Bad experience followed by a good one.. not all the employees are bad but you have to be lucky.. I wasn't, on my first visit. I can be quite nice when it comes to customer service since i've been working in the field for many years, even managed, i know how annoying and cumbersome some customers are. Purchased a phone online with the option for 2 year contract renewal (which i prefer since i'm fathered-in a nice plan).. online the option was to split the payment for the phone between different cards, not just the one i've imputed online. Arrived at the store, NYE, so i had to wait a while, which i understood. Finally, taken care of by a young man that didn't seem to enthused by being there (which i also understand). I presented him with a $100 MC GC as part of payment which he processed (and later threw away), the rest on my bank card. Then he proceeds to ask if i wanted him to set up my phone (as if i had some magical connection to the att network as well as a supply of SIM cards to pick from, stored somewhere..).. i didn't give that much importance (did i say earlier i'm too understanding with customer service??). He fits in the SIM card and basically sent me my way... no receipt, no transferring my info over or explaining how i could do it.. nothing..
So here i am.. NYE, no contacts on my new phone, somehow no texting available either.. can't access the App store to download anything.. late for work.. I was fuming.. Went to another store and reinstated my service on the old phone and finally, after midnight, as everyone else was celebrating, i figured out i wouldn't get in touch with my family via text..
In the morning, while checking my bank account, noticed i had been charged the full amount at the store, so i went back to the same store. Luckily the drive is about 10 minutes because i that point i was about to bite someone's head off.. I was welcomed by a nice young man that listened to my very complicated explanation, reconnected my new phone, explained how i could transfer my contacts, calls, texts, music and pics from my old to my new phone, assisted me in making sure the app was installed on both phones to make sure i could do it myself... and then it came to the money issue. He proceeded to talk to the manager, the other guys was there as well, twirling thumbs at that moment. The manager comes over and tries to argue with me that it wasn't possible to do what i tried to do, splitting the payment. I said "Ok, if that's the case, i agree, but then you have $100 worth of my money in one of your trash cans, thrown by the guy over there".. he walks away, no apology given, wasn't even fazed by the fact that one of his employees could be so not knowledgeable about the system that he'd do that. About 3-4 minutes later, while i was looking at them either twirling thumbs of buzzing around this girl, i head the manager say "oh yeah, SHE said that you threw away her gift card".. PEOPLE!!! You do realize i can hear you, right???? no sense of emergency, no "ohh sh*t i f*ed up let me go fix this".. the guy passes me on the way to the trash can and with a dumb smile says to me.. i guess i messed up.. and finds the card and gives it to me...
I work in customer service and if i happen to not know something, i make sure i ask before making a mistake. I take great pride in serving my customers right and that is the reason why i've had people coming back for years and many of them becoming good friends outside work. I know it's talent some people don't have but if it happens you're not that sociable, at least make sure you have the minimum knowledge about your job to do it in a way where you don't inconvenience or even damage your customer's job. I have a job with an online scheduling system. My luck is that it was on NYE, so the only thing that happened was me not being able to talk to my family to wish them Happy New year.. So don't think that your callousness doesn't affect anyone, cause you'd be wrong.
So, Thank you again, Charles H. for being a nice, understanding and patient person with a slightly pissed off customer read more