- May 28, 2013
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I usually have very good luck with customer support people.
But I guess that doesn't carry over to helping someone else with their customer support situations. And when that happens, I make my own bad luck with my next CS call.
My wife wanted to get her Lumia from T-Mobile unlocked. When I got mine unlocked, it was a breeze but hers turned into a nightmare that I was dragged into.
She was told by CS that she would get her unlock code within 14 days but normally within 2 days. Two days later she gets an email saying they can't unlock the phone because it is not on T-Mobile and in fact is banned from use on T-Mobile. This was quite surprising since she bought the phone new, activated it on T-Mobile and had been paying for the service for 13 months. After a cooling off period, she called to complain and get the code. They were extremely apologetic. They once again confirmed she and the phone were eligible and promised a code ASAP. Weeks pass and no code. So I take a shot. The rep claims there had been NO requests but apologized and promised the code would be sent ASAP. Since that was what she had been told before (twice), I called and asked to talk to a supervisor. He was great. He looked at her account and saw all 3 requests and also saw that the unlock code had been issued weeks before. He confirmed that the reps we talked to should have seen that in the file and simply given us the code. So he emailed it to me. Things seemed good (other than the delays and wasted time). Then two days later, she got an email saying that her unlock request was being denied because it was the 3rd request in 2 months and T-Mobile will only issue a customer 2 unlock codes in a 12 month period. I wonder if they fired the supervisor for failing to thwart the customer.
It just so happens my Cadillac is one year old tomorrow. So it was time to cancel OnStar because the free 1 year of service was ending. My experience with T-Mobile was fresh in my mind so I was in no mood for stupid games. To make it hard to cancel, OnStar only processes cancellations verbally. I guess if you are a mute, you are screwed. You're not a lot better off if you can speak. Despite their selling point of being there to help you in a heartbeat, you wait on hold 10+ minutes to talk to a cancellation specialist after first going thru a voice menu with about 50 options before cancellation is mentioned.
So I wait and finally get put thru. After repeatedly saying I am not interested in extending the service at ANY price, I was informed that they can't cancel my service unless I acknowledge I understood the laundry list of reasons I would soon be dead should I cancel OnStar. So I asked if she could see me. She said no. So I said then you wouldn't know if I stuck plugs in my ears while you are talking, right? She hung up on me. So I called again and this time I just played a loud game on the PC while the rep described my eminent death. When I no longer heard any sounds from the phone, I waited about 15 seconds and asked if I was supposed to say anything now. The rep said I need to confirm I understood I would die and that I still want to cancel. I said sure and that was the end.
One life lesson from this is to NOT buy a few OnStar hand free calling minutes to go with the free service. That one dollar I spent for 10 minutes (that were never used) was the only way they got my CC number and were able to force me to go thru the cancellation process. The fine print of buying minutes says they put your account into automated renewal mode for which there is no way out except the process I just described. If they didn't have my card and I wasn't forced to call them, I wonder if they would have sent carolers to my house to sing about the many ways I could die without OnStar to save me.
But I guess that doesn't carry over to helping someone else with their customer support situations. And when that happens, I make my own bad luck with my next CS call.
My wife wanted to get her Lumia from T-Mobile unlocked. When I got mine unlocked, it was a breeze but hers turned into a nightmare that I was dragged into.
She was told by CS that she would get her unlock code within 14 days but normally within 2 days. Two days later she gets an email saying they can't unlock the phone because it is not on T-Mobile and in fact is banned from use on T-Mobile. This was quite surprising since she bought the phone new, activated it on T-Mobile and had been paying for the service for 13 months. After a cooling off period, she called to complain and get the code. They were extremely apologetic. They once again confirmed she and the phone were eligible and promised a code ASAP. Weeks pass and no code. So I take a shot. The rep claims there had been NO requests but apologized and promised the code would be sent ASAP. Since that was what she had been told before (twice), I called and asked to talk to a supervisor. He was great. He looked at her account and saw all 3 requests and also saw that the unlock code had been issued weeks before. He confirmed that the reps we talked to should have seen that in the file and simply given us the code. So he emailed it to me. Things seemed good (other than the delays and wasted time). Then two days later, she got an email saying that her unlock request was being denied because it was the 3rd request in 2 months and T-Mobile will only issue a customer 2 unlock codes in a 12 month period. I wonder if they fired the supervisor for failing to thwart the customer.
It just so happens my Cadillac is one year old tomorrow. So it was time to cancel OnStar because the free 1 year of service was ending. My experience with T-Mobile was fresh in my mind so I was in no mood for stupid games. To make it hard to cancel, OnStar only processes cancellations verbally. I guess if you are a mute, you are screwed. You're not a lot better off if you can speak. Despite their selling point of being there to help you in a heartbeat, you wait on hold 10+ minutes to talk to a cancellation specialist after first going thru a voice menu with about 50 options before cancellation is mentioned.
So I wait and finally get put thru. After repeatedly saying I am not interested in extending the service at ANY price, I was informed that they can't cancel my service unless I acknowledge I understood the laundry list of reasons I would soon be dead should I cancel OnStar. So I asked if she could see me. She said no. So I said then you wouldn't know if I stuck plugs in my ears while you are talking, right? She hung up on me. So I called again and this time I just played a loud game on the PC while the rep described my eminent death. When I no longer heard any sounds from the phone, I waited about 15 seconds and asked if I was supposed to say anything now. The rep said I need to confirm I understood I would die and that I still want to cancel. I said sure and that was the end.
One life lesson from this is to NOT buy a few OnStar hand free calling minutes to go with the free service. That one dollar I spent for 10 minutes (that were never used) was the only way they got my CC number and were able to force me to go thru the cancellation process. The fine print of buying minutes says they put your account into automated renewal mode for which there is no way out except the process I just described. If they didn't have my card and I wasn't forced to call them, I wonder if they would have sent carolers to my house to sing about the many ways I could die without OnStar to save me.
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