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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / Cingular / January 2006I'm another victim of Cingular/m-Qube - Beware!
About four months ago I started recieving a large number of $.30 text message charges from a company called "m-qube". The "Merchant phone" was listed as 1-866-CINGULAR. I have no idea what this "service" is, but am certain I never signed up for it. In fact I explictly had Cingular disable text messaging on my phone last year...I use it only for business. I called Cingular, who said it was a third party service that they had nothing to do with. Funny- they were listed as the merchant contact. The idea seems to be that cell phone bills contain so many charges already that Cingular can add on a few more in hopes no one will notice. They refused to remove any charges over two months old, even though they were blatantly fraudulent. I am filing a complaint with the California Public Utilites Commission, and will take Cingular to small claims court if they don't reverse all charges, regardless of age. Check your phone bill carefully. Beware! Burt I used to work in a Cingular call center, and can confirm that m-Qube is definitely a third-party vendor. The merchant contact number is listed as Cingular's because Cingular is who bills you directly. m-Qube sends a bill to Cingular for the service, and it gets passed on to you through your wireless bill. We had specific instructions on how to deal with calls regarding third party vendors (Jamster, m-Qube, etc...) and any representative can give you the information to contact m-Qube directly, should you want to speak with them. Unfortunately, call center representatives are NOT able to cancel the subscription for you. It was not something that was initiated by Cingular, and they do not have the power to automatically cancel it for you. If you ask, a representative MIGHT take the time and effort to fill out a cancellation form for you. Don't have your hopes up, though. While I'm not familiar with any regulation stating that representatives can't remove charges over two months old (I once had to go through nearly a year of those charges, with multiple per week, in order to refund a customer), I would be willing to bet it's just someone's way of being lazy. It's not an easy task to remove those charges. Don't waste the time filing complaints. They'll fall on deaf ears. Cingular does not provide the service. You just need to get pushy with a representative about the refunds and contact information to cancel your subscription to m-Qube, regardless of how you got signed up. Always remember you can escalate to a manager if you feel like the person you're talking to is just being lazy. Good luck! >About four months ago I started recieving a large number of $.30 text >message charges from a company called "m-qube". The "Merchant phone" [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > >Burt I guess it never occurred to you to Google "m-Qube"... Typical American response..."I'LL SUE!!!" - Much easier than, "I'll do a little research and get this all straightened out." My guess is you (or possibly yuor kid or wife or whomever borrowed your phone) downloaded some "free" rigntone or graphic and didn't read the fine print about a 'membership'... From http://www.m-qube.com/html/utility/help.html Billing Questions? m-Qube is a company that helps mobile content providers distribute and bill for their products through wireless carriers. Simply put, when you visit certain siteson the web or on your handsetand purchase a ringtone, a ringtone subscription or other mobile content, some of those sites use m-Qubes services to link their site with your wireless carrier so that your purchase shows up on your mobile bill. In most cases, a consumers bill will show the name of the vendor or site from whom you purchased the content. In those cases, the mobile content vendor is responsible for answering any questions regarding billing questions and they are the quickest way to resolve any concerns. If you have visited this site, it is probably because m-Qube has appeared on your mobile bill, rather than the vendor you purchased mobile content from. This is because the billing systems of some wireless carriers are not able to accept the vendors name from the m-Qube platform and display it on your billinstead, they simply display our name. If this is the case, we can help you! Since m-Qube is not the company selling content or billing you for products, we must work with the actual merchant to resolve your issue. If you know the merchants name (and enter it on our web form) we can usually get you removed from their service within 48 hours. If you do not know their name, we can use your mobile number to determine the merchant. This takes just a little longer, but in most cases, we can have you removed within 3 business days. If you have any questions or concerns on your bill, please click the following link and fill out the short form. An m-Qube representative will work with the merchant who billed your account to resolve any issues as quickly as possible and send you an email confirmation. (Links to jscript form) I used to work in a Cingular call center, and can confirm that m-Qube is definitely a third-party vendor. The merchant contact number is listed as Cingular's because Cingular is who bills you directly. m-Qube sends a bill to Cingular for the service, and it gets passed on to you through your wireless bill. We had specific instructions on how to deal with calls regarding third party vendors (Jamster, m-Qube, etc...) and any representative can give you the information to contact m-Qube directly, should you want to speak with them. Unfortunately, call center representatives are NOT able to cancel the subscription for you. It was not something that was initiated by Cingular, and they do not have the power to automatically cancel it for you. If you ask, a representative MIGHT take the time and effort to fill out a cancellation form for you. Don't have your hopes up, though. While I'm not familiar with any regulation stating that representatives can't remove charges over two months old (I once had to go through nearly a year of those charges, with multiple per week, in order to refund a customer), I would be willing to bet it's just someone's way of being lazy. It's not an easy task to remove those charges. Don't waste the time filing complaints. They'll fall on deaf ears. Cingular does not provide the service. You just need to get pushy with a representative about the refunds and contact information to cancel your subscription to m-Qube, regardless of how you got signed up. Always remember you can escalate to a manager if you feel like the person you're talking to is just being lazy. Good luck! Michael, Many thanks for the info. You write: >I used to work in a Cingular call center, and can confirm that m-Qube >is definitely a third-party vendor I guess that's the first problem. This is a utility bill, not a credit card. There shouldn't be any third party charges! >Unfortunately, call center representatives are NOT able to cancel the subscription for you. Right, thanks, I'm not concerned with either reversing the charges or cancelling the service. My only concern is how I got signed up for this service, since I never did it. Cingular says they're only the biller. m-Qube says "m-Qube is not the company selling content or billing you for products" So we'll keep going down the chain until we find that mysterious person who's actually charging me. Thinking about my own business, if someone approached me and asked me to tack on some charges to my client's invoices from some unknown third or forth or fifth party, I'd tell them to shove it. I guess Cingular has no such qualms. >Don't waste the time filing complaints. They'll fall on deaf ears. Yeah, I know the lower level folks and Cingular aren't to blame. The two I've talked to have both told me how much they hate m-Qube. I'm going to go to the Public Utilites Commission, and have alterted a couple of journalists. Burt I used to work in a Cingular call center, and can confirm that m-Qube is definitely a third-party vendor. The merchant contact number is listed as Cingular's because Cingular is who bills you directly. m-Qube sends a bill to Cingular for the service, and it gets passed on to you through your wireless bill. We had specific instructions on how to deal with calls regarding third party vendors (Jamster, m-Qube, etc...) and any representative can give you the information to contact m-Qube directly, should you want to speak with them. Unfortunately, call center representatives are NOT able to cancel the subscription for you. It was not something that was initiated by Cingular, and they do not have the power to automatically cancel it for you. If you ask, a representative MIGHT take the time and effort to fill out a cancellation form for you. Don't have your hopes up, though. While I'm not familiar with any regulation stating that representatives can't remove charges over two months old (I once had to go through nearly a year of those charges, with multiple per week, in order to refund a customer), I would be willing to bet it's just someone's way of being lazy. It's not an easy task to remove those charges. Don't waste the time filing complaints. They'll fall on deaf ears. Cingular does not provide the service. You just need to get pushy with a representative about the refunds and contact information to cancel your subscription to m-Qube, regardless of how you got signed up. Always remember you can escalate to a manager if you feel like the person you're talking to is just being lazy. Good luck! > I used to work in a Cingular call center, and can confirm that m-Qube > is definitely a third-party vendor. The merchant contact number is [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > > Good luck! You know what the really sad thing about this thread is? All the complaints about these charges and how "No Right" they are and everything else that is said about the charges appearing on the bill. Let's examine the facts: 1. The charges that appear on the bill are being billed from M-Qube, who is billing them for a third party such as dirtyhippo, Jamster or someone else. 2. In the (I shudder to say this phrase) Terms and Conditions that are displayed or implicitly agreed to when receiving the free ring tone or what ever other "hook" is used to get you to sign up you agree to allow them to add the charges to your cell phone bill. 3. These companies - however one might consider this untrue - DON'T just make up numbers that they want to charge the services to. There is - at some point - a real communication to that company to get the joke - ring tone - chat program - or whatever you get to be signed up. The reason I think Cingular and other wireless companies credit these charges is because they understand that in most cases when you see the ad on TV for a free ringtone you either don't see or bother to see the disclaimer at the bottom of the screen and make the assumption that they are going to send you something for nothing. And rather than argue with a customer over the $1.99 which they don't receive anyway it is simpler, less time consuming and better customer relations to simply credit the charge. Very similar subject to the adult who gives his 13 year old son a cell phone and then complains when the son downloads $20.00 in ringtones or internet usage. In MOST cases it is more a matter of be aware of what you do with your phone account BEFORE you have to come back after the fact and argue over these subscription prices. A thought. For those readers that have family plans and one of the users on the family plan is a pre-teen or teenager. Have you ever explicitly sat with the child and told them to NOT download ringtones, pictures, jokes or anything else without discussing it with you first? If not - take at least a little responsibility for the situation because you should have! Ooops - I'm preaching again! Sorry No Cliff, you're *not* preaching - you're absolutely right. Which is why I gave up on those whiners after saying roughly the same thing as you a few days ago. People who are too stupid and lazy to read fine print *always* get what they deserve. >You know what the really sad thing about this thread is? All the complaints >about these charges and how "No Right" they are and everything else that is [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > >Sorry > Let's examine the facts: > 1. The charges that appear on the bill are being billed from M-Qube, who is > billing them for a third party such as dirtyhippo, Jamster or someone else. Abosultely correct. You need a few parties to make the whole con work. Cingular keeps its hands clean by not dealing with the charge originators directly. > 2. In the (I shudder to say this phrase) Terms and Conditions that are > displayed or implicitly agreed to when receiving the free ring tone or what > ever other "hook" is used to get you to sign up you agree to allow them to > add the charges to your cell phone bill. How can you assume such nonsense? My phone is only used by me, occassionally, for business. Text messaging was blocked on the phone a long time ago. None of the parties involved could prove I'd signed up for any service. Cingular suggested the person with the phone number before me mights have signed up. Anyone with my phone number could sign me up! > 3. These companies - however one might consider this untrue - DON'T just > make up numbers that they want to charge the services to. Correct, no one's making anything up- real charges are being put on real phone numbers- but they aren't legitimate, and Cingular refuses to determine if they are before adding them to your bill. > The reason I think Cingular and other wireless companies credit these > charges is because they understand that in most cases when you see the ad on > TV for a free ringtone you either don't see or bother to see the disclaimer > at the bottom of the screen In other words, even if someone does buy a ringtone, Cingular knows the following charges are unwanted. Do you want to live in a world where junk charges can be added to your phone bill from any source? Or one where your phone bill is your phone bill? Maybe your next eletric bill will have some trip to Hawaii you bought based on some fine print on some TV show. Or maybe you never even signed up for anything like me. It's a democracy; you decide. > And rather than argue with a customer over > the $1.99 which they don't receive anyway In my case it was over $60 over 5 months. And the idea that Cingular doesn't get a cut is laughable. Surely you're not that naive? It's frightening that a website in the Ascencion Island can pass false charged on to my Cingular bill, and that Cingular doesn't even verify the charges. But it's TERRIFYING that you, a consumer, approve of this, and want this to continue. The FTC says cramming is "a scam": http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/services/cramming.htm Wake up! Hello: I would like to add my 2 cents to this thread. The companies like Thumbplay and Mblox CAN have you in their databases even though you did not download anything or sign up for anything. My December bill had an additional charge for $12.95. When I questioned cingular they told me about Thumbplay. I found them on the net and sent them an email. They told me about mblox. To make a long story short they had a subscription for my sons phone. They cancelled the subscription and cingular provided a refund. The next month I had a charge from mblox for $6.95 and that has also been removed by Cingular. My son has no need to lie as we usually laugh about mistakes. He did not sign up for anything. We create our own ringtones from music CD's we own and have only downloaded 2 games in the past year. I agree that the process used by Cingular to allow third party billing has much room for improvement. Bob > > Let's examine the facts: > > 1. The charges that appear on the bill are being billed from M-Qube, who is [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] > > Wake up! >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > >Bob Oh, of course not *your* son. We were only talking about *other* people's kids. We're sure your kid is *always* 100% honest, like you were with your parents when you were a kid.... ;) Hi: This is off topic...but what the heck. Of course my kids (15 and 13) are not 100% honest with my wife and I. But, I can tell that we spend a lot of time talking and laughing as a family. This leaves the lines of communication open. If the kids want to do something and I think they should not, then we have a method: I let them present a good argument on why I should change my mind. I would say that more than 75% of the time they come up with a good argument or a compromise that provides sufficient basis for me to change my mind. Now, the kids have been doing this for so long that they present the argument WHILE they are asking for permission! I also let them experiment with many things. I just inform them beforehand what to watch out for. There are many times where I tell them NO and there is no debate. Know what I discovered from this? That my kids are more open with my wife and I because we are reasonable people. My kids don't do drugs or smoke and never will. Bold statement but I'd bet on it and I'm not a betting man. My house is the gathering place for all the kids in the neighborhood. Wonder why? Because we are listeners. Listen to your kids. Give them plenty of time. Bob > >Hello: > > [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > ;) > Hi: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > something and I think they should not, then we have a method: I let them > present a good argument on why I should change my mind. This sounds like a scene out of the movie 'Mean Girls"! > My guess is you (or possibly yuor kid or wife or whomever borrowed > your phone) downloaded some "free" rigntone or graphic and didn't read > the fine print about a 'membership'... Nonsense. I'm the only person who has ever touched this phone. I never downloaded anything, wouldn't even know how to. In fact had Cingular disable all text messaging on the phone. Here's the conversation I had with Cingular: Me: "Hi, I had a question about all these text messages I'm being charged for" Cingular: "I'm sorry sir, we'll take those off your bill" Me: "Uh, I didn't ask you to take them off" If these charges were legitimate, would Cingular rush to remove them from my account, with no investigation, without me even asking? Cingular had no idea what these charges were for. Imagine if all your utilities started tacking on third party charges they couldn't explain. Cingular is charging me for text messages it couldn't possibly have delivered, since text messaging was disabled. Fortunately the PUC is only a few blocks from me. This is outrageous. I am a customer service Rep for Cingular and don't mind crediting customer for those third party charges,I have spent more than an hou on one customer in particular just crediting back the M-Qube an Jamster charges.Remember,those charges would not have started unles you somehow accessed an M-Qube site,whether by computer o cellphone.They use many,many different names and services.(For exampl Flycell,daily horoscopes or jokes,even some kind of crap sent to yo via Montel Williams' show)) Many consumers are unaware of these vendor signing you up for subscriptions just for downloading a cool ringtone o nice graphics one time. Like they say......."Read the small print." Burt Wrote: > About four months ago I started recieving a large number of $.30 text > message charges from a company called "m-qube". The "Merchant phone" [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Bur >I am a customer service Rep for Cingular and don't mind crediting a >customer for those third party charges,I have spent more than an hour [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >signing you up for subscriptions just for downloading a cool ringtone or >nice graphics one time. Like they say......."Read the small print." On top of that, they also like to use the 'free ringtone' scams that you'll see spread around on the internet and TV. That ringtone may be free, but the monthly subscription you unknowingly signed up for sure isn't. I hated it when customers would insist that they did not sign up for anything of the sort, when those third party services do indeed have to be initiated by the user. I didn't mind crediting back the charges either. After doing it many times it sure makes me realize how easy it is for some to make excuses to not have to do it, however. It really was a pain. > I hated it when customers would insist that they did not sign up for > anything of the sort, when those third party services do indeed have > to be initiated by the user. Yeah, right. There are no dishonest businessmen, just stupid consumers. <http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/services/cramming.htm> for those who know otherwise.  SignatureIf John McCain gets the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination, my vote for President will be a write-in for Jiang Zemin. whatcity225 Wrote: > I am a customer service Rep for Cingular and don't mind crediting > customer for those third party charges,I have spent more than an hou [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > signing you up for subscriptions just for downloading a cool ringtone o > nice graphics one time. Like they say......."Read the small print." I too work for Cingular and applaud your Take Ownership attitude. I is amazing to me that people who fall into this trap find everyone bu themselves to lay the blame off on. Like many have said, refundin these charges is a VERY, VERY labor intensive effort and only impact all our customers by taking up the time of one CSR for hours at a tim researching this for one customer when they could be on the phone assisting 20 an hour. People, beware, READ YOUR AGREEMENTS CAREFULLY ON EVERYTHING! >People, beware, READ YOUR AGREEMENTS CAREFULLY ON EVERYTHING!! That's some advice for consumers. Let me add some for Cingular: Cingular: DO NOT ADD NON-CINGULAR CHARGES TO MY BILL! You are not a credit card. You are a utility. If I want to buy something else I'll use a credit card, check or cash. >refunding these charges is a VERY, VERY labor intensive effort If Cingular stopped adding these charges, you wouldn't have spend time taking them off, correct? >People, beware, READ YOUR AGREEMENTS CAREFULLY ON EVERYTHING!! That's some advice for consumers. Let me add some for Cingular: Cingular: DO NOT ADD NON-CINGULAR CHARGES TO MY BILL! You are not a credit card. You are a utility. If I want to buy something else I'll use a credit card, check or cash. >refunding these charges is a VERY, VERY labor intensive effort If Cingular stopped adding these charges, you wouldn't have spend time taking them off, correct? >People, beware, READ YOUR AGREEMENTS CAREFULLY ON EVERYTHING!! That's some advice for consumers. Let me add some for Cingular: Cingular: DO NOT ADD NON-CINGULAR CHARGES TO MY BILL! You are not a credit card. You are a utility. If I want to buy something else I'll use a credit card, check or cash. >refunding these charges is a VERY, VERY labor intensive effort If Cingular stopped adding these charges, you wouldn't have spend time taking them off, correct? >People, beware, READ YOUR AGREEMENTS CAREFULLY ON EVERYTHING!! That's some advice for consumers. Let me add some for Cingular: Cingular: DO NOT ADD NON-CINGULAR CHARGES TO MY BILL! You are not a credit card. You are a utility. If I want to buy something else I'll use a credit card, check or cash. Very simple. >refunding these charges is a VERY, VERY labor intensive effort If Cingular stopped adding these charges, you wouldn't have spend time taking them off, correct? Again, verrrrrrrrrrrry simple. > It is amazing to me that people who fall into this trap find everyone but themselves to lay the blame off on. To quote the FTC (thanks for the link Michael): "Cramming Schemes: Most of these scams occur through the use of an 800 number. Others are initiated by contests or sweepstakes. They are all deceptive, and you should dispute the charges. Here are some common ways crooks get your phone number and cram charges onto your bill." So tell me again who's to blame? whatcity: Thanks for the info. It seems these charges (just like any charge) are either legitimate or illegitimate/fraudulent. If they're legitimate, why does Cingular take them off my bill, no questions asked? If you went to a restaurant and refused to pay the bill, the waiter wouldn't just say "Ok". It seems like Cingular knows the charges aren't legit- they offered to remove them before I even asked! Burt > About four months ago I started recieving a large number of $.30 text > message charges from a company called "m-qube". The "Merchant phone" > was listed as 1-866-CINGULAR. Read M-Qube's Code of Conduct. Scary what they will want to push to you! http://m-qube.com/html/utility/conduct.html <snip & copied> Consideration: We believe consumers must receive and/or be offered something of value to them in return for receiving the communication. Value may be delivered in the form of product and service enhancements, reminders, sweepstakes, contests, information, entertainment or discounts. >> About four months ago I started recieving a large number of $.30 text >> message charges from a company called "m-qube". The "Merchant phone" [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > delivered in the form of product and service enhancements, reminders, > sweepstakes, contests, information, entertainment or discounts. Which means I'll never see anything from this m-qube outfit. Signaturejer email reply - I am not a 'ten' LOOK: Billing Questions? m-Qube is a company that helps mobile content providers distribute and bill for their products through wireless carriers. Simply put, when you visit certain sites-on the web or on your handset-and purchase a ringtone, a ringtone subscription or other mobile content, some of those sites use m-Qube's services to link their site with your wireless carrier so that your purchase shows up on your mobile bill. In most cases, a consumer's bill will show the name of the vendor or site from whom you purchased the content. In those cases, the mobile content vendor is responsible for answering any questions regarding billing questions and they are the quickest way to resolve any concerns. If you have visited this site, it is probably because m-Qube has appeared on your mobile bill, rather than the vendor you purchased mobile content from. This is because the billing systems of some wireless carriers are not able to accept the vendors name from the m-Qube platform and display it on your bill-instead, they simply display our name. If this is the case, we can help you! Since m-Qube is not the company selling content or billing you for products, we must work with the actual merchant to resolve your issue. If you know the merchant's name (and enter it on our web form) we can usually get you removed from their service within 48 hours. If you do not know their name, we can use your mobile number to determine the merchant. This takes just a little longer, but in most cases, we can have you removed within 3 business days. If you have any questions or concerns on your bill, please click the following link and fill out the short form. An m-Qube representative will work with the merchant who billed your account to resolve any issues as quickly as possible and send you an email confirmation. Customer Care Part 2: m-Qube got back to me today. They said the actual content provider was sms.ac, www.sms.ac (wondering what country has the .ac suffix? The Ascension Island). And it's impossible to get info from this third company- their phone # is just and answering machine, any emails sent get only automated responses. So it goes sms.ac->m-Qube->Cingular. You really have to have three companies to make the scam work. Cingular, a large public company, couldn't politically deal with anonymous scum like sms.ac, which initiates the charges. So m-Qube is the intermediary. m-Qube and Cingular know the charges are probably false, which is why they try to remove them from my bill before I even asked. I imagine sms.ac got my phone number online- it was posted to a website once. The idea that I signed up for the service is laughable. This disgraceful practice has to end. I have a whole list of politicians and govt agencies to contact. Let the letter writing begin! Burt Just a note.I had a customer call in today with the same problem,excep she had two companies on her direct bill.One was M-Qube and the othe M-blox.She did not have internet access,so I sent an email on he behalf to mblox and adjusted her account.Mblox sent a confirmatio letter that it had cancelled the subscription.I have yet to hear bac from the other.Now,I believe the guy may not have done anything.I could be a mistake as simple as someone transposing two numbers whe signing up and voila! We have Burt. Good luck in your letter writing. trully commend you.I hope it accomplishes something.My job will be alo easier.Crediting customers for this IS time consuming and DOES tak time away from other customers Thanks for the note, I'm now working with an attorney as part of this complaint: http://www.ucan.org/law_policy/teledocs/CellCrammingComplaint7-20-05/CingularCel lCramComplaint7-20-05.html Burt Best tidbit from today's call with Cingular: Me: I never signed up for these text messages. How could they show up on my bill? Cingular: Well, they could have been left over from the person who had the same cell number before you. Me: Wait a minute, if I sign up as a totally new customer, you'll continue to bill me for text messages prior customers had signed up for? Cingular: Yep! >Best tidbit from today's call with Cingular: > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Cingular: Yep! That's the negative of providers dealing with companies that bill by your phone number and don't deal directly with the phone company. But hey, they have the potential for earning more money through companies like m-Qube. Yeah.. it blows. > Best tidbit from today's call with Cingular: > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Cingular: Yep! Burt, you musta been talking to one of those yep people, cuz that's just got wrong wrote all over it. Signaturejer email reply - I am not a 'ten' > Burt, you musta been talking to one of those yep people, cuz that's just > got wrong wrote all over it. With a BIG black crayon! I thought about it a bit, and actualy, it makes sense. The third party provider would have no idea it was a new account, they just ship the info to a cellular phone number. What needs to happen is for Cingualr to assist him in finding out who that provider is and cancel it. >> Burt, you musta been talking to one of those yep people, cuz that's >> just got wrong wrote all over it. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > info to a cellular phone number. What needs to happen is for Cingualr to > assist him in finding out who that provider is and cancel it. Yeah, that needs to happen. What I see is zero accountability, just a bunch of girls running around pointing fingers at someone else just before they duck under someone else's skirt. That CSR ought to get remedial training or a Decision Making Leave day before pulling sh.t like that out of their a.s. Signaturejer email reply - I am not a 'ten' >>> Burt, you musta been talking to one of those yep people, cuz that's >>> just got wrong wrote all over it. [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >remedial training or a Decision Making Leave day before pulling sh.t >like that out of their a.s. Unfortunately things like that are commonplace in many call centers. Whatever gets a customer off the phone the fastest is generally accepted as the best answer/resolution. They do have call stats to keep in mind, remember. What needs to happen is that call centers should focus less on how long a representative stays on the phone, and more on the quality of each call. Monitor more calls and hold the representative responsible for the answers their providing, not how long the call is connected. > Unfortunately things like that are commonplace in many call centers. > Whatever gets a customer off the phone the fastest is generally > accepted as the best answer/resolution. They do have call stats to > keep in mind, remember. Its called "punting the call". Once knew of a guy with ISP support whos standard solution was to reset the email client settings, EVEN for connection issues! "Sir, I have found that this resolves almost all issues..." > What needs to happen is that call centers should focus less on how > long a representative stays on the phone, and more on the quality of > each call. Monitor more calls and hold the representative responsible > for the answers their providing, not how long the call is connected. Watching the ACH (Average Call Handling) time is just part of the overall call coaching model. Typically you look for agents that consistantly are way below or way above the average. Those with short calls (assuming we're not talking about top-notch agents - which usually don't stay in that position very long, they move up or move on)are either punting the calls or not filling in the data for the call. Those with long calls are marked for re-training. About the only time the floor manager gets concerned with current ACH is when there is a sudden issue and calls really start backing up. |
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