In general, complaining does not get one anywhere - that's why I don't expect this entry to make any difference what so ever - but I will feel better once I have got it off my chest.
Do excuse my French but customer service in the United States absolutely sucks - a comment that I base on my experiences living in the US for the past 5 months.
Example 1: "T-MOBILE TORMENT"
T-MOBILE is a phone carrier in the US - I chose them because many of my colleagues at Amazon also use T-MOBILE who also support data transfer - essential for checking company mail on the Blackberry. I am now back in Japan and had to break a contract with T-MOBILE. They have a clause in the contract which states that if one can produce a utility bill which shows the address of where one will be living in after they leave the United States, then T-MOBILE will waive the $400 dollar fee for each line cancelled. They need to see the address because that's where they will send the final bill. I have not been living in Japan for the past 5 months - so how the #$%^ am I supposed to produce a recent utility bill?!
Never the less - I just happened to have an old tax bill which I was told to fax to a certain number.I would then call back T-MOBILE each time I faxed in the document only to be put through to a different person (they claimed that they don't know who I was talking to previously even though I gave ID numbers of the CS person) and I had to spend time again and again explaining that I was leaving the country - only to be told that the previous fax I sent could not be found and that I would have to send it in again,
I was making every effort to clear my current balance and clear myself from the cancellation fee and they just did not give a damn.
I finally got so pissed that I told them that I was going to pay for my current usage but not the early disconnection fee and that if they wanted it - they would have to come to get me in Japan :-)
Finally, after speaking to about 25 different people over several days, they closed my account and said that they would charge me only for current usage...
The catch copy for T-MOBILE is "get more for less" - I am not sure about the less but you certainly get more - more hassle, more stress, more of your time wasted. You also get to talk to more CS reps as each time you call, you would spend 5 mins explaining what you need and then be put through to another person - only to do the damn same - but that bit seems to be very normal over in the US as Bank of America, Speakeasy (DSL provider) and Qwest (national phone service) seem to do the same too...
Sorry - but I REALLY had to get that off my chest...
Example 2: "BANK OF AMERICA BOLLOCKS"
When I first arrived in the US - I did not have any credit. Credit is something that one builds based on things like credit card repayment behaviour, timely payment of bills etc.
I never had the need to have a credit card in Japan as the cards that I have been using in Japan just deduct the amount spent from ones bank account - they are classified and accepted as a credit card and not treated like a debit card.
So, in order to build "Credit", I had to make a credit card - taking out loans just to build credit - absolutely ridiculous or what? But because I did not have credit, I had to put down a deposit of $XXXX dollars. You've guessed it - I have been trying day and night to get back my own money - speaking to a zillion different CS reps - calling a gazillion different numbers - only to be told a trillion different stories about how to get back my money - and no - they wont just refund me the amount by transferring it back into my savings account. As you can see, these people just make it verrry difficult to get hold of your own money. And no - I still have not got my money back...
Example 3: "HARBOR STEPS HORROR"
Harbor Steps is an apartment complex located in downtown Seattle on 1st avenue - they do have nice apartments and the pool and gym facilities are great which even include a climbing wall.
Anyhow, So my last day in Harbor Steps was early this week - again, I made every effort to pay my utilities and anything else I owe for damages before I moved out. I was told that there was going to be a move-out inspection where somebody would come to look at the apartment to see what damages there were - and that if there were any damages that they would deduct the amount from the $XXX that I had to pay to Harbor Steps at the time I signed my lease.
I had to contact Harbor Steps leasing office several times asking what the move out procedure was and how I would pay my last months utility bill only to be told that somebody would get back to me. A week before I moved out, a lady from the leasing office forgot that she had to come up to my apartment to do an inspection - I called to remind her and when she came up, she rushed straight into the bathroom and said - everything looks great - she literally spent 4 seconds doing this so called move out inspection.
On the day of move out, I was told to just hand in the keys - they made ZEROOOO effort to let me know about how the last month utility bills would be paid, nor did they mention anything about the $XXX that I left with them.
I ended up calling the utility folks myself to settle the bills - this may seem normal but Harbor Steps has a shared utility plan - all residents share the water, gas, garbage etc bills so it was a bit more complicated than usual.
And no - I don't have my money back yet...
Example 4: "RESTAURANT RIDICULE"
I go to a restaurant to eat good food and pay good money - so why do they charge you extra money just for bringing in more people?! I went to a place with 6 people and when the bill came they charged an extra 10% "convenience fee" and had the audacity to leave a space on the check for a "tip" - cheeky cheeky monkeys.
My friend went to a restaurant with 5 adults and a baby who was 2 months old - yep - they got charged extra for having "6 people"..
And don't forget my lovely experience in Cedars - see previous post under "misc"
Example 5: "SECURITY SLANDER"
Stopped in Las Vegas on the way to Grand Canyon and Monument Valley and had the joy of watching and listening to the security staff shout (yes shout) at the passengers and ridiculing them "don't you understand that you have to remove metal objects from your pockets before you enter the scanner?!", "Is it that difficult?!". I was just thinking "you poor bastard, if you don't like your job, why don't you just quit..."
Example 6: "TERMINAL TURMOIL"
I arrived back in Tokyo today and would like to compare my experience in Narita (Tokyo international airport) compared to SEATAC (Seattle - Tacoma airport).
ARRIVAL IN SEATTLE
When I arrived in the US, I had two suitcases and 1 trolley sized bag - I don't usually check anything in when travelling but this time I had to live out of the suitcase for a few weeks before my air shipment arrived in Seattle. Anyway, I got off the plane and went to the carousel to wait for my bags - they came, I picked them up and took them through customs - so far so good. But after customs, I had to put my luggage back on to a different conveyor belt and was told to collect them from a different terminal. I got on a train to that terminal and had to wait at another carousel for my luggage to come. When I got my luggage, I discovered that one had to pay $2 to use the trolleys! And they purposely made the trolleys so small that they just about fit one suitcase on them so that you would have to pay for more trolleys. I thought "sod that" and piled my luggage on top of one trolley and proceeded to the elevator - I pushed "2". But the elevator for some reason just went up and down between my floor and the above floor - time and time again. The elevator then eventually decided to go down to 2 where I was able to get a cab...
ARRIVAL IN TOKYO
Again - as we had to wait a few weeks or so for the rest of our stuff to arrive in the air shipment, we stuffed as much crap as we could into our suitcases - 2 cases and 1 trolley type. Got off the plane at Tokyo and picked up our luggage from the carousel and plopped them onto a FREE (yes free - as how all trolleys should be) and pushed it a few meters to customs. After customs, we pushed the trolley about 25 meters to Japan Airlines ABC luggage service - we gave them 5000 yen and as it was before 5pm, they we able to deliver our luggage the same day at 9.30PM to our corp housing in Azabujyuban, Tokyo. I was just so happy to be back in the land where customers matter and where people who serve customers do so with pride.
OK, OK, so not all my customer service experiences in the US were bad - but would you not get opinionated after experiences like these?
