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robotech_masterAt the moment, I really, really hate telemarketers, with a deep-seated burning passion...but not for the reason Bunbun of Sluggy Freelance does.
The reason my ire is up right now that, when they piddle all over a poor, unsuspecting customer, guess who gets to clean up the mess after them?
I usually get at least one or two of these calls per day...cases where the sales rep has told someone something that is patently untrue, just for the sake of making a sale. The most common is "They told me I wouldn't have to pay any more per month than [plan fee]! They didn't say anything about [or, in a rarer variant, "they specifically said there wouldn't be any"] taxes and surcharges!" Often enough, the whole reason they switch over to us in the first place is that they're led to believe, via the sales rep, that we're much cheaper than their former phone company, when the fact is we're really about the same, or even a little higher, due to those darned taxes and surcharges.
I mean, I could understand it if they misspoke, or made a slight mistake in phrasing and the customer misunderstood. But at least when we CS reps were trained, one of the most important ground rules that was laid down was that we should never quote a plan fee without adding on the litany, "...not including taxes and surcharges." We're not even supposed to say "plus taxes and surcharges" because some people think "plus" means "including". I don't know what kind of training the TM reps receive, but I find it hard to believe that, as worried as the company is about regaining and retaining its reputation, that they wouldn't put just as large an emphasis on it in their section. So no way can this be a mistake. They're just leaving off that awkward little phrase because it would endanger the sale.
Today I dealt with one of those calls with the added twist that they were told their calls to Mexico would be at six cents per minute instead of the twelve they are in actuality.
I just don't get it...what on earth leads these people to flat-out lie just to make a single sale? What, do they think that if they don't mention the tax, it won't be charged? Don't they know that their identities are linked to these accounts they create, and that when the customer finds out that all is not as they were promised, it's going to rebound on them? Doesn't honesty have any value at all anymore? This sort of thing is really not helping the company's reputation.
In other news, something rather bizarre happened to me tonight. While I was taking a shower, I noticed a pink hairbrush hanging from a nail set into the wall just above the curtain rod above the window. As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tbutler had just been visiting last weekend, and I already knew he'd accidentally left one of his DVD sets behind, I just assumed it had belonged to him and he'd left it here too...but he denied everything, saying that the only brush he'd used in my room was a toothbrush.
Now, the only way that brush could have gotten there is if someone had physically entered the shower and reached up to hang it. It's not something that a casual bathroom user—like my Mom or Dad or anyone else who just stopped by for a little while—would have put there. And the only other person than myself to use my shower since I've lived here has been Travis. So, if he didn't leave it...
...has it been hanging there since March of last year and I never noticed it?
(I suppose it could be explained by perhaps having been behind the plastic curtain that was pinned in place with thumbtacks to protect the window...still, I don't know why someone would have put the curtain in place over it, and even so, I'd think I would have noticed it before now.)
The reason my ire is up right now that, when they piddle all over a poor, unsuspecting customer, guess who gets to clean up the mess after them?
I usually get at least one or two of these calls per day...cases where the sales rep has told someone something that is patently untrue, just for the sake of making a sale. The most common is "They told me I wouldn't have to pay any more per month than [plan fee]! They didn't say anything about [or, in a rarer variant, "they specifically said there wouldn't be any"] taxes and surcharges!" Often enough, the whole reason they switch over to us in the first place is that they're led to believe, via the sales rep, that we're much cheaper than their former phone company, when the fact is we're really about the same, or even a little higher, due to those darned taxes and surcharges.
I mean, I could understand it if they misspoke, or made a slight mistake in phrasing and the customer misunderstood. But at least when we CS reps were trained, one of the most important ground rules that was laid down was that we should never quote a plan fee without adding on the litany, "...not including taxes and surcharges." We're not even supposed to say "plus taxes and surcharges" because some people think "plus" means "including". I don't know what kind of training the TM reps receive, but I find it hard to believe that, as worried as the company is about regaining and retaining its reputation, that they wouldn't put just as large an emphasis on it in their section. So no way can this be a mistake. They're just leaving off that awkward little phrase because it would endanger the sale.
Today I dealt with one of those calls with the added twist that they were told their calls to Mexico would be at six cents per minute instead of the twelve they are in actuality.
I just don't get it...what on earth leads these people to flat-out lie just to make a single sale? What, do they think that if they don't mention the tax, it won't be charged? Don't they know that their identities are linked to these accounts they create, and that when the customer finds out that all is not as they were promised, it's going to rebound on them? Doesn't honesty have any value at all anymore? This sort of thing is really not helping the company's reputation.
In other news, something rather bizarre happened to me tonight. While I was taking a shower, I noticed a pink hairbrush hanging from a nail set into the wall just above the curtain rod above the window. As
tbutler had just been visiting last weekend, and I already knew he'd accidentally left one of his DVD sets behind, I just assumed it had belonged to him and he'd left it here too...but he denied everything, saying that the only brush he'd used in my room was a toothbrush.Now, the only way that brush could have gotten there is if someone had physically entered the shower and reached up to hang it. It's not something that a casual bathroom user—like my Mom or Dad or anyone else who just stopped by for a little while—would have put there. And the only other person than myself to use my shower since I've lived here has been Travis. So, if he didn't leave it...
...has it been hanging there since March of last year and I never noticed it?
(I suppose it could be explained by perhaps having been behind the plastic curtain that was pinned in place with thumbtacks to protect the window...still, I don't know why someone would have put the curtain in place over it, and even so, I'd think I would have noticed it before now.)
