Customer service(or lack of)

[torinsmom]

I am trying to switch my cell phone service to save some money. We are going to try Virgin Mobile's Beyond Talk plan for $40(1200 talk minutes, unlimited data and texts) So I call and ask lots of questions, like can we use the VM phones my son used when he did pay as you go(yes) and what info do they need to port the phone numbers from AT&T. Got everything they said they needed and called back.

I don't know if the person who answered was in the US, but he was not a native English speaker. He took my AT&T account info and then asked me for the MEID on the phone I wanted to use. He gave me some numbers to dial to find it, which didn't work. Then he had me look on the back of the phone for a 15 digit number starting with something like 268. Anyway, no such number like that on either phone we were using. So he tells me they must not be VM phones. They have VM on the front and were only used for VM, so I insist they are. He tells me he can't do anything for me, that I have to get new phones.

I called back a few minutes ago and got a very sweet lady. She took the time to ask whether the phone had been used before(I had told the other guy that too) and used the old phone number to look up the ESN, which led her to the MEID in her system. She also informed me that there could be up to a day where my old service and my new service don't work, and suggested I wait until one activates before I switch the other. She hooked me up and then asked what else I needed. I asked if she had a direct line, so I don't get the other guy when I call back, LOL.

 

[bicker]

I am trying to switch my cell phone service to save some money.

I believe that this is the reason why customer service is flagging over time. We are becoming so strongly-focused on price (perhaps for very good reasons) that we're really not rewarding folks for providing us better service. We grumble and go on, but still make our purchasing decisions far more based on price than in the past, and we're far less willing to pay more to reward folks who invest in more consistent and superior service.

The cell phone companies have been far more explicit about this in the past. A few years ago, they started increasing rates for customers who resisted upgrading to digital phones, eventually charging significantly more for the lower quality analog service, effectively punishing customers for trying to economize. Of course, most of us consumers are stakeholders in businesses, either as investors or employees who benefit from companies operating this way. We reap what we sow.

 

[torinsmom]

Actually, I have been with AT&T for 7years and they have consistently provided bad service, even as I increased my plan, added a line, etc. And you would think the company that I am looking to transfer my service to would be the ones trying most to help me. I could understand if AT&T was trying to hold up the transfer.

 

[bicker]

It's all a matter of where you're coming from, though. AT&T wants their customers to be adding 3G data plans, now, and unlimited TXT messaging. You're a "good customer" if you've got those services, or perhaps one of their new GPS features, or mobile television features. All the more traditional services have become commoditized - there is so much price competition that the margins on those services cannot compete with the margins on the data plans.

By comparison Virgin Mobile is competing on mostly on price. However, since everything they offer is so much less expensive, there is no justification for spending a whole bunch of money providing superior service.

 

[torinsmom]

I don't know about low quality. I have heard great things about VM since they were bought by Sprint a few months ago. Same coverage and 3G network as Sprint. I figure you can't beat the price and it only costs me $65(one $40 plan and one $25 plan) to try it out for this month and see how it is. If it works, we will buy newer phones with the money we save. If it doesn't, we will be on the search for a new carrier before the month is out.

 

[bicker]

I don't know about low quality.... I figure you can't beat the price

In this industry, the differences in perceived service quality between various providers are typically either colored by favorable feeling fostered by a loss-leader price-point, reflections of fleeting advantages stemming from the inherently leap-frogging nature of technological deployment, or some combination of the two.

If it doesn't, we will be on the search for a new carrier before the month is out.

A lot of this is a matter of finding the provider that fits best with your specific needs. No provider can nor should try to be everything to everyone. However, what a lot of folks do is jump around, from frying pan to fire, seeking out that elusive diamond in the rough. Very occasionally it works out, or at least seems to (and "seems" is all that matters), but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[torinsmom]

Yeah, I know its a crap shoot. I don't think its too much to hope for service in my workplace. Noone with AT&T can get service, but everyone else can. If I get decent service at home and at work, I will be happy. If not, I will keep on looking.