Customer Service Improvements Coming?
I prefer a wide-coverage GSM service but until now my only option was AT&T. Unfortunately, AT&T Customer Service is horrible so I've stuck with VZW and an unlocked quadband phone for travels. Does Cingular know the problem they are purchasing and if so, do they plan to address this right away?
My last try with AT&T was September. The store rep claimed that AT&T had an offering which would allow me to wirelessly synchronize my corporate email to my Treo 600. He also told me that as soon as I step off of the airplane in Hong Kong, my phone would be usable. I signed up and took the AT&T phone number for information on the offerings.
I spent one hour on hold waiting for the first customer service rep. Once I got to one clueless rep, he t...
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My last try with AT&T was September. The store rep claimed that AT&T had an offering which would allow me to wirelessly synchronize my corporate email to my Treo 600. He also told me that as soon as I step off of the airplane in Hong Kong, my phone would be usable. I signed up and took the AT&T phone number for information on the offerings.
I spent one hour on hold waiting for the first customer service rep. Once I got to one clueless rep, he t...
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Csr's have something like 55,000 pages of information to go through to find any given piece of information, and policies and offerings are subject to change without notice. In addition, many of the policies are subject to interpretation if not by the rep themselves, then by whatever resolution rep can be found (and that que is nation wide so the rep can be talking to anybody) or whatever supervisor can be found (more of the same -- except the supervisors tend to not take calls (note to customers, don't ask for a supervisor, they aren't going to know the systems as well as the rep does). If a rep seems clueless, the chances are they are dealing with either conflicting information or conflicting policy interpretation and the call centers line...
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Thank you for sharing.
It is too bad that the reps at AT&T seem to have more difficulty working through normal Customer Care issues than VZW and T-Mobile does.
My question remains unanswered -- Is Cingular planning to address AT&T's customer service problems?
BTW, I did do over 6 months of research on the Treo 600 before purchasing one with VZW. AT&T was being considered because I travel and wanted to use one GSM device and one phone number. After my experience with AT&T, I purchased an unlocked phone to use when I travel (with a T-Mobile SIM) and retained service with VZW.
It is too bad that the reps at AT&T seem to have more difficulty working through normal Customer Care issues than VZW and T-Mobile does.
My question remains unanswered -- Is Cingular planning to address AT&T's customer service problems?
BTW, I did do over 6 months of research on the Treo 600 before purchasing one with VZW. AT&T was being considered because I travel and wanted to use one GSM device and one phone number. After my experience with AT&T, I purchased an unlocked phone to use when I travel (with a T-Mobile SIM) and retained service with VZW.
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a) you did not wait on hold for 2+ hours, that is a lie.
b) so you talked to a rep who wasn't too sure as to the answer to your question so ALL CSRs suck?
c) you can greatly reduce the number of times you need to be transferred if you call the right department to begin with.
d) why didn't you just ask the instore dealer how this would work when you were there?
e) Is cingular going to address the problem of some reps not being to sure on all the facts of every phone and service they offer? you would need to ask cingular, not post on a forum about attws.
b) so you talked to a rep who wasn't too sure as to the answer to your question so ALL CSRs suck?
c) you can greatly reduce the number of times you need to be transferred if you call the right department to begin with.
d) why didn't you just ask the instore dealer how this would work when you were there?
e) Is cingular going to address the problem of some reps not being to sure on all the facts of every phone and service they offer? you would need to ask cingular, not post on a forum about attws.
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I'll respond as if this post was earnest and not from a Saturday evening troll.
>>a) you did not wait on hold for 2+ hours, that is a lie.> c) you can greatly reduce the number of times you need to be transferred if you call the right department to begin with.>d) why didn't you just ask the instore dealer how this would work when you were there?>e) Is cingular going to address the problem of some reps not being to sure on all the facts of every phone and service thePerhapsy offer? you would need to ask cingular, not post on a forum about attws.
>>a) you did not wait on hold for 2+ hours, that is a lie.> c) you can greatly reduce the number of times you need to be transferred if you call the right department to begin with.>d) why didn't you just ask the instore dealer how this would work when you were there?>e) Is cingular going to address the problem of some reps not being to sure on all the facts of every phone and service thePerhapsy offer? you would need to ask cingular, not post on a forum about attws.
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AT&T actually called to apologize because their hold times were "unusually long". A few days later, I called to ensure I had International dialing enabled on my account and had to wait another 40 minutes to get through.
The store rep told me to call an AT&T number regarding data services. Clearly, the rep steered me in the wrong direction.
The store rep told me to call an AT&T number regarding data services. Clearly, the rep steered me in the wrong direction.
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Unfortunately for you aws has what are called sst reps....these reps have basic systems and really do not have access to systems that a full service rep does. I am a rep in a call center for aws, what should have been done first...should have been to first check your account to see if you had an international roaming feature, secondly the treo 600 should have been checked to make sure that it works in Hong Kong....this is what really should have been done. As for the long hold times, I understand that depending on the time of day and what number is called that you may get "trapped" on hold and feel like a call is taking an eternity. It is a shame that store reps really do not give you all the information that you need or do not give you the...
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Weather or not you are with VZW or ATTWS there is a special department that deals with PDA type devices. ATTWS is called ANS "Advanced Network Services" and VZW is called WDTS "wireless data technical support" and direct numbers are available for both.
If your Treo isn't configured to check automatically every so often for new messages it won't. This is to avoid astronomic charges for data. When this device first came out with VZW it was supposed to only be activated with an accompanying data plan w/ VZW and we had people calling with 1000's of dollars in charges. Same would happen w/ ATTWS
Also checked if Treo 600 is compatible with networks in China and it is. So my reccomendation is unless you plan on traveling to Japan, Jerusalem...
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If your Treo isn't configured to check automatically every so often for new messages it won't. This is to avoid astronomic charges for data. When this device first came out with VZW it was supposed to only be activated with an accompanying data plan w/ VZW and we had people calling with 1000's of dollars in charges. Same would happen w/ ATTWS
Also checked if Treo 600 is compatible with networks in China and it is. So my reccomendation is unless you plan on traveling to Japan, Jerusalem...
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VOLVORacr said:
Weather or not you are with VZW or ATTWS there is a special department that deals with PDA type devices. ATTWS is called ANS "Advanced Network Services" and VZW is called WDTS "wireless data technical support" and direct numbers are available for both.
If you carefully read the OP you'd see that it was the ATTWS Store Rep that sent me to the AT&T Wireless department after selling me the service and the phone.
It was HIS fault that I was routed wrong and since AT&T called me BACK and apologized for the long hold time, AT&T took responsibility for the entire thing -- fine.
Further, what you are proposing is that the customer disregard the advice given to them by the AT&T Sales rep and do ...
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besides that Mr. "my question has gone unanswered" ....... Let's face it you were never really looking for an answer because you being the intelligent man that you are KNOW that we "customer service reps" would NOT be privvy to that kind of information, now would we, because why would Cingular execs let us know this aside from signing us up for some kind of training. We all know what you were trying to achieve was exactly what you got.....angry unsuspecting reps.
*clap* *clap* bravo buddy.
Now go post in the Verizon forum, be a LOYAL customer.
*clap* *clap* bravo buddy.
Now go post in the Verizon forum, be a LOYAL customer.
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I posted a while ago about international roaming. The best thing to do is to call into the International Wireless Care department 8003354685 when in the USA, and 0019168434685 when roaming internationally. The problem when you couldn't use your TREO could be that you didn't have an international roaming feature, contrary to what the sales rep thought. Not your fault, it's the sales rep's. Cingular is attacking the customer service problem that AWS had, by ensuring that all information is drilled into the heads of reps. This problem is recognized by practically everyone in the wireless industry, and for AWS/Cingular to succeed, this problem needs to be fixed. Give us a try, again, and you shouldn't be disappointed.
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THIS was a worthwhile response.
I'm glad to hear that Cingular has acknowledged the problem and is addressing it. That is very positive and I'll be looking into Cingular options in the next few months.
Thanks!
I'm glad to hear that Cingular has acknowledged the problem and is addressing it. That is very positive and I'll be looking into Cingular options in the next few months.
Thanks!
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imo its not a problem that they will be willing to fix, and it is a problem that exists everywhere, when you have lets say even 5000 reps working in different call centers and policies change or even when they don't there are always stupid reps who don't know what the hell they are doing and will make up "facts" to get the customer to hang up so they can go back to playing cards with their co-workers. So unless the companies are willing to take a stance against stupid reps by increasing the amount of monitors and also taking real action against misinformation, this means monitoring calls for policy not just "did the customer like what you said." this will never end. I'm no expert but i think it would take a lot of money to be able to monito...
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when you have lets say even 5000 reps working in different call centers and policies change or even when they don't there are always stupid reps who don't know what the hell they are doing and will make up "facts" to get the customer to hang up so they can go back to playing cards with their co-workers.
I honestly take offense to this comment....as a customer service rep in a direct attwireless/cingular call center, we 1.) do not make up lies to get customers off the phone and Im sorry you feel that way 2.) we do not play cards with other co-workers, just simply because if we were caught doing this we would be warned once and then possibly fired, also we do not have access to play any games on the computer either....Also you would be ...
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I honestly take offense to this comment....as a customer service rep in a direct attwireless/cingular call center, we 1.) do not make up lies to get customers off the phone and Im sorry you feel that way 2.) we do not play cards with other co-workers, just simply because if we were caught doing this we would be warned once and then possibly fired, also we do not have access to play any games on the computer either....Also you would be ...
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Adding to that, in our center if we misinform a customer. We are forced to call back the customer appoligize and give correct information.
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My expirience has been sitting in a cubicle where ATTWS pays me to fix mistakes and correct customers because they thought and were TOLD by AWS reps that they would never roam unless their phone said roam. I sit and listen to people make up policies as to why they cannot do something instead of just saying no they blame it on something/someone else giving the customer the idea that they are correct except something was done differently this time. I get customers on a daily basis who have been being credited everymonth and have to call in for their credit when either a) the problem should have been fixed months ago (ie. m2m fee waived) or b) reps are jack a$$es and don't check ccnet to see that the Cities plans require the customer to be "o...
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maybe thats why cingular has at&t...becausethey couldnt get it right...cingular will fix it and make it better. for the employees and for our customers
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actually, West has picked up acontract with Cing, so 3rd party reps are going to be a fact of life for some time to come. I work in customer care and the majority of my day is spent either walking other care reps through the systems or fixing mistakes that other people have made on accounts.
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it is possible that verizon and t-mob don't have the same corporate structure as aws/cing does -- in any event my point is this: not every csr is clueless, sometimes they are dealing with questions that they haven't run across or had any training about or it is possible, as has been pointed out elsewhere in this thread, that you have reached the Siebel Support Team, and they don't have access to all systems, as a result you get transfered (often inexpertly) to another dept in the hope that the next rep will be able to answer your question. Cing will hopefully clear away some of the confusion, assuming they can sort out the routing of inbound call centers so that cing customers can talk to cing reps without having to be told that the customer...
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from what i've seen, it should be MUCH improved. I am an SLR for ATTWS, and the sales team alone has like 10 systems âšī¸ After seeing the Cingular training, that number is reduced to like 6 systems that ALL departments use đ SO, in a word, yes... MUCH BETTER!!! It should be easier to find accounts, track information, and assist customers with their problems. Only issue is, Cingular likes keeping its reps in the dark from my understanding. Call in on a phone that WILL be released for Cing and youll get a big old question mark đ
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As long as Cing doesn't monkey around with business end user care I will be happy...
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Speaking of business users...Is it true that ATTWS customers on Foundation accounts will still be able to upgrade phones and not have to switch to a Cingular plan. I was just told that by a business CSR yesterday. Do you know if it's true of not - that we'll have access to new phone models, but not have to switch??
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That makes sense for the short term. We were told on Friday that AWS customers would still be able to upgrade their current phones (TDMA to TDMA, GSM to GSM) via CUP and change their plans (again, TDMA plans to TDMA plans, GSM plans to GSM plans). Who knows how long that will last, and what promos will be available. It's my guess that the 'old stuff' will be availble for those not interested in migrating, but will be gradually scaled back. Especially since the holidays are coming up.
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The guy told me we'd be able to upgrade to "new" phones - like the ones Cingular will have.??
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You may be able to upgrade to a new 32K phone, which are the last of stock and are not made any more and keep your attws plans. HOWEVER, you cannot in ANY way upgrade to a new 64K phone that are made now without changing to a cingular plan. Impossible by any means, new system, new billing software, new account, no way around it.
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Yes. If you are a TDMA customer and want to go to GSM, then you must migrate. But if you are a TDMA customer and simply want to replace your TDMA phone with another, then you'll be able. Granted the selection may not be that great (it's not that great now), but you'll still be able to do it. Same with GSM.
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I'm excited to hear this. Although I am currently as "happy" as any cellular customer can be đ with VZW monthly and T-Mobile pre-paid, competition is a good thing. I hope Cingular beats the pants off of VZW in customer satisfaction surveys so that service will improve for all of us.
All CSRs are not clueless. I've just run into my fair share. The worse of it is when you have to wait more than 15 minutes to speak to someone and then another, another and so on. Voice and data services require stronger skills. Most carriers need to invest in training and be prepared to offer higher pay.
All CSRs are not clueless. I've just run into my fair share. The worse of it is when you have to wait more than 15 minutes to speak to someone and then another, another and so on. Voice and data services require stronger skills. Most carriers need to invest in training and be prepared to offer higher pay.
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****! i just spent a good 20 minutes writing all the things the could be improved and all the things that weer changing for worse or better and I had to re-login since it was expired and i did, but it didn't post it and it was lost.
gah, i'm not gona write that out again.
but I will say this tho "customer satisfaction surveys"
are a bunch of bull.
the rep could be the nicest in the world and credit for 200.00 of roaming charges, and not follow policy, and even forget to inform the customer that we have national plans on the GSM service or DOR if they travel again or started to so this doesn't happen again.
and this rep would get a great score on that survey for csutomer satisfaction, BUT when that same customer calls back next month...
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gah, i'm not gona write that out again.
but I will say this tho "customer satisfaction surveys"
are a bunch of bull.
the rep could be the nicest in the world and credit for 200.00 of roaming charges, and not follow policy, and even forget to inform the customer that we have national plans on the GSM service or DOR if they travel again or started to so this doesn't happen again.
and this rep would get a great score on that survey for csutomer satisfaction, BUT when that same customer calls back next month...
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Regarding your lost post with great ideas -- bummer.
I understand your concern about customer surveys. My company administers them also and we get slammed and praised sometimes by the same group and that is irritating.
What process do you suggest would accurately determine customer satisfaction and help companies improve?
I understand your concern about customer surveys. My company administers them also and we get slammed and praised sometimes by the same group and that is irritating.
What process do you suggest would accurately determine customer satisfaction and help companies improve?
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take the customers issue into consideration for the surveys?
if a customer is upset about an issue before a rep gets on the line, and maybe it's an issue that even has nothing to do with their account or nothing that can be fixed, if they're just pissed off or don't understand policy, they will probably be still pissed off after the call.
but whatever, this doesn't help companies improve, it just makes for more paper and weekly newsletters shoved into the reps folders.
so in the long run, it just kills trees. haha
improvement must start internally, with getting better communication between different departments, supervisors/HR/reps, a bit more training for store reps, more monitors for calls AND monitor the rows where reps sit....
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if a customer is upset about an issue before a rep gets on the line, and maybe it's an issue that even has nothing to do with their account or nothing that can be fixed, if they're just pissed off or don't understand policy, they will probably be still pissed off after the call.
but whatever, this doesn't help companies improve, it just makes for more paper and weekly newsletters shoved into the reps folders.
so in the long run, it just kills trees. haha
improvement must start internally, with getting better communication between different departments, supervisors/HR/reps, a bit more training for store reps, more monitors for calls AND monitor the rows where reps sit....
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RoamDog said:
improvement must start internally, with getting better communication between different departments, supervisors/HR/reps, a bit more training for store reps, more monitors for calls AND monitor the rows where reps sit.
a lot of them try to avoid work and do it half-assed even if fully capable.. you know, customers screaming at you for most of the day gets to everyone.
This is good stuff. Here is why I asked for this info.
I've told the managers who report to me that they should provide to our teams (level 2/3 support) the training provided to our end-user support (help desk) folks. Those folks learn how to handle difficult customers and that is something everyone needs.
For example, jus...
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It should remember your post. When that happens, on the log in page it should say something like "Your session has timed out, but your post-in-progress, titled " Re: Customer Service Improvements Coming?", has been preserved. Log in to continue."
When you saw that, did you enter your password and continue, or did you do something else and then log in later?
When you saw that, did you enter your password and continue, or did you do something else and then log in later?
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yeah I know it should remember, always did before.
I just clicked refresh accidently, so thats why it didn't remember i'm thinking after i logged in again at that screen.
I just clicked refresh accidently, so thats why it didn't remember i'm thinking after i logged in again at that screen.
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sprint actually has the bes tinternational roaming. you would have to get s seperate gsm device from them but you can use your same number whole roaming abrod. now if you are going to asia in a lot of those places your cdma sprint phone will work.
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uh....Sprint doesnt have GSM....CDMA...... and ATTWS does have the best roaimng (GSM) than most, as per GSM is more wideley used overseas.
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if you will reread what i wrote. sprint does have gsm international roaming but you do have to get a seperate gsm device from sprint that will work over seas. and sprint does have the best overall international roaming rates never more then 1.50 a min and many times it will be under 1.00 a min
soon sprint will also have a world phone too. q1 2005 sprint will have a phone that does both CDMA and GSM but the gsm will only work over seas
soon sprint will also have a world phone too. q1 2005 sprint will have a phone that does both CDMA and GSM but the gsm will only work over seas
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hear is a link to there international roaming site. rates very by country
http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/coverage/internati ... »
hear is the link to AT&T/cingular internatio9nal roaming
http://www.attwireless.com/international/abroad/when ... »
but lets do a few examples lets say we want to travel to hong kong with sprint the roaming is .99 with american telaphone and telagraph wireless (at&t wireless) it is 2.29 or how about if i wanto to go on vacation to jamaica sprint .99 at&t 1.69 or better yet how about a trip to russia nothing like a...
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http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/coverage/internati ... »
hear is the link to AT&T/cingular internatio9nal roaming
http://www.attwireless.com/international/abroad/when ... »
but lets do a few examples lets say we want to travel to hong kong with sprint the roaming is .99 with american telaphone and telagraph wireless (at&t wireless) it is 2.29 or how about if i wanto to go on vacation to jamaica sprint .99 at&t 1.69 or better yet how about a trip to russia nothing like a...
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So... two questions... Why aren't you listing Cingular's roaming rates? and What about adding the price of the extra phone you have to purchase w/ sprint into the mix?
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why am i not listing cingulars rates? because at&t and cingular are the same rate. this may be a bit of a shocker but at&t has has been bought out by cingular. i think it is a brilliant move on cingulars part.
as for the phone you have to purchase you could always rent one insted of purcasheing one. for my fictional trip to russia if i went a week a phine rental would cost me 35$ cingular / at&t charges 4.99 and sprint was 1.50 that is a difference of 3.49 now 35/ 3.49 is about 11 so if i talk more then 11 mins it is cheeper. i definately will talk more then 11 mins i would say probubly more then an hour or 2. how about jamaica? my sprint phone works there. and hong kong? my sprint phone works there. and Mexico? my sprint phone works th...
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as for the phone you have to purchase you could always rent one insted of purcasheing one. for my fictional trip to russia if i went a week a phine rental would cost me 35$ cingular / at&t charges 4.99 and sprint was 1.50 that is a difference of 3.49 now 35/ 3.49 is about 11 so if i talk more then 11 mins it is cheeper. i definately will talk more then 11 mins i would say probubly more then an hour or 2. how about jamaica? my sprint phone works there. and hong kong? my sprint phone works there. and Mexico? my sprint phone works th...
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Well I guess Sprint has to make up elsewhere for being horrible here in the U.S....
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