Over the last few weeks, I had several negative customer service experiences. One with my power company. They sent me a text that my power was out, followed an hour later by the claim that power was back on. I wasn’t at home at the time and didn’t notice the texts. When I got home an hour after the power back on text, it was obvious the power was not back on. After the excitement of stumbling around the house in the dark (10 P. M.) as I couldn’t find my phone which is my emergency flashlight, I found my phone without injuring myself. I walked the half mile to the convenience store. Apparently my side of the block was the only area affected by the power outage. The neighbors across the alley had power; the neighbors on the other side of the block had power, and pretty much everybody in a several block radius.
Once I get to the convenience store, I notice the power company’s two texts. I respond back with OUT which let them know that I didn’t have power. Then I had to respond back Y to verify. They assured me power would be back on within 15 minutes. Having done this song and dance with them before, I knew they most likely meant 3 – 4 hours. True to form, it was about 6 hours later before I noticed the power coming back on. They texted me I would get notice when they restored power (this was Saturday night; it’s now over a week and half later and still no text).
Before the power outage by a few days, I was having problems with my refurbished phone from UnrealMobile. It’s not charging unless I hold it at some weird angle for prolonged periods of time. I go to their website to try and get a replacement phone. They had 6 available in the $49 – 59 price range. When I check each of them, I get out of stock for all of them. I submit a ticket telling them I wanted to get a replacement phone and I was only willing to spend $49 – 59. I don’t have insurance because cell phone insurance has reached the point where it’s much cheaper to simply replace the phone than it is to pay the monthly insurance premium and outrageous deductible.
I get a response back from one of their Customer Service Representatives (CSR). She advises me to check the website or call the toll-free number. Had she bothered to read my support ticket, she would know I had checked the website already. Before her response, I had been a fairly happy camper when it came to UnrealMobile.
Both my power company and UnrealMobile were unwise enough to send me surveys asking me how they did. I made it clear to both companies they had failed me as a customer. I have no issue praising a company when they do things right, and I have no problems letting them know when they mess things up. I don’t do it in a mean way. I believe as a long-time customer I should be treated with respect and not brushed off or ignored. Sadly, customer loyalty is on life support or dead with most companies. I only know of a couple of companies where customer loyalty is rewarded. From numerous studies, it is cheaper to keep me, or you, as a customer than it is to gain a new customer.
I received a letter from the California Attorney-General’s Office they had received my online ticket. No word from the Kansas Attorney-General’s Office,
Poor customer service is why I have changed cell phone providers so many times over the years. I have been with almost every major cell phone company and many of the knock-off companies or subsidiaries of the major companies. Right now I haven’t paid my cell phone bill so the number is temporarily suspended. I also made one of my back-up Tello phones as the new unlimited talk and text with 500 MB LTE Data and unlimited 2G data once the LTE runs out.
My suggestion is a company sends you a survey, give them honest feedback on the survey. I have no problem celebrating a company or employee who goes above and beyond, but I also have no problem letting them know when they missed the mark in a major way.
Ups Downs Family History 