Yeah bullcrap. It’s so reliable I only get maximum of 3 bars with my usb modem and I get frequent disconnects. Also, it asks me to reinstall the hardware, so I have to re-enable internet connection sharing for it so I can play Mario Kart Wii online. How about you give me the maximum 5 bars of signal and actually prevent me from getting disconnected instead of being stingy and giving me crap? I came to the wireless because it seems to be the best option I have, but with frequent disconnects and slow download speed and everything, I’d say my best option now is either Satellite or Dial-Up. As Eminem says, “Thanks for the support, asshole.”.[/vent]

To quote off some other comments:

“I don’t think he was lying about the mac compatibility but he probably had some new info that didn’t make the site yet.”
~ We are not given any information on anything new. We ourselves have to come in and check the website before our shifts to see if anything is new or changed.

“Now, I’m convinced he’s an outsource from another country (just check the use of grammar and language”
~Nope, we are outsourced, but here in the U.S. Bowling Green KY, and Opelika Alabama

“Let’s look at the question: “Is it Mac compatible?” Verizon considers that to be “technical”? For a card that plugs into a laptop?? And they’re marketing themselves as the high-tech provider!??? Wow…”
~ I totally agree! This information is readily available to us, so answering that would have been a simple matter. What would be a more baffeling question is “What is the difference between the $29.99 aircard and the $109.99 aircard?” I can never get a good answer from that!

I myself keep a blog of REDICULOUS chats I take to pull up for threads like this to prove the kind of drama we get, but I don’t think this call for one. Straight to the point about everything.

Verizons customer service is unconscionable. Sorry to read of the frustration… I feel your pain.

Wouldn’t you say it’s more a lack of planning on Verizon’s part than a lack of training? In other words, it seems they do a fair AMOUNT of training, but it’s perhaps not as effective as it might otherwise be since neither the representative nor the customer has the information at their fingertips to answer some basic questions.

I see what you’re saying about Wes’s quip coming across as rough but, in a way, it almost humanizes the situation. And I don’t think In other words, it’s (DEFINITELY) not the most professional thing he could’ve said, but it makes it clear that he’s being put in an awkward position by the company.

Instant Message is a pretty flat medium, too, so it’s a bit difficult to read someone’s tone. And I don’t think Bryan was saying Wes’s tone was unacceptable; rather, the response was unacceptable because Verizon hadn’t given Wes the tools he needs to help the customer.

Thanks for the intriguing comment…

• if you’re going to provide online chat sales support, make sure your reps are trained to complete the sale with all of the neccessary information they need

• monitor your reps, expecially during the rollout of online sales chat, to make sure they aren’t responding to prospects with arrogant comments. The arrogant comments probably came out of a frustration of not having the answers to complete the sale, so I don’t blame the rep. He just didn’t have the information he needed and wasn’t properly trained, and that’s the company’s fault. This lack of training paints a larger picture into the lack of concern/professionalism that the company’s business projects to it’s customers.

• a prospect shouldn’t have to be transferred to technical support to complete a sale…the comment “Wes: We have spent 10 minutes discussing the question. If I knew don’t you think I would have told you 10 minutes ago?” is totally unacceptable. You’re trying to buy this companies products and the rep is responding, with an attitude of, “I really don’t care if you buy from us or not, it’s your decision”.

In response to what other’s have written, yes, this is a rant about customer service and the obstacle of not having enough information on the site to make a confident purchase.

Once there was a frog sittin chilling on a lilly pad in the middle of a creek. One day a scorpion comes to the edge of the creek and meets the frog on the bank and asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog crys and then asks after, “You must be crazy, you are a scorpion and i am a frog, if i help u, u will sting me and worse do it when we’re midstream in the creek and i’ll die; How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “logically if I do sting u, especially midstream, I will die too; obviously i can’t swim or i wouldn’t be asking for a ride. if we are crossing the creek and midstream i sting u, true u will sink and drown but i die with u, and that is illogical cause we animals want to survive, plus frogs aren’t in my diet, u should check out the discovery channel sometime, if u had you’d know im being honest and plus if u know i can sting and kill you know the rest, i can’t swim i want to live, i don’t eat frogs. i may be the one your mother warned u about when u were little but now that you’ve met me, am i as bad as u imagined? probably not.”

The frog is satisfied by the facts the scorpion presented, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp “Why?”

Replies the scorpion: “I am what i am”

Ok so what you’ve read makes no sense and u think im crazy. long story short i just started working for verizon wireless in customer service not long ago (no im not a newbie) ive done wireless for indirect companies including radioshack corp since 1999. In my training @vzw we are taught how to look out for the company and save the company money (who isn’t when they work for someone?) don’t throw stones at verizon or any company, because if they didn’t make money they wouldn’t exist or would (if u think vzw shits you) they would really shit you. Yes we are taught to look out for our companies income, but we are taught something else that holds more importance than making verizon money.
Believe it or not. We are taught to above all be our customer’s advocate (meaning we look out for ways to save you money vs not and us making money off whatever situation is there) If you have cellular service (postpaid) you have decent credit and you weren’t just given it by god’s will. you paid your bills.
At verizon as much Equal Op Emp as they may be, unbiased they taught me to go by the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Every company has things people don’t like, quite frankly i love my company, because i’ve seen they go to great lenghs to look out for their customers. more so to the customers that return the favor.

In my 8 years of cell phone jobs i ask u only to consider this: don’t be so quick to throw blame, please try to listen, there may be somebody along the lines really trying to help you.

Thanks for the link to that story… It inspired me to write about a company that helps you avoid robotic support (linked above)

Thanks for clarifying how Verizon really feels about its customers and would-be customers. Well, I hope that’s not the refrain (”you give them and inch and they want to take a mile”).

So, why then is Verizon promising not just inches, but “the most reliable network” in America–everywhere in America? That’s a question for Verizon’s marketers, not its customer service or pre-sales people.

In fact, people like yourself are the only ones who seem to be helping over there. But to say that “they train us to be equipped with the information we need to know to answer questions” is just nuts. If that were the case, Bryan would be a proud new Verizon customer–and we’d be blogging about how great the experience was!

It was already clear that you worked for them, thanks…

Believe me, we understand that the company is feeding you lines that are incomplete and/or insufficient. And I wasn’t trying to be cute when I scoffed at “upsourcing.” I may find it silly, but it’s still a euphemism–and one that you brought up.

Sorry you don’t like our blog. It’s about helping companies bridge the gap between their sales process and the customer’s buying process. If that’s not relevant to you, particularly when we’re talking about things your employer could do to make your job easier, I still hope you find occasion to enjoy your work.

At least we take your agitation seriously…

-Robert

I am sorry that you didn’t find value in the post. It is hard to please everyone. For clarity’s sake, let’s take a step back and look at the purpose of the post. The purpose of the post is to show a real life example of how websites are not answering their visitors’ questions.

The first part of the post showed how easy it is to design a site without taking into consideration the questions your customers are asking. If there had been information on the site that answered those questions, there never would have been a need to initiate live chat.

Depending on which report you look at, 70-80% of consumers do research on the Internet before purchasing a product. If they can’t get answers to their questions, they don’t have the confidence to purchase.

Since many sites do such a poor job of answering their visitors’ questions, live chat is often the only resource available for that information.

Let’s be clear. It is not the live chat agent’s fault that the website didn’t have the information that answered the visitor’s questions. It was also not his fault that his company hadn’t provided the training or the answers he needed to be able to execute his job to the best of his ability. He was doing the best he could.

He was eventually able to get some good information and pass it along.

Too often, people on the front line aren’t given the information or resources they need to provide the kind of customer service their company is promising. Better website planning that takes into account customers questions, and provides answers to those questions, will lead to less frustrated customer service people, and less frustrated customers.

I am sorry to have frustrated you.