Maybe because I’m busy I have less patience, but I suspect it’s more because I’m tired of shoddy service. I found myself being forceful with someone on the phone yesterday. On April 19, I transferred money to my daughter’s account using POPMoney. (My bank has dropped the ability to send funds between that bank’s accounts, which usually took three to four days for transfer.)
This was apparently a faster way for her to get her money. However, yesterday I was on the verge of screeching because she’d not yet received the money (eight days later – are you serious?) and no one seemed to know why or show concern that it took that long. Worse, I called my bank (three times) to procure the POPMoney support number because it’s not listed on their website. Until yesterday, no one had it. But when I did get it, I went into Assertive Mode.
It took the man about 30 seconds to figure it out. I hope it’s because he sensed my “take no prisoners” tone. It had to be something – she’d called them twice over the same issue with no result. The problem – I’d sent the transfer to an email that wasn’t directly connected to her bank account. There’s the glitch – why do none of the instructions mention that it must be an exact match? Nowhere. Worse, there was zero communication with either her or me letting someone know her money wasn’t coming or why. Oh, they deducted it from my account fast enough – same day I sent it. I managed to get the money into her account once I verified her email, but I was stinging from the lack of help or communication. Remember, she’d called them and the bank several times, too. That’s inexcusable.
I hung up and sent an email to my bank giving them exact reasons why their new system fails their customers. I won’t use POPMoney again. It’s a waste of time and causes too much stress.
And yet we sometimes accept the stress. Why? We as freelancers would never consider putting our clients this kind of treatment. Why then do we accept it from companies, clients, and people who rely on our business? God forbid we treat our clients like this – we’d be out of business in no time.
So here’s your worthy tip of the week – take no prisoners. Assert your rights as a consumer, as a writer, as a human. Don’t take their stock answer as the final word. Push further. Keep asserting yourself until you get the result you want. How does this translate to writing? If you’re able to stand up for yourself as a consumer, you’re more likely to do the same when your business or your earnings potential is at stake.
When was the last time you were frustrated by a business’s lack of customer service? Did you assert yourself or did you accept their response and then figured it out on your own?
16 responses to “Worthy Tip: Take No Prisoners”
Report the bank to the Comptroller of the Currency. They are equipped to make sure the bank knows this is unacceptable. That's why they exist.
Thanks, Devon. I certainly will.
I just went through a similar problem. I have this new "smartphone". For a phone so smart, then why am I on my 2nd one in 2 months? Long story short I told the phone's manufacturer that it was unacceptable and absurd for me to do the legwork to confirm the problem that he had just told me I was having. I'd already done my part – that's why I was coming to him. I got the battery replaced in the phone but then found out it was the phone. A call in to my wireless tech support said that it's not the phone and I have to take it to a store. This is where I get stabby and want to reach through the phone and choke them. I call again this week after the phone has burned up and died (WITH THE NEW BATTERY) and go through everything. In 30 seconds I had a new phone ordered. This is my "3rd time's a charm or 3 strikes and you're out" moment so we shall see.
In terms of writing, I dropped a brand new client because some red flags popped up. I emailed him promptly and said that since it had been over a week since I'd last heard from him, he still hadn't remitted the deposit for the work and login information for his site was not correct, I was unable to work for him and I wished him luck. Not surprisingly he has not replied back.
I'm about to do the same for another new client (they are brothers perhaps??) and let him know that unless I receive an upfront payment for this "test" article – after sending 2 samples, I will not be able to write it for him.
Thank you for reminding me that assertiveness extends far beyond our writing business!
I think the easier question to answer is when have I received good customer service – sad, but true.
My most recent foray into frustration was with AT&T-and it certainly wasn't the 1st time.
I moved & had 2 phone line services disconnected. About 4-5 months after the move, I get a $13 and some odd-cents bill for the line I used for the Internet connection and my fax line.
The comedy of errors started with the toll-free number it had on the bill was not the # I needed to call. That I discovered only after going through their ridiculous # of prompts to get to a live person. Then they transferred me and disconnected the call.
I could go on & on but after thinking it was resolved, I rec'd 2 more bills months apart & had to go through it all over again.
Assertiveness is needed but some time incompetence is a mighty foe. Sigh…
Oh, man, Lori! I could write volumes on this topic. This story reminds me of when I was in college, and my Mom mailed me a check for my housing deposit for the following year. She'd mailed me a bunch of stuff and gotten a tracking number for it, because, well, my housing deposit was kind of important if I wanted to live on campus the next year.
Despite the tracking number, I never got her package. I called the postal service and they said it had been delivered. "Well, actually it has not been delivered because I haven't gotten it." They said they'd delivered it to my school and that it wasn't their responsibility beyond that. So I called mail services, which was appropriately part of housing services. They said they don't track confirmation numbers and aren't responsible for lost mail. I asked to speak to the director of that office. I told him that because his office was inept, I wasn't going to get my deposit in on time and he had better save a spot for me, because it was his office's fault. He informed me that if I missed the deadline, I'd have to move off-campus. So I got a 6-month post office box and had my Mom overnight me ANOTHER check. She got her money back for the original package, since it never arrived. But I still think it's ABSURD that they will charge you for a tracking # and then deny any responsibility for tracking your package.
I have managed to transform myself from a consumer who hated to make a fuss to a consumer who can be very assertive. I can think of two occasions – once with Apple, once with a mechanic – where the customer service was just egregiously bad and I had to make an incredible effort to get the service I deserved. Both times a nice chunk of my cash was at stake and I was incredulous that any business would be so cavalier with its customers. But… some people just don't care.
I did have one nasty recent consumer-skirmish where someone tried to stick me with someone else's bill – and I resolved it by threatening to ruin her Google hits with negative content if she didn't fix it. Such are the weapons of a copywriter. 🙂
Kathy – I've had similar problems with AT&T and am about to go after them again for raising my DSL rate after promising me it would remain frozen for a couple more years. (Last time they doubled my rate, so they probably think I won't quibble over another $3/mos. They'd be wrong.)
As the Queen of Complaint Letters, I've decreed 2010 to be the year of complaints. It's not just a consumer's right to complain about poor quality and poor service, it's our collective responsibility. Without our feedback (pro and con), companies will continue their business as usual approach of nickel and diming us to death.
My most recent experience? Yesterday at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I saw some fabric that might work for a project. I asked for a sample so I could make sure the colors worked. Most fabric stores will snip a piece off and send you on your way, knowing you'll probably be back in to buy the fabric. So when the cutter said, "I'll have to charge you for it," I thought she was joking. Then she handed me a cutting slip for a one-inch strip of fabric. The price? 21-cents.
Then I had to stand in line (our local Jo-Ann's is know for its slow, surly staff), causing yet more customers with real purchases to have an even longer wait. The checker said it was silly, but "corporate" made the rules. Hmm…what do you think will cost the store more in the long run: a tiny scrap of fabric (they have to cut more off to even the edges before measuring actual yardage!), or the time and energy spent processing the cutting slip, printing the receipt, and inconveniencing several customers? And let's not forget: I'll be taking my business elsewhere.
Too bad the fabric was cute and the colors were perfect. I'd rather settle for something else from a store that actually values its patrons. I complained to "corporate" and the only way they will retain me as a customer is if they admit their policy is moronic and promise to revoke the sample fees.
We're getting some small work done on our house. We got someone hired and everything's ready to go for when he gets started. I made a simple request to be told a few days ahead of the time he starts, because I explained that I work in an office in the home and I won't be able to work with all the banging and other noises going on. If I know ahead of time when he'll start, I can make other arrangements.
You would think I asked for the sun, the moon and all the stars in the sky; by the way he reacted to that. He got a bit snotty and told me I could throw on headphones and listen to music or put in earplugs. I explained that neither would work for me and I told him that it would work much simpler for him to tell me when he's going to start. I then added that it was the money from that work that would be paying him.
If it wasn't such a good friend of my father in law's, I probably would've said "Thanks anyway, I'll find someone else."
Okay, I called about my issue with AT&T and got next to nowhere. The one revelation was that last time my DSL rates went up and complained (they literally doubled it in a couple months when my introductory rate of $12.99/mos went up to something like $19.99/mos just before they hiked it to $25/mos) their service rep lied when they promised it was a permanent rate that would NOT go up. The guy today reviewed my account and said it was a two-year rate freeze.
Now they're charging me $28 for a DSL that's as slow as molasses, cuts out now and then, and sometimes forgets to give me my e-mail. Yes, I have an older computer with a slower processor. But this is still ridiculous.
Now he said I could downgrade to a slower DSL for $19.95 mos. He rattled off the speed range, and said how slow or fast it really is will depend on my distance from some central location. Computer geek neighbors have said we're in a slow spot. So now I'm wondering….would the downgrade be much different given my computer's already slow processor? Or will that make it interminable?
Lori,
With whom do you bank? I've used Popmoney with PNC multiple times, and was updated when the payments were picked up. I also got multiple emails when my sister had failed to pick hers up, including getting a note that the payment had now expired (she waited past 10 days to pick it up). I almost felt overwhelmed by the number of reminders.
Anon, I'm not comfortable sharing my banking info, but suffice it to say my bank sent notices that she hadn't picked up her money when in fact she had tried. The notification wasn't the problem – the lack of anyone addressing the problem was.
Nikki, that's absurd. And we're locked into these contracts, held captive and subjected to bad service. I think it should be illegal.
Valerie, I agree completely. I had a mechanic "create" work on my car. On my third trip to him, I was on to him. If I'd had proof he was breaking this stuff, he'd be in jail right now. That two people in the same office with different cars had the exact same problem after a simple inspection – that's fishy. My mechanic back home said in 20 years, he'd never replaced that part on ANY car.
Paula, they actually charged you 21 cents for a scrap of fabric? That's so insane! I'd never go back, and I'd send them a letter telling them why.
Wendy, he fussed? He has no right to fuss. It's your house, your money, and your project. He needs to understand it's also your workplace. Yes, it's his, but he certainly knows about what time he'll start – if he doesn't, he's probably not reliable enough for the job.
What I hate? When they say "We'll be there between 8 am and 5 pm." Hell you will. You'll narrow it down to a one- or two-hour window or you can forget it.
Cathy, my sister had endless trouble with Verizon. She ordered cell phone service. Four months later AFTER she'd had her phone activated, twice, she gave it back and tried cancelling the contract. They started telling her how she's locked in and she'd pay a cancellation fee… she looked at them and said, "Dude, I'm a corporate attorney. Go ahead – give me a reason." Then she quoted chapter-and-verse of consumer protection laws. She got out of it.
Susan, you mean she paid for the package, got a tracking number, and then was told "Oh, we won't track it"??? What the hell? Academia works on its own set of laws and rules – drives me insane!
I won't give Verizon a cent. I used them years ago for home phone service, and every time I'd get a bill there was a new service added that I didn't order. I'd call, bitch, and have them remove it. Then next month there would be something else that wasn't there the previous month. It was insane. So I switched to a smaller phone company, and haven't had problems — more reliable, never a billing issue, they're cheaper, and their dsl connections are better. Verizon also allowed my ex-fiance to call them and request phone cards tied to the account (the wasn't an authorized user on my account). He gave the cards to his mother and brother to use (and run up bills in my name — a LOT of money, which they never paid) without asking me. So yeah, Verizon can rot. I have similar feelings about Comcast.
A take no prisoner attitude is definitely one of the best ways to get what you want from a consumer perspective. But you have to know your legal rights, be able to demonstrate that to people who you talk to (who often don't know them), and be willing to be firm. I'm one of those who doesn't ask for things. I tell them what they're going to do to fix the problem. If they can't, I talk to supervisors. If they can't, I call back during another shift. If they still wont, I go above their heads and have a calmer discussion with an exec or PR rep about the type of image they're presenting. That usually gets me a call back pretty quickly from those supervisors who can suddenly and magically make things happen.
Very firmly worded letters can work well too — sometimes better than calls, especially if you send them certified, return receipt so they know you're tracking them. Seriously, if I ever quit business writing, I'll start a business writing complaint letters. I actually consider them a somewhat amusing challenge. Speaking of which, I have a notice of intent to sue I need to write up next week….
Jenn, I hear you on the Verizon issues. Mine are well documented here – just signing up and asking a simple question had me on the phone for over 30 minutes. Simple question – is the cable box compatible with Tivo? Simple solution would've been to connect me with an installation tech. Instead, five people later, a SALES rep tries "fixing" my problem by telling me "If you just use our DVR you can avoid the problem altogether!" Her enthusiasm at her "brilliant" idea had me fuming. I asked her if she that meant her company would buy my Tivo from me at what I paid for it. I mean, I have $200 in an existing DVR – I'm not switching. Just answer the freakin' question before I go postal.
AT&T has been a thorn in our sides recently. We have them for our home phone & they keep calling us to ask if we want DSL. We have told them multiple times we don't need it & to stop calling. Hasn't worked. Thinking about just canceling the home phone altogether, because they are almost the only ones that call us on it.
Oh Becky, I hate that. Tell them to take you off their lists. They have to. If they continue to call, tell them they're now harassing you and are about to be reported to the feds. Then follow up if they don't stop.