Working as an AOL retainer can kill you.
call centers
Retro AOL Bashing
By 7.20.06
Even before the roaring 2000’s ravaged AOL’s subscriber base like colectomy through Denny’s, the ISP was catching flack over its retention policies, as noted in an article from the golden-tinged yesteryears of 1998.
How Cingular Avoids Giving Discounts to Worthless Customers
By 7.19.06
A snip from a recent memo that teaches Cingular retention specialists how to avoid giving discounts to customers they deem unprofitable.
Cingular Distills Customer Value Into Thermometer Form
By 7.19.06
A customer service source inside Cingular sends us some interesting internal documents and says the cellphone company has a new policy that’s got the headset set in a bind. He reports that Cingular will, “no longer discount equipment for customers that are not profitable for us, no mater where they stand contractually. I have received several calls from customers attempting to upgrade, only to have to inform them that although yes, they are out of contract, we will not offer them discounted equipment. “
AOL… Disconnecting… Goodbye!
By 7.7.06
AObloatage notwithstanding, it would be remiss to end this week/month of fun without linking to the August ’05 agreements AOL made with future NY governor Spitzer regarding revising the ISP’s niggardly retention tactics.
Comcast is Nice, Frustrating Man
By 7.7.06
We’ve been fielding some inquiries lately from news organizations, asking our thoughts about recording customer service interactions. Will Vincent and the Sleepy Comcast guy inspire copycats? Will people try to game the system for kicks and national acclaim? Well, some guy tried to goad a Comcast rep during an intent to cancel call…
AOL Internal Memos, After Vinny’s Call
By 7.6.06
A disgruntled employee mailed in a triptych of AOL internal emails that followed the cancellation call heard round the world, finally launching the call’s recorder, Vincent, onto The Today Show, CNBC, CNN and even generated a comic strip, a Playboy parody video, and finally, our “Where is he now?” interview.
AOL After the Storm
By 6.29.06
Now that AOL has weathered the Vincent Ferrari storm, what’s it like to cancel? Has anything changed? Are the reps more courteous? Do they tell you bedtime stories over the phone?
AOL CSR Fired for Not Retaining
By 6.21.06
A former AOL CSR, Michael, writes about how the company axes employees who don’t give cancelling customers the proper retaining:
HOWTO: Fix DSL Fast Like Ninja
By 6.19.06
A DSL call center manager emailed in some nifty tricks for getting at the top of the fix list. Many of them are quite sneaky. We like that. Thank you, sneaky Phil.
Pith & Vinegar
By 5.30.06
• Shopping for lingerie at Agent Provacteur includes free critiques of your boobs. [The Company Bitch]
