here, get your mind off politics for a minute....

[flowomo]

and read my weekly newspaper column:

http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2006/10/26/editorial/rich_lewis/lewis02.txt

[WinstonSmith4740]

1. Thanks, I needed that!

And I agree! It totally pisses me off when companies constantly cater to new customers and forget about the ones that got them where they are!:applause:

[flowomo]

2. thanks for reading it....

and I'm glad I'm not the only one with this gripe.

[donco6]

3. Ha! No kidding.

I've switched cell phones three times since my first one. First AT&T, then T-mobile, now Cingular. That doesn't count the changes they made FOR me by being bought up by someone or other (requiring me to call in to some 800 number and reprogram my phone over the phone, which was just terribly convenient).

The big companies just don't seem to give a rip about existing customers anymore. Even my local paper gives better deals to new customers than to me. Go figger.

[Atman]

4. I've got half a dozen obsolete cell phones lying around the house

My teenaged son did something stupid with his phone over the summer, and we had to replace it. We were almost 18 months into our 2-year contract. The replacement phone cost $169 for the cheapest model in the store the one they give away for free with new service. So THIS time I bought the "insurance." I was told it would replace the phone for just about any reason. Well, he screwed up his phone again just past week, but I wasn't worried! I had insurance. So I took it back to Cingular where I bought it...they gave me a pamphlet with an 800 number to call and file a claim. There was a $50 deductible!

:wow:

No freakin' way. I dug deeper into the fine print and figured I'd try the warranty angle. Fortunately, the Cingular rep listened to my tale of woe, and overnighted a replacement, no charge, with pre-paid return packaging for the defunct phone. But the one they sent me was LITERALLY just a shell. No back, battery, or even faceplate OR KEYPAD. We had to virtually disassemble the old phone and switch out the parts.

The phone arrived Tuesday. The very next day I got a mailer from Cingular...to reward me for my loyalty they were going to overnight me a brand new free copy of the exact same cheap ass phone I paid $169 for, if I added a fourth line (cha-ching!) to my account. :eyes:

Bottom line is, they ALL suck.

.

[Red Right and BLUE]

5. Thanks. I often feel like customer service is dead, dead, dead.

As someone who's had so many jobs in customer service (waitressing, retail, and, of course, customer service), it REALLY gets me down, and makes me angry. Companies have stopped caring about us - unless we're new recruits. They're so disrespectful. I'm not even 30 yet and I can see how so much has changed.

[BuyingThyme]

6. Thank you for the politics-free minute.

Believe it or not, I use a pay phone almost every day.

[TheMadMonk]

7. Not perfect by any means, but any time I see a new offer...

better than one that I am on (generally with my ISP) I ring up and threaten to cancel everything and sign up for their "lossiest" (as in loss leader type) startup package. So far they've geeked everytime and upgraded me to the higher speed or lower standard rate every time.

That "New customers only" restriction, is a deterent to the stupider of their existing customers. I strongly suspect that most service providers have internal customer retention policies, that says that IF a customer asks, upgrade them. It would have to be a standard internal policy, since the person on the other end of the phone has never "checked with a superior" before granting my request. One did make a couple of "new customer" noises, that was when I threatend to cancel everything.

I know it's shouldn't be that way, but the world is, as the world is, one has to deal with it on those terms or cultivate and ulcer.