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Jul - General Chat - I HATE Customer Services! New poll - New thread - New reply
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Zero One
5170
And as we fall the spirit carries on,
That a hero'll come and save us all,
As we call the ones we left below,
We all dream of the day we rise above
Level: 129


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Since: 05-24-10

From: Delta Quadrant

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Posted on 12-29-10 02:25:20 PM (last edited by Zero One at 12-29-10 11:50 AM) Link | Quote
I find a good monitor that I want to buy from eBuyer, so I add it to my checkout, do all of the sign-up stuff and get to the Send Delivery option. I input my debit card details and it comes up with Verification from VISA, asking for my memorable name, which is the same name as the one I used to register for Internet Banking. I recently changed it, but there were two names in my head and I knew that one of them was the correct. I input the first name, nothing. I input the second name, nothing. I input the third name, I get locked out. I check my e-mail and for some reason, eBuyer has confirmed my order but is still awaiting approval. I wait for a bit, no approval. I learn that eBuyer has given me a quote number that I can turn back into an order number. I turn the quote number into an order number, go through the whole debit card detail process again and I reach the Verification by VISA screen again, still telling me that it's locked and it gives me a quote number again. At the same time, I get ANOTEHR confirmation email.

At this point, I'm worried. If it goes through twice, I'll be overdrawn and I'll get massive fees for being overdrawn, which is NOT good. Quote>order, enter credit card details. I want to make sure that only ONE order goes through, so I call them. Now, I spend the next 5 minutes trying to speak to an ACTUAL PERSON from eBuyer but NOOO. I have to sit through the stupid robot, which doesn't even give me the section that I'm look for, so I hang up. I try to contact the Co-operative Bank to make sure that eBuyer can only take one order's worth of money (about £150) out of my account. Suddenly, MORE robots. Happily, I get through to a person. I tell him about the Verification from VISA being locked and that I want to find out what my memorable name was and I want to make sure that eBuyer only takes one order. He tells me that he can't help me with eBuyer, but he can help me with Verification from VISA and he can tell me what my memorable name was.

My memorable name? THE SECOND NAME I TYPED IN THE FIRST TIME I WENT THROUGH EBUYER. So, rage. I thank him for his time and end the call. Of course, it wasn't THAT simple. He mumbled everything and spoke so fast, I had to get him to repeat EVERYTHING he said.

Back to eBuyer, quote>order, card details and BAM. Verification from VISA is STILL locked and another confirmation email. The number that they give to sort this? The same number that I JUST rang to get it all sorted out in the first place. Ring it again, speed through the bot and get an actual person. This time, I get a woman who knows how to speak clearly. I tell her my Verification from VISA problem and in a minute, it's sorted. Why is that so hard to acheive in customer services? A clear, concise and FAST helpline.

So now, I have to wait an hour for Verification from VISA to unlock and I need to SOMEHOW get the email address for eBuyer to make sure that they don't charge me FOUR times.

/rant

EDIT: GODDAMNIT! Now, my Internet Banking has been disabled. I'm gonna wait for a bit and see if it come back when Verification from VISA does. If it doesn't, then that's ANOTHER trip through Customer Services.

____________________
"The last Metroid is in captivity."
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Thanks Xkeeper, Bagel and Sanky for the help!

Orlandu


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Posted on 12-29-10 03:18:28 PM Link | Quote
Many companies have had to implement automated systems for customer service due to call volume. Many customers call for reasons that can be solved by following FAQ instructions or assistance tools built in to many online websites now. Things like "Lost password" or "can't remember user name" are the majority of calls, even with these links being right under the log in boxes.

Verification by Visa is there for your protection. I have it on my card and a few websites require me to put in the password when using my Visa debit. From what I remember, its case sensitive so you have be precise when putting it in. Obviously you typed something wrong or it would have worked with your 2nd entry that you thought was correct. It's important to keep track of your banking information. Banks take great care to provide as much security as they can now with identity theft so rampant these days.

But in all that, I feel your frustration. I've had incidents when making purchases that required multiple phone calls. Patience is your greatest ally. And if you are on the phone with someone, make sure whatever you are trying to do works before ending that call.

____________________
 
Zero One
5170
And as we fall the spirit carries on,
That a hero'll come and save us all,
As we call the ones we left below,
We all dream of the day we rise above
Level: 129


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Since: 05-24-10

From: Delta Quadrant

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Posted on 12-29-10 03:29:44 PM (last edited by Zero One at 12-29-10 02:16 PM) Link | Quote
Update: My Internet Banking has been disabled and Verification by VISA still doesn't work. Back to customer services.

EDIT: Ok, I've gotten that sorted out AGAIN. I'm gonna play Mass Effect 2 for an hour and let Verification by VISA update, just in case.

EDIT: I've had it. Verified by VISA still isn't unlocked and it's been well over an hour. I'm going to go with Amazon who DON'T use it and badger the Co-op Bank until they get it sorted.

EDIT: Two minutes later, and the order is placed in Amazon with an expected delivery of January 4 and at a cheaper price. Was that really so damn hard!?

____________________
"The last Metroid is in captivity."
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Thanks Xkeeper, Bagel and Sanky for the help!

paulguy

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Posted on 12-29-10 05:41:47 PM Link | Quote
Paulguy's Post configuration
With a lot of automated phone systems, you can press 0 to get to an operator for the building, which might be able to direct you.

But yeah, buggy bank systems, buggy ecommerce systems, crappy javascript. Way too common.

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Taryn

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Posted on 12-29-10 05:43:20 PM Link | Quote
IMO, the worst are the once where they use voice recognition. Often I have to repeat things, especially when they want me to give my name and address to a machine using voice recognition and they get it totally wrong.

Sheesh. Hire humans. There are jillions of unemployed people who would love the job opportunity.

____________________

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Danielle
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Posted on 12-29-10 05:45:37 PM Link | Quote
Nicole

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Posted on 12-29-10 06:40:58 PM Link | Quote

Originally posted by Terra
IMO, the worst are the once where they use voice recognition. Often I have to repeat things, especially when they want me to give my name and address to a machine using voice recognition and they get it totally wrong.

Sheesh. Hire humans. There are jillions of unemployed people who would love the job opportunity.

The worst voice recognition I've had was one where I had to spell out numbers. (some kind of identification number I had gotten in e-mail) No, I couldn't type them in, I had to say them... I mean, it's a phone, there's a keypad right there, it's an easy way to write numbers... "TWO!" "I didn't understand that. Try again."

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paulguy

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Posted on 12-29-10 09:57:13 PM Link | Quote
Paulguy's Post configuration
Originally posted by Danielle
Dude... patience. As someone who has worked answering customer service calls, I can tell you that the ratio of representatives to customers calling is outrageous. You didn't wait five whole minutes for the hell of it... it's a very busy time of year in the retail world, especially for online companies who don't have a brick and mortar location to assist customers. And your bank is just trying to protect you... those built in security features can be a hassle sometimes, but if someone stole your card those features would be quite handy. I understand being frustrated, but try to be a little understanding about who is on the other end of the phone. Not everything can always be instantaneous and perfect!

The problem comes when the majority don't know, don't care and barely speak English because the company is a fucking shit who doesn't want to spend a small drop of their billions of dollars they're sitting on/embezzling to hire local workers just because the cost of living is a bit higher, even though they could easily cover it.

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Zero One
5170
And as we fall the spirit carries on,
That a hero'll come and save us all,
As we call the ones we left below,
We all dream of the day we rise above
Level: 129


Posts: 2311/5173
EXP: 24537628
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Since: 05-24-10

From: Delta Quadrant

Since last post: 1.5 years
Last activity: 118 days

Posted on 12-29-10 10:19:16 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Danielle
Dude... patience. As someone who has worked answering customer service calls, I can tell you that the ratio of representatives to customers calling is outrageous. You didn't wait five whole minutes for the hell of it... it's a very busy time of year in the retail world, especially for online companies who don't have a brick and mortar location to assist customers. And your bank is just trying to protect you... those built in security features can be a hassle sometimes, but if someone stole your card those features would be quite handy. I understand being frustrated, but try to be a little understanding about who is on the other end of the phone. Not everything can always be instantaneous and perfect!


I'm not asking for perfection or instantaneous results. I'm asking for someone who can speak English in such a way that I can understand (i.e. slowly and clearly, not that gibberish that guy was speaking), someone who can do what I ask them to the first time round (I mean, I'm STILL waiting for Verified by VISA to work) and somebody who can do it in a good time (i.e. the first time I set up my Internet Banking account, it was done within 2 minutes. When it went down, I was on hold for 5 minutes while the guy set it up).

I have no problems with the security features, they're simple. It's when something glitches and I have to spend 3 hours solving it. That's what annoys me. And as long as the person helping me can do his/her job, I have no problems. I'll tolerate a little mistake, or somebody who can't hear me too well, but when I can't understand somebody and they spend ages doing a simple fix, that bugs me.

And reading the part about representatives:customers, I have no problems there. It was a near instantaneous connection. I just don't like the fact that I have to sift through menus to do it.

____________________
"The last Metroid is in captivity."
And yet, the galaxy is STILL fucked.
Thanks Xkeeper, Bagel and Sanky for the help!

Colin
Missing: One avatar. Will be restored at some point.

Post 7434/10052
Active
8.2 years ago
Posted on 12-30-10 04:31:55 AM Link | Quote
Welcome to the wonderful world of outsourcing! People have called our office before and think they're speaking to someone in Mumbai, not Montreal.

When I was doing inbound, the worst was actually speaking to the CR rep BEFORE they transfer the call. Half of the time you cut them off and just ask them to transfer the call.

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Keitaro

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Posted on 12-30-10 01:26:45 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by paulguy
But yeah, buggy bank systems, buggy ecommerce systems, crappy javascript. Way too common.

I had Bank of America disable my credit card because they saw an online transaction from Hong Kong and by default assumed it was fraudulent (...what) ... about an hour later I finally get through the phone robots only to tell the lady yeah, I made that purchase, turn my shit back on.
Nicole

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Posted on 12-30-10 01:30:19 PM Link | Quote

Originally posted by Keitaro
Originally posted by paulguy
But yeah, buggy bank systems, buggy ecommerce systems, crappy javascript. Way too common.

I had Bank of America disable my credit card because they saw an online transaction from Hong Kong and by default assumed it was fraudulent (...what) ... about an hour later I finally get through the phone robots only to tell the lady yeah, I made that purchase, turn my shit back on.

A similar thing happened to me, except it was just spending money in an area a little while away from my usual area... and they didn't call me, they just sent an e-mail. If I didn't have Wi-Fi in the hotel, I would have had no idea until someone rejected my card... (and my cell-phone was on file, so I'm really not sure why they didn't call it)



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Keitaro

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Posted on 12-30-10 01:33:38 PM Link | Quote
Actually, they've done THAT before too. When I made the move from San Antonio to Los Angeles (my account is based in Massachusetts, keep in mind) I got rejected mid-trip while trying to get gas. That was pretty obnoxious since I essentially could have gotten stranded were it not for the fact that I had a debit card as well that I just used to pre-pay. Still, pretty obnoxious I'm all for fraud prevention and the like, but they could at least CALL AND CONFIRM to let you know it happened so you can get it squared away instead of just figuring it out on your own
Taryn

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Posted on 12-30-10 01:41:44 PM Link | Quote
I had various assorted bank account trouble after I moved from Detroit to Seattle, because my bank accounts were set up in Michigan. Even though it was the same bank, apparently the account's state has to match or something.

I ended up having to get entirely new bank accounts and transfer the money

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