Where's My Freebie?

January 20, 2005 4:41 PM

I "signed" a one-year contract for SBC DSL last month - the higher speed of the two varieties. After a very rocky start where it took them 2 weeks from the activation date to actually activate, I love it. However, I signed up after getting a flyer in the mail for a free mp3 player with 1-year contract. When I called the number, I was told that I should sign up online, which I did. I emailed them last week to ask about the mp3 player and they say I can't have it because that was only for people who signed up over the phone - not online. WTF?

The fellow on the phone, when I first called, also told me that I could get the first two months at a discounted rate if I signed up for a whole year as opposed to a shorter term, and I haven't heard hide nor hair of that, either. Is this kind of bait-and-switch behavior common with such a large utility? How do they get away with it?

posted by luriete to law & government (6 comments total)

Call back. Immediately ask to talk to a supervisor. Don't tell them anything except that you're not mad at them (the person you're talking to on the phone), you have nothing bad to tell the supervisor about them in particular. Once you get the supervisor on the phone drop the "bait and switch" line. That will scare them. Tell them that you wanted the MP3 player, you tried to get it, you called and asked, did what you were told, and are no being told the opposite. You don't care which one of the people you spoke with was wrong, but one of them was and you expect the MP3 player. "Bait and switch." If they won't give it to you, ask to talk to their supervisor. If you cannot talk to their supervisor, get the name and address of their supervisor and send them a letter. CC the head of Customer Service if you can figure that out, might be the VP of Opperations or the COO, and CC the CEO. You'll get your MP3 player.
posted by pwb503 at 5:31 PM on January 20, 2005

I'll have to 2nd pwb503's answer, I used to work in tech support, and let me tell you how much techs hate getting calls of people yelling at them.

I'd be firm and persistent. Immediately ask for a supervisor, and if they don't get the job done, ask for their supervisor. Do your best to to not lose your temper, no matter their response. Failing that, the BBB is a good option.
posted by jackofsaxons at 8:41 PM on January 20, 2005

Thank you. I will try this. I don't want the customer service people to think I am mad at them, because of course I am not. I just don't like getting ripped off, and I don't feel comfortable giving my money to a company that thinks this kind of behavior is OK.
posted by luriete at 11:43 PM on January 20, 2005

SBC? LA? This, of course, being the same people who've kept most of the Seal Beach / Cypress / Long Beach area without phone service for the past three weeks (except for emergency services)... my parents' phone service went out the day before I left after visiting over christmas, and is only expected to be back on sometime after today. My vote's for incompetence on someone's part, but a supervisor should be able to hook you up to keep you happy.
posted by SpecialK at 7:08 AM on January 21, 2005

As kind of a tangent, I just switched my mom off SBC DSL to cable access, because SBC was _constantly_ trying to hijack her machine, and then lying to her. I was getting calls from her once a month asking "There's a dialog box that says my e-mail settings are wrong!" (Just because some background spyware they has her install detected that she wasn't set up to use her SBC mail account.)

Once, when I wasn't around to help and her connection was down, a tech person actually told her the reason her Internet connection was down was _because_ she wasn't using the SBC POP account. And it was a _line_ problem, on their end, and he tried to get her to change back to SBC mail before he would help her. Unbelievable.
posted by LairBob at 7:10 AM on January 21, 2005

Gee, luriete, thanks for the reminder. I signed up in December, online, for the same premium so I called them this morning. I was eventually forwarded to 877/870-9582. I was informed that a gift card was to be mailed USPS within 4-8wks of signup with directions to a website where I will choose my promotional item. The operator was able to confirm I was on-record for this promotion and that the gift card was sent on Jan 17.

I know this is considerably different than your experience. I kind of got the vibe that had no record of eligibility been found, the person/group I was talking to would be responsive to even mild insistence that I was owed a promotional item.

On preview: BroadBandReport.com's FAQ has instructions to bypass installation or uninstall all the Yahoo-ware.
posted by klarck at 7:36 AM on January 21, 2005