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My hatred of Bellsouth has been well publicized, so I don't feel the need to spend a lot of time explaining why I don't like the company. To sum it up, they have disconnected my phone line four different times (as of this writing), and each time not only cannot explain why it's been disconnected, but several times even won't admit that it's their fault. Not only have I never missed a payment, I've never even been remotely close to being LATE on a payment. The last several months I've actually been signed up to where they automatically deduct my payments from my checking account, which means that I couldn't possibly be late on a payment. That is, of course, unless my checking account had less than $35 in it, in which case my cardboard box on the street probably wouldn't need phone service.
So anyway, our calls to Bellsouth have been met in different ways. At least once, they said our phone service had been disconnected for over a month (despite the fact that it worked the day before), and gave no reason why it had been disconnected. After not having service for a weekend, it magically worked the next Monday. Several of our other calls have been met with responses such as "Your phone number does not exist" and "You're not showing up in my computer". The best story was the last time it happened...on the same call, Tammy talked to three different people. Two of them said our phone number doesn't exist; one said it exists but was disconnected. No one ever seems interested in staying with us to try and figure out the root of the problem... they're all too eager to just transfer our call to another department so that's it's not their problem anymore. Obviously, the last department seems to be fixing our problem each time, because we eventually get our service back (although sometimes not for days, because this department only keeps standard business hours). But that department doesn't seem to be interested in knowing WHY our line keeps getting disconnected in the first place (or why some of their computers show us as not existing). I've been in the business world long enough to know that they have to follow up with the other departments to get anything
fixed.
All of this, in addition to the fact that when they transfer you from department to department, they never tell the person they're transferring you to anything you said. So you have to repeat everything three times.
There's a chance it might actually be fixed now, because this last time they finally sent someone out to look at it. Of course, they didn't decide to do this until they were rude to Tammy several times and insisted that the problem was a wiring problem inside, or a problem with one of our phones. I'm no electrical engineer, but I know enough about telephone wiring to know that the problem wasn't on the inside. But they wouldn't believe us...they finally sent someone out, intending to charge us when he had to fix the problem on the inside (for those of you who haven't dealt with this before, if the problem is on the outside, they fix it for free; if it's on the inside, they charge you (unless you have a maintenance contract, which is a HUGE waste of money). Anyhow, the guy came out, and checked the outside first. Guess what? He found faulty wiring...he called Tammy and told her everything was fixed.
I wish this episode ended there...since the phone was working again, Tammy checked the voice mail...there was an automated message from Bellsouth from a few hours earlier, saying that they had determined the problem was inside our apartment. ARG! GET YOURSELF TOGETHER, PEOPLE. The next day, we got yet another automated call from Bellsouth, this time saying that the problem was on the outside. Very helpful...(smirk)...
So that sums it up for Bellsouth. In addition to usually having to sit on hold for a while, the customer service people are often rude, and apparently have no clue what's going on. If we get disconnected again, heads will roll. At least now I won't lose internet access since I have a cable modem.
My comparitive company is UPS. I know that Bellsouth and UPS are in totally different businesses, but that doesn't really matter. Customer service is something most all companies have to deal with in some form or another.
I got a new computer a few weeks ago, and it came with a free printer. I don't need the printer, but hey, it was free. Anyhow, it was shipped separately from the rest of the computer, a day later. We received the computer on a Tuesday, and by that Friday I was wondering where my printer was. I got the tracking number from Dell's website, and went to UPS's website to track it. There, I was confused to learn that the package had been delivered...also on Tuesday...and signed for by a name I didn't recognize. Obviously, I was very confused, so I emailed UPS and explained my situation. I was almost expecting to have to call, but I figured I'd at least try the email route, since it's much easier than calling.
A few hours later, I got an email back from UPS. They told me that the package had been delivered to one of my neighbors, and asked whether I could get it from them or if they needed to send someone out to get it. Needless to say, this didn't make me very happy. UPS can deliver packages to a neighbor if you're not home, but only if you authorize them to, and I hadn't. I didn't even know the people they had delivered it to, but a quick check with my dad showed that the person who signed for it did indeed live there.
The whole story of getting the package back could probably be a rambling in itself, but that's not what this one is about. Basically, we got the package back, and so I emailed UPS back to tell them that I got it.
This next part is what sets UPS way apart from someone like Bellsouth. The next day, UPS actually called to get the details of what happened. That's right, *they* called *us*, and it wasn't a telemarketing call. They wanted to know what had happened so they could forward it to the B'ham office and figure out why the driver gave our package to the wrong address.
To sum things up, what I discovered happened was this: The neighbors had also ordered a computer around that same time, and were also expecting a printer shipped via UPS (possibly even the exact same model of printer). Our address is 2711, and theirs is 2717, so when the driver was giving them their packages, it wouldn't be THAT hard to make a mistake. Something should probably have beeped or something when he scanned the barcode on the printer (their computer knew it was delivered to the wrong address but didn't stop him).
The fact that it was delivered to the wrong people frustrates me, but it really doesn't make me angry. Mostly because of the way UPS handled it. They admitted that they made a mistake. They offered to correct it themselves if I didn't want to. And best of all, they even called to make sure everything was okay and to apologize for what happened.
Then again, UPS has legitimate competition. Bellsouth doesn't.