Tuesday, January 03, 2012

I Should not be in Customer Service??

I just recounted the following to my husband, only to be told that I shouldn't get a job in customer service.
I get a email requesting a renewal of equipment that reached its End of Life (EOL) 12/31/10 from a company other than the one that shows up in our files. We'll call that company, Company B. We do not support gear that is 2nd hand, as it is too expensive to certify that it has not been tampered with. Never fun to let a customer know that what they have just purchased is a several thousand dollar door stop.
The customer says that they got the box from their partner company, Company A. I can't find anything on the web that links Company A with Company B, as often is the case with mergers & spin-offs. Also Company A is in San Jose, California and Company B is in Vancouver. Also, Company A already upgraded away from the EOL hardware.
All signs point to a 2nd hand sale with the new customer aware of the "we don't re-license used hardware policy". They have called support and asked to get the box reset. Support has told them they cannot unless they get the box reassigned to their name. I'm telling them that we don't re-license boxes and that the right Account Manager would be happy to quote new equipment. They haven't liked our message of, "we won't support that box in any way, we'd be happy to sell you new hardware."
Despite this not being my territory, and my attempts at being clear about their options, Company B is still calling me.
Today's call:
"I spoke with support and they won't let me reset the box."
"No, they won't, as the box is EOL and we cannot support it."
"But I just want it reset. I don't need it to be supported. Why can't I just get it activated?"
"If you activate it, then you're likely to call support for assistance."
"Why would I do that?"
"Well, haven't you already called support about the box?"
That last statement popped his bubble and he just asked for the name and number of the Account Manager. I'm hoping that is my last call with the customer. I'm thinking they might feel the same way.