Are you a stupid [cable] customer? (BEWARE: sarcasm)

[Iwantone2]

I used to work in customer service during my high school and college years. I can say that people want everything done for them nowadays. If something doesn't turn on, do they have the common knowledge to check if the freakin power cord is plugged in? No! People don't understand that customer service is customer service, not customer slavery!!!

[CamaroFemme]

None. Due in part to my 4-movie-at-a-time unlimited Netflix plan and the internet, I don't have cable OR satellite tv. I live in the country so I can't get cable here, and I rent the tv seasons I'm interested in from Netflix. If I need news or weather I get it online.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by Skyman 08

First being put on hold for an hour before getting to speak to someone ticks most people off, that and having a technical problem or billing problem and they are in a bad mood to begin with....

I have found out that 90% of tech support people know nothing technical.. they read it of a check sheet and if that don't fix the problem they are lost...
I usually know what is wrong before they do and I will right off tell them what is wrong and they still insist at starting from the very first step.(stuff I have already tried).. 45 minutes later if I am lucky they will get to the part I told them about in the beginning..
9 times out of 10 it will fix the problem... (usually it is something on their end that need fixing, not on mine)

A lot of us do not know enough to do our jobs. We do what we are expected to do, and then we send out someone more technically inclined to actually help you at your place.

They don't have a choice but to troubleshoot according to the sheet or guide. We can lose our jobs if we don't follow standard operating procedures, also known as quality guidelines. Even if you claim to know the problem, we have to go through the motions. If we don't, we might not be working there for very long. It sucks, and that's why I'm working on getting out of this position as quickly as possible.

There are 2 reasons why we do this. The cable company wants to save money. If we send out a technician for every technical problem, I guarantee you that you will have to wait longer for a technician, and your bill will go up. You will have to wait longer for a tech to come out because half of these issues can be resolved over the phone, including simply plugging in the equipment. If we had to send someone to drive 20 minutes or more to your place to plug a DVR into a TV, then someone who actually needs the help will have to wait longer. You will also call again, making the company pay for an agent to talk to you. Why will you call again? You'll call because the tech will bill you for coming out. I'm happy to bill you for sending out a technician when you refuse to let me do my job, and I'll be happy to not credit you when you call later disputing the charges. If I can do it, you can do it, and most people are too lazy to do it. We want to keep our jobs This is another reason why we follow obvious and redundant procedures for making sure that your cable works. If we don't do these procedures, the quality assurance department will give us low scores for failing to do our jobs. Enough low scores causes us to get written up by our supervisors and eventually fired. As much as we hate our jobs, we don't want to live on the streets.

You may know what the problem is, but any good agent will probably not listen to you. We hear about these problems every single day, and you've only had that same problem a couple of times at best. Let us fix your problem or we'll be happy to charge you or put you on hold for a supervisor who will tell you that you should have listened to us. Don't tell us how to do our jobs. You wouldn't like it either.

[Sevn86]

Originally Posted by Russo

stupid is me having to pay $66 a month for JUST cable internet...

+1

[futrocpd]

i worked for one of the 2 local cable companies here for a bit. In short you are right, they way they bill, service etc customers is beyond dumb. We lost a ton of customers to sat or the other company b/c they have better service and keep customers happy with price. In this economy it seemed to me that people were worried about price and service 2nd, which we pretty much sucked, unless we were running some kind of campaign. We even called about 30k customers offering up to 200 bucks cash back to just get people back.

[Sir Nuke]

Well, I have both cable TV service AND Internet service and have had both for very long time. I recently built a house in a new part of my subdivision, and for the first couple of weeks after we got into our house, we had problems with the internet connection, BUT, the problem was intermitten, the BANE of troubleshooting.......being in maintenance, I know this, ESPECIALLY, with electronic or electrical problems......The SAME tech gay came out everytime and worked very hard, even gave me his personal cell number if I had a problem........HE found the problem, and have never had a problem since. GOOD Tech Support is worth it wieght in gold, and is usually under paid for doing the job they do, much like our men in Uniform, both domestic and orver seas.

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by The_Blur

A lot of us do not know enough to do our jobs. We do what we are expected to do, and then we send out someone more technically inclined to actually help you at your place.

They don't have a choice but to troubleshoot according to the sheet or guide. We can lose our jobs if we don't follow standard operating procedures, also known as quality guidelines. Even if you claim to know the problem, we have to go through the motions. If we don't, we might not be working there for very long. It sucks, and that's why I'm working on getting out of this position as quickly as possible.

There are 2 reasons why we do this. The cable company wants to save money. If we send out a technician for every technical problem, I guarantee you that you will have to wait longer for a technician, and your bill will go up. You will have to wait longer for a tech to come out because half of these issues can be resolved over the phone, including simply plugging in the equipment. If we had to send someone to drive 20 minutes or more to your place to plug a DVR into a TV, then someone who actually needs the help will have to wait longer. You will also call again, making the company pay for an agent to talk to you. Why will you call again? You'll call because the tech will bill you for coming out. I'm happy to bill you for sending out a technician when you refuse to let me do my job, and I'll be happy to not credit you when you call later disputing the charges. If I can do it, you can do it, and most people are too lazy to do it. We want to keep our jobs This is another reason why we follow obvious and redundant procedures for making sure that your cable works. If we don't do these procedures, the quality assurance department will give us low scores for failing to do our jobs. Enough low scores causes us to get written up by our supervisors and eventually fired. As much as we hate our jobs, we don't want to live on the streets.

You may know what the problem is, but any good agent will probably not listen to you. We hear about these problems every single day, and you've only had that same problem a couple of times at best. Let us fix your problem or we'll be happy to charge you or put you on hold for a supervisor who will tell you that you should have listened to us. Don't tell us how to do our jobs. You wouldn't like it either.

What ever happened to learning to do more than what is expected? just doing enough to get by isn't good enough any more...

maybe you should read what the term CUSTOMER SERVICE means

Definition of Customer Service
Customer service is often seen as an activity, performance measurement and a philosophy. That is why generally speaking, one single customer service definition does not exist.


Here are some definitions of customer service in use today:

"Customer service is the ability to provide a service or product in the way that it has been promised"

"Customer service is about treating others as you would like to be treated yourself"

"Customer service is an organization's ability to supply their customers' wants and needs"

"Customer Service is a phrase that is used to describe the process of taking care of our customers in a positive manner"

"Customer Service is any contact between a customer and a company, that causes a negative or positive perception by a customer"

"Customer service is a process for providing competitive advantage and adding benefits in order to maximize the total value to the customer"

"Customer Service is the commitment to providing value added services to external and internal customers, including attitude knowledge, technical support and quality of service in a timely manner"

"Customer service is a proactive attitude that can be summed up as: I care and I can do."

Does that sound like the Customer Service the cable company gives??
In your little speech I see nothing but concern for yourself and the cable company and not the customer...
For one Don't Assume everyone is too dumb not to be able to hook up a cable or plug in a box.. there are some very smart people in the world.. learn to ask the right questions and do not keep insisting on the person trying things when he tells you he has already done it.. LISTEN to the customer... geesh is that so hard??

[lordfriday2]

I worked computer customer support for 4 years. i've learned that mostly realtors don't know their majordomo list at all.... and lawyers are also the not so smart ones when it comes to computer or general knowledge other then their profession..

i've had everything from "my cupholder broke" (cd rom drive) to "i tried to pay a bill online by sticking my credit card in the slot on the computer".... idiot put their credit card in the floppy drive..

all i have to say is , thank god for the mute button...

also, to the above poster.... it's hard to listen to the customer when the customer won't listen to you..

everyone wants to think they know what the problem is and when a support specialist tells the customer what to do to fix the problem there is almost always resistence...

like I said, thank god for a mute button.

[Angrybird 12]

I worked as an Instrument and Electrical Mechanic and as an Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering Technician for 32 years. 15 years of that I worked troubleshooting electrical and electronic problems..

What is your background in troubleshooting?

[lordfriday2]

Good for you for being born 20+ years before me, i'll have you cookies baked and your prunes cleaned in a half an hour...

The topic isn't on electrical troubleshooting, it's computer and cable tv connection troubleshooting by PHONE

You have no phone call center experience from what you've told me, dealing with people in person is way different then dealing with them over the phone, for some reason when people call on the phone they think that it's the technician's fault that they are talking to... I can understand the stresses the OP is going through...

[Russo]

i can't wait til AT&T gets done installing their cable network here... JUST for internet with Comcast is $60 a month!! for $10-15 a month difference i'd switch to AT&T...

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by Russo

i can't wait til AT&T gets done installing their cable network here... JUST for internet with Comcast is $60 a month!! for $10-15 a month difference i'd switch to AT&T...

From what I have read AT&T has the highest customer satisfaction for cable and internet in the country.. the worst is Charter... Comcast is just slightly better than charter.. in my area all we have is Comcast, I have had them for over 30 years, and until recently have had no problems.. but now they are in the middle of switching to all digital and causing alot of problems with existing customers.. I won't go into detail, but just say it isn't fair to charge people for a box that they never had to have before. But only other choice is for Dish oir direct... and from what I have seen from dish or direct I won't have them.. in our area they lose signal every time it rains more than a sprinkle...

[The_Blur]

A customer called today. He called technical support about a billing issue. He asked why his bill was so high. The agent advised him that he had been billed the normal rate for the cable services on his account and also the discounted rate for high-speed internet. He was unaware that he had internet. He has had internet on his bill since June 2005. He requested to dispute the charges in billing, so the agent transferred the call to me.

"Sir, this exceeds the 60-day period that you can dispute these charges."

"Well, who is going to to credit me $40 a month since 2005?"

"Sir, I don't think anyone is going to do that."

"Get me your supervisor."

"I will be happy to get you my supervisor."

I wait for the supervisor. After explaining the situation, the supervisor asked if I was serious. Yes—sadly, I was dead serious.

Originally Posted by Skyman 08

What ever happened to learning to do more than what is expected? just doing enough to get by isn't good enough any more...

maybe you should read what the term CUSTOMER SERVICE means



Does that sound like the Customer Service the cable company gives??
In your little speech I see nothing but concern for yourself and the cable company and not the customer...
For one Don't Assume everyone is too dumb not to be able to hook up a cable or plug in a box.. there are some very smart people in the world.. learn to ask the right questions and do not keep insisting on the person trying things when he tells you he has already done it.. LISTEN to the customer... geesh is that so hard??

Do my job. You'll understand.

[Justin]

Originally Posted by Ject

I tend to usually tell technical support what to do to fix the problem.. and 80% of the time it works lol.. My porblems usually consist around not getting the speeds I am paying for and guaranteed which really upsets me.

It's funny when I talk to tech support and they say i have viruses on my PC which is causing the slow speeds.... even moments after reformatting to Vista 64bit or windows 7 64bit..

PS. I work as an IT Desktop Support and Network Administrator.

I always explain to CS reps before I even start what I've already done, and about 90% of the time they'll go ahead and skip those steps on their troubleshooting flow, but if they don't, I understand and just bite the bullet and do it. It's their job, and while many times it's a formality, and I know significantly more about what I'm talking about than they do, it's another step in the process to get what needs to be done, done. The best way to deal with the situation is to just shut up, be really nice, and do what they say until they give up and escalate the call. It goes much faster that way.

And, to lordfriday, the qualifications that Skyman laid out, just because they don't include the word "cable" or "connection" don't mean they're not relevant. In fact, chances are someone with a similar job title probably wrote your troubleshooting flows, helps design, build and troubleshoot the infrastructure, and wrote the guidelines for the field techs that you dispatch, among other things. I'm not saying he understands what it's like to work in a call center, but don't immediately discount what he has to say, and don't assume that you have more knowledge on the subject than he does. For instance, my father spent 20 years designing cellular network air interfaces (electrical engineering is the qualification required to do that), yet when he calls into his cell phone company, they always give him a run around and talk to him like he's an idiot, and since they can read off of a troubleshooting flow, they obviously understand more about the technology than he does, when he took part in designing it.