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Thursday, June 24, 2010

BFS and BBB: New BFFs

A while back, one of my favorite bloggers, Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, wrote about her (bad) experience with Fedex. She complained to the Better Business Bureau, got satisfaction from Fedex, and even a gift card. I was impressed. I had always thought of the Better Business Bureau as a do-nothing organization (why, I wonder).

As you may know, I have been ranting and whining about my experiences first with Chico's (which was mainly annoying) and then with Virgin Mobile, which was truly a through-the-looking-glass experience. Last you all heard, we had--at Virgin's urging--reversed the reversal on our credit card, so that our daughter could get her service back. Well, of course she didn't. When Mr. FS called Virgin, the rep said there was no record of any of our dealings OR of our daughter's phone. THAT WAS IT! We called Amex and asked them to reverse the reversal of the reversal, which they did. (I love you, Amex.)

Then I read Fun Stuff's post and realized that I, so proud of my customer service spine, was actually kind of a slacker. Plus it was around Father's Day, and my late father, difficult to deal with for most people, was a scourge of bad customer service: he would NOT GIVE UP. So, in honor of Father's Day, I wrote a complaint on the BBB website about Virgin's service.

And guess what? Today we got a call from a lovely and competent Customer Service rep, who apologized profusely. At the end of our chat, shse asked me if I wanted my daughter's service re-connected. I said that, while I loved dealing with her, I would NEVER use Virgin again, unless they offered a free year of service. I told her that Mr. FS and I had wasted many hours dealing with incompetent people.

She called back 15 minutes later with an offer of three free months! We haven't decided what to do yet.

So, folks, use the Better Business Bureau. And thank you to BFS: you are my new BFF.

9 comments:

Shelley said...

What a nice story! I'm so pleased to hear that the BBB was able to get Virgin's attention.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

It just goes to show that some companies care...
I seldom complain but when I do I expect action.

This is a good news story...

Duchesse said...

Good for you and the BBB. Tell us what you do next. Your Dad was well honoured.

Darla said...

I guess I need to call BBB. Ordered something for my dtr., FedX delivered it "somwhere", she doesn't have it, they don't have it and say they delivered it to her. NO! It is on my credit card so I may call them as well.

Darla

Crystal Stemberger said...

Awww, my posts actually helped somebody! Woot!!! I'm so glad it worked out for you!

It's hard to pass up 3 free months...maybe take them and then cancel. It'll make you feel vindicated. :-)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
mette said...

I´d stay in the original plan. One year free.

Funny about Money said...

Virgin Mobile sound as arrogant and awful as Qwest. I wouldn't deal with them. Three months -- or a year -- of free service isn't going to change their basic business practices. Find a provider that still manages to treat customers decently. If you can. ;-)

Frugal Scholar said...

@All--Well, as you may know, Virgin rescinded the offer!!!! How I hate them. What a bunch of time-wasters...