Bell ExpressVu reps treatment

  • Thread starter Thread starter mtlnorm
  • Start date Start date
The training is not that bad...

Not long enought, not technical enought, but it gives you a good base.

The problem is the pressure that they put on us to sell on every call (rather than focussing on solving the problem) and whithin the time given that week...
 
Bell is only more careful in the application of its policies. That said, most satisfaction credits demands are not reviewed and are agreed to on the base they were promised to clients. It is extremely rare that they take 4 to 6 weeks to treat. Usually it's not more than 48 hours, unless it's a complex demand.



We aren't robots.
 
That's very admirable, Agent Express V; and good going on your homework I Want My HDTV. And notwithstanding the admitted complexity of the TV product, it's not an impossible thing to master. The fact that many CSRs simply don't have accurate answers is damning of the training system. It's simply got to be cheaper to have someone well-informed answering the phone, trying to make the sale than the current system.
 
I didn't mean to imply that you were. Agent Express V attempted to give us reasons for the poor quality customer service, while you seem to have different info about the topics agent Express V mentioned.
 
I phoned EV and had a great experience. First, defeated the automated voice recognition system. The call was then answered right away. Then I upgraded my package from the old Super Seven to the new HD Essentials package. Then I added TMN and one more theme pack. Then I asked for a promo code to be applied. The KISS principle works when dealing with a CSR who must deal with broken Bell software. :cool:

p.s. His spoken English was perfect.
 
Also, apparently sometimes EVU reps make really arrogant and ignorant (semi-prejudice) statements inferring that Albertans (and others in Western Canada) are rednecks in public forums in order to someone defend themselves or the company.
 
I'd like to make a plea for kindness toward CSRs. (OTOH, the whole ugly installation mess referred to above gives me the willies.)

Internet is a pretty straight-forward product: 1) you are in the zone; 2) there are 4 or 5 speeds available; 3) do you want security products; 4) what install date?

Home Phone is similarly fairly easy to discuss over the phone.

TV is a completely different animal. Digital Standard (which channels?); PVRs (which package?); HD (which channels, which dependent theme pack); International (which dependencies, what languages per channel); which combo of theme packs in English; I only want Fox News .... etc.

TV is a very complex product to understand, let alone sell and my heart goes out to the ExpressVu reps, esp. in India, trying to cope. A lot of reps probably don't have satellite at home but subscribe to cable, if they live in Canada, and certainly it's hard from a Quebec call centre rep who has ExpressVu at home to understand what Shaw in Calgary is delivering to a new prospect phoning from there.

Plus, wages tend to be "performance based" aka sell more, keep your job. Or at least, short call = bonus, long call = lose job.

Nonetheless.

Training is a function of management decisions; properly compensated workers will stay on the job and become subject experts; well informed CSRs are the best ally a customer has and increases the likelihood the call will end in increased customer satisfaction -- even if the price goes up. Perhaps the customer didn't understand, until this call, that they had access to time-shifting and what that really meant to them: the ability to catch a favourite show the next hour. Like Rick Mercer from Winnipeg and Calgary, not just Toronto.

Having said this, the fiasco over new HD equipment introductions -- and here we are on the cusp of May, fully three months after the first "announcement" that MPEG-4 players were coming in April -- shows that the Bell PR team, and Product Management, do not bother to keep the "lowly" front-line CSR in mind as the company steps forward with evolving product and services. The CSR is practically the last to know, usually on the day of the press release so as not to "harm" advance sales.

At the end of the day, the voice at the end of 1-800-Bell ExpressVu or in the 20-something clerk at your local Bell World store is YOUR face to the wonderful world of YOUR $100+/mth expenditure on telecom/entertainment services (aka $1000+/yr) -- why is it THESE folk seem the least informed, the least trained, and the last to know?

There are a LOT of eager folks (I almost said beavers) in these roles: if they can't deliver, the blame ought to be applied further up the food chain.
 
We are well informed, all the info is in our Info Zone system, but we have to go read the latest news on "our time" either break or when there is no incomming calls. Unfortunatly, as people working in call centers tend to be young ethnic students, they prefer talking to their neighbourg about how good was their night last night, how many bottle they bought or their newest car then to go get informed.
 
I've been with Express Vu for close to a year...

People who work on the floor with me will qualify me as "one of the best agent on the floor"

Supervisors have encouraged me to apply when we created an internal helpdesk at the vendor I work for. the only reason I didn't apply is that they required us to be available all day (including evennings) and I coudn't work at night since i'm a single mom.

According to what you are saying you must be working for Bell directly... What is your exact position? Are you a CSR or a tech 3 agent, or helpdesk? Have you been to any other call center than yours before you come and say this is not how it his?

Yes we do have Info Zone to keep us inform, but Info Zone doesn't tell us everything...and neither does the supervisor or team leaders were I work. In fact my team leader does ask me more questions about the service, policies, than I do ask him. Information we get from our support team (supervisor-team leader-helpdesk) is often different from one person to another. I'm not learning my job on line...what do you think I could really learn that I don't already know from that forum?

I think you really have an attitude and i'm really happy not to be in the same call center you are...and that you are not boss!
 
I'm just expressing a reality...and I didn't says all Albertans or Western clients were like that, if I was yea that would have been arrogant, but I wasn't! All the time that I had trouble with clients due to the fact that I was French it was Albertans or Western clients, same for most of the reps I talked to.

If the hats fits put it if not leave it...

The name or the accent had nothing to do with the service you will get. It's true that in our Montreal call centers there is lots of Ha
 
Did this lock you into a contract for another two years with $100/yr penalities for changing your mind? Are you stuck with your current MPEG-2 hardware for two more years without a hardware upgrade path? Or are you month-to-month and can revise your services to suit your budget and changing entertianment needs?
 
A "coatching" is when a supervisor (or team leader) meets one of his agent to tell him there was a complaint about his work, or that he does things wrong.
 
I guess you don't fully understand that "redneck" particularly in the way you used it is a bit of a slur.

"Redneck" Alberta has the highest per capita students in French Immersion Schools in English speaking provinces, btw.

I think more people are frustrated by csrs that have less knowledge of the product than the customer than they are frustrated by language issues.

When I call a company regarding my service with them, I expect them to be more knowledgeable than I am on the product and be able to communicate effectively and efficiently. Frankly, no company should accept anything less than that from their employees.

BTW, with Bell, usually I get someone with a stronger accent, but in the end, language issues have never been a major problem. However, I don't think it is out of line that when I call my English TV provider I expect to be able to converse with them in normal English.
 
Changing programming doesn't lock you in a contract... The only contract you have with Express Vu is the original one when you sign up (1 or 2 years). After that clients are on a month to month basis, exept in some exceptional cases where client gets retantion offer and get free receiver for a period
 
The problem is not with Canadian customers who don't understand the technology, but with the reps. If they were trained well enough to handle clients that aren't aware of the technology, then there wouldn't be as much of a problem. Bell tells these people that using the technology is so easy, but when they have a problem, who are they supposed to turn to? The arrogant reps. The most ironic issue is that a lot of the reasons why Canadian customers that don't understand the technology have trouble with csrs are because most of the csrs don't speak either of the official Canadian languages well enough to be a csr.

It makes me laugh when the csrs feel they are in any position to laugh or make fun. 9 times out of the 10 times I have had to deal with Bell csrs, they don't have a grasp on either of the official Canadian languages nor the technology themselves.
 
So, be candid: a new client on A-I-O package decides six months in that the SD PVR isn't adequate or graduates o a new HD TV. Isn't it true that he is STUCK with his current SD PVR for another 18 months and has to buy or rent an extra HD box to watch the new TV? Not to mention possible new dish/lnb/wiring installs and upfront costs (later refunded in credits, perhaps).

Yes, someone on Digital Extras can add a 7th Theme Pack without these contractual encumbrances ... but not switch to HD Essentials without huge contract cancellation charges (SD to HD) and then gets tied into a NEW A-I-O 24 month contract moving forward.

I also understood Bell strongly discourages any month-to-month customers, insisting in the main, that they sign a new contract upon making any changes with at least a one year A-I-O upgrade of one sort or another?

Please, be candid.
 
Back
Top