HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

In the past, I've always heard about how people wonder the best methods to get a hold of the right rep, the right people, and get what you want from your local carrier & service. Here are some quick tips that are likely to work at MOST standard carrier services (as in Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T) when you want something, organized by topic.

Some Notes

There are three types of stores for most carriers, these are Corporate Stores, premium retailers, and affiliate retailers.

Corporate Stores are stores that are run by, managed by, and answer to the Corporation directly. As a result they often have more resources to give to the customer and are able to act on orders from telesales/customer service phone reps. They are forced to abide by corporate rates & promotions

Premium Retailers are privately owned stores but have to at times comply and work with Corporate to some extent, but they mainly do their own thing and make their own policies and processes. They can however do Corporate promotions and discounts at some times

Affiliate Retailers are privately owned stores and corporations that are allowed to do sales and promotions at whatever extent they wish, so long as it gets approval where necessary. They carry the Sprint name but are not entitled to Corporate rates, discounts, or events.

If you want help

First off, unless you're looking to make a purchase, do not go to a affiliate retailer. Affiliate retailers can rarely assist with repairs, tech support, or customer service, and they often don't want to because it's not profitable to give free help that comes with service, not phones for sale. If you have a service plan through Bestbuy or another affiliate retailer that offers insurance or repairs, then disregard this and go to them first before seeking carrier-specific service. You should also try to avoid premium retailers as they too are not as effective at customer service and repair compared to the Corporate Store

Second, call customer service.

For some reason, people hate customer service, but there is no need to. Though at times, CS can be irritable, troublesome, or worse, just remember these few tips to get yourself out of the "CS circle of death."

1. Skip the touch-tone system. Press 0 or say "agent" as soon as possible.

2. Once you get the CS Rep, no matter how things went before, be nice and kind to them. Though they don't know much and are the "Step 1" reps, they get you in the right direction to the people you need for your solution. If they seem upset off the bat, or that they will give you a hard time, just pretend your call was dropped, hang up, and start over. You will only go in circles getting the person you want, because If you are a constant trouble maker, your account will be flagged and it will be a nightmare to get work done

3. If you want accounting or billing issues, they'll typically take care of the minor issues right off the bat. Remember they typically won't know who you are and you'll need to give them your account information to be taken care of. Most people, until you're transferred a step or two higher, cannot give you compensation or approval for certain account changes. Once you get a higher level rep, you can start to persuade them for what you want.

4. For tech support, usually the tier is much more clear. If the tech guy you are transferred to cannot find documents to solve it, and you do everything they ask or have done everything they can think of, they'll transfer you up a step. DO NOT argue against what they request you to do, unless you have already done it or proven it won't change a thing, otherwise you'll try their patience. Besides, they have to follow a checklist to get things done, all you can do is speed this checklist up by helping them with this.

5. If you are looking for a replacement phone, always call tech support before going to a Corporate Store. Help them with diagnosing their phone, and if you get to the point to convince them to get you a replacement, they will likely put a note in your account to go to a store to finalize the replacement, and very rarely may do it yourself. If you need to go to the store, remember to be courteous, but also remember the initial people you talk to are going to try to thwart you from your goal, so if you have to, get a supervisor or Manager to get you what your want.

6. As mentioned below, though techs have to follow protocol, they are tech afterall and can make the process good or bad for you. But on the flipside a poor tech experience can be averted by Manager/Supervisor intervention, or used to your advantage afterward.

(For example, I once brought into a phone for a routine upgrade that took an hour longer than expected, and actually removed all our contacts on my phone rather restoring. As a result we walked out with a sincere apology, and a credit to our account. I didn't mention I keep manual backups at home)

Tips:

Do not always think you'll get what you want once the manager word has been called out! Managers are there to settle things, and actually have their own Managers to ensure they cannot give everything you may or may not. As a result its a shot in the dark to get a manager as it may backfire and seal your fate, preventing your chance of getting what you want ever. However, if you get an employee full of excuses, or trying to prevent you from getting what you want (because it wont make him money or waste his time) then use a Manager to your advantage, and use the employee's irritability to complain about service. This in turn will force the Manager to want to help you, as mentioning the experience to Corporate, with a Corporate Store, can cause a negative impact on the Manager's career and entice them to give you what you want

All of the Carriers have "executive customer relations" at the tippy top of the ladder. These people are hired at the Corporate level to serve as problem solvers and are given much more resources and power to solve issues than any Corporate affiliate. However, you CANNOT call them for everyday incidents, and they must be contacted if you have had issues with Corporate Stores prior and are willing to threaten your continuation of business with the carrier. It's last ditch effort and will not always work or end as you want.

If you want a replacement device, as in a new phone type all together, you used to get a 3 strikes rule, which would give you three devices then replace your phone type all together. However this is not the case anymore, and it's much tougher to get this done. Still try to follow the three strikes protocol, and eventually work your way around the managers (and possibly Customer Relations) to get what you want. It's always a risk though.

The greatest thing you can risk with the carrier is your continuation of service. If you are enough of an asset to them, they will do all in their power to ensure you remain, especially if they think you are tempted to leave. As a result you can use this as a powerful angle to get your way in certain strongarming situations. Meanwhile, if it backfires you will lose almost all your chances at pulling a strongarm against them in the future. Because of this, only use it if you think you are worth enough to your carrier (don't roam a lot, have smartphones, spend a lot of money) to take the chances of going through with this technique.

Being a tech for sprint here are my suggestions.

Dont lie, be upfront.

Be friendly and crack a joke about your situtation without swearing.

Use proper english. If you ever "axe" me a question, your contacts may become corrupt.

And most importany, dont tell me how to do my job. EVER

Imo, not to try an call you out, but this is exactly the type of attitude, rep, you wanna stay away from!! Someone that will corrupt your contacts because they didn't like something you said or tried to "under mind"their knowledge.

Although no 1 likes others to tell them how to do their job, you never, I mean NEVER, mess up their phone/plan/contacts! You smile and bite your tongue, you need to find a different job buddy, where you don't deal with people

Sent from my A81E using Tapatalk

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

Keep em' coming and take advantage of the ones i listed above.

I Love my job man. I love working with people. The ones im talking about are the ones who come in and start off the conversation "heres what your going to do" or walk up to you, shove the phone in your face and say its broken. When you ask whats wrong they simply say "ugh, the same thing as last time" I usualy provide less than stellar service.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

I have to say I kinda agree with akmzero. I have done tech support work in the past, and I used to hate customers like that. When I first moved into IS/IT, I had to work on the "Help Desk", which was a call center for our company that solved computer problems. We supported about 20K users in our company. I always hated when arrogant sales people or Executives would call and try to tell me what I was going to do for them. I would do the bare minimum that was needed to get the douche off the phone.
Now, granted that was only about 1 or 2 percent of the calls, and the rest were always nice friendly people. Whenever a nice friendly person would call, I would do whatever I possibly could to help.

Its like the old saying goes, "You catch more flies with sugar than you do vinegar".

And speaking of the folks that would "axe" you a question, all of our calls were recorded on the help desk, and whenever we had someone call in and speak with stupid ghetto slang or try to "out-tech" us, we would download our CallCopy and post it to a network share we had setup on our san. We would then email the other help desk peeps to share the goodness. LOL.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

classic! i wish we had something like at tha call center i work in

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

Yeah it really depends. You have the people who call up the tech support and actually know what they're talking about (like me,) the other day i called up about my EVO and after getting to the top tier techie, she told me word for word "You sound like you know what you're doing so i'll just let you go to the store and get you a ticket"

then you have the other jackasses who pretend they know what they're doing and dont explain to the tech the basics (such as explaining you already hard reset. tried diff phones and such)

That ticket is how I got my replacement phone to come tuesday and not thursday next week.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

in my 6 years of managing cellular stores, sprint and verizon, i've never purposely hurt a customers feelings, deleted contacts or done anything close. I don't believe that's the way to be if ya ask me. My customers love me! :)

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

THANKED :thumbleft: it doesnt matter how right you are or how wrong they are, it comes w/ the job

So i take it youve never worked in retail huh.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

how did you come up with that assumption from this...
???

yes i worked in retail and also in a restaurant (which, imo, is worse of the 2) there was many times the customer would complain "this isnt med. rare, there is blood, see..." where in my head i say thats what the hell med rare is, you should of asked for med but would in fact say "im so sorry, let me take this back right away and bring you out another one"

it never mattered how wrong they were or how right i was, the customer is always right. i just bite my tongue and let it go then smoked a fattie after work :toothy10:

when i 1st got hired at home depot, in training, they would tell you a story bout this 1 customer that came in w/ a (1) tire (every1 knows home depot dont sell tires) but said he bought it here and wanted his $ back. true story...they gave him store credit for the 1 tire and kept the tire to make a point.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

Hrmmmm, I work indirect and we have customers coming from 2 corporate and at least 4 multi carriers in the area. They keep coming back to my store because of the customer service they receive from my store.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

That's good for them and good to hear retail has good CS! That's one reason people come back, I personally prefer Corporate because i can shake the coconut tree and not worry, while with retail and premium there's a lot less leverage I have. but if they're nice and give you the service you ask for in the beginning, like in that case, then i can see why they skip the Corporate route.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

My store is the only Sprint S&R store in 20 miles, though we are indirect.

A few tips for would-be customers (mainly personal peeves/advice):

1. Managers will usually side with the technician, since we know what we're talking about. Very rarely will they just give into you with consulting the tech for other possible options.

2. If I say your phone is liquid/physically damaged, it probably is. Don't argue with me about it. I've had training to spot these kinds of things, you haven't. I don't care if you didn't spill anything in it or drop it off of a 4th story balcony. Something happened to it to cause it to do what it is or isn't doing, it didn't magically decide to stop working. Humidity is not an excuse either.

3. The more amicable you are with me, the better I will treat you. I absolutely hate when a customer comes in pissed at the world and then starts in on me. That makes me do the absolute minimum to get you out of the store, survey be damned. Customers with huge tempers can be written off of our CSAT results.

Just my personal things, don't mind me.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

Its funny how all these techs feel they have Superior powers and if they sabotage customers property they feel its part of it cause of the "I-don't-have-to-take-it" attitude.

Please people you guys must think that life stops when you clock in for your work....KARMA is a beast and just because you are at work does not mean you are immune to its more awesome power than you think you might have. Remember YOU are also a consumer after you clock out. You would not want subpar service for something you did to someone else?! Unless you are a tech who clocks out and immediately goes to that rock they live in. You know the Anti-Social techs who will look at every customer as a number.

Sometimes a smile :) is all you need to break down a customers temper but how can you smile if you yourself ain't happy?!

CORRECTION Are not happy!?

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

thanks you for this, as i tried explaining before this basic concept.

you will never know everything just b/c you had "training" and someone will always be smarter than you (as will someone to me) its YOUR job to have to put up w/ customer BS....you know why? cause your in retail or customer service. i work/ed in retail and above poster is right, squash it w/ a SMILE ](*,) bit your tongue and deal or you really need to look into another job field

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

Gotta love racism at it's best.

I agree with 1 an 3 but 2 is just plain "ole" wrong.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

LOL. How is improper grammar racism? Illiteracy isn't racist.

It's the same as making fun of someone for using country words like "ain't" or "youngin's". Its not racism, its just not polite.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

You should learn to treat every customer with equal respect as they are the ones who ultimately keep you employed. You have a very condescending attitude towards people. Everyone should treat others nicely , especially when they are the one sustaining you. Remember , customers do not have to buy the product you sell or service . You are dependent upon them, not the other way around. I am sure you have undergone training in the field of phone repairs but to tell people to not argue with you because you say something is so , is fairly silly . You are probably right in MOST instances but I seriously doubt ALL instances. Having owned businesses and working with extremely high profile clients, I know that everyone is better off when you give a bit of respect to the hand that feeds you. Not every customer is going to be happy when something breaks, it's human nature. When you flaunt your Sprint Service technician arrogance( especially here) , it could possibly rub some already unhappy customers the wrong way and make them even more upset or irritated. If you are old enough, you will have heard the phrase " The customer is always right" Well, this may not literally be true, but think about it, there is a reason why that phrase exists.............a happy customer comes back for more because they want to, a pissed off customer tells his friends and family what an A$$ whip it was to deal with people who would not listen to them ....and word of mouth ( and web talk) can bring regimes and rulers alike down. Ask any of the Sprint techs in Egypt.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

what he said ^

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

If you provided stellar service , that same person might smile and befriend you the next time they come in with a problem. Who knows, they might even add a few additional lines of service because they were impressed with the stellar service they might have gotten had the tech been willing to provide every customer with his or her best effort.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

Interesting conversation…. I am in IT field for approximately 10 years, prior to IT I worked in restaurants.... My entire work experience revolves around Customer Service. I do understand exactly what CS rep is talking about. From my experience most of the customers are polite, BUT, every once in a while there is that One customer that ruins your day. I am not referring to people that say -Axe- instead of -Ask- I'm referring to people that believe they are entitled to treat everyone like crap because they think they are better then you. Some people are rude, they believe your sole purpose in life is to serve them. I believe the phrase "Customer is always right" is an oxi-moron. It doesn't mean that the customer is always literally right.
Myself, I'm a Sprint Customer. I do occasionally call for support whether it is sales or tech support and I try to treat people the way I'd like to be treated. When I’m treated unfairly then I treat that person the way I’m treated by him or her…. Anyway, I’m with Sprint well before the merger a few years back, so I`ve been with this carrier for a while. I tell you, that I mostly get frustrated when I review the Sprint.com Forums about their latest a greatest ways of rewarding the customers or around the time I’m shopping for a phone. I came across a lot of idiots in the retail stores and they do get under your skin sometimes. CS reps are not always right either. Here`s an example, I bought a TP2 a while back. I first called the store to verify that phones were in stock. I was told that phone is in stock. I asked to put one on hold for me, just in case. When I arrived at the store I was told that my phone was sold to somebody else because they felt I was not coming. Now, mind you the pervious conversation took place 15 minutes ago… OK.. this sucks, so I ask to order a phone for me. 2 or 3 days later, I receive a call informing me that phone is in. I go back to the store and pay for the phone. Open the box and noticed that case is not included. So, I ask is the case included ? Reply “Yes, but we don’t have it” I ask for a different case, they refuse. It was my own fault not to read of what does and does not come with the phone before going to the store, but it is the CS rep`s job to provide correct this info to the customer, isn’t it ? I take the phone and go home. Feeling a little odd about it, I contact Sprint CS on the phone, after 15 – 20 min of waiting I am told to go back to the store and ask for the case. My assumption was that case came with the phone and somehow it wasn’t in the box with my phone. I go back to the store and ask for the case, in return the CS rep starts cursing me out. Then tosses the case at me! At this point I’m pissed and I return the phone and eat the $35 restock fee…. I go back to using my TP1, a week later TP1 broke and Assurion replaced it with TP2. Sprint lost $400 for the phone and another $20-$40 for the case. Have they been knowledgeable about what they sell, I would`ve gladly spent another $40 for the case and wouldn’t be returning the phone either. Often CS reps feel that they know everything, however some of them do not know the products they sell. Anyway, if you don’t like your job, guess what ? Get a different job. That`s what I did.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

When I go to a rivalry game (say, football) at the visiting stadium, dressed in my teams' regalia, I get treated different ways. When I am happy and jovial (with my kids, enjoying the game), I get casual ribbing, and friendly rival fans. When I'm a jack-hole (I can be), I tend to find jack-holes - profanity laced tirades, and drunken morons. It's my behavior that drives their behavior.

What I'm saying is that respect begets respect. If you respect the customer for their problems, you will probably find more respectful customers. Along the same lines, if you treat your customer service rep with respect, you'll likely see the same back at you.

My wife had some Samsung phone, can't remember which. It could never switch to call waiting properly. While it wasn't an issue most of the time, as you can imagine -- the first very important call that was missed because of the issue was very frustrating-so we took it in to see if it was a problem with the phone. The tech barely looked at the phone for a minute, and then told my wife directly, "I'm pretty sure it's a PEBKAC issue, there is nothing we can do..." As my wife works as an office manager for a software development company - she is well aware of what a PEBKAC issue is ("Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair"). She grabbed her phone and left. Telling my wife that she just didn't know how to use call waiting (which may be the case - it doesn't really matter), was very close to causing us to leave Sprint altogether. It was the online service rep (she called Sprint immediately to report the issue), and his customer service that saved it. Instead of calling out my wife's ineptitude, he offered us an additional $50 off an upgrade. He made a $100 Razr sale, while the previous rep nearly cost 10 years, 2 lines, and a husband that upgrades his phone every year just because he wanted my wife to know that she didn't know how to use call waiting.

There is a fine line with showing someone how to do something properly as that means they were doing something wrong, or don't know something.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

I hate dealing with Customer Service because of the time involved and the great majority of the time, something gets screwed up for everything that gets fixed.

That said, they are people, just like everyone else and I make sure that I do not direct any frustration towards them.

Re: HOW to approach reps at the stores
 

I got remarkably courteous service when I came in wearing a spaghetti strap tee that had been printed in primary red: I'M MENOPAUSAL AND I'M ARMED

Even just walking from the parking garage to the store had a couple of metro cops laughing (we were on a first name basis with a few too many for several years dealing with the hood). . .

An over-washed short denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up made any determination of truth to the tee difficult across the counter!