Hur man får din ISP för att betala uppmärksamhet till dina problem

Först lite bakgrund - som du kan hoppa over helt - jag har endast inklusive den som ska hjälpas att försäkra dig att I (i detta fall) faktiskt vet vad I-förmiddagen som talar om.

Jag har rymt nästan ett dussint olikt placerar för 3 tjänste- familjeförsörjare för olika internet över jaga av min karriär (raddabefordringar - som I grundar alltid att roa därför att I-förmiddagen en högstadiumutgång), alla inom olika kundomsorgavdelningar. Jag startade ut att göra som var faktiskt för att ringa service (då ISDN var den ansedda bredbandet) och avslutat ut som en företags chef för en unnamed (hämndlysten-tastic) bredbandISP. Jag kan inte citera artnamn, eller företaget namnger för detta olika non-avslöjande för artikeln tack vare överenskommelser, och, fast jag inte funderare, avslöjer något som är nedanfört, privat affär övar, mig skulle snarlik lek det kassaskåpet (se den föregående hämndlystna kommentaren). Som en chef mig tvingades in i mer PR som marknadsför och som var nöd- ”behöver vi, att fixa denna fastar” möten, än jag att bry sig för att minnas. Är här vad jag har lärt -

1. Via e-post eller direkt pratstund - fråga för a, varje gång du talar till ett servicemedel på ringa, etikettera numrerar tidig sort på.

   Why? Detta ser till att de skapar faktiskt en etikettera. Medel är beryktade för att undvika detta (det är en smärta i det behind), och en etikettera ser till ett `- rekord' av din kontakt. Var säker att fråga för de kända medlen och läge. Plusen ska du behov som detta info för extra kliver nedanfört (5, 6, 7 och 8).

2. Var artig. Något att säga behar och tackar dig, ingen materia hur tokigt du är.

   Om du är mycket teknisk, berätta inte det till medlet. Understödja dig som är fullkomlig formulera, ”som jag vet härom, än du” medlet som ska för att gå ut ur deras långt att inte hjälpa din arrogant röv. Sätt din away ego. Medlet som ska för att inte vara least, bet imponerat med din MCSE, eller A+-attesteringen, försäkrar jag dig. Gå till och med vinkar, även om du vet att de ska inte hjälp (som nollställdes modemet, läs dem en e-postserverinställningarna etc.). Servicemedel har att ta fram bearbetar, som kan legitimately lösa ditt problem (i många fall), men ska inte alltid för att använda dem, om de önskar att få av ringa med dig - därför att några av dem är tidskrävande och/eller svåra att använda.

   Something you may not know - technical support agents are held to certain ‘metrics’ - and one of them is “average handle time”. The average handle time is generally somewhere between 7 and 10 minutes. As soon as they’ve been on the phone with you for 10 minutes, they’re looking for ways to hang up. If you’re polite and friendly, the agent is much more likely to stay on the phone with you. Promotions and raises are very much based on adherence to these metrics, so when an agent spends more than 10 minutes with you, it’s literally hindering their career. Oh - and actually helping you solve your problem is less important to the ISP than the amount of time the agent spent on the phone with you.

3. Never, and I repeat never, threaten legal action to someone on the phone or via email.

   Not only do they not care, the ISP itself doesn’t. Every single large ISP has an army of in-house lawyers, with multiple armies of outsourced law firms. That, coupled with the fact your Terms of Service almost certainly grant the ISP the ability to do whatever they want, makes a lawsuit almost entirely pointless. Several ISP’s train their phone agents to state something along the lines of “well sir/madam, a lawsuit/class-action is absolutely within your rights” and then politely hang up on you. The same holds true with ‘threats’ about contacting the Better Business Bureau - your ISP simply does not care.

4. Very similar to the above suggestion, never ever tell your ISP that you rely on your Internet connection for your livelihood.

   The second they hear that you’re using it for any type of “business” purposes (including ebay auctions), they will immediately tell you that you’re on a ‘residential plan’ that has absolutely no guarantees. They will be more than happy to ‘upgrade’ your service to a business class product - which will primarily include a huge increase to your monthly bill. With that said, if you DO have a business class plan, by all means let them know that each minute your connection is down you’re losing money - but again, remain polite.

5. Be absolutely certain to document each and every time you contact your ISP, and by what method. Dates and times, method of contact, ticket number (see step 1 above), the agents name and location, and a summary of your interactions.
6. Write a letter to the CEO of your ISP.

   Copy the CIO, COO and anyone in upper management you can find. That’s right, a plain old-fashioned snail-mail letter. Cable companies in particular are still extremely old school, and will respond to a letter much, much more seriously. I cannot count the number of times that I, as a corporate manager (my job description didn’t come close to including one-on-one contact with customers) was told to drop everything I was doing and phone a customer who wrote a letter to the CEO. Now in my particular case I was the “go-to” guy for this type of thing because I had a technical background and didn’t mind doing it at all. In these instances I was granted the power to do anything that it took to make the customer happy - crediting significant amounts of money to the customers account, having local technicians dispatched immediately (not that day, that HOUR) etc. For your convenience I’ve included the mailing addresses for some of the larger broadband ISP’s below. If your ISP’s CEO/President isn’t listed below, try checking their home page in the “About Us” or “Contact Us” section.

   Comcast:
   Brian L. Roberts
   CEO, Comcast Corporation
   1500 Market Street
   Philadelphia PA 19102

   Verizon:
   Ivan Seidenberg
   CEO, Verizon Communications
   140 West Street
   New York, NY 10007

   Cox:
   Patrick J. Esser
   President, Cox Communications Inc.
   1400 Lake Hearn Drive
   Atlanta, Georgia 30319 U.S.A.

   Time Warner:
   Glenn A. Britt
   President and CEO, Time Warner Cable
   One Time Warner Center
   New York, NY 10019-8016

   Rogers:
   Ted Rogers, President and CEO
   P.O. Box 249 Toronto-Dominion Centre, Suite 2600, Commercial Union Tower
   Toronto, Ontario
   M5K 1J5

   Shaw:
   Jim Shaw
   Chief Executive Officer
   630-3rd Avenue S.W.
   Calgary, Alberta
   T2P 4L4

   Don’t for one second think that the actual CEO will read your letter, but their administrative assistants, secretaries and mail readers are trained to pass letters of this nature to the appropriate person or group within customer care.

7. If the problem is unique or you believe it might be widespread, get the attention of the media.

   Blogs like Consumerist are a great way to get attention, but old-fashion print and TV media are best. See http://comcastissue.blogspot.com/ as an example of how the media will get a cable company off of their collective asses and resolve a problem that shouldn’t have occurred in the first place.

8. Seek out the help of fellow customers on online forums such as BroadbandReports.com.

   Whatever your problem, chances are someone else has experienced it as well, and forums are a great place to see how others got their issues resolved. In addition, some forums have employees lurking in the background, and those employees will sometimes help shed some light on your problem.

9. If your problem involves sloppy wiring or work around your house, take pictures and/or video. Make a creative video of it and post it on YouTube. The sleeping tech video still makes me laugh, after 20 or so viewings.

Have you had a problem that your ISP finally resolved? How did you get them to take action? Please feel free to share tips using the comment form below. If it’s a particularly good tip I’ll include it in the article itself (of course citing you as the source). Good luck!