beh@bu-pub.bu.edu (07/29/90)
About two months ago, I received a call from your typical friendly MCI
telemarketer, pitching their MCI Plus plan. After listening to quite
a bit of plugging, and having to explain my current Sprint Plus plan,
(ok, I'll admit it) I managed to get confused and agreed to the MCI
plan, forgetting about the Sprint volume-based discount.
After I finished waking up, I called MCI Customer Service and spoke
with someone who assured me that she'd hold my number and try to kill
the service order every couple days, and that all I had to do to
refuse the service was not sign or return any of the confirmatory
stuff they mailed. Considering what I've read of MCI's changeover
trouble in the past, that made sense, so I threw out all of their
mailings, and forgot about it - after calling New Jersey Bell to ask
them to flag my record to not change Dial-1 LD without my approval.
Well, this month, my phone bill shows billing to MCI for three weeks...
First call to NJB:
Local Bell Customer Service: "It looks like MCI shouldn't have switched
you, I'll refund the switchover fee. Call MCI and ask them to
refund their fees." [Didn't ask why it changed over when the
record was allegedly flagged...]
Second call to MCI:
Generic MCI Customer Service: "She told you WHAT?"
[insert 20 minutes explaining Sprint Plus, and why NO!, I really
wouldn't rather have your wonderful MCI service...]
[insert 10 minutes assuring her that the previous MCI-critter
assured me it wouldn't be a problem...]
"Well, I'll refund the charges for the month... The bill total was
$nnn, correct?"
I was quite amazed at this point that they'd write-down the entire
month. I was expecting maybe their service fee, but definitely NOT
the whole thing. Could they really be this paranoid about people
screaming "improper changeover", or are they simply messed up enough
that it's easier to write the calls off than figure out what happened?
By the way, the MCI Customer Service person apologized that she wasn't
able to credit my NJB account directly, but would have to go through
her supervisor to take care of it ... I'm half looking forward to,
half dreading my next phone bill to see if all this worked or not.
Bruce Howells, beh@bu-pub.bu.edu | engnbsc@buacca (BITNet)"R. Michael Gutierrez" <gutierrez@noc.arc.nasa.gov> (07/30/90)
I use to work at MCI, so lets take this step-by-step... beh@bu-pub.bu.edu writes: |> About two months ago, I received a call from your typical friendly MCI |> telemarketer, pitching their MCI Plus plan.... |> After I finished waking up, I called MCI Customer Service and spoke |> with someone who assured me that she'd hold my number and try to kill |> the service order every couple days,... The reminder the CSR uses is a Post-It (R) Note on the IBM 3270 console in front of him/her. They tend to get lost, fall off (especially), or lost in a maze of other account reminders. I seem to remember having an average of 20 of them on my terminal. |> .... and that all I had to do to |> refuse the service was not sign or return any of the confirmatory |> stuff they mailed... As I have said in the past on TELECOM Digest, most LEC/BOC's will accept the LD carriers order (which is sent on mag tape) _blindly_, without any customer confirmation. Sprint/MCI/ITT/etc does not and literally cannot send all the customer confirmations to the local carrier. When the LEC does get the PIC changeover request from the L.D. company, it is assumed by agreement that the L.D. company has the signed agreement or a valid oral agreement. |> .... - after calling New Jersey Bell to ask |> them to flag my record to not change Dial-1 LD without my approval. I have the same feeling NJB has the same Post-It (R) Note Reminder System. But, with MCI and all LEC's, 3 line "notes" can be entered on you account, and any half-decent CSR should have noted your calls. |> Well, this month, my phone bill shows billing to MCI for three weeks... |> First call to NJB: |> Local Bell Customer Service: "It looks like MCI shouldn't have switched |> you, I'll refund the switchover fee. Call MCI and ask them to |> refund their fees." [Didn't ask why it changed over when the |> record was allegedly flagged...] Again, it really wasn't 'flagged', just noted. |> Second call to MCI: |> Generic MCI Customer Service: "She told you WHAT?" |> [insert 20 minutes explaining Sprint Plus, and why NO!, I really |> wouldn't rather have your wonderful MCI service...] Usual sales... |> [insert 10 minutes assuring her that the previous MCI-critter |> assured me it wouldn't be a problem...] You should not have to had to go though this song-and-dance, unless the previous MCI-"critter" did not make the "notes" entry on your account. |> "Well, I'll refund the charges for the month... The bill total was |> $nnn, correct?" |> I was quite amazed at this point that they'd write-down the entire |> month. I was expecting maybe their service fee, but definitely NOT |> the whole thing. Could they really be this paranoid about people |> screaming "improper changeover", or are they simply messed up enough |> that it's easier to write the calls off than figure out what happened? Nope. She just got tired of dealing with you and her telephone stats were going through the roof with your long call. Front-line CSR's like the one you dealt with have instant, no questions asked, $10 dollar credit limits. And you learn that even though it's only $10 per entry, you can make as many credit entries as you want. |> By the way, the MCI Customer Service person apologized that she wasn't |> able to credit my NJB account directly, but would have to go through |> her supervisor to take care of it ... I'm half looking forward to, |> half dreading my next phone bill to see if all this worked or not. Ahh, yes. She hasn't discovered the multiple-entry method described above, so she was going to write out a credit request to a "group leader", and group leaders have $100 dollar limits. Supervisors have $500 limits. Beyond that it is supposed to go to Security and Investigations. I did the same thing when I worked "Residental Sales & Service" (the dept. your call went to). Somebody would call me up, real mad, expecting a fight saying "I never ordered MCI ... I want to cancel ... I'm never gonna pay ... so _what_are_YOU_gonna_do_about_IT!!!" Well, with a lousy burrito and two Corona's swimming around in my stomach from lunchtime, I'm gonna say "We're crediting your account and thank you for calling MCI good bye." POOF! and get some Alka Seltzer. Robert Michael Gutierrez Office of Space Science and Applications, NASA Science Internet - Network Operations Center. Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California.