Customer Service
I got my Alltel (cellphone) bill last week and was initially shocked at what looked like a $4400 charge.
Fuck, someone must have hacked into our line!
But then on closer inspection it was actually a credit of $4400. Sweet, I thought. Some idiot in accounts receivable must have keyed in the wrong numbers. I sent them a check for $45 and they must have misplaced the decimal. But wait, I didn't actually write out a check, I do that through my online bank, so that must mean....
Yep, sure enough, the idiot is me. I must have deleted the period somehow and sent them $4500. Or maybe it was my bank, but I'm 80% sure it was probably me.
So anyway, since I would like that money back rather than let them keep it and work that balance off over the next 8 years, I spent a good deal of time on the phone will Alltel on Friday. They really didn't sympathize with my predicament. Their attitude was, "it wasn't our mistake" so they are sitting on the cash and will send me a check in 21 days.
Thanks guys. Nice customer service. Fortunately, I can wait, but a couple of years ago that would have meant missing a mortgage payment. I escalated it a couple times with the customer service reps and the supervisors were even less helpful and sympathetic than the front line reps. I tried to explain to the supervisor that they could just wire the money right back to my account, I'll even give you the routing numbers and everything, and he said, "Sure, we can wire the money back to your account, but that's not our policy because of the cost." So they wouldn't. I wonder what they'll miss more, the buck or two that it would cost to do an EFT or the $45 in monthly revenue that they've just lost once I get that check?
I got my Alltel (cellphone) bill last week and was initially shocked at what looked like a $4400 charge.
Fuck, someone must have hacked into our line!
But then on closer inspection it was actually a credit of $4400. Sweet, I thought. Some idiot in accounts receivable must have keyed in the wrong numbers. I sent them a check for $45 and they must have misplaced the decimal. But wait, I didn't actually write out a check, I do that through my online bank, so that must mean....
Yep, sure enough, the idiot is me. I must have deleted the period somehow and sent them $4500. Or maybe it was my bank, but I'm 80% sure it was probably me.
So anyway, since I would like that money back rather than let them keep it and work that balance off over the next 8 years, I spent a good deal of time on the phone will Alltel on Friday. They really didn't sympathize with my predicament. Their attitude was, "it wasn't our mistake" so they are sitting on the cash and will send me a check in 21 days.
Thanks guys. Nice customer service. Fortunately, I can wait, but a couple of years ago that would have meant missing a mortgage payment. I escalated it a couple times with the customer service reps and the supervisors were even less helpful and sympathetic than the front line reps. I tried to explain to the supervisor that they could just wire the money right back to my account, I'll even give you the routing numbers and everything, and he said, "Sure, we can wire the money back to your account, but that's not our policy because of the cost." So they wouldn't. I wonder what they'll miss more, the buck or two that it would cost to do an EFT or the $45 in monthly revenue that they've just lost once I get that check?
