Comments on: Persistence Pays Off

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:50:30 +0000

In our area they are partners, Verizon does not provide cable, online FIOS, which was not available in Steve’s area. So if you want cable and you have Verizon you have to do with DirecTV. Sorry for the confusion.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:48:56 +0000

I can understand if they did that for a large purchase, but their first course of action on an out of town gas purchase? That seems excessive. The least they could do is call you first!

Snail mail is another great way to get in touch with execs, but I often choose email first since it’s quick and immediate.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:47:05 +0000

@atexasgirl, I agree sometimes it takes the possibility of negative press to change a company’s approach. As you said it should never be your first course of action.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:45:21 +0000

Making notes of who you talk to and when you spoke to them is extremely helpful. You can keep a spreadsheet on googledocs so you can use it from work or home.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:44:25 +0000

I’m not sure if it was in the contract, but seeing that Verizon broke their end of the contract, they shouldn’t hold “Steve” accountable for breaking the contract.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:43:04 +0000

I agree that being polite definitely helps. Polite but firm.

By: John DeFlumeri Jr

John DeFlumeri Jr — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:40:55 +0000

Persistence is the main ingredient in the war of nerves, like obtaing a refund.
Persistence is what wears the other guy out.

John DeFlumeri Jr

By: Andrew @ Earn Give Save

Andrew @ Earn Give Save — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:03:26 +0000

Good stuff! And I agree with the commenter who said “be polite” when talking with a company. Before I ask for anything, I praise the service I’ve been given through the company. My job requires providing a lot of customer service, and it’s great to hear affirmation of my product. Makes me want to work harder for my customers!

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:54:09 +0000

“DirecTV (who is the cable branch of Verizon)”

Just FYI, Verizon and DirectTV are separate companies. DirectTV is a satellite TV provider and not cable company. Verizon and DirecTV partner in some areas. Where I live Verizon provides their own TV services.

By: SteveDH

SteveDH — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:43:42 +0000

Everybody calls me Steve (except Mom – Who uses Stephen). My issue with Bank of America involved privacy. After being denied a $38 charge for gas while out-of-town I called customer service and was asked far too many questions about where I was, what I was doing, and if I had or planned to charge more. With over $100k of credit worthiness with BoA I wrote the CEO (Mr. Lewis). I’m sure he never saw it but the “Executive Office” responded promptly. Although they explained that they were protecting me I rejected that nonsense because they were, in fact, protecting themselves at my expense. Not a monetary expense, but since I had already pumped the gas, had I not had cash the police might have been involved. I download into Quicken every Tuesday through Saturday so they will know of any bogus charges long before they show up on a monthly statement.
Enough of that: I was successful by going to the top, via snail mail, and using polite but firm language about my complaint.

By: atexasgirl

atexasgirl — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:27:16 +0000

I recently had to be persistent with a $350 refund I was owed for a product I returned. I emailed customer service twice, politely asking when I could expect my refund, but got no response. I wasn’t asking for an immediate refund, but simply looking for some acknowledgement from them that they knew they owed me one. I did some digging and found the company president’s email address and CCed him on my third request for a status update. Still no response. With my fourth email, again CCing the president, I threatened to leave a review on Amazon.com and any other website that rated them, telling everyone about my terrible experience with customer service. Within 30 minutes of that email, the entire refund was credited to my account.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:09:55 +0000

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:02:18 +0000

Sometimes you need to be a little pushy and annoying to get your way. People need reminding and standing strong can help you out in other aspects of life too.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:42:38 +0000

Kelly –

I will call myself “Steve” and completely agree with your comments. Persistence is a key, and to WC’s point above, politeness is always a good guideline to follow. Each person on the journey is only doing his / her job, and it’s important to allow the process to play out. Remember that each conversation is recorded and noted in your record, so the next person you talk to already knows your situation and your general demeanor.

By: Monty Loree

Monty Loree — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:20:36 +0000

Good advice.. I’m curious to know if the $460 was allowed for in the service contract… but I’m impressed that he was able to get his money back. It doesn’t hurt to contact the upper management.. I’ve done it many times and have always gotten a better response. To get an even stronger action, write to upper management and then do a follow up letter to a government regulatory body, if there is one.

By: Writers Coin

Writers Coin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:04:39 +0000

I’ve found that being stern but very polite on the phone usually works. Sounds simple but in my experience it’s served me well.