When you own a mobile phone there will be times when you have to deal with your network provider’s customer services department. Your query could be as simple as a tariff change, or a complaint about your bill. Customer services have well-trained members of staff who are there to help no matter what the problem is.
When you first call the customer service department they will ask you to identify yourself. You may have a password set up on your account and they will ask for that, so have the information to hand. You will need your mobile telephone number or your postcode in order for them to find your account on their system. Finding your account can take a minute or two, so be prepared to be patient.
Turnover of staff can often be quite high too, so try to remember that the person who is trying to help you may also be very new to the job and may require extra time to check out the details with a colleague or supervisor. If you are looking for a favourable response to your query it is worth remembering that you may need to stay on the line for a while depending of course on how in-depth your problem is. There may be a need to transfer to more than one department during the course of your query, as not all customer queries can be dealt with by the general customer service department.
On the plus side, you should be able to sort out your query with just the one call. You can top up your credit for your pay as your go handset; you can pay the bill for your monthly contract. You can also change your tariff if you find that the one you are currently on is unsuitable. If you forget your pin number and end up getting locked out of the phone you will need a PUK code. Customer services can provide this for you really quickly.
Advice
You can call customer services just to ask for advice. They can guide you to the right mobile phone for you when the time comes to upgrade and they can also set spending limits for your phone to ensure you do not get a big bill. This feature does have its limitations and you may end up spending more than your limit for a variety of reasons. The notification of your current call charges will only come through once the phone calls have registered on your account. If you have used your handset abroad this can take anything from a few hours to a few weeks and you could have international calls spanning more than one bill, even if you only holidayed for a week.
Stay Cool
The most important thing to remember when calling customer services is that they are there to help you. There are times when you may be frustrated or angry about a problem with your mobile phone, but shouting at the advisor will not be helpful, only upsetting for both parties. If you do not feel that your query is being understood properly or being dealt with as it should you are well within your rights to ask to speak to a supervisor. Most customer services advisors have limited powers when it comes to problems such as authorising credits due to errors on a bill, but a supervisor can have this done for you in a matter of minutes.
Phil Turner has changed phone networks many times and has had his fair share of frustration with customer service agents. He is older now and wiser and has learned the importance of being pleasant at all times, even when talking to a computer.
