Baer@qwest.com
Office: +1 303 992 2811
Assistant
Dominguez, Christine
Sr Executive Admin Assistant
+1 303 992 5021

Self-explanatory:

Mueller, Edward (Ed) A
Chairman and CEO
Ceo/Coo
Qwest Corporation
1801 California St
Denver CO 80202-2658
United States
Ed.Mueller@qwest.com
Office: +1 303 992 1414
Assistant
Houston, Brenda L
Manager Administration
+1 303 992 1414

RELATED: Email Addresses For Qwest Executives

(Photo: romulusnr)

The "reorganization and decentralization" is due to the local markets bitching at corporate about lack of network management which results in poor customer service etc. There are 4 or 5 (I honestly forget) "divisions" @ Comcast - North-East, Mid-West, South.. along those lines. Each of the divisions is responsible for their own customer service (which is why some outsource to NuComm/Convergys etc. and some keep things in house - it's up to the division to decide). Since Comcast has been hammered in customer service over the last few years, the divisions got sick and tired of the network outages that they had no control over fixing - but cost them plenty in customer service, cancellations of service etc. Corporate has said to the divisions something along the lines of "fine, YOU handle the network for your area". Hence the two main NOCs being scaled down and each division having more control of their local networks. Whoever sent you that info is probably right - it will very likely result in much better network management. It will also result in increased rates, something that Comcast is always doing anyway.

First, Firedog technicians should only perform services that they are properly trained in completing. Second, the employee’s testimonial is not accurate regarding the way in which Circuit City calibrates televisions. Firedog technicians follow procedures recommended by Sound & Vision, a professional authority on home theater, audio, video and multimedia products. When conducted properly, the test patterns improve television performance including contrast, brightness and power usage, among other aspects. Additionally, on an unrelated note, an e-mail appears to be circulating that claims Circuit City and other stores have filed for bankruptcy. If you receive this e-mail, please know that the information is completely false, as far as Circuit City is concerned.

I've worked for Circuit City's Firedog for the last 11 months. Since the day I started performing in-home installations I knew that the company was not truly concerned with the service their customer received, but only with the money the customer has in his/her wallet. The point: Purchasing a TV calibration from Circuit City Firedog is a complete waste of money.

I knew a lot about installation and repair when I started Firedog, but one of the things I had never done was calibrate a TV. When I checked my appointments for the day and saw that I had to go perform a calibration, I approached one of the managers and said "How do we perform calibrations? Do we have a calibration unit or something?" The manager replied "Come over here and I'll show you." So I followed him to the TV department and he handed me an old Circuit City Advantage TV Care Kit. (These are the pamphlets/packets we USED TO hand out to customers when they purchase an extended warranty.) He pulls out a DVD and "calibration glasses" which were nothing more than those cardboard 3-D glasses you get at the movie theater except there's blue film for both eyes instead of red for one and blue for the other. He says "Put this DVD in their DVD player and follow the instructions." At this point I was bothered by the fact that I had to go to someone's house to perform a task that I'm not even trained to do. Unlike these "bonus-driven" managers, I actually have a conscience. I told the manager that I didn't feel comfortable going to do the job and that he should reschedule it to another installer. His response was "It's not hard, just goto their house, pop in the DVD, look at the test patterns with the glasses, and make believe you're changing some settings. When you're done, tell them how much better their TV looks. Besides, once you perform the calibration, they can't get a refund."

At this point I straight out refused to do that, and my manager threatened my job. I was told that if I didn't goto the customer's house and perform a service that I did not know how to perform, that I would be terminated. For fear of losing my job, I went to the customer's home to calibrate his TV. I put in the disc and skipped to the calibration "test patterns". While the patterns were displayed I looked through the glorified 3-D glasses I was given, and made small adjustments to the brightness, tint, sharpness, etc. By the time I was done, I noticed that the levels I ended up with were no different from the levels that were set from the factory. After I was done, the TV looked no better than when I had started, but in following my managers instructions I told the customer how much of a difference I saw in the TV. I left the house after about 10 minutes, and had a horrible feeling in my stomach.

Since then I've been arguing with store management about calibrations, and how we should stop selling this service unless we use an actual professional calibration unit. I always get the same answer though, and end up going to the customer's home and playing with their remote control for a few minutes, and then lie to them about how much better I made their TV look. I'm writing this because I can't refuse to perform the job once you pay for it...hopefully you'll read this and think twice before you purchase the service.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo: madmarch)

"We used to be split into main support groups, East Noc/West Noc, one in Denver, one in Bishop's Gate NJ. Most of that work is getting pushed out to local groups. The national groups are getting scaled down. Local groups getting scaled up. Should be better support all around for the network. It's by no means a perfect company, no company is, but this is a good move for all. It's giving the first responders the ability to do what needs to be done. Before we were the middle man in a wild chain of escalation. I can now personally take ownership of an issue should one occur in my market."

If true, this a good move for Comcast that should improve network performance.

(Photo: largeprime)

(Photo: Maulleigh)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-Anonymous"

RELATED: 7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep

(Photo: hanapbuhay)

Anonymous writes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo: davidbivins)

When publishing their own clinical trials (designed, conducted, and sponsored by Merck), documents were found describing Merck scientists often working to prepare manuscripts and subsequently recruiting external, academically affiliated investigators to collaborate on the manuscript as guest authors. For instance, rial 078 (a randomized, doubleblind study to investigate whether rofecoxib could delay the onset of Alzheimer disease in patients with mild cognitive impairment) was designed and conducted principally by scientists at Merck. FIGURE 2 shows the title and author list both from draft and published versions of the manuscript describing the trial. Both the title and the authorship were modified to attribute authorship to 3 academically affiliated investigators (first, second, and third authors) on the published article, in addition to the 8 Merck scientists who are attributed authorship on both the draft and published versions of the manuscript (1 Merck scientist is attributed authorship on the draft but not the final manuscript). Of note, only 1 of the 3 academically affiliated investigators who are attributed authorship on the published article was acknowledged in the draft version as a participating investigator in the rofecoxib 078 study group. In an internal e-mail discussing where to publish trial 078 as the draft is circulated, one of the Merck scientists states, "I think you should be the first author since you have done virtually all of the writing." Although there are minor differences in language and organization between the draft and final versions of the manuscript (particularly in the abstract, as opposed to the text), the results presented are almost identical, reinforcing that the trial itself and the analyses were complete before the academically affiliated investigators were involved in the manuscript.

Guest Authorship and Ghostwriting in Publications Related to Rofecoxib (PDF) [JAMA]
Merck Wrote Drug Studies for Doctors [NYT]

Taco Bell Training Illustration: Not Fit for Public Consumption [ANIMAL]

AOL lies to their customers and has a policy of refusing to escalate to supervisors:

If you refuse to pay your bill, AOL will threaten to ruin your credit (with AOL):

AOL's abusive relationship with its "members" is not new, but it is surprising how enthusiastically they have embraced the standard lies and deceit peddled by the debt collection industry. According to our tipster, the guide is from 2006, but the tactics and policies remain unchanged.

The only way to fight back against scummy collectors is to know your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Read AOL's full collections guide, complete with other despicable practices, here.

PREVIOUSLY: EXCLUSIVE: Old AOL Cancel Script vs. New
AOL Retention Manual Revealed
Quit AOL By Fax, Mail, or Phone

ATAinsider: The airline lost an important contract [with Federal Express] that involved the AMC [Air Mobility Command] and became financially insolvent. As of this morning, they filed and we have essentially closed. With the prices of fuel, all the eggs are in the charter basket right now. So since we lost our bread and butter contract, we couldn't afford to do scheduled service.
benpopken: Did you find about it before going to work today?
ATAinsider: I did not, but it was on the news, apparently the press release was at 0500.
benpopken: What was the mood like once people started finding out?
ATAinsider: Very sad. It seemed somewhat inevitable, but we all had hopes, you know? People had been there for 25 or more years and the worst part is, their loyalty paid off for nothing in the end. Seems to be the state of affairs anymore.
benpopken: They won't be handing out any gold watches, that's for sure.
ATAinsider: Nope, and the best anyone can hope for is unemployment.

For passengers seeking information on ATA refunds or rebooking, check out this post.

1. Bundle all compensation as base income, don't break it down to commissions, bonuses and tips
2. Add gift funds to the base income
3. And if that still doesn't work, just top off the income with an extra $500!

Full document as leaked to The Oregonian (turns out journalists are good for something other than reprinting our press releases, at least now the rest of us can learn from these advanced tips), inside...

Chase mortgage memo pushes 'Cheats & Tricks' [Oregonian via BoingBoing]

This is strictly confidential, but all the paperwork is signed and ready to go, and XM has fully acquired Sirius Radio. Come May, there will be a substantial price increase for XM Radio, as it will, in June or so, host all the Sirius channels. It would be best to simply extend your XM plan as we will honor your current contract price per month before we begin hosting the Sirius stations.

From the document:

Myth Of Extended Warranty

Best Buy's PSP/PRPs are not extended warranties. Some customers don't purchase extended warranties because of the bad press that they sometimes receive. Extended warranties extend the limited manufacturer's warranty and do not cover things like normal wear and tear, no lemon based on different repairs, or power surges. Our PSP/PRP's offer benefits above and beyond the manufacturer's warranty. It's very important that you never disparage the manufacturer's warranty in any way.

From Consumer Reports (emphasis ours):

Retailers are pushing hard to get you to buy extended warranties, or service plans, because they're cash cows. Stores keep 50 percent or more of what they charge for warranties. That's much more than they can make selling actual products.

For the consumer, extended warranties are notoriously bad deals because:

* Some repairs are covered by the standard manufacturer warranty that comes with the product.

* Products seldom break within the extended-warranty window—after the standard warranty has expired but within the typical two to three years of purchase—our data show.

* When electronics and appliances do break, the repairs, on average, cost about the same as an extended warranty.

We have long advised against extended warranties. In fact, we feel so strongly that consumers are being misled about them that last year we took out a full-page ad in USA Today (see below) to warn shoppers.

Here's a chart that shows the average failure rate of 3-4 year old electronic items. You can use this chart to judge for yourself what level of risk you're comfortable with when it comes to extended warranties.

Why you don't need an extended warranty [Consumer Reports]

Click the pages below to see the document in full.

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

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

Full letter scan, inside...

Confessions of a Verizon Consultant

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yours Truly

A Disgusted Verizon Consultant

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Photo: davidbivins)

Why do customers need to be stereotyped, you ask? Because some customers are good, and others are bad, and Best Buy employees need to know which ones are which.

Back in 2004, the Wall Street Journal announced that Best Buy had a new customer service strategy. The meat and potatoes of the new strategy was this: Best Buy would concentrate on outwitting pesky bargain-hunters (now known as "demons")and cater only to its most profitable customers, or "angels." This new philosophy was based on the work of Larry Selden, a professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, and consultant to Best Buy.

Larry is all about the customer. He hates products, "...the obsessive focus on products needs to be replaced by an even more obsessive focus on the customer," he says.

One might assume that with this customer-obsessed guy directing Best Buy's strategy, there'd be an emphasis on customer service. Not so.

In fact, the first thing Best Buy did after adopting Selden's method was amend their return policy to include a 15% restocking fee. Too many "demon" customers were returning things.

The most important part this new world order is the "persona." Personas are essentially stereotypes that Best Buy's salespeople study in order to sell their most profitable services to different "types" of customers. Young urban males are called "Buzz." Upper middle class women are known as "Jill."

Each persona comes with a customized sales approach. Jill wants Best Buy to "help me find and fuel my new passions so I can remain true to myself," whereas upscale suburban Barry wants "premium brands presented as a total solution."

And what happens to those bargain-hunting demons? Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson told the Wall Street Journal in 2004 "that Best Buy will first try to turn its bad customers into profitable ones by inducing them to buy warranties or more profitable services."

"In most cases, customers wouldn't recognize the options we've tried so far," he said. Maybe this new document (which adds several new categories to the known Best Buy persona universe) can help.

NEW PERSONAS:
Meet Carrie (Young Urban Female), Maria (Middle American Female), and (Empty Nesters) Helen and Charlie!

Click on the pictures below to bring up the slides. navigate using arrows that appear (when moused over) at the left, top and right of the slide, or using the "previous" "next" and "gallery" links at the bottom.

PREVIOUSLY: Best Buy Profiles Customers

(Photo: afagen)

"Dear Consumerist,

I started near the beginning of a new center that was taking care of business DSL Technical Support and when the job started it was a great job. We were greatly encouraged to take care of our customers and technical knowledge was second to none. I spent around 2 years working for the company and multiple help positions.

The center was made up of several different departments. These included Level 2 Technical Support, Level 3 Technical Support, Business Intelligence, Quality and Management. Furthermore Level 3 Technical support was further divided into Business Order Status, Supervisor Take Over, Ticket Management, Outage and Presidential Appeals. Additionally Level 2 Technical Support also had a separate division for "High Care" customers, and eventually Premium Technical Support would join the team. The hierarchy of people that the customer will ever deal with is only two tiers. You call in and talk to a Level 2 agent, however if there is a requirement you may eventually speak to a Level 3 and if you are really persistent you may get the privilege of speaking to an actual supervisor.

7. The Supervisor You're Talking To Is Not Actually A Supervisor
My first confession on the list is about the Escalations department, which never used to exist. When the center first opened and a customer would demand to talk to a supervisor, they would actually end up talking to a supervisor. This created problems however ranging from supervisors who would dodge taking calls from customers to supervisors who were overwhelmed with customers and could not do any of their actual work. The solution was to create a department of agents to handle the issue, and this is not all bad. One of the major problems when supervisors would take over calls is that almost none of the supervisors had any technical knowledge and were virtually unable to assist the customer in any way unless the customer was only looking to vent about their experience or in some cases give kudos to outstanding service. There are approximately 10-15 "supervisors" for each center to handle the escalation calls now. Each of these agents has their own direct phone number which they can give out to the customer. There is a standard external number that the customer must call, then they are prompted for a password (4-6 digits long and changes monthly) then they are asked to enter the extension of the supervisor, or they may press 0 to get the first available supervisor. When the team first started they were allowed to a lot to help the customer, sadly their privilege to help with stuck orders or technicians who didn't show up were eventually removed. Things may change in the future but unfortunately the supervisors are bound to the same support boundaries as the normal Level 2 Technical Support Agents, and in most cases are unable to assist the customer any further.

6. The Metrics That Rule Our Lives

• Handle Time (15 min): During an 8 hour shift, the agent must achieve an average handle time of 15 minutes. This timer starts from the time the agent hears a beep in their headphone to notify them that the call has started to the time they set themselves as ready to take another call. When I worked there we had a lot of calls where the customer simply got to the wrong department so this was normally an easy metric to meet.


• Hold Time (2-3 min): If for any time the agent puts you on hold, they are supposed to only leave you on hold for no longer than 2 minutes (it used to be 3 min). After that time they are supposed to pick up the phone again and refresh you as to what is going on. Also a note here is the customer is supposed to put you on hold and not simply mute their phone. This was a common tactic used by agents to dodge the hold timer. If you're speaking to an agent and they put you on hold and you hear silence and no music. They likely have you on mute and not hold, and additionally they can hear everything your saying at that time, when you're on hold they cannot hear you.


• Quality (88%): Every Agent is supposed to be graded approximately 2x a week on their calls. This is the metric that most agents hate the most and I will touch more on this later.

5. In order to meet their 15 min handle time, agents have simply transferred the customer back into the queue to talk to another agent and tried to make it look like it was a phone problem.
Agents have just hung up on customer/disconnected their phone, or told the customer that they need to go to another department and then transfer the customer there. It is sad that this happens but unfortunately if you cannot meet your metrics then you will do this.

4. Customer Service Is More Important Than Technical Ability
I was told by someone in management that the mentality was it was far easier to train someone in technical support than customer service. Now my personal view on this is that it is just cheaper/easier for them to hire anyone off the street and give them a month of training on how to follow a script to fix a customer's problem than hire people with actual technical background. The problem this creates is a barrage of customers whom are fed up with the lack of technical knowledge the support staff has. Verizon did however introduce a solution to this problem; Premium Technical Support.

3. "Premium" Technical Support Means They Had 1 More Week Of Training
Now first off I want to say, Premium Technical Support is an awesome service in the fact that they are not under the same pressure as the normal Level 2 Agents. They do have more technical ability then the level 2 agents; however there are no real requirement for certification to get the position and the training is only a week above the normal technical support.

2. "Quality," The Department Everyone Hates
The sad fact is, even if you go above and beyond, assist the customer in every way and have an amazing rapport with the customer you can still utterly fail your quality which means you can in turn lose your job if you keep failing. Some of the fun tidbits from quality include the agent must say the customer's name three times throughout the call. They must review what they have done with the customer, use the "outstanding" verbiage, brand Verizon and they can also ding you for little things like saying "tech" instead of "technical" here. This sadly is where a vast amount of talented technical support agents were lost. They worked great with customers, got issues solved but didn't do the little things and it ultimately ended their careers working for Verizon.

1. We Must Implant The Word Outstanding In Customer Brain's To Score Higher On Satisfaction Surveys
This is something I always found hilarious, and I am not even entirely sure if they still do it, but agents are required to mention at the end of the call something along the lines of "I hope I've provided you with outstanding service today", the stress always being on the word Outstanding. Now why is this you ask? Well Verizon contracts out a company to call back customers who have recently called into Technical Support and perform a survey about the service they received. The customer is supposed to rate the service from "poor" to "outstanding". So basically they want to embed that word in your mind so that you rate them higher.

Tips/Funny/Random Thoughts:


• A repair ticket that was dispatched out to the customers location was closed with the notes left "Technician had a gun pulled on him area is unsafe closing ticket"


• 1-888-427-1405 (Business Customers Only) - This is the phone number that we would use to call internal departments. The only real difference from this number and the one provid