Do any wireless vendors provide Customer Service?
Glenn Rhoades
California amongst providers, I cancelled service. I've heard some good
comments that recommend Verizon, so I called them to buy another phone and
add it to my wife's plan. Let's see.....my hold time has just now exceeded
ONE HOUR AND TEN MINUTES. I rate Verizon A+ for great humor. Here is an
example of some hilarious things you'll hear:
Female voice, "Please continue to hold. We'll take your call just as soon
as possible. Thank you."
Female voice, "Every effort is being made to to make your time on hold as
short as possible. Please continue to hold."
Male voice, "Rest assured your call will be taken as quickly as possible.
Thank you for waiting so patiently."
Female voice, "We appreciate your call. Assistance is just ahead."
Male voice, "Your patience while holding is appreciated. We look forward to
helping you in just a moment."
QUESTION: Does any wireless vendor provide a level of customer service that
compares to any other industry or is this the best American business can
offer the consumer? This is really a shame....or is my experience just
really unusual? Any advice in favor of a particular vendor is greatly
appreciated.
Kevin McClave
I actually found that I could get through to Voicestream CS fairly
quickly. Once there, the reps were friendly and tried very hard to help.
Something got lost somewhere along the way, though, as I had several
technical troubles, and one phone call during which I had two or three
separate issues to take care of, saw *none* of them actually resolved in
practice (though the guy at Voicestream *seemed* to be working hard at
taking care of it all). Strange experiences.
The problems I had: the equivalent of "crossed wires" where I and someone
else were seemingly assigned the same phone number (I had to call two or
three times to ultimately get it fixed for good).
An overcharge of 250 bucks. I called and politely "demanded" a check
rather than a credit, since there was no worldly reason for the charge, or
to allow them to hang on to 250 of my dollars. This was one of the issues
mentioned above, where I was told a check would be cut, but never got one
and only saw the amount whittled down as credits toward my monthly bills.
EasyPay, or whatever they call it, was begun (and I don't recall agreeing
to it, though I would *assume* that I'd have to, right???) and when I
asked to have it stopped and to pay my bill manually each month, and was
told that it would, EasyPay never disappeared (this was another of the
issues I mentioned above).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kevin P. McClave
http://www.kpmcclave.com/splash.html
"Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish." ~Euripides
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike Cook
let ya know :) I have had exactly the opposite experience with Verizon out
of Northern California. My wait times have never exceeded 2 or 3 minutes at
the most. Everyone I dealt with was friendly, helpful, and made sure I was
taken care of. They are building a new 400 call center near Sacramento in
Rancho Cordova set to open this fall. As for their actual service, I had
to cancel them the other day. Their coverage in the Ukiah and Lake County
areas is TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!! They are still analog, while the other carriers
have all gone digital here. I signed up with US Cellular, whom so far I am
happy with. I am moving to Sacramento soon, and looking for employment
there, and they caused me to lose one too many calls from prospective
employers(my cell phone is my only phone)They have not installed a new tower
in the area in at least 10 years, while the other carriers, US Cellular, and
the new one here, EDGE Wireless PCS, are adding towers and sites monthly.
GTE cared little for even providing a "C" level of service here, and it has
continued under Verizon. I had PacBell PCS too for a while, and their
customer service was pretty good, though then and now their customer service
was/is closed after hours. I will be signing up with AT&T Wireless when I
get to Sac, and I Have heard a lot of good things about them. I would give
AT&T a try.
"Kevin McClave" <KPMc...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:pi6pgt8uqpdesrne2...@4ax.com...
Glenn Rhoades
stated their business hours ended at 9 PM Pacific Time which was about 15
minutes into my original hold time. So they don't bother to maintain staff
long enough to clear out the hold queue. More interesting customer service
observations. I wonder if I tied a note to a pidgeon......
"Glenn Rhoades" <grho...@rhotronics.com> wrote in message
news:TL0P6.28968$vf6.2...@news1.rdc1.sdca.home.com...
Gator
characteristics. The best customer service which
I have experienced is with Cellular One when they
are trying to resolve a problem for me which my
carrier ATTWS can't resolve. They are however,
a kind of franchise carrier, not everywhere you want
to be. Best roamer would be Verizon mainly because
they are a conglomeration of several other carriers
mainly 800 Mhz which offer digital (CDMA) and
older analog. As for ATTWS of 10 years experience
(currently suspended for six months) while I try to
find something which suits my needs, mainly "pr"
with no access to valid technical help. I like the voice
quality which calls from Cingular (ex PacBell) callers
phones have. Competition keeps costs to a minimum
and customer service is mainly "pr" and marketing for
that reason. ATTWS tries. They'll FedEx you another
phone which may be worse than the one you have and
they are nice people, but keep my account screwed-up.
You pays your money and takes yer chances. Don't sign
any long-term contracts until you try em out. My Nickel's
worth. Have a nice day. :-)
"Glenn Rhoades" <grho...@rhotronics.com> wrote in message
news:TL0P6.28968$vf6.2...@news1.rdc1.sdca.home.com...
Dave Markson
years. I should say that I typically call in the evenings as I don't
use my cell phone at work. That may skew the results. Here are my
findings in the Southern NH area (in order from best to worst):
Verizon. Top notch CS. I've called about a dozen times and have
always gotten through within a minute or so. Cheerful and friendly.
Had a billing problem resolved in about 10 seconds no questions asked.
AT&T: only had them for a short while after the Suncom transition.
On-hold time was a couple of minutes.
Suncom: Their CS was ok, but their knowledge was not so hot. Calls
were typically answered within a few minutes. They had to go get help
from someone else when I asked about calling plans. Their billing was
screwed up quite a bit, I got overcharged for roaming and was always
getting charged for LD when I should not have. A call always took
care of the problem.
U.S. Cellular: Sometimes took several minutes to get hold of a CS
person. No real problems. CS not particularly knowledgable about the
current plans & promotions.
Sprint PCS: I have had them for two years now, longer than all the
rest. It definitely takes longer to get CS on the horn, but it's
typically 5 minutes or less. A couple times it was in the 20 minute
range but not very often. CS seems very knowledgable about current
calling plans. Problem resolution is not always so hot. I had one
problem where I could not call a particular exchange because it was
not programmed in the SPCS switch. It took 5 problem tickets and a
call to executive services (the number has since been changed ) to get
it fixed. It took about 6 weeks to get fixed, but once I called ES it
was fixed within hours. Too bad everyone does not get the caliber of
ES personnel. Typically SPCS will call you back within 36-48 hours
with status, but if you aren't there to talk to the tech you are out
of luck, and the ticket is almost always closed. I should say that
I still have SPCS because the plan/price works for me.
Scott
answer to your question is that it really depends on the market you are
connected to and which call center that you reach.
I love AT&T's customer service when I call from "home" but have not always
had great experiences when traveling. With Verizon, I am not overly
impressed with the Philly ("home") customer service group but I have been
pleased when traveling and reached other call centers.
"Glenn Rhoades" <grho...@rhotronics.com> wrote in message
news:TL0P6.28968$vf6.2...@news1.rdc1.sdca.home.com...
Pogmothoin
I purchased a phone and service from their telemarketing service and
was lied to from the get go. I did it over the phone because there
are no stores where I live to go and purchase their service. I am
very thorough when making purchases, so,I didn't do anything stupid.
My phone was messed up for the 29 days that I had it, and although
Customer Service put me on hold constantly, they were extremely
courteous. But they never helped me. Everyone wanted to help me,
according to them, but they never, ever, really did. I refused to
hang up at one point until they gave me a Federal Express tracking
number. They actually had the balls to tell me to call Fedex to get
it--you don't do that. The party doing the actual sending are the
ones who have to give you the number; don't let anyone tell you
different. If I had been sent as many phones as they promised, I
would have had one for every day of the week. They also sold me a
recalled phone to start with and acted like it was such a surprise.
So, if you like for people to bullshit you but speak very sweetly to
you while they do it, just go with Verizon. I'm waiting now to see if
they actually credit me the $80 that 4 of them promised. I sent my
phone back via Fedex next day delivery and confirmed that they did
receive it (using the Fedex 1-800-63-3339). Got a phone call
yesterday from Verizon wanting to welcome me to their service! What a
joke.
David Spera
Actually the best thing to do before signing up for any cellular service
is to talk to coworkers, friends, business associates that have cellular
service and ask them how they like their coverage, customer service etc.
One brand may be great in one state and terrible in another. Here is
Pittsburgh Verizon has generally been the most expensive but their
customer service has never disappointed me and I never wait for more than
a minute on hold. Their pricing has finally gotten more competitive. I do
realize that Verizon may not be the best provider elsewhere but here he
Pittsburgh I have never been disappointed.
Al Klein
<socal...@onemain.com> posted in alt.cellular:
>Kevin, Voicestream does not have coverage in Southern California, just to
>let ya know :) I have had exactly the opposite experience with Verizon out
>of Northern California. My wait times have never exceeded 2 or 3 minutes at
>the most.
I'd complain - mine have never exceeded 30 seconds. :)
--
Al - rukbat at optonline dot net
Al Klein
>After amazing hold times with SprintPCS and the worst coverage in Southern
>California amongst providers, I cancelled service. I've heard some good
>comments that recommend Verizon, so I called them to buy another phone and
>add it to my wife's plan. Let's see.....my hold time has just now exceeded
>ONE HOUR AND TEN MINUTES.
I don't know who you called, but try 888 466-4646 if you're not
calling from a cell phone.
The best way to buy service, however, is to go to a Radio Shack store.
They're all over, they sell you the same plan Verizon sells you
directly (unless you're buying it in the name of a company) at the
same price and their phone prices are generally lower.
>QUESTION: Does any wireless vendor provide a level of customer service that
>compares to any other industry
I've had a few sticky issues with Verizon CS - and only got one wrong
answer once. Even when I called to demand that a roaming charge be
removed (I didn't say "I demand" - I was polite, but I wouldn't have
accepted a "no"), the rep removed the charge after a few minutes of
discussion.
Since I back up a CS department (in a different industry), I know the
type of people most CS offices have to deal with ("But my keyboard
doesn't /have/ an 'any' key!" [in a whiney voice]), so I try to not be
one of them, but I've never been disappointed with Verizon's CS. I
wish I could say the same thing about their stores.
p...@nospam.com
Voicestream .
cheerioboy26 (Matt)
credit I asked for, and they FedExed me a new phone in 2-day mail (it
was in the evening) when mine broke. They need some help with their
billing SW, but it just got updated again last month.
There are good and bad experiences with all.
Jamie Town
One office (they're all independant so my experience may not carry to other
areas) is an actual _office_. It was the first cell phone place in the area
that was more than a cheap stand in the corner of an A/V shop. They're in
an attractive, two story building with a pleasant decor. The sales reps are
intelligent and honest. If they don't know the answer to a question,
they'll make sure they understand what you're asking and find someone who
does know the answer. Business is conducted in private offices so you don't
have to compete with other customers. The overall experience is very nice.
I regret that I've only gone in there three times in two years. Once to get
my new phone, week later to turn in my old phone (for $50 credit), and a
couple weeks ago to ask about data service. Walk-in to talking was never
more than 5 minutes.
There can be a few problems going with the local guys, tho. I tried to call
611 at 11:30pm once. It seems that 611 around here gets routed to their
local office's main line because I got a very confused person from a local
answering service. She didn't know why I was having trouble placing calls
but was happy to take a message. ;)
Unfortunately, they can't provide data connections in my area so I'm going
to have to deal with a new company. So far, Nextel's CS is decent but not
great via email. It took three exchanges for them to answer most of the
questions I asked in my original inquiry (after specifically requesting that
they take their time and answer my questions in full). I still don't have
answers to the technical questions I asked about their system. I don't
_need_ to know but I'd _like_ to know. And they don't have a local office.
:(
Jamie
"Glenn Rhoades" <grho...@rhotronics.com> wrote in message
news:TL0P6.28968$vf6.2...@news1.rdc1.sdca.home.com...