djlenoir
08-16-2005, 10:35 PM
I would like to relate to you the entire customer service nightmare that I experienced today with the folks at Weaknees. I understand that this company is regarded favorably on these forums; however, I thought it important to inform potential customers of my experience.
I placed an order last evening for two Philips DSR708 receivers as I thought they were a good deal for the price, I knew they could be modified for MRV and I was going to replace two existing receivers and wanted to avoid the hassle of a new contract by ordering directly from DirecTV. The order went through fine and I received an email shortly thereafter asking me to sign and return the agreement form. I knew that if I accepted the rebate on the receivers, or was starting new service, that I would have to sign a contract. However, by not accepting the rebate and replacing two existing units, I was under the impression from what I read on Weaknees website that I would only be obligated to activate the new receivers within 30 days or suffer some potentially stiff penalties.
Today, I read the agreement over carefully and discovered that by signing the form, I was agreeing to activate in 30 days and also to enter into a new contract with duration of no less than 24 consecutive months. I had some obvious reservations about this as I was unaware of this clause and contacted Weaknees to inquire about it. I spoke to an unknown customer service representative and explained that I preferred not to enter into a contract agreement. He explained it was something new that DirecTV just started within the last couple weeks and that a lot of customers did not want new contracts. I asked what I could do and he suggested taking the issue up with DirecTV as the problem was with them and not Weaknees. I agreed and offered that I did have a slight issue with Weaknees in that I did not perceive that this information was stated clearly enough that I understood this clause before making a purchase.
I next spoke to a very friendly customer service representative, Tiffany, at DirecTV who listened to the problem and then offered me an exemption for a new contract. I gathered all of her information, verified my account was updated with the exemption information and thanked her for her time and assistance.
I then called Weaknees customer service back and spoke to Max (I do not know last names and would not use them anyway), who, once I introduced myself, started the conversation with me by saying, "Oh, you are the guy who did not want to sign a contract." I knew of course that he must sit near the previous representative to already know of my situation. I was polite and explained that I had discussed the issue, as requested, with Tiffany at DirecTV and explained the proposed resolution. I asked how Weaknees would like to handle the agreement form and was put on hold. Minutes later, Max returned and told me that he did not know who Tiffany was and that she did not have the authority to override their agreement with DirecTV. I offered all of her contact information and asked what they would like me to do. Max said he would need to give me a refund if I did not want to sign the agreement. While explaining that I did not really want a refund but really wanted to figure out the best way to handle the agreement form, I hear derogatory statements being made in the background but I was uncertain if they were directed towards me. A few moments later into our conversation about the form, I hear Tiffany's name and references to me that were explicit, rude and completely unprofessional. I then told Max to inform his co-workers that if they were going to speak 'smack' about me for asking perfectly legitimate questions about my order that they should at least do it where I can not hear it instead of right next to him on the phone. Of all responses, Max gave me the one I absolutely expected least... he laughed! I was extremely infuriated and asked to please speak with a manager. Max laughed a second time and placed me on hold.
Some minutes later, another gentleman answered the phone and wanted to know what my problem was. I asked him, politely, who I was speaking to and instead of answering, he reciprocated the question to me. I gave him my first and last name and even spelled it when requested. I then asked again, politely, for his name and he told me, "Michael, like I told you before." He was already aware of my problem (apparently Max pre-briefed him) and wanted to know why I did not just accept their answer that I have to sign the agreement form. I offered that I never had any intention of NOT signing the form but wanted to know if it could be documented that I was not accepting the contract obligation. I then continued by saying that I did not ask to speak with him because of my order, but because of the rude and derogatory comments that were made towards me. I tried to explain the incident to him but he was irritated and short with me; cutting me off frequently. After some time of his brash attitude towards me, I asked him (and remember, I am still polite here when I should be screaming bloody murder) if I was bothering him as a customer. He replied with a comment that he did not know what he could do for me. I said I wanted the situation addressed. By situation, I guess he thought the order and proceeded to try to run my name through the system to find my order. He was unsuccessful and barked out the spelling of my last name to me to verify it was correct. I said 'yes' and he then asked Max, who was apparently standing right next to him, if he had even checked to see if I really had an order with them. When he did not find anything a second time he asked if I really placed an order. I said I had. Michael then wanted to know if I received a confirmation email. I said I had but it was at home and inaccessible at the moment. He then proceeded to tell me he did not believe that I really had an order placed, that I was making it up, and there was nothing further he could do for me. While I was remarkably calm still (possibly shock), Michael was raising his voice towards me... the customer! I told Michael to calm down and I would try to help him find the record for my order. As I have a name with two distinct words, it is common for my order forms to show it incorrectly and I was going to offer that to Michael to use a different search string but I never got the opportunity. Michael told me that no one was going to tell him to calm down and promptly hung up the phone on me.
Flabbergasted, I gathered myself together and called back. I was greeted by Ralph, who answered the call this time. I was not interested in discussing the matter further with a general phone representative any politely asked Ralph if there was a supervisor available that I could speak to. Ralph, also, already knew of me and my problem. Now I figured the place must be relatively small as news was traveling fast. Ralph wanted to know why I was interested in speaking to a supervisor and I, very calmly, provided a brief synopsis of my ordeal. Ralph then proceeded to tell me that there was no one he could forward my call to. Resigned, I asked if I could please speak to Michael again then. After a brief pause, Ralph told me that Michael was now in a meeting and could not be interrupted. I mean, I am not naive enough to think that Michael went to a meeting within 30 seconds of hanging up, irately, with a customer, but I was not going to press the issue either as Ralph was at being pleasant, if not helpful. Next I tried a different approach by asking for a company owner's information. He told me he was not at liberty to provide that kind of information because I could be a competitor or someone who wanted to cause the owner harm. It was a stretch, but I accepted that and asked if he could please connect me to the department which receives complaints. Ralph then took on an apologetic tone and informed me that he was sorry that it happened and he did not understand why the individuals involved acted in the manor they had and wanted to give me a refund and accept that resolution. He also informed me that they were a "Mom & Pop" organization that worked out of a warehouse type environment and sometimes, at the end of the day, some of them got a bit... not sure what word he used... short-tempered. I kindly let Ralph know that I never wanted a refund in the first place and, even had I received a resolution on the merchandise by receiving a refund, it would not excuse, nor resolve, the horribly offensive and derogatory service I had been provided. I explained that I wanted a resolution to that as well and asked if he could please at least provide me with the address for the company so I could send a certified complaint. Ralph told me that I had to understand that he could not provide any information to me that would assist me in filing any kind of complaint against the company and said that if I wanted to continue down that path I would have to find all the information by myself. I never had a chance to respond as Ralph then told me he had some FedEx packages that needed to get shipped and ended our call. At least Ralph was entirely polite and professional when he was telling me to go you know where!
At this point I was simply stunned and didn't know what to do. I knew that calling them back was not going to get me anywhere so I started exploring the idea of filing a complaint against them with the Better Business Bureau. Low and behold, I discover that the company already has the worst rating that you can possess on the Better Business Bureau website with an 'F' grade. You can see this for yourself by clicking here (http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=13216029&sm=). I added a Customer Service complaint to the already three unanswered complaints that exist, according to that link.
I doubt that I will get any kind of resolution to this issue outside of a refund of my money, but I wanted everyone on here to know of my troubles with this company. Maybe this will be helpful in your decisions on how to spend your hard earned dollars.
I understand that there is "two sides to every story" and that many of you hold this company in a favorable light and this might be contradictory to your experience. However, this happened only a few hours ago and I have really attempted to be accurate an honest in my recap. In the end, I will probably end up calling up DirecTV and just ordering two more from them and deal with the contract... the thing that go me into this mess in the first place. ;)
I placed an order last evening for two Philips DSR708 receivers as I thought they were a good deal for the price, I knew they could be modified for MRV and I was going to replace two existing receivers and wanted to avoid the hassle of a new contract by ordering directly from DirecTV. The order went through fine and I received an email shortly thereafter asking me to sign and return the agreement form. I knew that if I accepted the rebate on the receivers, or was starting new service, that I would have to sign a contract. However, by not accepting the rebate and replacing two existing units, I was under the impression from what I read on Weaknees website that I would only be obligated to activate the new receivers within 30 days or suffer some potentially stiff penalties.
Today, I read the agreement over carefully and discovered that by signing the form, I was agreeing to activate in 30 days and also to enter into a new contract with duration of no less than 24 consecutive months. I had some obvious reservations about this as I was unaware of this clause and contacted Weaknees to inquire about it. I spoke to an unknown customer service representative and explained that I preferred not to enter into a contract agreement. He explained it was something new that DirecTV just started within the last couple weeks and that a lot of customers did not want new contracts. I asked what I could do and he suggested taking the issue up with DirecTV as the problem was with them and not Weaknees. I agreed and offered that I did have a slight issue with Weaknees in that I did not perceive that this information was stated clearly enough that I understood this clause before making a purchase.
I next spoke to a very friendly customer service representative, Tiffany, at DirecTV who listened to the problem and then offered me an exemption for a new contract. I gathered all of her information, verified my account was updated with the exemption information and thanked her for her time and assistance.
I then called Weaknees customer service back and spoke to Max (I do not know last names and would not use them anyway), who, once I introduced myself, started the conversation with me by saying, "Oh, you are the guy who did not want to sign a contract." I knew of course that he must sit near the previous representative to already know of my situation. I was polite and explained that I had discussed the issue, as requested, with Tiffany at DirecTV and explained the proposed resolution. I asked how Weaknees would like to handle the agreement form and was put on hold. Minutes later, Max returned and told me that he did not know who Tiffany was and that she did not have the authority to override their agreement with DirecTV. I offered all of her contact information and asked what they would like me to do. Max said he would need to give me a refund if I did not want to sign the agreement. While explaining that I did not really want a refund but really wanted to figure out the best way to handle the agreement form, I hear derogatory statements being made in the background but I was uncertain if they were directed towards me. A few moments later into our conversation about the form, I hear Tiffany's name and references to me that were explicit, rude and completely unprofessional. I then told Max to inform his co-workers that if they were going to speak 'smack' about me for asking perfectly legitimate questions about my order that they should at least do it where I can not hear it instead of right next to him on the phone. Of all responses, Max gave me the one I absolutely expected least... he laughed! I was extremely infuriated and asked to please speak with a manager. Max laughed a second time and placed me on hold.
Some minutes later, another gentleman answered the phone and wanted to know what my problem was. I asked him, politely, who I was speaking to and instead of answering, he reciprocated the question to me. I gave him my first and last name and even spelled it when requested. I then asked again, politely, for his name and he told me, "Michael, like I told you before." He was already aware of my problem (apparently Max pre-briefed him) and wanted to know why I did not just accept their answer that I have to sign the agreement form. I offered that I never had any intention of NOT signing the form but wanted to know if it could be documented that I was not accepting the contract obligation. I then continued by saying that I did not ask to speak with him because of my order, but because of the rude and derogatory comments that were made towards me. I tried to explain the incident to him but he was irritated and short with me; cutting me off frequently. After some time of his brash attitude towards me, I asked him (and remember, I am still polite here when I should be screaming bloody murder) if I was bothering him as a customer. He replied with a comment that he did not know what he could do for me. I said I wanted the situation addressed. By situation, I guess he thought the order and proceeded to try to run my name through the system to find my order. He was unsuccessful and barked out the spelling of my last name to me to verify it was correct. I said 'yes' and he then asked Max, who was apparently standing right next to him, if he had even checked to see if I really had an order with them. When he did not find anything a second time he asked if I really placed an order. I said I had. Michael then wanted to know if I received a confirmation email. I said I had but it was at home and inaccessible at the moment. He then proceeded to tell me he did not believe that I really had an order placed, that I was making it up, and there was nothing further he could do for me. While I was remarkably calm still (possibly shock), Michael was raising his voice towards me... the customer! I told Michael to calm down and I would try to help him find the record for my order. As I have a name with two distinct words, it is common for my order forms to show it incorrectly and I was going to offer that to Michael to use a different search string but I never got the opportunity. Michael told me that no one was going to tell him to calm down and promptly hung up the phone on me.
Flabbergasted, I gathered myself together and called back. I was greeted by Ralph, who answered the call this time. I was not interested in discussing the matter further with a general phone representative any politely asked Ralph if there was a supervisor available that I could speak to. Ralph, also, already knew of me and my problem. Now I figured the place must be relatively small as news was traveling fast. Ralph wanted to know why I was interested in speaking to a supervisor and I, very calmly, provided a brief synopsis of my ordeal. Ralph then proceeded to tell me that there was no one he could forward my call to. Resigned, I asked if I could please speak to Michael again then. After a brief pause, Ralph told me that Michael was now in a meeting and could not be interrupted. I mean, I am not naive enough to think that Michael went to a meeting within 30 seconds of hanging up, irately, with a customer, but I was not going to press the issue either as Ralph was at being pleasant, if not helpful. Next I tried a different approach by asking for a company owner's information. He told me he was not at liberty to provide that kind of information because I could be a competitor or someone who wanted to cause the owner harm. It was a stretch, but I accepted that and asked if he could please connect me to the department which receives complaints. Ralph then took on an apologetic tone and informed me that he was sorry that it happened and he did not understand why the individuals involved acted in the manor they had and wanted to give me a refund and accept that resolution. He also informed me that they were a "Mom & Pop" organization that worked out of a warehouse type environment and sometimes, at the end of the day, some of them got a bit... not sure what word he used... short-tempered. I kindly let Ralph know that I never wanted a refund in the first place and, even had I received a resolution on the merchandise by receiving a refund, it would not excuse, nor resolve, the horribly offensive and derogatory service I had been provided. I explained that I wanted a resolution to that as well and asked if he could please at least provide me with the address for the company so I could send a certified complaint. Ralph told me that I had to understand that he could not provide any information to me that would assist me in filing any kind of complaint against the company and said that if I wanted to continue down that path I would have to find all the information by myself. I never had a chance to respond as Ralph then told me he had some FedEx packages that needed to get shipped and ended our call. At least Ralph was entirely polite and professional when he was telling me to go you know where!
At this point I was simply stunned and didn't know what to do. I knew that calling them back was not going to get me anywhere so I started exploring the idea of filing a complaint against them with the Better Business Bureau. Low and behold, I discover that the company already has the worst rating that you can possess on the Better Business Bureau website with an 'F' grade. You can see this for yourself by clicking here (http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=13216029&sm=). I added a Customer Service complaint to the already three unanswered complaints that exist, according to that link.
I doubt that I will get any kind of resolution to this issue outside of a refund of my money, but I wanted everyone on here to know of my troubles with this company. Maybe this will be helpful in your decisions on how to spend your hard earned dollars.
I understand that there is "two sides to every story" and that many of you hold this company in a favorable light and this might be contradictory to your experience. However, this happened only a few hours ago and I have really attempted to be accurate an honest in my recap. In the end, I will probably end up calling up DirecTV and just ordering two more from them and deal with the contract... the thing that go me into this mess in the first place. ;)