customer service posts

Pssst! ... Want to know a secret? Banks actually have two customer-service departments. The one all of you are probably familiar with is regular customer service. But financial institutions also have what's called "executive customer service" - and these guys (and gals) can perform magic.

The blog Consumerist dedicated this post to a reader's experience with Chase's executive customer service. The short version: After being turned down by ordinary customer service when he asked for a lower rate, Chase's executive customer service department dropped the cardholder's APR from 26% to 9% for a year. He also got three months' worth of finance charges refunded.

The Federal Communications Commission last Friday asked Verizon Wireless why it recently doubled the fees it charges customers when they break their contracts on "smart" phones. In November, the carrier increased the maximum early contract termination fee for smart phones from $175 to $350. Like other carriers. phone devices are subsidized and the carrier makes the money back in service fees over the term of the contract.

Verizon did not respond specifically to the FCC's inquiry, but the mobile operator has said it needed to raise ETFs in order to defray the costs of advanced devices it sells to customers at a subsidized price. According to the Associated Press, Verizon spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said, "Smart phones quickly became a major part of our business and cost us a whole lot more."

One of the questions the FCC seems to be asking is how a customer is to know whether the increased fee applies to THEIR phone, and whether it's spelled out anywhere except in the formal customer agreement; which, of course, no one reads.

Sounds like a policy of "begging forgiveness" rather than "asking permission" to this cell phone user. I routinely look at my cell phone bills to scan for additional charges and changes. I'm convinced that many services add extra charges from time to time with the knowledge that people don't review their bills or their contracts. They certainly don't call me if there is an opportunity to save some money on my plan.

It will be interesting what the FCC determines as the outcome to this one.

Barbara Bartlein is the People Pro. For her FREE e-mail newsletter, please visit: The People Pro.

For most people calling customer service to deal with a complaint is a rather mundane affair. You dial in, climb through a complex phone tree and listen to inexplicably staticy hold music with interruptions that jolt you to attention only to be told, that "your call is important to us."

But for some people, like myself and Matt Jabs, the author of "Debt Free Adventure," calling up customer service is an art form, approached with the same level of practice, patience and obedience that a Ninja approaches his craft.

With this in mind Debt Free Adventure has compiled what I believe is the best compendium of customer service tips to stop overpaying for everything. Over many years I've personally tested these seven tips and can attest to their money saving power even when dealing with the best CSR's.

• How Avi feels about competitors entering this market.
• Whether people will actually switch banks to use an online budgeting tool.
• Whether this new competition will cause banks to be more open with their data or closed off.
• The wonderment new users have when joining a personal finance management site like Thrive.
• How action based budgets and trade-offs can create behavioral change for a better financial outlook.

If you want to know the answers to these topics and what my credit union's online banking software has in common with the Back Street Boys click listen now.

If the seemingly endless phone menus you get when you call a company these days bother you as much as the problem you're trying to fix in the first place, than you're sure to love a cool new service called Fonolo. Fonolo is a website that can connect you directly to the department you are looking for at close to 500 companies, skipping the cumbersome menus and prompts that stand between you and a resolution.

The service also provides several other consumer friendly features, including a call history and the ability to record calls and add notes so you'll always know when you called, who you talked to and have proof of any promised solutions.

Dear WalletPop:

I'm writing to let you know of a battle that I've been fighting since late June. I am owed a credit of $275 for an overpayment on my AT&T Dish Network account. Neither AT&T nor Dish disputes that I am owed the money; however, due to massive, persistent communication failures between Dish and AT&T and poor customer service toward me by both parties, I still have not received my credit.

Here are the details: Prior to leaving AT&T DIsh Network for AT&T U-Verse, I was sent a replacement Dish receiver that I did not request. It took me a while to return it. In the interim, I was charged $275 for the equipment. Complicating things, my online bank account was set to autopay any AT&T bill, so it did, prior to my returning the equipment. The bill was paid in full. That includes the $275. I then returned the equipment, as Dish acknowledges. Because I returned the equipment, that $275 charge should be removed, as Dish also acknowledges. Dish Network has said on multiple occasions that they have informed AT&T through their systems that I am owed the money. Dish has also said on multiple occasions that they have credited AT&T the $275 so they can pay me. AT&T has had repeated problems seeing that confirmation in their systems. This has happened multiple times since June.

I have been so disillusioned by this process that I have canceled my AT&T U-Verse service, which I actually enjoyed, and have moved all of my services -- TV, phone and Internet.

Matt Schulz
Austin, Texas

One of the knocks on General Motors has long been that the company is arrogant and out of touch with the needs of its customers.

Has that changed since the company went into bankruptcy and pledged that it was building a new, more nimble car company? Exhibit A in the "Nothing has changed" file is this: the feedback rating for GM's eBay account.

In total, yourgmdealer has received six positive ratings and two negatives, but because one buyer left three ratings, the actual feedback score is +2. . . four positive and two negatives. And if you think that's bad, there's more: Three of the positive feedback ratings come from a user with the ID "661henryglen" who left this glowing review after purchasing a 2009 Chevy Cobalt: "THIS IS A VERY SIMPLE PROCESS."

That feedback was left on Aug-20-09 at 16:51. The auction ended on Aug 20, 2009 at 16:48:01 PDT. That raises a fantastic question: How does a person buy a car on eBay and then complete the transaction in less than three minutes, allowing enough time to log back in and leave feedback? That must have been a simple process indeed!

Fascinating -- and suspicious -- stuff.

Airing your frustrations with a company or a product is nothing new. For decades consumers have complained to their coworkers, friends and family when a transaction goes bad.

In fact, it's a widely held belief that angry customers tell significantly more people about a company than a satisfied customer. With the rise in popularity of micro-blogging site Twitter.com, it's easier than ever to tell all of your followers about the latest problem you have But beware: it can cost you.

After publishing a Tweet in May which she said, "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it's okay," Amanda Bonnen found herself on the wrong end of a $50,000 lawsuit for defamation.

Build your business even in a down economy. Join Barbara Bartlein, The People Pro, as she interviews Shep Hyken, author of "The Cult of the Customer." No matter what you sell, who you sell it to, or how much (or little) of it you sell, your business revolves around customers. Keeping customers happy, keeping them coming back for more, and keeping them loyal to your brand are the most basic ingredients of business success. The Cult of the Customer shows you how to create the kind of customer experience that leads to endless loyalty and constant referrals.

Join us for this fun interview with one of the experts in customer service and building your business.

Bank of America complained that the credit markets were so tight, soooooooo tight, that it couldn't possibly generate cash in the private sector, and that was why it needed a federal bailout.

Well now it got its federal bailout, and it continues to rip off consumers across the country with one of the worst savings account rates in the world -- 0.10% APY.

This means that for every $1,000 you save with Bank of America, you get a pre-tax return of $1 per year.

Emigrant Direct's FDIC-insured savings account pays 1.55%, and the national average on a money market account is 1.29% according to BankRate.com

Maybe it was the sauce?

Sometimes at WalletPop, we have a hard time predicting which of our pieces will touch a nerve, and in what way. So when we posted Wednesday about Pizza Hut changing over to "The Hut"-- and the new in-house digital TV network arriving at Hut stores this summer -- we hardly expected to field scores of comments from disgruntled Pizza Hut patrons nationwide, a hefty majority complaining about pie quality and sanitary conditions at stores.

Here's a sampling of some comments readers posted; we've used screen nicknames to identify the writers:

From Brian: "If Pizza Hut wants to appeal to the younger generation, they need to work on their product. No amount of re-branding is going to help. Bland greasy nasty overpriced (cheap) frozen grocery quality 'pizza' that smacks of the Velveeta era just isn't gonna cut it with the younger crowd who (particularly in urban areas) are accustomed to much higher quality Italian joints."

From Linda: "We are in our early 50s and one of our Pizza Huts closed because the quality was awful, kids ran rampant and it was getting downright dirty. "

Is the customer always right? OK, they're not always right. But shouldn't consumers at least feel as though they are valued? Particularly in today's economy, where customer retention and growth is tougher and tougher, you would think the low-cost investment of being responsive to customers would be a wise move.

But more and more consumers are writing in with tales of woe that turned them sour on a company when quick action could have made the whole situation go away or even enhance positive feelings toward the business.

Last week we reported that Amazon's customer service department deleted a review that told about a seller's attempts at bribery and the damage this action can do to product ratings. Like all of Amazon's blunders, this one appears to have been a misunderstanding. The Consumerist reports that Amazon got a hold of the original customer and let him know that ignoring his report of bribery was a big mistake.

According to Amazon's executive customer relations, the customer service department should have flagged the product for further investigation. For now, Amazon has dropped the Anti Snore mouthguard from the store and won't offer it until the company starts acting ethically. Amazon blamed a "failure in the Customer Relations department." for deleting the review and ignoring the unethical behavior of the manufacturer.

For our recent series Vanishing in America, I wrote a post bemoaning the disappearance of customer service in the U.S. retail industry. Many readers rightly took me to task for appearing to place all the blame on waiters, clerks and call center reps. They pointed out that it takes two to tango, and when otherwise nice people are forced to deal with rude, inconsiderate and pushy customers all day long, their attitude is bound to suffer.

Do any of these situations ring a bell?

I recently received my bank statement from one of the passbook accounts that I own. My initial deposit of $200 was down to $152. Apparently, I was charged for having a "dormant" account which then put my total below the required minimum of $200. Because the account had fallen below this minimum, I now was being charged extra for having the account. Naturally, I was a bit upset. I thought that you put money in the bank to grow the account, not watch it go down.

I took my passbook and went out to the branch of North Shore Bank. The teller informed me that the woman who handled dormant accounts was gone for the day but she would be in the next morning. I left my passbook with my phone number and asked her to call. She did not call the next day.