• For bigger companies that outsource cals to India, try to get a Spanish speaking customr rep (by pressing the appropriate number). and just say you made a mistake. Most likely his English will be better than the Indian’s, and there may be a shorter queue as well.
  • If you want to cancel some sort of account, don’t select that choice when prompted. Picking certain choices has less to do with who you get to talk to and their level of expertise, but rather your priority level. You’ll be higher in priority when you ask for support or for a service to be done, than if you want to cancel something–since you really are of little importance to them.
  • If you find a good rep, ask for their name/extension and go back to him when you have to call again. Good reps are rare out there.
  • The worst time to call is near the end of the hour. Since people work in shifts, if you catch them at the end of their shift, they’ll try to get rid of you as soon possible to go home. Particularly at 24-hour service places, a person’s shift is hard to determine, e.g. 5pm-11pm. If a place is open at for instance, 7am-7pm, a 9 hour shift would mean the first people leave at 4pm, then 5pm, etc.
  • If a service can’t be provided immediately upon request, threaten to cancel. CSRs have more leeway than one may think, and what you ask for may be possible with a bit of push–e.g. refunds on “non-refundable” accounts.
  • An angry customer is a high priority customer. This does not mean to be rude though, but there’s a direct correlation between how fast something gets done and how loud your voice is. This works especially well on the poor, nice people. A bitter angry rep will just yell back at you and act in spite. For simple requests though that doesn’t require much investigating, being polite may pay off more.