Bad customer service experience with Kobo

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by Mortis

Ahh so a lot like those Adult Sites then, many teens have been lost to them

time just flies by !

[GeoffC]

time flies ? using which airline?

[ShooterMcGee]

Bad customer service with a side of bad customer. Mistakes happen, and the offer of a free book was generous considering it may have been customer error that caused the double purchase. A $50 gift card is a very nice gift. I wouldn't think someone was cheap at all for giving me $50 as opposed to $100. I would actually feel the $100 is too much and be uncomfortable taking it, even from family. Of course, I'd take it if they insisted hehe

But, the OP is right in being upset that they didn't really read through her messages. I have had that before with other businesses, and it is very aggrivating. Hi, did you even read my email?!

[GeoffC]

Originally Posted by ShooterMcGee

Hi, did you even read my email?!

and isn't it amazing how the answer comes back, occasionally apologetic -

so why do they not read it properly in the first instance instead of looking for a few words, and then posting a comment that is available in 'normal' FAQs....

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by ShooterMcGee

I have had that before with other businesses, and it is very aggrivating. Hi, did you even read my email?!

Ever deal with Dell? *shudder* I've had the misfortune. They apparently have a script to respond to keywords in your email and send you form letters, or have humans who do the exact same thing. You explain your situation: "I have this device. For these reasons, I cannot give you that number." Their response: "Send us that number. You will find it there." (on a device you don't actually have) And so on, through multiple emails, all of them written by morons. They managed, over a period of a week, to turn me from a neutral consumer to someone rabidly anti-Dell who has discouraged three other people (friends and relatives) from buying collectively thousands of dollars of hardware from them, and told the full story to dozens of people, at least some of whom probably decided not to deal with Dell as a result. A simple "no, we can't do that" (specifically, not letting me have a driver unless I'd bought a complete system directly from Dell) would have been sufficient. Instead, there were four phone calls and over a week of email. (of course, most companies just have a driver download section on their websites in the first place)

My emails to Dell were clear and unambiguous. They didn't read them anyway. There's some room for misinterpretation in the OP's emails, and the "no, don't cancel the card, my mother will expect two birthday presents" one was sent after they'd already canceled it. I'm sure they weren't expecting what she actually wanted -- she wanted to pay for one card and receive two -- so they saw what they usually got, someone who accidentally ordered two of something and wanted to cancel one. They could have read it a bit better, yeah ... but that's not at all surprising, since most CSR's only seem to be able to respond to things they see regularly, not anything unusual. And certainly not anything downright strange, like someone expecting to be given a free gift card because of an error which was almost certainly theirs.

And then there's AT&T, who won't take "die in a fire" for an answer. (that being my latest, after "no", "please do not call me again", and "stop freaking calling me!") Oh, is there ever AT&T.

Then there's the famous chain restaurant where the customer service (and the manager trainee's attitude) was so bad, I wound up talking to the regional operations director. It takes a fair bit of mad for me to not only email but later call a corporate office, especially over a period of a week. (it turned out the actual restaurant manager was in the hospital for emergency surgery!) He was a wonderful person and resolved the issue, but the original idiot isn't qualified to bus tables, let alone deal with angry customers staring in disbelief at remarkably botched meals.

And I ought to put AT&T on the list again just because I despise them so much, and I can't get them to stop calling me. ("I will never do business with you, so you're wasting your time" does not work either)

I wish Dell, the place with the manager trainee problem, or AT&T had customer service as good as Kobo. Yeah, Kobo missed realizing that what she wanted was patently ridiculous, but they tried to give her what they thought she wanted, and they offered her a free book by way of an apology. Not that I'd take anything free from Dell or AT&T -- it would probably have cooties.

edit:

Originally Posted by GeoffC

and isn't it amazing how the answer comes back, occasionally apologetic -

Not if they're Dell. Then they just send some other random form letter, or go to some other random part of their script, which seemingly has little to do with the actual content of your email. It's truly remarkable.

[GeoffC]

Dell is one firm I do not appreciate - they make more trouble for themselves than they are worth.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

Dell is one firm I do not appreciate - they make more trouble for themselves than they are worth.

I've had very good experiences with Dell, personally. I own a Dell desktop and three Dell laptops at present. I've had excellent customer service from them on the rare occasions I've needed it - which is why I keep buying from them.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've had very good experiences with Dell, personally. I own a Dell desktop and three Dell laptops at present. I've had excellent customer service from them on the rare occasions I've needed it - which is why I keep buying from them.

The trick with Dell is to deal with their small business division, rather than the consumer division. Small business seems to be their bread and butter. My employer does a lot of business with them, to the extent we have a premier account with a team of CSRs taking care of us. Better prices, outstanding service, and usually willing to cut us a deal on shipping and such. Now that they've moved their call centers back to some place where English is a native language, I'll even deal with them on the phone for warranty problems. (And if that's a concern, use their online chat function instead - it's much harder to type with a thick accent.)

[Catlady]

I've been buying Dell for 15 or so years, and I've never had a major problem with their products or their customer service--I've bought in both their home and business divisions. I have mostly contacted them by phone or chat, not e-mail.

One thing I really like is that they usually do a call-back to see if your problem has been solved. I would rate them quite high in customer service.

[HarryT]

So would I.

[Astrakan]

Regarding Dell customer service, here's what happened to me a while back:

My Dell laptop started acting up. Whenever I would adjust the angle of the screen I'd get horizontal lines across the bottom third of the screen. This happened on Sunday night. I call Dell, they tell me they'll send me a box.

Monday morning, the doorbell rings. My box is delivered. Monday afternoon I pack up my laptop and call for a pickup. Within an hour my laptop has been picked up. It's now 5:30 PM on Monday night. Less than 24 hours after I placed my service call.

Tuesday I get an e-mail from Dell saying they've received my laptop.

Wednesday morning, the doorbell rings. My laptop is returned to me, the motherboard and LCD screen have been replaced.

Total turnaround time: 39 hours from laptop leaving my house to laptop's return to my house. Or 62 hours since I placed the service call.

That's what I call amazing customer service.

[Worldwalker]

My Dell story is a bit less system-centric. I had a Dell monitor I'd bought surplus from a friend's employer. I needed a color-matching file for it (think "driver"), something you can get from most companies' websites' driver download areas. Well, Dell's website didn't have a driver download section. The upshot of several weeks of phone calls and emails was a Dell representative telling me, in as many words, that only people who had purchased complete systems directly from Dell, and which were still under warranty, could obtain drivers. If for example you bought it from someone other than Dell, if you had, say, only a monitor, not a full system, or if your warranty had expired, no drivers for you. I have never heard of a computer company with a policy that was so demented. And it took me two weeks, multiple phone calls, and multiple emails to find this out.

I also have an HP inkjet printer right next to me. It's my third. I've had two HP scanners, there's an HP computer on the other side of this desk, etc. My previous printer did something very bad to its little plastic gears. I called HP. The CSR told me to try a couple of things, and when they proved that I knew what I was talking about, he said the FedEx driver would be there the next day. Which he was. As was my replacement printer, and the shipping label to send my borked one back. HP has sold me another (higher res) printer, a scanner, and a computer on the basis of that support call. And if I should happen to need a driver for any HP product, I know I can download one here, without need for imbecilic CSRs.

Dell thought that denying me a monitor color-matching file would induce me to buy a complete system from Dell.

HP thought that replacing my broken printer would induce me to buy more things from HP.

Only one of them was right.

Though I should point out, I never demanded anything I hadn't paid for from HP. I'm not that kind of person.

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by unicorn1

I don't think asking them to correct their mistake is being greedy. Period.

They did. They cancelled one card.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Well, Dell's website didn't have a driver download section.

Really? Cuz they certainly do now. Type in http://www.dell.com/, and follow the "Technical Support" link at the top right of the page. In the menu on the left side of the screen, the top link is "Support Home Page." Directly below that is the "Drivers and Downloads" section, and the top link is "Drivers Home." In the middle of the screen for that section, there is a link to "Select Product," where you can put in either a Service Tag number or select by model.

(Whether or not they have color profiles for monitors, I don't know. That suggests a somewhat specialized usage (like graphics arts), and I don't know if Dell caters to that market.)

When did your experience happen? Cuz the links I mentioned above have been there for as long as I've dealt with Dell, which has been quite a few years.

[Pushka]

kindle CS sometimes don't read emails. I suspect it is the offshore replies. They seize on a word in the email, which is usually not a relevant word anyway, and then create their response all around that word. And at the end ask you if it was helpful. So if you have the patience, you click on the No link and then try to respond saying why it wasn't helpful and then try again to get your original problem sorted. Which of course means you end up ringing them.