Service of Persistence Pays if You Luck Into an Adolfo Hererra
January 10th, 2022
Categories: Anger, Automation, Bills, Correction, Customer Care, Customer Service, Customers, Frustrations, Mistakes, Persistence
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
I first wrote about my issues with Verizon Wireless November, 2021 in “Service of Automation Hiccups.” I’d been unable to get credit for the paperless option I’d agreed to in spite of countless calls to customer service. On one call I agreed to change the account from my deceased husband’s name to mine.
With that my FIOS bundle–phone, Wi-Fi and cable–increased by $400+/year and I’d not been warned this would happen.
A strident conversation with a nasty customer service person who told me I’d committed fraud by keeping the account in Homer’s name increased my irritation and disenchantment. She hit the ceiling when I said I felt bamboozled and explained I hadn’t been but that I wasn’t eligible for the discounts he had. When I was explaining the situation she said in a voice filled with sarcasm, “Are you through?”
That’s when I wrote Ronan Dunne, executive VP and group CEO of Verizon Consumer. I wrote that to take away discounts given a man because a woman was now the customer was sexist. My credit is excellent, we had been decades-long customers, have other Verizon accounts and pointed out that it was my checks paying for the bundle from the get-go. Nothing changed but the first name.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Soon after I heard from Adolfo Hererra, a member of the Verizon executive relations team. He was thorough and polite and he listened. He warned me of some things that might happen although he did what he could to avert them. For example, auto pay took money to satisfy Homer’s cancelled account and a few days later took money for my new one.
Throughout the process I knew I was in good hands. Hererra always called when he said he would and he returned my calls promptly.
In the end, he gave me a credit of $50 because of the time it took to sort out the tangle. With a company as big as Verizon I suspect he and his team had to knock on many doors, starting with the one to initiate the elusive discount for the paperless option. I’d agreed to it in August 2021 and it will kick in January or February 2022. Only when he was certain that I’d be receiving the discount for going paperless–he’d said he could confirm this in early January–would he close the case. We spoke last week right on schedule. He assured me that I’d get the discount. He also securely closed Homer’s account and sent a debit card to refund the money that shouldn’t have been taken to begin with.
He feels pleased when he brings down an unsatisfied customer from a ledge of anger and frustration. Thank goodness for dedicated customer service employees like Adolfo Hererra.
Can you share a recent example of top of the line customer service in an era of rampant neglected emails and phone messages and often pleasant sounding customer service people who say they will do something and they don’t?
Image by Magic Creative from Pixabay
Tags: Verizon Wireless
I did have a near miraculous experience with a Comcast agent about a week ago. The first part is that I got to speak with an agent who listened and offered to help me. She managed to fin and correct the errors on my account that she could and assured me that an agent from an appropriate department would contact me. She spent a lot of time. It was the only time I have had any positive or helpful experience with Comcast. I expressed my satisfaction in the AGENCIA survey only with the agent, but not with the company.
Martha,
Good for your Comcast agent. Imagine how hard it is for people like this who are trying to do a good job when it must feel that they are alone in this mission much of the time. I hope to goodness that your agent is able to do what she said. I spoke with quite a few people at Verizon all of whom said they’d take care of my discount and none did. I have asked another giant company to please send hard copies of their invoices as they always have and customer service folk have taken note and I have yet to see one.
Interesting. What a difference a polite and informed customer service representative can make! Recently we have seen, rather heard, people at both ends of the spectrum…
Some promising the moon and not delivering, others just promising to do what we wanted, and did it! Those are a pleasure to deal with.
Hank,
As with most jobs having the right personality helps. If you have little patience or your life is in a terrible state customer service isn’t the job for you. Imagine dealing with a sick child, spouse or parent while hearing someone complain that their TV doesn’t work or that, like me, they haven’t received some discount. You might blow.
Adolfo loves his job and the challenge of fixing things when too much has gone wrong. The idea is to keep the customer and I suspect his percentage of success is near 100.