Don’t Wash Your Android, and Sometimes You Inadvertently Sweat the Small Things
Don’t wash your phone with the laundry, as writer B.R. Shenoy learned the hard way. Shenoy’s humorous account of how she accidentally put her mom’s phone in the washer reminded me of my recent cell phone woes. I didn’t ruin my main mode of communication, but a payment misunderstanding did lead to my service being temporarily deactivated.
So here’s my experience. My cellular bill was due on December 22. I made an arrangement to pay the balance by February 1. On January 31, I logged onto my cellular customer account(through my smart phone, no doubt)and paid the December bill. I was waiting to pay the January bill at a later time in the day as I thought I had a ten day grace period. The next thing I know, my smartphone internet service was showing zero bars. After a few moments, I tried to randomly call a number to see if something is wrong with my service. The ever-aggravating automated voice chimed “your service has been temporarily disconnected.”
When I finally got a chance to sit back down, I logged into my laptop connected through our home’s wi-fi. I paid the bill, and went on with my day. All was well until I remembered my servicer would likely charge me a small reinstatement fee. Already seeing my bill regularly increase, I called customer service to see if this was the case.
“Thank you for your business,” the young customer service representative chimed. “I do see we will have to assess a $25 fee.”
Working as a client account specialist who regularly takes inbound calls myself, I usually have a special place for fellow customer service professionals. But this day, I was overly livid. How dare they charge me an additional fee!
“I want to speak with a manager now!”
Soon, a supervisor came on as polite as can be. Sorry, they could not waive the fee due to a previous such exemption in the past year. I soon was in a frustrated rant about how haphazard and careless this was. Soon, I was confronting them for their lack of personal investment in their job because they did not know how many customers their mega-cellular company serviced. I had inadvertently crossed a line which led to the supervisor interpreting my words in a negative way. Before I knew it, the call had dropped. No swear words or name-calling, but hurtful nonetheless. I started to feel remorse after I calmed down. How did these employees feel after dealing with my semi-extreme vehemence? I called back and spoke to another supervisor, explaining my situation once again and apologizing. No fee waiver, but at least my name might be removed as an ultra-sensitive caller.
This story did reach a better resolution. I ended up submitting an official complaint and after a week received a response that the fee would be waived. (Hey, I am getting sick and tired of these additional fees left and right!). This was more about the whole principle of the situation rather than the dollar amount. Sometimes, you do have to call out a business if you believe they are engaging in unfair or unethical practices. This action, I admit, was the more appropriate and reasonable one — much more so than calling the company and biting off the heads of employees just trying to do their jobs.
Sadly, I couldn’t call the same supervisor or customer service rep I rambled at and apologize. But I hope I did the next best thing — offset two angry incidents with two calls of kindness and courtesy. Match two positive actions to two not-so-positive moments, right? Just today, I had to call my cell phone servicer again for yet another billing question. I made sure to take the time and thank the representative for their excellent knowledge and amazing tone. They were very appreciative of my positive feedback; I hope this was a key positive point in their day. Working in customer service for decades, I recognize customers’ efforts to offer positive comments, praise, and compliments as having an immeasurable impact.
