The caller had a request, fix the billing error of $250.00
eBay charged to his PayPal account. He
explained the eBay account had not listed anything for sale in over a year,
thus the “Seller Fees and Associated Charges” were in error. The eBay representative confirmed the “primary”
account had not been used in over a year, but the “secondary” account had. Due to eBay’s research, they had determined
the two accounts were “very similar” and had linked them, so the charges to the
caller’s PayPal account were valid. The
caller explained there was not a secondary eBay account, never had been, and
thus the other account was not his. The
eBay representative assured the caller they had conducted a thorough
investigation and the case was closed – the charges stood. The caller politely asked to escalate the
call to a supervisor. He was told by the
eBay representative the supervisor would tell him the same thing.
This is when the caller lost his mind.
 |
| "I will crawl through this phone and eat your soul!" |
Quoting his wife, “I have never seen you so mad. You frightened me.” The caller’s wife had left the room crying. The caller was reduced to screaming to be
connected to a supervisor NOW! Reminding
eBay THEY had experienced a data breach, and that the “secondary” account was
fraudulent.
The call was finally transferred to a person identifying themself as a “supervisor in the Trust & Fraud Department”. This individual stated eBay HAD identified
the “secondary” account as fraud, that it had been closed, and that they
clearly knew it was not associated with the caller’s primary account.
The response from the supervisor was 180⁰ different than the
first representative who had assured,
“The supervisor will tell you the same
thing I am telling you.”
The supervisor with eBay then explained that the charge had already
been processed and the caller would have to dispute it with PayPal. The caller asked the supervisor three times, “And
I have your assurance eBay WILL NOT dispute my dispute of the charges.” He was told eBay would not.
This eBay call center was located in India.
 |
| "Thank you for . . nothing. I really don't care what you want." |
The caller, whose voice was now extremely raspy from yelling, contacted PayPal. His first question when the young lady answered, “Can you please tell me in what country you are located.” The bright and helpful young woman stated, “The United States, sir.” A wave of relief washed over the caller. He explained the situation and asked Tiffany for help. She ask the caller to hold as she connected eBay on the call. When the line connected she explained she was calling from PayPal and had the account holder on the line. The caller explained the situation to the eBay representative, as apparently notes from the previous two individuals had not been logged into the system. The eBay rep asked questions regarding the items that had been listed, the callers address and telephone. He quickly realized an error had been made.
 |
| "Good afternoon, sir. And I really mean it." |
The PayPal representative – whom the caller was unaware had
remained on the line – retook the call, thanked the eBay rep for their time,
and disconnected them from the call.
Tiffany apologized for the inconvenience and stated she would take care
of the problem immediately.
. . . and she did.
While the caller was still on the line he received an email
stating a reversal of the charges had been processed and would be in the
callers account within 3 to 5 days.
Tiffany exceeded expectations as the money was in the caller’s
bank account the next day.
This is a prime example of American problem-solving versus
other countries whom follow a script.
The eBay representative followed an on-screen script without listening
to the caller or researching the problem.
He proceeded to anger the caller, and drive a stake in the caller’s
faith in eBay, simply by not following a simple rule Americans seem to innately
possess – listening to the customer instead of waiting for their turn to
talk.
Executives with MBA’s at multiple Fortune 500 companies have
expressed the value of off-shoring jobs to India as,
“ . . . [they] have
college degrees and will work for one-third the wages of Americans.”
 |
| "And momma said it wouldn't do me any good." |
What they fail to account for in labor savings is the loss
of customers. Payroll comes out of one
cost center, acquiring customers and customer retention from another. They may save a few dollars, but ultimately
they lose the customer. The income
source dries up, but to paraphrase these executives,
“That’s someone else’s problem. I cut costs in my division.”
As I look at it, I’ll take American high school graduates any day than low-cost college graduates from India. The other guys may have saved a few bucks in the short-run, but I’ll still be in business when they drive off all their customers.
If you have questions regarding your business' marketing strategy, feel free to contact me at darren@darrensomsen.com.
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