You aren’t wrong that telecom companies are trashy, but being a dick to a support agent isn’t the right way to go. Support staff are more willing to help and work with you if you aren’t yelling at them right out the gate and blaming them for something they have no control over.
Most are just going to laugh at you and be as unhelpful as possible if you come at them like that. You’re just giving them an excuse to stick to the script and tell you to pound sand. If you let them know it’s not personal but you’re angry at the company and keep your approach professional they’re much more likely to think outside the box, bend the rules, or escalate your issue to get things taken care of.
I worked a while for phone customer service (don’t recommend even to my worst enemies) and we only gave nice stuff to angry people. Basically I couldn’t do anything on my level other than follow the script, but if they asked for a supervisor they usually they got their issues solved more quickly and with some free stuff included, so after that experience I always try to be polite at the beginning but if they are not being helpful I ask them to escalate my issue and play angry
I ask them to escalate my issue and play angry
Like, obviously play-angry, or is it convincing? The ‘crazy gaijin’ scene from Rising Sun (1993) or what?
Here is an idea. Hold the companies accountable that implements these sorts of things. Oh wait we can’t because it’s a monopoly of the same shit. Let’s have the government intervene, oh wait. We did and they made net neutrality null and void. And people wonder why they are pissed off at the crappy company that takes them for a ride while still being crappy.
Not taking it out on the person is 100 percent not fair. But they represent the company that is shit. And this crap was predicted back in the 90s by countless artists. Musical and performance. Buckle up. It’s gonna get worse unless they get some pushback and start losing billions.
Yeah, find their executive offices and steal packages, piss on the doors, light a few fires, harvest some thumbs. Support agents in India can’t alter company structure, but fear and confusion can!
Yeah, usually I save this rant for the end when I ask if I can provide some feedback on the company policy specifically.
It is typed text, not yelling or throwing slurs around.
TIL repeated exposure to abuse is consequence free in the absence of audio or capslock
TIL expressing any level of frustration with a company is abusive yelling.
expressing any level of frustration
Not what they said at all, but sure.
“We don’t care. We don’t have to. We’re the Phone Company.” Lilly Tomlin on SNL in 1976
https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
If you’re having problems getting support from a Telecom company, file a complaint with the FCC. You are more likely going to get someone who can/will actually help you. This mainly works when you have a concrete complaint that is running into process/policy roadblocks. For example, if you’ve been overcharged by an amount that the normal agents don’t have authority to credit or if you’re having chronic service issues that aren’t being resolved.
It is less likely to help if the issue is more subjective, such as asking for a large credit to compensate you for being inconvenienced by an outage (i.e. claiming the outage cost you business or work time). They’ll likely offer a prorated service credit and a courtesy credit (like $25-50) and the FCC will likely consider that reasonable.
file a complaint with the FCC. You are more likely going to get someone who can/will actually help
Hahaha! That was a good one 🙂
Also your state’s Attorney General can be another avenue to escalate with customer support if you’re hitting a brick wall. They’ll often have staffers who act as a mediator and have an in with higher tiers of support.
Source: I personally handled some state AG escalations when I worked in customer support
I‘d let you wait even longer.
definitely, but I’m game. I have no choice
Also, Kevin is likely being forced to chat with 3+ customers simultaneously, so that’s why it might take a minute to get back to you.
3 could be a minimum. And the issues won’t be similar, they’ll be just as random as anything else coming in. And their system to actually look up info and make changes will likely only work on one account at a time. It’s possible, but unlikely that the system could use tabs to switch between accounts for chats. That would have required AT&T to actually do something to make the agents job easier, and would cost money to develop.
Their CRM software is a steaming pile of shit, but they can pull up multiple accounts at once.
Well, at least it can do the minimum. Not saying much still, but better than I expected from AT&T.
I wonder if that was actually from Cingular when they bought the old AT&T and decided to use the AT&T name instead going forwards.
I am being forced to ‘chat’ with ‘Kevin’ because the limited options and ‘competitive’ choices in my area (which is a major market city)
It still isn’t Kevin’s fault.
Kevin isn’t real
You’re not real
Office of the Secretary of AT&T Inc.
208 S. Akard Street
Suite 2954
Dallas, Texas 75202
AT&T are trash. Took us far too long to dump them. Glad we did. Found much better service at a quarter the cost.
Kind of a dick move and frankly embarrassing that you think this is righteous. That is not a bot, that is a real person.
No look they have job postings for language models
ChatGPT9-5
It’s kinda embarrassing when you have to run your business like that
It’s really embarrassing to speak to someone who’s almost certainly being paid a shit wage because you’re mad at someone like 15 steps up the corporate ladder. This is the equivalent of going to a McDonald’s drive through and trying to hold the cashier personally responsible for their pricing. You aren’t helping yourself or them, you’re just making everyone’s day worse.
it’s ok, it was a bot and I did get a better rate.
You are way, way worse at spotting bots than you think you are.
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How is that the fault of the individual providing customer support who is likely making minimum wage? What can they realistically do about it?
This is the equivalent of cussing out the person working the drive-through at McDonalds because corporate raised the prices…and then telling everyone about it.
Your anger and frustration is valid. What AT&T did is shitty. How you handled these feelings was a bit cruel and could use some reflection and improvement.
Please point to the part where I cussed someone out, and to the unreasonable questions I made.
Forcing someone, who is being paid to help you, to listen to your angry manifesto and then responding passive aggressively to them is a dick move in my books.
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Nobody should pay that much for a cellphone.
$25 dollars a month
unlimited text call and data uses Verizon’s network$20 off your first month with my code:
https://www.visible.com/get/?3P76BG7
Using my code or not please switch to something like this Google Fi or mint mobile and save yourself the money. These greedy telecom giants don’t need it.
You have to pay a full year at a time, but Mint has a $15 a month plan. 5 GB of data, but I’m almost always near WiFi, so that’s plenty. I generally use less than 80%, cause I don’t always get that message in the last couple days of the month.
I use Mint (T-Mobile towers), $120 every 3 months. Unlimited calling, texting and data (your speed is throttled after 40GB). Included is 10GB hotspot data. I have absolutely no issues with it.
“an representative”.
Also misspelt “even”, and ended a sentence with a preposition.
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Ending sentences with prepositions is fine. Everyone does it. Language evolves. Move on.
I have a cocktail recipe you might like
You’re mad. Fine. No need for the entitled, emotional outburst. Has that actually ever worked your favor?
If you’re that fed up with AT&T, get a different service provider. Know that if you do, you’ll have the same things happen there that you feel so incredulous by from AT&T.
Yes, complaining worked in this instance and in many others. Only because I was persistent and demanding. Att could give fuck all otherwise
Curious what they offered as compensation?
I wouldn’t say compensation as much as it was just to change my bill back down and extend the lower rate for a couple months. I didn’t get anything or even expect to. It gives me sometime to find other service options at least
Wait til you have to deal with telecommunication customers!
Aashole.
