Phil Hudgins
My wife called the company providing service for our “devices” – cellphones, iPads – to see why our bill had increased. She was transferred to customer service.
The woman said, “Well, let’s see what I can come up with.”
What she came up with was a plan that would not lower the bill, but actually add 60 more dollars. She was messing with the wrong person this time.
My bride is normally a calm, easygoing lady, but don’t try to pull one over on her. As an accountant, she’s quick with figures.
“Look,” she told the woman, “I called to ask why our bill had gone up, and you’re trying to charge us 60 dollars more. This had better not show up on our bill.”
The woman said something about offering an “upgrade,” just before my wife repeated her implied threat and hung up.
So what’s going on here? Is it bait and switch? No, that’s not the right term. I think it’s called upselling. Also deception. You ask about one thing, an increase in your bill, and you’re bamboozled by a double-talking customer service person selling “upgrades” and end up paying more.
It’s everywhere, it seems. In a weak moment a few days ago, I answered the phone when I shouldn’t have. It was a smooth-talking dude requesting support for a police fund.
I support law enforcement, but I’m leery of some of these telephone solicitations. This fellow, though, was actually convincing.
After pledging $35, I asked how much of the money actually went to support the police.
The man pretended he didn’t understand the question. I persisted, asked again.
“Well,” he said, “it’s 90 and 10 percent.”
“OK, 90 percent for the police is good,” I thought to myself, but I wanted to make sure that’s what he meant. No, he finally fessed up. Ten percent goes to the police. Ninety percent is for administration.
It was a little late to complain; I had already pledged the 35 bucks, and I sent the money, as promised. But I also stressed to the caller that I wouldn’t do it again.
A few years ago, I left my car with a local mechanic, thinking the right-front strut had gone bad. Yes, he said in a phone call later, it’s bad, so let’s go ahead and change the other one while we’re at it.
Turned out, I discovered elsewhere that neither strut was bad. The mechanic was trying to bamboozle me.
Now, before I sound like a chronic naysayer, I must say this: Many companies have people who genuinely serve – that’s the operative word, serve – their customers.
In fact, my wife talked to one of them after the upselling attempt. This guy actually understood the problem and offered a way to actually lower the bill. Now that’s customer service.
And there are a lot of great charities that deserve our support. And I have had wonderful mechanics who would not fix something that didn’t need fixing.
But we must be careful. Deceivers are multiplying like bunny rabbits.
Phil Hudgins is the senior editor of Community Newspapers Inc. Reach him at phudgins@cninewspapers.com.