On Tuesday morning, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf will face the Senate Banking Committee to answer questions about how the bank’s high-pressure sales goals led a number of employees to fraudulently open up millions of unauthorized accounts. In advance of that hearing, a group of former Wells employees shared their insider views on this scandal. [More]
customer service
4 Things Former Wells Fargo Workers Revealed About Pressure To Meet Sales Goals
By 9.19.16 — Updated: 9.30.16
Twitter Now Lets Businesses Show When They Monitor Customer Service Tweets
By 9.15.16
The Twitter feeds of most big companies are littered with gripes from customers trying to get someone to resolve their problem. Thing is, some companies either don’t monitor their Twitter feeds for customer service complaints, or only only respond to these Tweets during certain times. A new Twitter feature is intended to let businesses be more transparent about if and when they handle customer service on the social media platform.
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United Airlines CEO Admits The Company Should Probably Treat Customers Better
By 9.1.16
There must be something in the water this week: while American Airlines is urging customers to stop being such jerks in order to have a better flying experience, United Airlines’ CEO is admitting that the carrier could probably improve its relations with customers. [More]
Telecom Customer Service Can Afford To Be Terrible Because Switching Costs Are High
By 8.8.16
Why is customer service generally terrible from your cable and internet service provider? It’s not so much that the service is terrible, even though it often is. The problem is that it’s inconvenient to switch providers, if you even have a second option at all. When you feel like you don’t have a choice, you resent your current provider more. [More]
Muslim Passengers Report Being Removed From Recent Delta, American Flights
By 8.5.16
Recently, two sets of Muslim American travelers have reported being removed from Delta Air Lines and American Airlines flights after flight crew in both incidents said they felt uncomfortable. [More]
Comcast Will Continue Using Overseas Call Centers
By 8.4.16
After being slammed by a string of high-profile customer service disasters, Comcast has made investments in recent year — like putting guarantees on appointments and increasing the size of its social media response team. However, one of the more annoying aspects of customer service calls isn’t going to change: The use of outsourced, overseas call centers. [More]
Deaf Customer Sues Taco Bell For Discrimination, Claims She Was Denied Service
By 7.15.16
A New Jersey woman is suing Taco Bell for discrimination, claiming that she was denied service at two separate drive-thru locations because she’s deaf. [More]
What Do You Do When All Your Instagram Photos Disappear?
By 7.11.16
From that time the cat wouldn’t stop attacking its reflection in the mirror, to the gargantuan bacon cheeseburger you ate last night, Instagram users post all kinds of memories on the photo-sharing site. So when Consumerist reader Dylan was suddenly faced with losing all his pictures, he was understandably upset. [More]
Southwest Airlines Passenger Thanks “Selfless” Flight Attendant For Comforting Her Daughter
By 7.11.16
Thanks to the prevalence of social media, news spreads farther than it used to. Some of what’s going on out there is awful and sad, but there are also bright spots to be found. Like the story of a Southwest Airlines flight attendant who went above and beyond to comfort a young passenger who was scared to fly. [More]
Spirit Airlines Wants To Make Up For Being Awful By Trying To Be More Punctual
By 6.27.16
Budget carrier Spirit Airlines, known for its low levels of customer satisfaction, is trying to take all those frowns and turn them upside down. One way the airline’s new leader is attempting to make customers happier? Actually getting planes to their destinations in a more timely manner. [More]
Listen To A U.S. Senator Try To Get Bogus $8 “Protection” Fee Removed From Cable Bill
By 6.23.16
You’d think that being the senior U.S. Senator from Missouri would help Claire McCaskill get better service from her cable company, but you’d be wrong. As this recording demonstrates, the legislator has just as much trouble as the rest of us trying to get anything resembling decent service from her pay-TV provider. [More]
Time Warner Cable/Charter Service Not Likely To Improve After Merger
By 6.9.16
Remember how literally just yesterday the Attorney General’s office in New York was strongly suggesting to Charter that they get on the ball about that whole “making service not suck” thing now that they’ve bought Time Warner Cable? Well, analysts are saying that New Yorkers — and everyone else — probably shouldn’t hold their breath. [More]
Uber’s Head Of Global Customer Support Steps Down
By 6.7.16
After hopping over to Uber from Amazon in January 2015, the head of the ride-sharing company’s global customer support operations, Tim Collins, is returning from whence he came: he’s stepped down from his job at Uber and is reportedly going back to Amazon. [More]
Survey Says: You Still Hate Your Cable Company, But Maybe A Little Less Than Before
By 6.1.16
A major annual consumer satisfaction survey is out, and it’s a mixed bag for the cable and telecom sector and all of us who use it. The bad: pay-TV, broadband, phone, and wireless companies still pretty much really suck, and most of us are very dissatisfied with them. The good: year over year, most of them are finally starting to suck less than they used to! [More]
Verizon Wireless Hangs Up On You When You Record Them Back
By 5.25.16
One might think that if a company wants to have a conversation with their customers, once they’ve got them on the phone they’d stay on the line long enough to actually talk to them. But that wasn’t the case for one Consumerist reader, who said a Verizon rep hung up on him when informed that the customer would be recording their call. [More]
American Airlines Waives Sick Traveler’s $200 Cancellation Fee After He Sends Sweet Note & Family Photos
By 5.24.16
The next time you need to ask an airline to make an exception for you, think about following the example set by a traveler whose witty letter — complete with photos of his family — convinced American Airlines to waive its $200 cancelation fee. [More]
Domino’s Workers Come To Customer’s Rescue After Noticing He Hadn’t Ordered Pizza Recently
By 5.10.16
Maintaining a good relationship with loyal customers is always important for businesses, but workers at an Oregon Domino’s took that closeness a step further, stepping in to save a customer’s life when they realized that he hadn’t been ordering pizza like he usually does. [More]
Customers Say Time Warner Cable Failing To Honor $300 Gift Card Promo Deal
By 4.14.16
Dangling a free prepaid gift card in front of folks’ faces is a time-honored method of getting people to switch services. But a number of cable customers who switched to Time Warner Cable because of the promise of a $300 gift card say the pay-TV provider has yet to make good on the promotion.
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