Biggest complaint for CSR's
Being an Indirect agent I would like to know what the biggest complaint against us (indirects) is from Customer Service Reps are. I know my company and my employees do not call into cust care very much at all because we constantly train over and over, however I do realize there many indirects (as well as corp stores) out there that dont have the training sessions that we provide.
I would like to have a calm discussion about what some of the gripes are. I honestly would like to know what some of the common complaints are.
Thanks
I would like to have a calm discussion about what some of the gripes are. I honestly would like to know what some of the common complaints are.
Thanks
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When I was an in-store CSR it was that the agent sold me a used phone or that they won't take care of it for me. Now that I have moved up with the company it's that the agent told me that you aren't really Verizon or that the deal you made me is worse than what another customer got from them.
These deal specifically with 2 indirect companies in my area.
These deal specifically with 2 indirect companies in my area.
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On the other hand I have also had customer's compliment the agent on doing everything that they could BEFORE referring them to a corporate store/Customer Care.
I have no disdain for the Indirects that sell our service. They do those of us that work on the Corp. side a favor by being able to handle our overflow and sign up customers. I have even seen a few people leave my kiosk complaining about the high price of the phone and go to the agent and get it cheaper. Personally, I don't get offended by that because they have to do what's best for THEIR bottom line. Although it does hurt me in the fact that I lost the activation and may not hit my numbers for the month.
I have no disdain for the Indirects that sell our service. They do those of us that work on the Corp. side a favor by being able to handle our overflow and sign up customers. I have even seen a few people leave my kiosk complaining about the high price of the phone and go to the agent and get it cheaper. Personally, I don't get offended by that because they have to do what's best for THEIR bottom line. Although it does hurt me in the fact that I lost the activation and may not hit my numbers for the month.
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shadow223 said:
the agent told me that you aren't really Verizon.
So the indirect told the customer that you "the direct store" wasnt the real Verizon?
I appreciate your response, the reason I post this question is that I have 2 corp stores in my immediate area that seem to have a personal vendetta against my store and they say completly B.S. things, such as "we lie to clents" and "We (They) have more problems with what they do than anybody", I own the store and have never had a run in with the corp store in anyway, I can honestly say that in 2+ years of operation we have had fewer than 4 upset customers, I know, I am in the store every hour that it is open, and we ALWAYS try our best to make sure we c...
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When I was in the store we had frequent visits from the owner of the Indirect store down the street (mostly because he used to work for Corp.), and it is his stores that we have the most problems with. They sold a customer a phone (at promo price) and then the next day when it had a problem said they couldn't switch it as it had over 100 minutes of use on it. We checked the system and they had only used 30 minutes. When we checked the phones timer it had over 1000 minutes of use. And the bashing was on both sides.
Although the agent in my mall has done bad things to me, I don't see a reason to have a vendetta against them. I take the situations up to my manager and let it get taken care of the proper way. For us to go back and forth ...
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Although the agent in my mall has done bad things to me, I don't see a reason to have a vendetta against them. I take the situations up to my manager and let it get taken care of the proper way. For us to go back and forth ...
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I'm in Ohio and I am a indirect agent.I do have problems with corp stores. They often tell me that I'm not the real verizon,when in fact the only difference is that my owner gets the check that says verizon wireless,not me!My phone prices maybe lower or even higher.Agents at times get the short end of the stick,but my customers say they like coming to my store sit down and watch some Dish network,which i can also sell to them while they wait.We do online training and even in store.Thats not to say every agent is the same ,but thats my fitty cint! lol
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I agree totally! I am in the exact same boat you are,(except Im the one getting the check that says Verizon, lol), however I am right there with you, our customers HATE going tto the corp store, even though were not a "real" store.
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I did not sell Verizon but Alltel and I have customers who also hate going to the corp store down the street from me. I once had a customer that came in that clearly needed something done only a corporate store can do. Once I told him they are the only people that can help, he immediately called Alltel CSR and paid the ETF... Some people in sales should not be there as their attitude towards customers stink.
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Your right about the crappy sales reps, from my experience at our local corp stores the turn over rate is about every 3 month they have a completly new staff. At our store they know when they have a problem 6 oths from now the same people that sold them their phones will still be here to help them, and I am always available to my customers, heck I even work on the sales floor and deal with customers face to face daily. Thats the advantage of coing to a locally owned store vs the Corp. stores, we have an invested interested in making our customers as happy as possible.
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yes, its funny I sold a customer and Alltel phone for their daughter two years ago. How about after their 2 years was up with Verizon they remembered my name and came back to buy two phone from me and would not deal with no one else but me. The funniest part was I was working at the mall location when she tracked me down, then the following week I was working at our store location and she still tracked me down to buy those two phones. Thats the impact a good sales person makes on a customer. For her to remember my name after all that and wanted to only buy from me mad me feel kind of proud of myself.
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I use to be a manager for Cingular, when I opened my first VZW store about 2 years ago I actually had people call the Cingy store looking for me, when they couldnt find me they tracked me down to a whole nother company and and now my VZW customers.
I also have a customer, once a month, take a $25 cab ride to my store to but a $30 prepaid card from me, he passes 2 other VZW stores on his way to mine but he refuses to deal with anybody but me.
Your right it does make you feel good when a customer has some loyality towards you.
I also have a customer, once a month, take a $25 cab ride to my store to but a $30 prepaid card from me, he passes 2 other VZW stores on his way to mine but he refuses to deal with anybody but me.
Your right it does make you feel good when a customer has some loyality towards you.
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Hey, could you just sell that customer two cards so they only have to travel every couple months? LOL
J/K I know that the churn at retail stores just shows that all VZW wants from their stores is numbers...nothing more then numbers. You cannot possibly give the best customer service with the quotas they expect out of the retail stores. That is what is nice about the indirect channel. I will take as much time as I can to help someone. People see that. I have had people wait 2 to 3 hours to talk to me because they feel it is worth the wait since I will make sure they are taken care of properly. Of course I also have days like today where I am typing on phone scoop...LOL 😉
J/K I know that the churn at retail stores just shows that all VZW wants from their stores is numbers...nothing more then numbers. You cannot possibly give the best customer service with the quotas they expect out of the retail stores. That is what is nice about the indirect channel. I will take as much time as I can to help someone. People see that. I have had people wait 2 to 3 hours to talk to me because they feel it is worth the wait since I will make sure they are taken care of properly. Of course I also have days like today where I am typing on phone scoop...LOL 😉
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Well selling them 2 cards would seem like the logical choice however this is an elderly gentleman who has no idea how to add the card (even though I walk him through it every month).
He also might just be using it as an excuse to get out of the house and talk to somebody.
He also might just be using it as an excuse to get out of the house and talk to somebody.
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who is this. do you happen to work in columbus or dayton/ springfield for C.C.
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I hardly work with indirects anymore but when I did my gripes were: knowledge about the POS system, selling customers outdated phones, not explaining 1st bill prorations (no longer an issue), calling in over and over and over to move an upgarde date.
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question, what is the problem with selling phones that are "out of date", which means the corp store doesnt currently sell, just because a corp store stopped selling them a month ago and I still have some new phones left in inventory does not mean there is anything wrong with them, the technology is still the same.
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Exactly we used to sell the 4400 long after the corporate stores did, and I still get people that want them.
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I agree, that was one of the best selling phones of all time, super reception and super quality.
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Not sure if that question was for me but I'am a indirect agent in Elyria,Ohio. 30 miles west of Cleveland.
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Wfine, the problem with selling out of date phones isn't from agents who are clearing out existing inventory, like yourself, it's from agents who were still selling the blue moto 120c up until 3 months ago. I understand over buying and needing to clear out old inventory, but VZW corp can no longer support this phone 3-4 years after discontinuing it.
I work at a rather small location and we are still selling the LG VX3200 because I have to clear these from my inventory before I can sell the 3300, same with the 4500 to the 4650. I've actually lost business to my in mall agent because he could provide these phones when I couldn't. It's a two way street, we are both at the mercy of each other, I can't negotiate phone prices like an agent c...
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I work at a rather small location and we are still selling the LG VX3200 because I have to clear these from my inventory before I can sell the 3300, same with the 4500 to the 4650. I've actually lost business to my in mall agent because he could provide these phones when I couldn't. It's a two way street, we are both at the mercy of each other, I can't negotiate phone prices like an agent c...
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My biggest complaint is you take business away from the direct dealers 👿
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Maybe if you had better c.s skills you wouldnt need to worry about indirect agents! 🤣 Thats just one of the reasons why you claim your LOSING customers.If you really want to turn this into a pissing match I can and will.We keep track of unhappy customers that come from a direct store and e-mail any complaints to my account manager,you guys bash us more than the competiton and its really not fair.If you feel you dont get enough customers on the corp.side ,just become a agent and quit your bitching!
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The problem with indirect agents is there aren't enough of them like yourself. At least in the northeast authorized agents are often the reason we have so many customer service problems. To list a few I have had to deal with...
- Customer has broken phone, agent offers to send to manufacturer to be replaced and gives them an old loaner. Then, 6 weeks later customer gets to pick up their phone, only, agents are making false service tags. I have had numerous customers call Motorola cause their phone is no different only to be told, that is not even remotely close to one of our tracking numbers. I have even had people go back to find out their phones are no longer there and active on other accounts.
- Customers are sold brand new accounts ins...
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- Customer has broken phone, agent offers to send to manufacturer to be replaced and gives them an old loaner. Then, 6 weeks later customer gets to pick up their phone, only, agents are making false service tags. I have had numerous customers call Motorola cause their phone is no different only to be told, that is not even remotely close to one of our tracking numbers. I have even had people go back to find out their phones are no longer there and active on other accounts.
- Customers are sold brand new accounts ins...
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Biggest Complaints (NE Area Agents)
Selling out dated phones -- some customers do not care, but many do, I had a cust the other day that bought an LG 6000 from an agent a few days ago. When she came into the store and saw the LG 6100 she asked about it and I told her that the 6000 has been off the shelf for about a year, she was pissed.
Selling used phones as new phones -- a few months ago had a customer buy a LG 6100 from an agent location and came into my location immediately following to buy a second one as the agent sold him his last one, looking at the phone the banner line was changed to "Superman" and the cust asked me how to change it to something else, I asked if he put that on he said no it was on there when the agent gave i...
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Selling out dated phones -- some customers do not care, but many do, I had a cust the other day that bought an LG 6000 from an agent a few days ago. When she came into the store and saw the LG 6100 she asked about it and I told her that the 6000 has been off the shelf for about a year, she was pissed.
Selling used phones as new phones -- a few months ago had a customer buy a LG 6100 from an agent location and came into my location immediately following to buy a second one as the agent sold him his last one, looking at the phone the banner line was changed to "Superman" and the cust asked me how to change it to something else, I asked if he put that on he said no it was on there when the agent gave i...
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About not upgrading the customers phones, a lot of time we do not do upgrades simply because the pay rate on them, there are many phones that Verizon offers that we loose so much money on that if we were to actually do an upgrade we would loose money in the transaction. Upgrades do not count towards our quota and therefore there is not really any reason to do it, that is the only reason for instance that we refuse to do upgrades from our stores simply because a.)they dont count towards quota and b.) MANY times we actually loose money on the deal since VZW pays us about 1/2 what they would for a new activatoin.
And on top of that we cant honor the NE2. If we were to do that as well we would loose about $150 on EVERY single upgrade we did...
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And on top of that we cant honor the NE2. If we were to do that as well we would loose about $150 on EVERY single upgrade we did...
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I don't know that I agree with this. I make money on every one of my upgrades and the pricing is exactly the same as a new two year contract for the customer. Yes, commission isn't as good as a new activation, and it is going down on Sept. 1st, but I still make money. There is no way I'd turn an upgrade down... it's more money and if you treat the customers right they will come back again!
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I agree that it is wrong agents sell used phones as new. I'd never sell one with that much time as new. And for god's sake... don't they know about the master reset?? At least set everything back to the default if you're going to do it. I'll admit I've sold a phone and a day later a customer returns it for some reason or another and I've resold it. In that case there is hardly any time on it and it really makes no difference.
As for what you call blowing off problems, what do you want us to do? Verizon has the FRU program that us as Agents can use. I take advantage of it all the time. If the phone is under warranty then Verizon will replace it, we can't do that. Our only options are to either call in and have one shipped or send ...
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As for what you call blowing off problems, what do you want us to do? Verizon has the FRU program that us as Agents can use. I take advantage of it all the time. If the phone is under warranty then Verizon will replace it, we can't do that. Our only options are to either call in and have one shipped or send ...
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I don't know about vzw, but at T-Mobile, some of our I-Dealers are the most scummy dis-honest crooks I've ever dealt with. It's refreshing to hear some dealers talking in here about what they can do instead of what they can't and don't, and what "work arounds" they find for it.
I love the oh so common "sure I can upgrade your phone you just need to change your phone number" deal. Then I get the irate customer on the phone a month later when they get their next bill when they see an activation fee and a brand new line of service and they're still in contract with their old line, and now their new line. There are several variations of this one...usually all leading to billing nightmares and frustration that could have been so easily avoide...
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I love the oh so common "sure I can upgrade your phone you just need to change your phone number" deal. Then I get the irate customer on the phone a month later when they get their next bill when they see an activation fee and a brand new line of service and they're still in contract with their old line, and now their new line. There are several variations of this one...usually all leading to billing nightmares and frustration that could have been so easily avoide...
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Thanks for the compliment Vzw Insider,I do work very hard to please all customers.But as I was reading in the thread,someone stated something about selling out dated phones.We don't ,But I can tell you the dealer that does!lol 🤣 We dont turn upgrades into new activations.We dont lose that much money on upgrades but in time the boss makes it back due to his monthly rez. My phones maybe a little higher ex. Verizon can sell the v-cast phones for 99.99 after rebate,but I can sell it to my customer for 125.00 after rebate then throw in a free car charger and leather case.And you know at a corp.store will make you pay for them. As far as selling phones that have time on them,but what else can you do with a phone that someone returned because t...
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I really wish you were the indirect dealer in my area CLEEVERIZON. I am a Sr. Rep for Verizon corporate and spend a good chunk of my day dealing with the shady ongoings of our agents, then I gotta get out on the floor and hit my quotas. In regards to returned phones, it's VZW's policy that every phone sold to a customer be brand new with no airtime, if a customer buys a phone, uses 1 minute and then returns it, we ship the phone back and it more than likely becomes a FRU warranty replacement. I understand the predicament you as an agent would have doing this, because you have to purchase all your own inventory. The typical VZW corporate store stocks anywhere between $10,000 and $30,000 dollars worth of phones alone, not including PDA's and B...
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Also as agents we cant send phones back that were returned unless there is aproblem with them, say somebody comes in and returns their 6100 within their 15 days we have to either resell it or just ditch it on ebay for a loss, I know personally if a customer returns their phone within 15 days, and it is in perfect cosmetic condition and was not returned due to defects I have to resell it, no becasue I want to but becasue I cant loose $50 or $70 by putting it on ebay for $160 when our cost on that phone is $220.
VZW puts us behind the 8 ball and that is why we have to "make short cuts" sometimes that the corp stores dont like but we have to do it.
As far as stocking inventory goes I would LOVE to be able to stock $30k worth but I have to...
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VZW puts us behind the 8 ball and that is why we have to "make short cuts" sometimes that the corp stores dont like but we have to do it.
As far as stocking inventory goes I would LOVE to be able to stock $30k worth but I have to...
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Don't get me wrong, I completely understand that, and am not criticizing for it. As a former Cingular agent I used to sell used phones, clearly disclosing to customers they were used and cutting them a deal. I understand how you have to watch your overhead and balance that with the commissions from Verizon, being an agent isn't easy work. I don't have a huge problem with selling used phones because there's no need to send all the phones back we do. It's some of the other practices agents have that give you guys such a bad name, and unfortunately there aren't enough honest guys out there.
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Thanks Insider,maybe you can move here or I can move there Ohio is a nice place...lol !I try hard to treat the customer how I want to be treated.I'll see you guys later going to a party and I'll be home around 8 to watch the Browns game! Dont talk bad about me while I'm gone cuz I shall return!!!lol 🤣
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I just wanted to say I totally agree with what you two have said. I treat my customers that exact same way. I see no reason to lie to the customers or force them in to doing something they don't want to do. 🙂
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From a customer point of view. I have always had better service from the indirect sales people. The VErizon corp store reps always seemed more arrogant and condecending, especially when there was no comission to be made. The indirect rep is much more helpful.
I am sure because it is HIS business and he cares more then someone who is just an employee who is judged by numbers. It would be as if the CEO of VErizon was actually running a store. He would act as if its his business. The indirects are their own CEOs and from this customer's standpoint not affected by the corporate culture of Verizon.
I am sure because it is HIS business and he cares more then someone who is just an employee who is judged by numbers. It would be as if the CEO of VErizon was actually running a store. He would act as if its his business. The indirects are their own CEOs and from this customer's standpoint not affected by the corporate culture of Verizon.
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Well I have both Cingular and Verizon phones and deal with both companies.
I can say the Cingular store reps are friendy like the Verizon indirect reps. The Verizon corporate reps seem impatient and I have heard the way they are short and condescending to those who are comparing them with other Carriers. Verizon is a good company but humility goes a long way to keep it so.
I can say the Cingular store reps are friendy like the Verizon indirect reps. The Verizon corporate reps seem impatient and I have heard the way they are short and condescending to those who are comparing them with other Carriers. Verizon is a good company but humility goes a long way to keep it so.
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