I’m married to a former Verizon executive. Even we had billing issues with them. (In his defense, this was not the area he was in charge of!)
I agree that the TSA is worst in customer service. Our family joke, back when you got a choice between the scanner or a pat down, was “Naked Internet pictures or make out with a TSA agent?”
Verizon is a descendent of the late, unlamented NY Telephone/NYNEX, and their customer service shows it, especially the verizon wireless. I have had all kinds of problems with my family plan, like screwing up my phone to show my wife’s name when I called someone, or where I tried to shift an upgrade for a phone from one number to another and the website literally crashed, then tried to get their support to do what I needed and getting told “we can’t do it either, sorry” and basically hung up…I don’t have FIOS (I just have a phone through them, that uses the FIOS technology) and from what I have heard their support is horrible.
Dell customer service is atrocious, when I got my last desktop they totally screwed up the order, turned out the machine I ordered was no longer available, but spent weeks trying to find out what happened…and then when I had a tech issue with the machine, I got one idiot in India after another reading from a checklist when I knew what the problem was, I finally got mad enough I called the business rep my firm uses and got to someone who knew what I needed and was able to help.
I have been very fortunate with my cable service (Optimum), any time I have had problems their customer support was really good, and the service guys were good, too, I have no complaints.
I have had pretty good luck with Amazon, my only complaint is they kind of bury the customer service numbers and make them hard to find, and their online help isn’t that easy when tracking down some things (for example, a charge for prime service I couldn’t figure out, didn’t show anywhere in my account data).
My local car dealer that I get my cars serviced at is really good, they don’t try and push on non critical repairs, and they now have service 7 days a week, and you don’t need to make an appointment. Compared to the dealers I have dealt with over the years, a big breath of fresh air.
We often complain about government agencies, but here is an example of one that stepped in to help solve my problem. I received a letter from Soc. Sec. advising me that my deceased wife’s pension plan payments would begin in 2017. So I called her former employer and was given HR’s number to call.
My two voice mail messages were never answered so I drove to the company headquarters. The receptionist was helpful, but the HR manager told her that he was “in a meeting.” So she gave me a Houston HR number of their parent company to call. So I called them and nobody had a clue about this pension plan but told me to see if she still had any of their life insurance. I gave them pension plan numbers and all of the details too.
Googling “Defined Benefit Plans” eventually got me to the Boston office of the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA). The young fellow listened to me and I sent him copies of the forms. He soon called and gave me another number in Houston to call after going through the same wild goose chase as me. I spoke to a woman and mailed her copies. The young fellow then conference called her and me and soon an actuary was assigned to calculate the benefit. I just got a call this week from the young fellow, and now I am waiting for forms to sign so a check can be mailed to me. Meanwhile back at the ranch, the head of HR in town has still never contacted me!
California Bureau of Automotive Repair
They call you right away and deal with the extreme “estimates” for repair at certain dealerships.
They’ve scared the Bejesus out of some car dealers I’ve had to deal with.
I wasn’t expecting much when I emailed customer service about a tee shirt from Zazzle that hadn’t arrived several
days after the latest delivery date, and the tracking information was very ambiguous. I contacted them by e-mail and got a quick response; after a couple quick back-and-forths, they said they would send a replacement by the fastest method. Of course the original package arrived the next day, over a week late…but I was pleased with the quick and useful response. Usually sending emails doesn’t work well–they are often ignored.
I’ve always been a fan of Costco. I find them always helpful and friendly. Sometimes when it’s really busy they even scan your items while you are still standing in line so when you get to the register you pay and your on your way. Of course, their return policy is amazing and I’ve never had an issue. I’ve used their Technical Concierge service on more than one occasion and I get through to someone right away who is always helpful (and I can understand!).
I haven’t had any issues with Amazon either. Easy to return stuff and rarely any delivery issues (and compensated when there are any).
I had a good experience with Zazzle as well. My D didn’t like the custom shirt I bought for her. They refunded the money but told me to keep the shirt (it was customized, so what were they going to do with it anyway).
ATT Uverse has been okay most of the time…nothing spectacular – except one particular repair man who (after several had already failed to find the problem with my internet and I was getting quite frustrated) found and fixed the problem. And he texted me a few days later to make sure it was still up and running. Yay.
Here’s a story of a company that no longer exists…We bought a Saturn (way back when). They guaranteed the purchase for 30 days (bring it back for any reason). We actually had our transmission (if I recall correctly) go bad within a few days of purchase. When we called, they simply asked if we wanted them to fix it or if we wanted to return it. Well, we decided to exchange it for a new one. While in the process I decided that I wanted a different color as well. No problem. They got us a new car. When we arrived to do the exchange they were as friendly and pleasant as they were when we bought the car in the first place.
(I was thinking of switching to Verizon for wireless…but your stories are making me double think that one!)
Directv used to be good, and then they were bought by the evil overlord AT&T, and we ended up dumping them this summer after 20 years.
My loyalty only extends so far.
I like Tmobile (at least a decade), Costco, and Disney used to be good, but they’re slipping lately due to crazy growth at the theme parks. Amazon prime treats me fine 
There are some small local stores here that are well known for good service, and some that are well known for terrible service, so I don’t always think it’s a size thing.
Hot water heater went out Friday night. Lowe’s website indicated same-day installation was available on hot water heaters in our area. Got up at the crack of dawn Saturday to buy a water heater. It was finally installed today (Wednesday), and required two trips to the store and three half-days off work on my part.
@aunt bea :
“California Bureau of Automotive Repair
They call you right away and deal with the extreme “estimates” for repair at certain dealerships.”
Ohhh, I really could have used this information over the years. Thanks, though.
LLBean all the way for best customer service.
Rising back to its former place among insurers who hire the right people, after having taken the big plunge for a while: USAA
allyphoe’s comment on Lowe’s reminded me…We recently purchased a washer from Lowe’s. They said they would contact us within 24 hours to schedule an appointment for installation. Much to our shock we received a call within 24 hours that they would be in our home in 15 minutes to install it. Thank goodness we were home! Sort of good customer service (quick installation) and bad (bad communication) at the same time!. The guy who came to install was excellent and even pointed out a small hidden dent in the washer to make sure we were okay with that or wanted a different delivery.
@allyphoe I have to agree with your experience on Lowe’s
We had a built-in microwave over the range. Since our house was built over 20 years ago, the microwaves have since changed in size. We had to special order a new microwave with specific dimensions and went to the new Lowe’s down the street.
They told us the order would take two weeks to come in. We prepaid (special order) for the microwave with installation.
Two weeks later, I call Lowe’s and ask: “Any news on our order?”
The person on the phone sounded surprised. I gave her the order number, receipt number, salesperson, etc.
I told her what we ordered.
She said that it wasn’t in and just to be sure, she wanted to know the color, size, model number, size, price paid, everything.
Either that day or the next day, I get a call from customer service, thanking me for my recent order and asking my opinion. I asked “which order date are you talking about?” She gave me the recent new order date.
So I told her that we had previously ordered the microwave and apparently it had not been ordered the first time. She tried to defend it saying that it was probably a confirmation of the original order. Puhlease! I know a screw up when I hear it.
Did it come in two weeks later???
Heck no! I kept getting apologetic calls about the second order. I kept telling them that an original order was not previously ordered so they were behind 6 weeks. I kept wanting to cancel it but my husband said, lets wait.
Two months after the first order, we get a call that its in and for us to come pick it up. We said, no, we paid for delivery and installation, (which, of course, they didn’t have the original record) so we told them to deliver it. They said they couldn’t do without charging us because their copy didn’t show that. So, I said, “I will bring in my copies to show you what was signed and paid for”. I had to bring in my original copies, which of course, floored them because they had NO RECORD of them. How do you lose a computer order and receipts???
Then they sent one microwave via delivery. . . . . . .
And, another microwave shows up several days later with the installation guy.
No Lowe’s for us. We haven’t been back since. Home Depot is more convenient.
@“aunt bea” @allyphoe sorry you had such a struggle getting Lowe’s to honor their commitments. We unfortunately had a month-long issue getting a dishwasher we purchased from them delivered. Repeated visits to the store and multiple phone calls were not effective; in utter frustration, I eventually resorted to tweets and Facebook posts to their page. That combination resulted in our dishwasher being installed the next day.
The Home Depot is a classic example of stores that made their name on customer service deciding it wasn’t important any more. Home Depot used to be a kind of retirement job for plumbers and electricians and other people along those lines, and it showed in the stores, you could get good advice on almost anything. When Home Depot was sold by Arthur Krock, it went downhill, these days the stores are full of minimum wage workers who haven’t been trained and if you ask for something, are more likely to give you a blank stare than anything else.
I also have dealt with their customer service from things like trying to schedule a contractor and with something that got lost in the system, and it was a nightmare, the customer service was in India and all I got was “I am so sorry for what happened, can we offer you a 25 dollar store card for your trouble?”. I always hope someone will come around with better customer service, I try to use our local lumberyard/home improvement store, I actually like them a lot and stuff doesn’t cost all that much more, but like a lot of these places they are open only 8-5 Monday to Friday and a couple of hours on Saturday, hard with my schedule:(.
Agree that Home Depot has gone downhill, but we found a Home Depot that is a “contractor’s” home depot with less customers (poor location) and they seem to be okay so far.
Costco is the best!
Also Columbia Sportswear is amazing, as is Eagle Creek. I had a jacket I bought from Eastern Mountain Sports in 2000 or 2002. About a decade later, I noticed it was starting to have white flakes coming from it and was no longer water resistant. They asked me to mail it back and choose something of similar or lesser value from their catalog which they nailed to be as s free replacement. My Eagle Creek waistpack/purse has been repaired many, many times by Ragle Creek at no charge.
@alh and @Building Thanks for the suggestions on dealing with Verizon. Everything is up and running now and I was told to wait for the actual bill. Luckily for me, their biggest screw ups are documented by online chats. (I always have it emailed.) My mom lives across the country from me and she did have a grandson drive to her local Verizon store. They were helpful sorting out her end of things.
We’ve been customers since 1999 and this is the first issue that couldn’t get fixed with one phone call. And it’s been a doozy! Got an email today that I haven’t accepted Mom’s line transfer and that it will be cancelled. Whaaat?! Called and was told the email was a system glitch and not to worry. I’ve drafted an email to the CEO (who coincidentally has the same MBA as DH). Probably just a cathartic exercise, but I like to keep my social media private so won’t likely go that route. One rep did say that Verizon will give an “inconvenience credit” but my goal is to negotiate the lowest monthly bill as possible so I’m going to work that angle.
Another CenturyLink outage tonight - third one in a week. They think I need a new box (since the one from last week won’t reset) and she was going to send me one, it would take about a week. No. Oh, I could pick one up in Moscow Idaho. I live in Denver. So she wrote that I ‘demanded’ a service call. Yes, I’m being very demanding wanting my TV to actually work.
It is very strange since the other boxes work, just the one I like to watch doesn’t. I think they have it wired wrong.
If all else fails you can switch the boxes around.
But, yes! they need to take care of this immediately.
Sorry, but I think Verizon is shooting fish in a barrel and we’re the fish. Afaiac, everything is as difficult as possible.
Recently, both HD and Lowe’s, back and forth, back again, rinse and repeat. All for a seasonal energy item. Cut wrong, wrong material, no full quantity I needed in stock. (C’mon this is winter related, New England, why no stock?) Some of this was my fault, some theirs. I ended up returning lots, starting over, near tears.
But know what? Every single employee I dealt with, in four stores (3 HD, 1 L,) showed up when paged to the aisle, was incredibly helpful, patient, and nice. Definitely. Answered many questions, took the returns back with no hesitation. It was customer service.