Giving Praise for Excellent Customer Service

When someone goes out of their way to just DO THEIR JOB I like to give them credit.  Not many people do just that and for what reason I have no clue. 

One of the hardest things that I've come across, mainly from Howard Forums, is walking into a Cingular store with your own phone and getting service.  Reps will tell you that you can't bring your own device, or that Cingular doesn't support it, or that they don't offer month to month plans... etc.  Usually I'll ask why just to see what their response is.  In the words of my favortie India Arie song "I'd be starving if I ate all the lies they fed".

I've been on Cingular's Pick Your Plan for quite some time now, not ready to fully leave T-Mobile (because I have an amazing rate plan).  But since T-Mobile is taking their sweet time getting towers and service here in North Carolina I couldn't wait any longer.  Lol, the slowness in time of T-Mobile getting service here can honestly be compared to Cingular releasing Nokia S60 devices!

In any case, let me tell you about my recent experience.  I went into my local Cingular store.  Local meaning 45 minutes away!  I mainly went in to replenish my PYP account for the 3rd time this month.  Yeah thats alot if you run out of 450 minutes twice already.  But anyway, the rep Jennifer Z. offered me A+ service.  I told her what I needed and her suggestions met what I was looking for, even the promotional MEdia Bundle which gives me unlimited MEdia Net and 1000 text messages.  Now here is the part that usually makes the reps frown... I'm bringing in my own phone and I don't want a contract.  Lol, honestly... I've asked this question before and usually right at this point.  Jennifer's expression didn't change at all.  She didn't have that "oh damn, I'm not gonna get commission for this" demeanor.  I felt safe.

Another tricky thing was the fact that I had a remaining dollar balance on my PYP account and had been told before that I would lose it if I switched to postpaid.  Jennifer made it happen.  Nothing special, no favors of manager approval... just a flawless transaction.  And I got to keep my same number and sim card.

I'm hoping that Cingular customer sales consultants and any other provider for that matter can follow suit in their levels of professionalism.

So, Jennifer just for doing what you do I just want to say...

Thank you!!!!!

Comments

[shackk]

So Darla does this mean you are no longer with the pink T anymore?

In any event you don't see service of this standard any more by any company let alone one in the cellular industry. Unfortunately attitudes in this day have customer service sliding further and further downhill even though it has the biggest affect on the bottom line since "customers" are what drives business in the first place, right?

So congrats to her and to you for actually bringing the good out in a situation and may this shed some light onto others that good service actually can pay off, even if it has no "direct" monetary value.

[Darla]

Hey Shackk,

No, I still have T-Mobile because of the NY number. I still have a bit of hope for them, but what I think I'm gonna do is suspend the service and just pay the $10 bucks a month. If Cingular could match the rate plan and features that I have for the same price then I would leave T-Mobile.

[Luke]

"I'd be starving if I ate all the lies they fed". That doesn't make sense?!? Surely you would be full as they have fed you a lot of lies? See what I mean - you are saying they are not liars since there have not been any for you to eat, leaving you starving.

Anyway, sounds like you found a good advisor which is getting quite rare. Good for you!

By the way, how's the N95 and when are we going to get more features, footage and opinions on it??!! I still have to wait a week for mine!!

[Darla]

Luke, if you are starving for the truth and someone feeds you lies, than in fact you are still starving. :)

I'm working on a bunch of different posts for the N95. I can't seem to do everything all at once. But I should have something up soon. Where did you order yours from?

[Luke]

Hi Darla,

I ordered mine from mobileshop.com - I'm in the UK. It is costing £69.99 on a £40 tariff. My current tariff is £45 so I'm saving £5 every month and get a kick ass phone dirt cheap - I can sell my current phone for more than that if I wanted.

Looking forward to more N95 content when you have the time - your opinion is much appreciated.

P.S. I understand that "if you are starving for the truth and someone feeds you lies, than in fact you are still starving" but your first post didn't say anything about starving for the truth and I don't know the song. Going off what you quoted, what I said rings true with me. It essentially says I have eaten lots of lies but I am starving and surely you wouldn't be starving if you had ate a lot. But if you were starving for the truth, you would still be starving. So that whole starving for the truth bit you added means it makes sense in that context but not when taken out of context as it was above when someone does not know the song - but that's cool (I'm real picky with language and grammar). Maybe I should check out the song!

Sorry - I work in media and communications so I spend a lot of time around editors and reps!

[alex]

Darla, you mentioned you were in North Carolina.
I'm about to move back to North Carolina (the Fayetteville/Fayettenam area) after living more than a decade outside the U.S. in Europe and the Middle East. What carrier has the BEST data plans and who carries HSDPA/EDGE in North Carolina?
Specifically, where was this Cingular office located as this woman sounds like she "gets it" when it comes to bring-your-own-phone service plans. I'd much rather go to someone who is already known for helpful service than to try my luck with the lesser intelligences at Cingular.
Having lived in some of the more "tech friendly" countries I have a feeling I'm going to be very disappointed. Currently using an N80 reflashed to the "i" edition (VoIP!) w/BT GPS receiver but also have an N800 and several BT headsets.
Even in the middle of the desert in Kuwait I get pretty snappy HSDPA coverage (Wataniya) and TruPhone works a treat here.
In Kuwait there are exactly TWO providers: Wataniya and MTC-Vodaphone. Vodaphone has more converage, but Wataniya is where it's at for 3G coverage and they have better pricing plans.