Okay, is it just me, or has calling those 800 numbers suddenly gotten a lot more pleasant? Over the past couple of months, I have been amazed at the courteousness and downright competence of customer service personnel. Tuesday, for example, I called an 800 number I got off the Sears website, expecting to be launched into a big rigmarole involving several more phone calls and long hold times before I could get somebody out here. But the woman on the other end (who answered promptly) not only immediately comprehended my somewhat complicated story about a stacking kit, a stripped screw on the dryer door, and the extended warranty, she scheduled somebody to come out today, yes-ma’am-ing me the entire time like a prep school senior. I’ve had similar experiences with Bellsouth, some place I order air return filters from, Green Giant, and (believe it or not!) Comcast. Not only that, but a Lowe’s clerk was so polite and helpful I came home and sent an email to their website about it – and got a personal return email the same day.
Is this happening to y’all too? The husband thinks it’s the economy.
I am amazed that you didn’t have to go through ten levels of “for customer service, press 1″, etc. before you got to a human. That drives me crazy.
My experience dealing with BellSouth has been consistently positive. Good to know it’s not an aberration.
It’s not just you. It seems as if many billing and/or customer service departments are now willing to haggle a bit to keep you as a customer. Even when canceling service with Dish Network, I was able to talk down a cancellation fee of $120 to about $76, though if I’d not been so eager to get off the phone, I could have gone without paying it at all.
Just a note to the above, do not ever agree to anything over the phone so that when someone claims that you have a verbal agreement to something, you can honestly say that you don’t. For a very good reason, I only do business in an office where I have to sign and date paperwork or I go online and print out the confirmation and information.
When someone says that you agreed to a contract, and they can’t provide any tangible evidence to support that, be very wary before agreeing to pay them anything. The only reason I agreed to the smaller amount at all was because my husband spoke to them first, and for all I know, they could have recorded him agreeing to pay the cancellation fee. (He’s not exactly as bright when it comes to these matters.)