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kluemaster
join:2011-03-11
Chambersburg, PA

kluemaster

Member

Thinking of signing up, but NERVOUS after sales chat

The following is a transcript from my chat with sales today.. note the 3 minute lag between announcing her join, and responding to me in any way, then rejoining, (which I assume means she left) and still having multi-minutes between responses. in a 20 minute chat, i was waiting for response for 11 minutes..... (i'm not including timestamps of 1 minute, as they are normal conversation)

Having been in customer service all my life in one capacity or the other, I can't imagine this being my front line image to potential customers. and this has made me seriously question whether I'm willing to prepay 250 (199.95 + signup/taxes etc) bucks with no recourse if i'm not satisfied when this is my first impression?

My question is this. Is this the type of service I can expect when/if I become a customer?
[6:41 AM] Alan has joined the room
[6:41 AM] Jessica has joined the room
[6:41 AM] Jessica: Hello My name is Jessica, and I will be happy to assist you! If you have an existing account with us please provide me with your account information.
[6:41 AM] Alan: I do not have an existing account
[6:42 AM] Alan: are you there?
[6:43 AM] Alan: hmmmm... either on e of is having connectivity problems, or your are unresponsive.
[6:44 AM] Jessica: Yes I am here, How can I help you..?
[6:45 AM] Alan: I am thinking of signing up, and noticed that if i sign up for the one year prepay (get 2nd year free) promotion that the cost out the door is approx 250 dollars
[6:45 AM] Alan: I also noticedd that If I buy the phonepower package from bestbuy, there was a 79 dollar credit (to offset the purchase of the equipment)
[6:46 AM] Alan: so, I was wondering what the cost is when using that method, at checkout time from phonep ower.com
[6:46 AM] Alan: and i was also wondering if you still get the 2nd year free when activating an ata/zippy combo purchased at Bestbuy
[6:47 AM] Jessica: 250-79.99=170
[6:47 AM] Jessica: Yes you will get 2nd year free
[6:47 AM] Alan: lol.. ok.. so effectivly, what you are telling me, is that the zippy is free if I drive to bestbuy, but will cost me 19.99 if I purchase from the website?
[6:47 AM] Alan: in addition to shipping
[6:47 AM] Alan: is that correct?
[6:49 AM] Jessica: YEs
[6:49 AM] Alan: and please forgive me if I'm igonorant, but I'm a bit nervous about prepaying 250 bucks for something I have never tried, and I'm trying to do my due diligence to ensure that I dont' make a decision I will regret
[6:49 AM] Alan: finally, is there a way that I can test my connection with your servers prior to purchase to ensure my connection will be sufficient to support the voip usage?
[6:52 AM] Jessica has joined the ro om
[6:52 AM] Alan: I think you guys are in Cali.. I hope you are safe from the tsunami, and that it turns out to be less than expected
[6:53 AM] Alan: if your aren't in california, then please pretend I didn't type that, I'm just trying to fill time between responses.
[6:54 AM] Alan: HELLO???
[6:55 AM] Jessica has joined the room
[6:56 AM] Jessica: »speedtest.phonepower.com/
[6:56 AM] Alan: any response such as "can you wait a second while I look that up" would be sufficient to keep me from getting the feeling that i'm being ignored, which is a bad start when trying to decide whether I purchase services from the company
[6:56 AM] Jessica: Yes we are in California, we are ok. Thanks.
[6:58 AM] Jessica: click on the link above to test your connection with our servers
[6:58 AM] Alan: doing that now, thanks
[6:59 AM] Alan: 7.8ms average jitter, with 0 packet loss.. i feel better, as a few checks I did last night ind icated I might have as much as a 50% packet loss, and It had me worried
[7:00 AM] Jessica: Good.
[7:01 AM] Alan: thanks for your time.. I get the feeling I was distracting you from something. have a good day.
[7:01 AM] Alan has left the room
Broadband22
join:2009-04-18
Boulder, CO

Broadband22

Member

The service, both voice quality and tech support have been excellent for the almost 2 years I've been with them.

eXcessiVe
join:2006-11-04
united state

eXcessiVe to kluemaster

Member

to kluemaster
I have never had any problems with the limited interaction I have had with Phone Power, customer service was always polite and prompt, and the only technical support I needed to speak with was knowledgeable and courteous.

I am curious, however, about seeing the agent join the room multiple times in your post, one of which has a space in the middle of the word "room". Why would an agent join a room they were obviously already in?
said by kluemaster:

[6:52 AM] Jessica has joined the ro om

In any event this is not the experience I have had when dealing with the company, I wouldn't expect you to have the same experience in the future.
kluemaster
join:2011-03-11
Chambersburg, PA

1 edit

kluemaster

Member

I was curious about that as well, but did not see notification of her leaving or joining during the chat itself. It was only after recieving the e-mailed transcript that I saw she had rejoined the room.

I would expect for the agent to at least apologize for my having to wait if she were experiencing drops, or had something else going on that was taking her time away from concentrating on the customer.

Be that as it may, I came here to get some feedback and/or regain my confidence in them, since 250 bucks out the door is not an easy thing to do unless you have some confidence in the company and support they provide.

(edit 1:09 pm to fix a puntuation error, in case my high school english teacher finds this post)

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ to kluemaster

Premium Member

to kluemaster
said by kluemaster:

My question is this. Is this the type of service I can expect when/if I become a customer?

I dunno. I've been a customer for a couple months. Never had a problem, never needed to interact with chat, everything just works.

The zippy adapter isn't really all that useful, especially with the availability of sip credentials that allow for any sip client to act as one of your phones. You will be charged $30-odd dollars in your second year
quote:
You will be assessed applicable taxes, surcharges, and fees at the start of the second year. These fees will be calculated based on the standard price for the service.
I usually find I get much better support from a company when I am an actual customer

This forum is an excellent place to ask pre-customer questions, BTW.
kluemaster
join:2011-03-11
Chambersburg, PA

kluemaster

Member

said by JohnInSJ:

The zippy adapter isn't really all that useful, especially with the availability of sip credentials that allow for any sip client to act as one of your phones. You will be charged $30-odd dollars in your second year

quote:
You will be assessed applicable taxes, surcharges, and fees at the start of the second year. These fees will be calculated based on the standard price for the service.

Thanks, and I'm glad I found this forum, rather than relying on the lead generator sites that are out there acting as review sites.

I had a huge FRAT , but hosed the post somehow, so I'll try to condense to save myself time.

first, you say something here about 30 bucks for the second year, but mention in in the same paragraph as the zippy. Those are separate comments, correct? If so, thanks for the heads up, and at least I won't be surprised when I get the charge.

If that's the case, then If I can get the zippy at no extra cost, I'll probably just do that, and go from there, whereas if it's an extra 30 bucks a year, I don't see me using it.

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ

Premium Member

said by kluemaster:

first, you say something here about 30 bucks for the second year, but mention in in the same paragraph as the zippy. Those are separate comments, correct? If so, thanks for the heads up, and at least I won't be surprised when I get the charge.

If that's the case, then If I can get the zippy at no extra cost, I'll probably just do that, and go from there, whereas if it's an extra 30 bucks a year, I don't see me using it.

Right, sorry... you get charged in year 2 (the "free" year) for fees and taxes - totals $30 or something like that - as part of the 2 year pre-paid promo. That's mentioned in the bit I quoted, which you will see in your emailed statement when you sign up. Sometimes people are surprised by that.

By my accounting, the actual monthly cost over two years is just under $10/mo after all fees and taxes in both years. Which is still pretty awesome.

The zippy adapter thing either works or it doesn't. It doesn't cost anything to use it, if you have it. I just find it to be less useful than just using a sip client (ie, a software-only phone) - even phonepower's softphone works fine without the zippy.

I was on the fence for a while myself, but I'm very happy I switched. Call quality has been excellent, and it will pay for itself in 6 months. So for me, it's 18 months of totally free (vs my old AT&T) phone service - with unlimited domestic calling. Yeah, I can live with that

topgun
join:2011-01-31

topgun to kluemaster

Member

to kluemaster
$250.00 not an easy thing to do? Really? I can easily spend that on trying one ad in the paper, gas for the month, etc. I would have spent over 50.00 a month with Verizon so I looked at it like this, if I got 6 month of usage I made my back.
kluemaster
join:2011-03-11
Chambersburg, PA

kluemaster

Member

lol don't get me wrong, it doesnt' break the bank.. it's just that I could do a lot with 250 bucks. or at least start saving for something nice! I for one get REALLY upset when i feel i've wasted funds, particularly when it's because I didn't do my homework. Also, initially, I'm doing this without getting rid of my land line, so it's not a savings, it's a somewhat expensive experiment.

With twin boys running around the house, I could spend it on diapers, or food, or milk.. oh god.. now i have to do something to earn money again....

topgun
join:2011-01-31

topgun

Member

Why not call up PhonePower directly and have them address your concerns rather then hypothesizing in a public forum without getting the other side of the situation.

I always try to work out issues, problems, concerns, etc. with the company first before plastering assumptions in a forum. You being a CSR and being on the other side of the phone should already know this.
kluemaster
join:2011-03-11
Chambersburg, PA

kluemaster

Member

Pretty sure it was dealing with them directly that made me have the concerns, and I was coming on a forum where their service is discussed to get feedback from other users. I did almost send it as a pm to Phone Power, but decided to use the public forum, since I thought that's what it was here for: discussing Phone Power and their service.

I don't think this really represents me plastering assumptions, nor hypothesizing. It's me posting a actual happening, and requesting information about others' experiences. This has been followed up with discussion between myself and other users regarding their experiences.

In fact, I've decided, partly due to other users comments, to go ahead and give them a shot. I'll be sure to update my post here to further enlighten the users as to my experiences after I've gone through setup and some service.

Hopefully, if someone else has a sub par sales chat,, they may find this thread, and it will help them make a more informed decision, either way.

Hope you have a blessed day!

topgun
join:2011-01-31

topgun

Member

I understand, so why not just call them up and express your concerns first, then you could have got a response from the horses mouth before posting the chat in public. Why not just summarize your experience and then ask for opinions.

If you were to just poke around or look at the GBU reviews of PhonePower it is clear like any other company that services thousands of customers some problems\issues are going to arise every now and then. As a CSR yourself were you always 100% right 100% of the time and never made a mistake when dealing with a potential customer.

I myself do not always see eye to eye with my customers but I would never ever post a private chat with them in a public and I would hope they would respect me enough not to do the same, at least not before contacting me.

Anyway, hope your service is trouble free and keep us updated
kluemaster
join:2011-03-11
Chambersburg, PA

kluemaster

Member

I absolutely would expect that If I gave someone a bad experience, that it would end up being discussed in other areas, public forum or otherwise.

I would also hope that my companies (and my) overall reputation in the market was favorable enough for others to come forward and defend me by saying that this was atypical of what they could expect. If I had a presence in said forum, I would even possibly defend myself, and be thankful that I was able to address it.

In fact, in sales, many times you only get one shot. You blow it, it's gone. I would look at this as a win, as my reputation was obviously good enough that I didn't lose the potential customer due to a single sub-par experience.

Sometimes, I might just let it play out. If said person was just being unreasonable, I would assume others would see that and realize where the real fault was.

Perhaps the posting of the log was wrong of me. I did it to document that I wasn't someone waiting 30 seconds and saying that they were waiting forever to respond to me. It was intended to be merely a verification of what I hoped was abnormal behavior.

I feel there is a difference in me posting, unprompted, a chat with a customer, and a customer of mine posting a chat with me. One, I would never do, the other I would expect. I don't ask you to agree with me. We are obviously different in our view, and that's a big part of what makes the world go round.

topgun
join:2011-01-31

topgun

Member

I'll drink to that buddy, do you drink? If not I'll buy you a round Coke's and Oreos...

BTW how did you come up with your screenname? Have you got a chance to play with the zippyphone yet? Have a great day man and thanks for the good conversation, I do see where ya coming from...
kluemaster
join:2011-03-11
Chambersburg, PA

kluemaster

Member

1st things first. I do drink on occasion, so I'm all in. (vodka and oreo's doesn't sound too great, but what the hell)

2. Screenname came from a co-worker back in my early 20's. It was a nickname given to me, as I didn't have one (a clue that was). The nick stuck, I changed Clue Master to kluemaster as if to prove the point was so valid, I couldn't even spell it. Ahhh, the good ole days! 16 years later, I'm hanging on to it as my last vestige of a youth misspent, much like my high school football jersey in the closet (which will be 20 this year).
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PhonePower
Premium Member
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA

PhonePower

Premium Member

Re: Thinking of signing up, but NERVOUS after sales chat

26. SATISFACTION GUARANTEE. Phone Power proudly stands behind our service with our 30 day satisfaction guarantee. Within the first 30 days of your activation you may upgrade or downgrade to any of our current promotional rates or cancel your plan with absolutely no hassle. If cancelling, all we ask is that you return our hardware and pay the initial month of service at the standard monthly rate for your plan. Shipping, handling and activation fees, if any, are non refundable.
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kluemaster
join:2011-03-11
Chambersburg, PA

kluemaster to PhonePower

Member

to PhonePower

Re: Thinking of signing up, but NERVOUS after sales chat

my phonepower set came in today, just gave up the old credit card info, and waiting for that service to be working..

hopefully, my next report is cancelling my landline, and going to a dry loop.

Thanks to all for participating in this thread (cept topgun of course!)
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topgun
join:2011-01-31

topgun to kluemaster

Member

to kluemaster

Re: Thinking of signing up, but NERVOUS after sales chat

Thanks kluemaster