PDA

View Full Version : This company doesn't communicate


ClubSteeler
10-17-08, 07:59 AM
I had a service problem. After many calls to CSR, and getting nothing but excuses and denials that it's not their fault, I came to this board for some help.

Thanks to mods and others for your help. I am all set now.

Part of me getting a solution, surprisingly, was by emailing them. The first response was a canned response and I doubt the rep even read my message. I replied back, somewhat harshly, and asked him to actually read my message before responding and a sent a little threat to contact the VP of Customer Service.

Well this guy personally called me back. And he was very helpful. And as we were talking, he kind of explained how there are approx 60 email CSR reps at any given time, and they are also trained to be techs and could be very helpful. He also hinted at, without saying it, that when you call CSRs, they are untrained phone operators.

And I have found that by emailing, if I can convince them that I'm not an idiot, they will respond, call back, and work with me, unlike the phone CSRs.

So back to my story... This guys decided that I need to have a service call and he sets one up for me, and he credits the service charge to my account. Great. About 5 days before the service, I realize that my service address is my old house, and my billing address is my new address. So I email them to fix it, and tell them to make sure that the service company knows to come to the right place. I geta a reply saying that my info was updated, but they have no record of me having any service call scheduled. Great.

OK, maybe I'll try again next week. So I make plans on the afternoon I was going to wait around for the service call.

as I am ready to walk out the door, the tech calls and tells me that he went to my old house and needs my new address. I apologized and printed out the email to show him that I was told that I never had a service call set up, and that I fixed my address, and none of this was ever communicated to him. Anyway, he was there in 10 minutes and fixed my problem. He was friendly and knowledgeable.

So... I'm not rally sure what my point to this story is.. Other than..
A suggestion: Start CSR contact through email rather than phone, but ask them to call you back. This is the best way to get a well trained CSR.

And, my CSR experience overall satisfactorily fixed my problem, but they really need to work on their communication between email CSR, phone CSR, and service.

BattleZone
10-17-08, 10:53 AM
Like any big company that has lots of customer contact, DirecTV has both internal and outsourced call centers to handle various issues. Not surprisingly, communication between all of the different divisions, both internal and outsourced, is never easy.

JLucPicard
10-17-08, 03:10 PM
I did a Mover's Connection in April 07 and the tech calls me and and says he's "here". He was calling from the driveway of my old address. How hard should it be to find the right address on a Mover's Connection call??? :)

Luckily I only moved about a mile or two from there, so not really a big wasted trip. Cracked me up!

Grentz
10-17-08, 03:16 PM
Communication is hard, especially with not only the size of Directv, but the fact that they used contracted out installer companies in many areas.

BattleZone
10-17-08, 03:57 PM
I did a Mover's Connection in April 07 and the tech calls me and and says he's "here". He was calling from the driveway of my old address. How hard should it be to find the right address on a Mover's Connection call??? :)


It wasn't the installer's fault; the CSR who processed your MC didn't update your address correctly. It was only the installer's time and gas that was wasted.

RobertE
10-17-08, 04:08 PM
I've been sent to the customers old address too many times to count.

The best one was earlier this summer. House number was something like 1165 Your street. GPS said I was there. See a 1163 & 1167 but no 1165. :confused: I do see a hole where there was/could be a house. Primary number disconnected. Have the dispatch office do a lookup and find another number for the customer.

As it turns out, the house had burned to the ground a few weeks prior and had been demolished just a few days prior. :eek2: So I get the new address and off I go. :nono2:

capegator
10-17-08, 04:19 PM
Is there a better/best time/day to call D*? Do more senior CSRs work a particular shift, or is it all a crap shoot?

Eug
10-17-08, 04:25 PM
I've been having a problem since the day I started my DirecTV service nearly a year ago. Every few months I try calling them to get the problem solved, and it never ends well. After not having tried since April, I called again this morning. After being passed around to about 8 people over the course of an hour and a half, I still havn't found anyone willing to solve the problem.

Maybe I'll try email as suggested at the top of this thread. I can't think of much else to try before just giving up and returning to Comcast or something.

dcowboy7
10-17-08, 05:38 PM
they communicated that fox news went hd today....oh wait....nevermind.

rsteinfe
10-18-08, 07:42 AM
Part of me getting a solution, surprisingly, was by emailing them. The first response was a canned response and I doubt the rep even read my message. I replied back, somewhat harshly, and asked him to actually read my message before responding and a sent a little threat to contact the VP of Customer Service.


I had the same experience about a year ago. I emailed them to let them know that several HD PPV's on their website did not have "order now" buttons, while others did, and I wondered how to order the PPV I wanted via the website.

Their email response was that they found that "most problems of the kind you have encountered can be solved by unplugging your receiver for a few minutes.":eek2:

After a second email to them suggesting that it might actually be appropriate to read customers' emails before replying, I did receive an apologetic email from a CSR acknowledging the website problem, including a temporary workaround.

shedberg
10-18-08, 07:51 AM
I've been having a problem since the day I started my DirecTV service nearly a year ago. Every few months I try calling them to get the problem solved, and it never ends well. After not having tried since April, I called again this morning. After being passed around to about 8 people over the course of an hour and a half, I still havn't found anyone willing to solve the problem.

Maybe I'll try email as suggested at the top of this thread. I can't think of much else to try before just giving up and returning to Comcast or something.

The folks here can be very helpful and knowledgable. Have you tried posting your problem here for some help?