Annoyed. My First Vent of the New Year

[robinb]

Even if you return it, likely it will get destroyed. That's happens with most used/opened returns from Amazon, I think?

Amazon sells their returns in multiple ways. One, is on their own Amazon Marketplace as used items. Another way is that they sell “return pallets” of random junk. Another way is they sell entire truck loads of return pallets to liquidators who then sell to the public.

 

[Karin1984]

Amazon sells their returns in multiple ways. One, is on their own Amazon Marketplace as used items. Another way is that they sell “return pallets” of random junk. Another way is they sell entire truck loads of return pallets to liquidators who then sell to the public.

Ah good to know. I did some googling, because I was sure there was something about returned products being destroyed. This is about Europe (where I am), but if it is cheaper here to destroy the product than to resell it, I wouldnt be surprised if this is / was the case in the US.

https://www.businessinsider.com/ama...stroyed-inventory-from-unsold-products-2021-8

 

[gopack]

A similar thing happened to my DD before Christmas. She received 2 of a cooking gizmo she ordered from Costco. She called their customer service to let them know and they told her she would have to take it to a UPS store to return it to them. She told them it was their mistake and if they wanted it they could have UPS pick it up. Customer service said they would only do that if the item cost $900 or more ( this was a $250 item). She told them it was a bulky, heavy item and reiterated that if they wanted it they could come get it, thanks and goodbye. I was surprised at the lack of customer service. If you don’t want it back just say so instead of leaving a bad taste in the customer’s mouth.
My husband also cannot get rid of boxes fast enough. It drives me crazy. I have some pants to return to Lands End and guess what, no box to put them in.

 

[Karin1984]

A similar thing happened to my DD before Christmas. She received 2 of a cooking gizmo she ordered from Costco. She called their customer service to let them know and they told her she would have to take it to a UPS store to return it to them. She told them it was their mistake and if they wanted it they could have UPS pick it up. Customer service said they would only do that if the item cost $900 or more ( this was a $250 item). She told them it was a bulky, heavy item and reiterated that if they wanted it they could come get it, thanks and goodbye. I was surprised at the lack of customer service. If you don’t want it back just say so instead of leaving a bad taste in the customer’s mouth.

Probably they don't do that because a. The agent might not know the reason behind the policy. And b. Giving a policy, even a stupid one or one you don't agree with is usually more polite than saying the company basically does not care. That will or can backfire even more.

And with more expensive products you cannot also not say "Oh, our mistake, keep and enjoy it." Because those stories get around and then people might expect it when things go wrong even more.

 

[slo]

Ugghhhh…..don’t even get me started about Verizon.
Sorry…. I have no suggestions because I could never get my situation resolved with them and it cost me over $500.
Good luck - I hope hope hope they don’t charge you for that phone.

 

[GreatLakes]

Say I go to WDW in two weeks. When I get home, I realize I left my ring by the bathroom sink in my hotel room. I call the 800 number to see if it’s been turned in. Good news, it has been! The rep on the phone says if I want the ring back, I should send a pre paid shipping label and a box for them to return the ring. Would you send the box and label? It is your mistake after all…

ETA- to make this more aligned with the original issue, it is WDW who called you to tell you you left your ring in your room. They require a box and shipping label to return your ring to you.

It is your item and your mistake so if you want it back you do what you need to do to get it back or tell WDW never mind, keep it. In the OP the same applies to Verizon. It is their product and their mistake. If they want it back it is up to them to get it back with the least amount of disruption or just tell the OP to keep it.

 

[mrodgers]

At this point, I would probably drive the 14 miles to the store because I have a feeling your daughter's phone is going to get shut off because they think the phone you are returning is the one she is using.

Quoted you to add... and it would be two phones I was returning. Next stop would be another carrier.

Not enough people do this, so the companies just do what their customers will continue to put up with.

 

[sam_gordon]

Say I go to WDW in two weeks. When I get home, I realize I left my ring by the bathroom sink in my hotel room. I call the 800 number to see if it’s been turned in. Good news, it has been! The rep on the phone says if I want the ring back, I should send a pre paid shipping label and a box for them to return the ring. Would you send the box and label? It is your mistake after all…

ETA- to make this more aligned with the original issue, it is WDW who called you to tell you you left your ring in your room. They require a box and shipping label to return your ring to you.

So are you saying YOU would ask Disney to ship it back on their dime? umm, no.

OP is well within their rights to insist on Verizon sending a box and return label or arranging for a pickup. Personally, I wouldn't fight it and would just drop the phone at a Verizon store while I'm running errands. If the line is too long, I'd leave and do it another day.

As far as the IMEI number, while yes, it's on the phone, but that would require opening the box and digging down to the phone. Great if you already have the phone out, but in the OP's scenario, the number would still be on the phone's box.

 

[mrodgers]

When I was in the call center for the insurance company this one always sucked...wanna know why? Because it went a mark against ME when I legally couldn't do something. Now if it was an issue with my demeanor that's different but if I'm just telling you what I can and can't do don't assume 100% of the time it was laziness OR that escalating to a supervisor means it. Don't get me wrong I've had to do the supervisor thing sometimes but there are people out there who just do it all the time no matter what just because they didn't like the answer they got. Heck sometimes I would get "I want to speak to your supervisor" before I could get in a word. What I had to do was attempt to get the reason why to see if I could solve the issue on my own because again stuff like that goes against people's performances (sometimes warranted but def. not always).

None of that is in any way an issue for the customer. That is an issue with the job and nothing to do with the customer.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Quoted you to add... and it would be two phones I was returning. Next stop would be another carrier.

Not enough people do this, so the companies just do what their customers will continue to put up with.

Returning both phones would be a punishment to the daughter because the OP stated that the phone was the daughter's Christmas gift and she really liked it.

 

[mrodgers]

Prairie_girl I get the intent of your example, although I think it's a bad example. I agree with wenrob. If you left your property, it is your responsibility and your problem to figure out how to get it back, and yes HELP make it easy for the other party to send back your own item. They are doing you a favor.

Likewise, Verizon accidentally sent a $900 item and if they want it back, they should help make it as easy as possible to get it back.

I read that post as a comparison of the analogy to Verizon not to the OP.

 

[mrodgers]

Returning both phones would be a punishment to the daughter because the OP stated that the phone was the daughter's Christmas gift and she really liked it.

I would bet money that Verizon is not the only carrier that you can purchase that phone from. As I said, I would be returning both phones and going to a different carrier. I assume someone reading that would put together that you would be able to buy the same phone at the different carrier.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

None of that is in any way an issue for the customer. That is an issue with the job and nothing to do with the customer.

Actually what I was trying to convey is sometimes people at any moment's notice yell for the supervisor. We all know that person. It happens with a call center, it happens in stores. It's the type of person who regardless of the situation if it's not an answer they don't like (even if they are in the wrong) demand the supervisor. People tend to not think how that might affect the employee. That is a customer problem when you always go that route just because you didn't get your way..we have a name for it..one I don't use myself but yeah there's a name.

My comment was a response to the "ask for the supervisor that works" kinda of thought. Don't get me wrong there's a time and a place for an escalation, everyone should be able to do that but when you have people who go that route all the time, that's what I was commenting about.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I would bet money that Verizon is not the only carrier that you can purchase that phone from. As I said, I would be returning both phones and going to a different carrier. I assume someone reading that would put together that you would be able to buy the same phone at the different carrier.

A lot of people actually do leave quite frequently, it's one of the reasons companies try more than they used to to get you to stay. Before you had 2 year contracts as the norm so it sorta held people, then you had "switch and we'll pay to break your contract", but these days the issue can be structured on how phones were purchased. If you outright purchase the phone it's yours, if you leased the phone, if you paid in installments for the phone it's not yours. The way it becomes "unlocked" is paying off the remaining balances. So for the OP she could def. switch carriers but she'd have to make sure she was in the clear money-wise.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I was going to post a longer reply, but in essence, its a mismatch of what the customer / op expected the company to be able to do and the realty of what a phone rep most likely working from home with no access to the warehouse could actually do. The customer / op then got mad cos any solution the phone rep suggested was not to their liking and the phone rep was most likely limited by location and company policy and wouldn't make any exception

 

[sam_gordon]

Actually what I was trying to convey is sometimes people at any moment's notice yell for the supervisor. We all know that person. It happens with a call center, it happens in stores. It's the type of person who regardless of the situation if it's not an answer they don't like (even if they are in the wrong) demand the supervisor. People tend to not think how that might affect the employee. That is a customer problem when you always go that route just because you didn't get your way..we have a name for it..one I don't use myself but yeah there's a name.

I still say it's NOT a customer problem, but a company problem. If the company is going to count any escalation against the front line worker, despite the reason for the escalation, that's a COMPANY problem.

I totally understand there are customers who escalate a situation when they're in the wrong or they don't understand, or whatever. If the company holds that against the front line worker, that's on them. The company should look at each escalation on a case by case basis and not have a blanket policy.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I still say it's NOT a customer problem, but a company problem. If the company is going to count any escalation against the front line worker, despite the reason for the escalation, that's a COMPANY problem.

I totally understand there are customers who escalate a situation when they're in the wrong or they don't understand, or whatever. If the company holds that against the front line worker, that's on them. The company should look at each escalation on a case by case basis and not have a blanket policy.

Unfortunately it's the real world though. Perhaps if there were less those types of customers there'd be more reason to scrutinize just why an escalation was requested. I gather some people really haven't had to deal with enough of the public either. Regardless this point of going back and forth trying to hash out just what is a customer problem vs company problem is not really the point of why I commented. The person who ends up affected either way is the employee, and those who use the supervisor route at the drop of the hat rarely think about the employee on the other side, pretty sure I can say that with confidence.

 

[sam_gordon]

Unfortunately it's the real world though. Perhaps if there were less those types of customers there'd be more reason to scrutinize just why an escalation was requested. I gather some people really haven't had to deal with enough of the public either. Regardless this point of going back and forth trying to hash out just what is a customer problem vs company problem is not really the point of why I commented. The person who ends up affected either way is the employee, and those who use the supervisor route at the drop of the hat rarely think about the employee on the other side, pretty sure I can say that with confidence.

Of course they don't. I don't think about the employee on the other side either. Sorry, they're not my problem. I want to get MY problem solved. I think it's an unrealistic expectation to want customers to think about front line employees before escalating. Now, wanting them to think about whether they're in the wrong or asking for something unrealistic, I think IS reasonable.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Of course they don't. I don't think about the employee on the other side either. Sorry, they're not my problem. I want to get MY problem solved. I think it's an unrealistic expectation to want customers to think about front line employees before escalating. Now, wanting them to think about whether they're in the wrong or asking for something unrealistic, I think IS reasonable.

Hence my comment that I don't think some people have had to deal with the public enough. Your comment reflected that quite perfectly

 

[sam_gordon]

Hence my comment that I don't think some people have had to deal with the public enough. Your comment reflected that quite perfectly

Glad I could help.