Ok before I start rambling about my current frustration..let me fill you in on the back story of my current frustration. I am not sure if this promotion is only in America, but for those that don't know what it is:
coke on put codes on all their products.
the amount of points each is worth depends on the size of the coke product. for example, 20 oz is worth 3 points while a 30 pack is worth 25 points. You enter these codes on the website and you can redeem the points for 'rewards.' The rewards can be something small like $1 off a 12 pack coupon or prime tickets to a NFL football game. Anyways, a co-worker of mine saw that I was collecting the codes so he offered to give me all his from his vending machine business he has on the side.
Back in August, the battery in my watch died so I went online and redeemed 1054 points for an Adidas sports watch. It took a couple weeks to be delivered but it had a lot of features my old watch didnt have and soon I was dependent on it.
Then one morning as I was walking back to my desk from a trip to the water cooler I saw my watch on the ground. I hadn't even realized it had fallen off. The strap had broken from the face at holes the posted strewed into to keep the face and band connected. There was no way for it to be fixed. I was crushed. I had grown accustomed and dependent upon the watch's many features.
Normally I would have taken it back to the store with my receipt and ask for them to replace it, but I couldn't.
So I logged into my coke rewards account and searched for contact info. All they had was a link to send them an email...so I sent this:
Hi I received a Woman's adidas response watch through here and it has broke. i have only had a little over a month or so. the band broke from the face and there is no way to fix. who do i contact in regards to this...how do i get it replaced?? i know adidas has to expect their watches to last more than a month and a half.
thanks in advance for your assistance in this matter!
To which I shortly received this in my registered email's inbox:
Thank you for your interest. We are currently investigating your request and will get back to you shortly.
Sincerely,
The Coca-Cola Company
[THREAD ID: 1-G4V9QD]
The next day I was plagued by the thought that I should be doing more if I wanted results, so I googled 'my coke rewards customer service.' There were several hits of blogs and forums discussing my coke rewards and one even listed the 1 800 number for my coke rewards customer service. I called. It turned out to be the number to Coke Cola Customer Service but they quickly transferred me to someone who could help me.
I got a very nice guy who took all my information and description of the issue. He gave me a reference number and let me know someone would contact me in 7 - 9 business days.
Satisfied I had done all I could I put the issue out of mind and moved on.
Nine business days later.
I had received no response. I called again. This time I got a lady. I gave her my reference number.
She, with a slight attitude, told me that it had not been the required 7 - 10 business days they need to 'research' the problem. I let her know it had been 9 bus. days and that's what I had been told would be needed. She, with blatant attitude, told me I was told wrong and that someone would be emailing me by the 10th business day. (that would have been tuesday as I made this call on monday) She added that I should wait until Wednesday to call back as they might email me anytime on Tuesday.
I waited until Thursday before I called back. This time I got a lady who had been 'double trained' in Regular Coke Cola Customer Service Procedures and My Coke Rewards so she didn't need to transfer my call to anyone else.
I filled her in on my issue and gave her my reference number. She apologized for the lack of response and let me know she would 'send them a message requesting a rush response.'
-_- I was not pleased. I expected more results.
I asked her if there was anything else she could do. She said no. All she could was 'send a message to them.' I stayed calm. I tried several times to appeal to this lady to do all she could to help me get this resolved. As she was repeating for the last time about sending a message and was saying thank you for calling Coke Cola Customer Service...I lost it. I didn't want to but my frustration had hit its limit.
I started by apologizing for my future behavior. Told her I was sorry that I was taking out my previous bad customer service experience and frustration but I was dumbstruck at the situation she was giving me.....this is pretty much what I told her:
Ok. Tell me this. How long are we going to play this 'let me send them a message requesting a rush response' game? Who are 'they'? Can I talk to 'them'? Let me talk to 'them'...transfer me to 'them'. [I can't do that, all I can do is send them a message of what you are saying...I am typing what you are saying] Ok, if I can't talk to them then what is your next course of action. You send them a message I wait the seven days you are requesting now to resolve this problem. I get no response. I call back. Are you going to tell me again 'let me send them a message'? [I hope it doesn't come to that.] Well, what if it does? What is your procedure? Or do we just continue the 'message' game until I get tired and give up and stop calling. Please let me know now so I know what to expect....how many times do I have to call before we do something besides 'send a message'? I just want to be fully prepared for the experience I am in for with your company. You know....I read on the forum, where I received your 1 800 number, about people's complaints with your company's customer service policies and now I know what they are talking about....this is ridiculous! I run a company. Correction corporation. I know about business procedures and I think this is a load of crap. These 'people' you are referring to....what is it that they are 'researching'? To me the answer is pretty simple....you can send me another watch and if you want i will send you the broken one just give me an address or you can give me my points back. It seems pretty damn simple to me. So what is it that they have spent 11 business days 'researching'? Let me remind you that this program is supposed to 'reward' your customers for buying your product...I DON'T FEEL VERY REWARDED RIGHT NOW. So let me make this clear to you I will not get off this phone call and I will continue to call until someone does something to 'reward' me for collecting these stupid ass codes and drinking your damn product. But once again, I am sorry for taking it out on you but I would like to resolve this problem today.
Ok...I understand your frustration and I haven't forgotten about you so I am going to put you on hold and go talk to my supervisor. Will you please hold?
Sure...I would love to hold.
Two or Three Minutes Max on hold.
Miss? Thank you for holding. I have talked to my supervisor and she is going to add the points you spent on the watch back into your account right now and she said you don't have to return the broken watch. Thank you very much for calling Coke Cola and is there anything else I can do for you today?
No but thanks for your help.
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Now why did we have to go through all that? Why did I have to get all mad and worked up to get some results?
I know this issue is not limited only to Coke Cola or America....but seriously wtf?
It's frustrating to me that I have to get upset, say things out of frustration and make a scene (if at a store) to get results. Businesses are willing to do as little as the customer is willing to allow. I hate it cause either way I feel like crap.
If I don't get upset and I don't get frustrated I leave the store or whatever, feeling crappy cause I know that if I had gotten tempered I would have gotten the results I wanted. But when I do get the results I want...like after this phone call I also feel crappy because I let my emotions get the best of me, I got all worked up, turned off my interior filter and said whatever came to mind out of frustration. I take pride in the fact that I have made great strides in over coming my emotional addictions (if you have seen what the bleep do we know?- then you know what I am talking about) and I hate the feeling I am left with after losing my cool while dealing with a Customer Service Agent. Some people are amazed at the results I am able to produce when dealing with customer service people but to me...I am left feeling like was that necessary? Why do I have to get fired up for Customer Service people to do all they can to help me?
I run a business that is based on and survives on our policy of providing the highest quality of customer service we possibly can. And I guess that where a lot of my frustrations come into play...I know their game. I know what they can do and I know what is stretching their limits. I know when someone is not doing 'all they can' for me and it frustrates me that I have to get heated for them to go that extra step. Either way I am left with a bad feeling in the pit of stomach. Either I know they could have done more or I lost my cool.
Thanks for letting me vent. I get tired of the 'games' sometimes.
