confessions

Manager Defends Retail Renting As Valuable Sales Tool

Manager Defends Retail Renting As Valuable Sales Tool

A former camera store manager came forward to defend retail renting as a common tactic that helps drive sales. Retail renting is when a customer buys a pricey item like a prom dress with the intention of returning it later. Our completely unscientific poll shows that 70% of you disapprove of retail renting, but our tipster insists that it is a victimless crime and a valuable sales tool. Our enlightening chat with the former manager, inside.

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

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

A mysterious letter was anonymously faxed to our headquarters by a self-described “disgusted” Verizon customer service rep angry at how he/she says Verizon is screwing over landline customers. Here’s the highlights of his gut-spilling:

  • 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.”
10 Confessions Of A Telephone Tech Support Quality Assurance Guy

10 Confessions Of A Telephone Tech Support Quality Assurance Guy

Read in awe as a former Quality Assurance Specialist divulges the deepest, darkest secrets of outsourced technical support centers. Learn what happens to “rogue” call centers who refuse to give terrible customer service, why the tech support guy stops listening to you after you say certain keywords, and so much more.

The 10 Lies A Door-to-Door Alarm Salesman Tells

The 10 Lies A Door-to-Door Alarm Salesman Tells

Taylor sells home alarm systems door-to-door, and he is the devil, lying, manipulating, and preying on customer’s fears push a product. Now he has stepped forward to confess/brag about his sins: [More]

10 Confessions Of A Ritz Camera Salesperson

10 Confessions Of A Ritz Camera Salesperson

A Ritz camera salesperson writes in to give you the skinny on scanning, digital prints, and which memory cards are just a ripoff.

9 Confessions Of A Retentions Representative

Retentions representatives are the cellphone company’s last line of defense between you and freedom. One brave retentions representative has come forward to teach us how to craft a direct, earnest request that will lead retention reps to do your bidding. Rivaled in effectiveness only by executive customer support, retentions reps are empowered to strike down nuisance fees and bargain liberally, all to keep you as a customer. If you were ever tempted to threaten your cellphone company with cancellation, this one is a must read.

7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep

7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep

A former employee has stepped forward to tell us what it’s like to work as tech support rep in a Verizon DSL call center. Learn about how the supervisors aren’t really supervisors, the numbers and call times the reps have to meet to keep their jobs (and the sneaky tricks they use to meet these numbers), and more…

9 Confessions Of A Former Sports Authority Manager

9 Confessions Of A Former Sports Authority Manager

A former Sports Authority manager came forward to explain why their coupons are so damn useless. According to our tipster, “the coupons are always a sham,” but apparently, gift cards worth less than $10 can be redeemed for cash. Read his other nuggets of knowledge along with zesty executive customer service contact information, after the jump.

36 Confessions Of A WaMu Banker

36 Confessions Of A WaMu Banker

– About the WaMu Free Checking, yes it is a different “free” checking account. We just came out with the “WaMu” part about a couple of years ago, so if you have any “free” checking account older than that I suggest you change it to the newer one.

7 Lies You'll Hear From Salesmen At Electronics Stores

7 Lies You'll Hear From Salesmen At Electronics Stores

Future Shop is a Canadian consumer electronics retail chain. Charlie used to work there, and has now passed along the 7 most common lies he heard salesmen use on unsuspecting customers. Whether you have a Future Shop in your area or not, you’ll find these lies familiar.

Countrywide Made Racist Sub-Prime Loans?

Countrywide Made Racist Sub-Prime Loans?

Countrywide Home Loans was racist and automatically put African-Americans into exotic and expensive sub-prime loans they didn’t want or need, and couldn’t afford, according to a former employee. This employee worked there for two years up until the sub-prime meltdown. They write:

“…a customer would be qualified for a loan because their credit score and other factors based on the written product description, however, when I went in to put their (this only happened to African-Americans) – they were not qualified for the loan product and had to be referred to Countrywide’s subprime mortgage company Full Spectrum. Full Spectrum offered higher rates and fees. I got wise one day and started not inputing the race so the computer could give me “approval.”

10 Confessions Of A Circuit City FireDog Technician

10 Confessions Of A Circuit City FireDog Technician

A FireDog Technician writes in with the following confessions.

6 Confessions Of An Alamo Car Rental Agent

6 Confessions Of An Alamo Car Rental Agent

After reading these six confessions of a current Alamo car rental agent, you will learn:

6 Confessions Of A Former RadioShack Employee

6 Confessions Of A Former RadioShack Employee

Note: This is not a rant or venting session. I was laid off after the holidays, and I have no hard feelings about it ( Layoffs happen to everyone these days) . This is simply a guide to shopping at RadioShack ( henceforth known as RS) for any consumer who likes or buys electronics,written by someone who’s sold far too much of them.

Chase Rep Insider Answers Your Questions

Chase Rep Insider Answers Your Questions

The Chase customer service rep whose 10 Confessions we posted last week has been reading your comments and has responded to some of your questions. The rep also offers five more tips that they forgot to include in their original post.

10 Confessions Of A Chase Customer Service Rep

10 Confessions Of A Chase Customer Service Rep

Do you know the one thing to never say to a customer service rep if you’re late on your bill? Do you know how Chase ranks you, and how you’re ranked determines whether they help you out in a bind? Do you know the best way to get what you want from customer service? After you read these 10 confessions from a Chase customer service rep, you will.

Confessions Of An Airline Executive

Confessions Of An Airline Executive

Threatening to complain to the media or the Department of Transportations is the single best way to reach an airline’s executive customer service team, according to an anonymous airline executive. The jaded executive also shared his dour insights on the availability and effectiveness of short-term sales.

Confessions Of  A Tow Truck Driver

Confessions Of A Tow Truck Driver

CNN interviews a former tow truck driver to get the dirt on how the business works. There’s not a lot of new info here, but it may be useful to know that just because you see some un-towed cars in a towing zone, it doesn’t mean it’s safe—usually, drivers leave some cars alone to entice fresh…