Toshiba's Horrible Customer Serivce - Marissa "I refuse to help you"

[Annelle]

omg had about the worst customer service call with Toshiba today.

I've been having laptop issues for a while now, and I've formatted it, and the problems have just been getting worse, so most of my friends have been saying it might be a hardware issue.

So I call in, since I'm still within my 3 year extended warranty, and find out that if they provide customer service over the phone that they'll charge me for the phone call.  When I talked to the first person, he said I'd have to send it in, and I find out it's going to cost me $25 to utilize the warranty that I've already paid for.  ugh. Whatever. The laptop is almost 3 years old, so it's cheaper for them to fix it (unless of course they say they won't do anything after charging me), than for me to buy a new laptop.

Then I ask him this question...basically a year ago, my 12-cell battery was having problems, and they ended up sending me a replacement battery.  Well after having it for a while, I realized it was a 9-cell battery and not a 12-cell battery. I asked why that was, and if anything could be done about it. He said he'd transfer me to customer care to see if they'd know anything.

I get a call with Marissa.  Basically, she tells me that first of all, I'm not going to get another battery. (I didn't ask for another battery.) Then she said they sent out whatever came with the computer to replace my battery, and it was my fault for ordering a different battery in the first place. I tell her that I bought my laptop directly from them and the 12-cell was the battery I got directly from them, direct from the factory.  She tells me again that I'm not going to get another battery.  I ask her why they would send me a 9 cell instead of a 12 cell. She again says that they send whatever the laptop comes with is what they send out and that my computer comes with a 9 cell, not a 12 cell, and it doesn't matter what the factory sent me, or what I ordered, because my computer does not get a 12 cell battery.

At this point, I ask to speak with her manager. "I can not do that. My manager does not take phone calls." What is your manager's name? "I refuse...I will not give you that. I will not give you my manager's name. I will not transfer you to her. She will not take your phone call." Can you transfer me to anybody else. "I cannot do that. I am unable to transfer your call. I am the case manager for your file. I will not transfer your call. You can not speak to anybody else. You will not get a free battery."

I say, "I don't think you're even understanding the reason why I called, because I was asking why they would send me the wrong battery in the first place. You don't have the physical capabilities of transfering me to anyone else in your company?"

Marissa: "No I cannot transfer you to anyone. I refuse to transfer you to anyone."

me: "So it's not that you can't transfer me, it's that you're refusing to do so."

Marissa: "Yes, I refuse to transfer you."

me "Where are is your call center located?"

Marissa: "In the United States. I refuse to give out any more information. I will not transfer you. You will not speak to anybody else. I am the case manager. I manage this case. I am the only one you will talk to."

me "Can I be transferred to someone else to make a customer service complaint"

Marissa "No I cannot transfer you."

me "You are physically incapable of transferring me to anybody else in the company?"

Marissa: "Yes, I cannot transfer you to anybody else. I will not transfer you. I can make your case file. But I refuse to transfer you to anyone. I refuse."

me "How am I going to be able to identify you or list who you are if I make a separate complaint to corporate?"

Marissa "My name is Marissa"

me "What's your last name?"

Marissa: "I don't need to tell you that. My name is Marissa that is all you need to know."

me "How do I know there aren't any other Marissa's working for Toshiba, or who might in the future work for Toshiba?"

Marissa "I am the only one named Marissa. nobody else named Marissa will work here.

me "Toshiba will never hire anybody named Marissa ever again because you work there?"

Marissa "My name is Marissa. That's all you need to know. you won't be talking to anybody else."

It went on like this for a good 45 minutes where I would have been fine with an apology that they made a mistake, or something else. But instead this girl who was half asleep, and pretty much only repeated "I cannot transfer you" and "I refuse..." statements.  I told her she needed to stop lying to her customers especially when they're obviously false statements. I have a feeling she's basically sitting there wanting the phone calls to end so she can take her paycheck and go home.

I did really like my Toshiba laptop for the first year and a half I've had it.  The last year and a half as things have started to have problems, it's been a horrendous experience with them.  People like Marissa who can't work a telephone who just sit there and make up lies to try to get you off the phone.

 

[perlanga]

This service was clearly unacceptable. I work for a European automakers finance company titling cars and every once in a while a call comes in from someone who had a title problem wanting a supervisor asap. At times I'm not given any info and I don't even know what type of soup to transfer it to. We are always told to get as much info possible then diffuse. This lady wouldn't transfer you to a soup at all. Some companies dont do soup transfers and you must send a letter. It may seem old fashioned, but they get the job done. If a letter is sent in to our corporate office, its really bad news for whomever took the call. As far as the last name goes that's understandable, for security we don't give last names but rather agent ids. There might be an email link on Toshibas main site you can use it and document as well as you can what happened.

 

[Annelle]

I didn't really care about the last name, but I wanted some way to be able to point out which person it was that I was talking about if I were to call back or send in a letter.  The corporate office address is on the website, so I'll probably end up doing that.  But the fact that a) she refused to help me at all and B) refused to let me talk to anybody else who actually might be willing to help me was more infuriating because she kept lying to me about why she wasn't going to transfer me. (Being physically incapable of transferring the line, not having the technology on the phones to transfer, saying that nobody else at the company will ever be hired with the same first name as her, stating that supervisors REFUSE to answer the phones (what is the point of a supervisor if they refuse to correct employee mistakes?), stating she is unable to transfer to anybody else in the entire company, clarifying that she's actually refusing and not incapable of it, then reverting back to the excuse of being incapable of it...)

 

[calexxia]

She sucked.

But I will state that from all my years of CS work, I've yet to work an account that didn't autostamp an account (various industries) with which rep took the call, so if a complaint is filed, even without an agent id or last name, it's pretty easy to find out who it was (even without a first name, if you know the date and approximate time). Even if a rep doesn't notate, the autostamp is there with who took it, ya know?