An Apple telesales rep tell us you can get them to knock $100 off your price when ordering over the phone just by playing a little hard to get:
If they make it obvious that they’re purchasing but are a little resistant to it being “too expensive” by about $100 – sales representatives can take off $100 off an order (as long as it’s purchased through the standard consumer store).
We’re thinking this is more likely to work if it’s a big-ticket item like a laptop.
I had worked at Circuit City for quite some time, until recently when I could no longer stand the shady operations of its business. While working at Circuit City I worked in the Media and Technology department. I believe there are a few things that people should know about Circuit City…
We received an internal Geek Squad memo that acclaims the world-renowned service for which they are “notorious.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines notorious as: “famous or well known, typically for some bad quality or deed.”
Walmart takes TVs people return and sells them as new, according to this unverified report we received.
An unverified reader report has an interesting claim that should grab the attention of every auto-maker. Dudes, Dollar/Thrifty Group car rental is totally ripping you off.
A former Progressive car insurance customer service rep has stepped forward into the light to give us the low-down on how his ex-employer works: [More]
Back in February, we posted a series of conversations we had with a very knowledgeable Sprint insider (he still has his job, by the way). Here’s a limited collector’s edition box set of our eight chats.
Indian call centers live and die by the responses to customer satisfaction surveys. Customers selected at random are called by an outside agency and asked fifteen questions. Of those, the only one that matters is “Overall how would you rate the agent you spoke with?” Based on the answers to that question, the call center receives a weekly score on a 1-5 scale. The call center aims for 50% of respondents to rate them a 5, the highest, and for 85% to rate them a 4 or higher. From our experience, that seems like an unattainably optimistic goal.
After calling Indian call centers, many people email us to say “You won’t believe what I just heard!” Most of these problems can be chocked up to cultural differences or inexperienced agents who have yet to master the nuances of conversational English. Our call center tipster explains:
When there’s a problem, it’s usually just a misunderstanding, or a cultural thing. Phrases that are used in India, but not the US, that make a customer think the agent is being rude. Or the agent still in an “Indian customer service mindset”. (When dealing with Indian customers it’s all about getting right to the answer, completely ignoring any attempt to make the call personal. Also, to avoid confrontation. Even if they know something’s gonna take 3 months, they always say ‘2-3 days’ Believe it or not, that’s how people like their service here).
Urine Year-end statements, and the story of “Mr. and Mrs. Hymen,” after the jump…
Ever wonder what call center agents are looking at while trying to help you? Our call center tipster explains that agents have only the tools they need to access your account, and nothing more.
There’s a manual that they follow, that tells them exactly what can and cannot be done in every case. They log into several programs when they come to work.
What really happens when you connect to an Indian call center? An anonymous tipster responsible for quality assurance gave us an insider’s perspective, which we will share throughout the day.
You know the ‘this call may be recorded for quality and training purposes” message you hear? I’m that guy. I’m the one that listens, finds problems, and fixes them.
To most Indian call centers, quality assurance has nothing to do with the happiness of the caller, and everything to do with how well the agent toes the company line.
A CompUSA insider tells us there’s a rumor floating around that CompUSA may be closing another 50 stores within 6 months. Like before, Gordon Brothers Liquidators would handle the pureeing.
Yahoo Photos will close on September 20th, according to this internal Target newsletter. Users will have until that date to move their online scrapbooks to a partner site, like Flickr, Shutterfly, Kodak Gallery, Snapfish, Photobucket
Comcast is notorious for techs missing their appointments. If you would like to see where you tech really is, and maybe have him get his heiny over, here’s a whole bunch of Comcast’s internal dispatch numbers.
A former Geek Squad employee, racked with guilt over how he steals porn from customer’s computers all the time, gave us this video on his death bed. “Take this,” he gasped with one outstretched arm, “tell them the truth…” Then the guilt virus reached his heart and he was dead.
The same day a former Charter Communications customer service rep spilled her guts to the St Louis Post-Dispatch about how the cable company actively lies to its customers about when techs are going to show up, the subject appeared in Charter’s internal company newsletter. Which we, of course, have a copy of…
At least 60 Wiis will be arriving and selling at Target stores this Sunday, according to an inside source.
Part of 
