Tim Matheson Blog - Productive Tips and More

Ok this is a tip I have used for years to reduce my cell phone bill. Actually I haven’t had to put it into practice much since I left a certain unnamed PCS provider.

In short you just waste their time on the phone untill it costs them money then reap the benifits.

The concept while working at several call centers one year for some much needed scratch I got my first taste of “Corporate America” at it’s finest. My job along side many others were to take phone calls from dissatisfied customers. We were paid an hourly wage based on “ACT” or Average Call Time. ACT is the average time in which you resolve a problem and move on it’s a productivity tactic to keep reps from just saying ya ya ya while they sip mochas and play Tetris on their workstations (I have never done that ;) I assure you).

Most companies I worked for gave us perks which we could use at our leisure to get a customer to calm down or stop crying about their huge bill (Not that they were wrong). So I called my phone company and decided to try it out. I was not rude, I was not demanding, I was more like “Hi how are you today? I am great except for one little thing”.

The trick is simple you just blab on and on and on don’t let them get a word in edgewise. Tell them about your plans for the weekend just let your inner ADHD drive them nuts. While all this is taking place their ACT is going through the roof based on your now 1+ hour call LOL.

They are now against the wall no employee wants to get a small check so its time to reach in the bag of perks. I got all the data charges removed from my bill and all other charges I was calling about because I like to talk. Just waste their time as much as you can ask to speak to someone else then ask for someone else and keep it up until you’re happy with the results. This works in allot of different situations. I have tested it in the following phone companies, fast food, cable companies/ISP, retail stores; movie theaters the trick is do it by phone.

Anyone who has talked on the phone for long periods of time will know it sucks stats to get annoying and there’s nothing in your power you won’t do to get off the damn phone. Use this against them and the consumer wins once again.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 at January 9, 2007 and is filed under Cellphone Hacks, Consumer Tips, Do it yourself guides, How To's. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.