"Phone rings. "Good morning is this Mr.Kaufman?"
"This is a customer satisfaction call from AT&T. is there something you can call our attention to to improve our service to you?"
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, this is not a sales call. Mr. Kaufman, we are compiling a list of things we can do to make our customers more satisfied with our service.""Well, can I explain why I have a gripe and how I think it developed?"
"Yes.
"But, it may take a couple of minutes."
"Of course Mr Kaufman, that's why I'm calling."
"OK. I know how hard AT&T works to improve their bottom line and including now when times are very difficult. So . . . .I can imagine the boardroom and I can just hear the executive explaining his suggestion, "Charge card companies, banks and others who bill customers on a regular basis started charging late fees some years ago, seemingly without regard to the amount due and if the fees were
considered interest charges, they would be very high indeed, And not only that, in addition they would still charge the interest because it was two different charges. The point being, they have been doing this for so long now, complaints are now down to an ignorable range. So I prepared this graph which shows the following. Every month we have tens of thousands of customers who pay late. If we would charge them a late fee of say $5.00 I don't think there would much resistance and if you times the amount of late payers by the fee and then times that by twelve months and then deduct the amount for a small number of lost customers . . . . I think you can see, happy stockholders."
"Mr. Kaufman . . ."considered interest charges, they would be very high indeed, And not only that, in addition they would still charge the interest because it was two different charges. The point being, they have been doing this for so long now, complaints are now down to an ignorable range. So I prepared this graph which shows the following. Every month we have tens of thousands of customers who pay late. If we would charge them a late fee of say $5.00 I don't think there would much resistance and if you times the amount of late payers by the fee and then times that by twelve months and then deduct the amount for a small number of lost customers . . . . I think you can see, happy stockholders."
"Wait, please . . . for me personally I am investigating changing to another carrier because in my case I have 2 lines and recently you began sending me 2 separate bills. Which means, when I came back from a trip to Atlanta and the bill came due while I was away, I was charged 2 late fees. So I'm investigating changing to another company. I will be comparing DSL speed, fees charged for being late, both lines on one bill, and the monthly charges."
"Mr. Kaufman why don't you pay on-line? It will be so convenient and no more fees?"
"As a matter of fact I am going to put it on my American Express Card, but I'm not putting it on the for that reason. I'm irritated at what they are doing to customers like and I know American Express charges AT&T a collection fee, which, by the way, you don't offer to me if I pay on time. And, AMEX gives prize points that I can use to get gadgets from their catalog which may include can openers. I just broke my old, favorite, reliable, can opener. Thinking of AT&T buying me a new can opener is making me smile."
I already have enough points for a can opener and because the young lady was so nice (an excellent hire) I think I'll take an extra month or so with my investigation.
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