After a day of phone calls, I finally was able to get TLC Marketing (or at least some guy in India) on the telephone to discuss the Dockers JCPenneys Free Round-Trip fiasco (see last post).
Neil: I’m calling about the Dockers Free Round Trip Ticket… I still haven’t heard back from you.
TLC Marketing: Yes, did you fill out the form?
Neil: I filled out the form a long time ago. I received a phone call saying everything was OK.
TLC Marketing: Then, you will be receiving a call from the booking agent.
Neil: When will I get this call?
TLC Marketing: You will get be receiving a call from the booking agent.
Neil: When? I’m supposed to have a flight on July 16th.
TLC Marketing: The booking agent will…
Neil: Can I give you my name and you can look it up in the computer? Maybe you can tell me when I will get this call.
TLC Marketing: I do not have access to individual records. You will be receiving a call from the booking agent…
Neil: When? In the brochure, it clearly states that I will receive a call two week after you receive the form.
TLC Marketing: You will be receiving…
Neil: When?! My flight is next week already…
TLC Marketing: Those with completed forms will be receiving a call from the booking agent starting on July 22nd.
Neil: On July 22nd?
TLC Marketing: Starting on July 22nd, you can negotiate your booking.
Neil: What?! My flight is supposed to be on July 16th.
TLC Marketing: You can negotiate it with the booking agent.
Neil: How am I going to negotiate my July 16th flight with the booking agent on July 22nd?
TLC Marketing: That’s something you can negotiate with the booking agent.
Neil: Is there a supervisor around?
TLC Marketing: All the supervisors are busy.
Neil: I’ll wait.
TLC Marketing: The supervisors are unable to take any calls today. You will need to wait to speak with the booking agent.
Neil: And what am I supposed to do now? I asked for a flight on July 16th.
TLC Marketing: You can negotiate it with the booking agent.
Neil: No. It doesn’t work that way. I can talk to the booking agent on July 22nd, but I cannot negotiate my July 16th flight with the booking agent on July 22nd? Do you understand what I’m talking about. The flight is on July 16th. The call is on July 22nd.
TLC Marketing: I only know that the booking agent will negotiate…
Neil: So, I WON’T be getting my flight for July 16th?
TLC Marketing: I cannot say that. You can negotiate…
Neil: Why can’t you say that?
TLC Marketing: That is something to negotiate…
Neil: Negotiate what? There is no POSSIBILITY that I will get a flight for July 16th on July 22th. Do you have a calendar in front of you?
TLC Marketing: Yes, I do.
Neil: So, you understand that I will NOT get my flight on July 16th.
TLC Marketing: I am not saying that. This is something you can negotiate…
Neil: Is this being recorded?
TLC Marketing: Yes.
Neil: What is your name?
TLC Marketing: Menuel.
Neil: Manuel?
TLC Marketing: Menuel.
Neil: Manual?
TLC Marketing: Menuel.
Neil: Can you spell that?
TLC Marketing: M-e-n-u-e-l.
Neil: And this is TLC Marketing?
TLC Marketing: Corrrect.
Neil: So, Menuel of TLC Marketing — you are telling me that there is a possibility that I still might receive a flight for July 16th when I receive my phone call on July 22nd?
TLC Marketing: You can negotiate it with the booking agent at the time.
Neil: Can we talk — just between me and you. I won’t get my flight on July 16th, will I?
TLC Marketing: This is something to negotiate with the booking agent
Neil: C’mon, Menuel. I understand that I will negotiate with the booking agent on July 22nd. But it will not be about my flight on July 16. That is literally IMPOSSIBLE except in Hollywood movies. Do you understand?
TLC Marketing: The booking agent…
Neil: Forget the booking agent. Just me and you. Do YOU see it as possibility that I might still get my flight for July 16 on July 22?
TLC Marketing: I am not a booking agent That is who you will negotiate…
Neil: Can I speak to a booking agent then?
TLC Marketing: The booking agent will call you on July 22nd.
Neil: So, let me say this one more time, so the recording can hear this. You, Menuel, a hired and paid employee of TLC Marketing, and a representative of the company, is telling me that no one can tell me whether or not I will be getting my July 16th flight to San Francisco until July 22nd, when I will receive a phone call from a booking agent where I can then negotiate, and still possibly get my flight to San Francisco on July 16, even though it happened to leave six days earlier?
CLICK
Fucking fantastic.
Poor bastard. I’d rather panhandle.
Wouldn’t it be great if Menuel had a blog and we could read about this whole scene from his point of view?
As frustrating as that may have been for you, that conversation just made my day. Looking forward to you demanding that flight when they call you… On the 22nd.
Just to clarify, Menuel being the poor bastard with a crappy ass job.
Menuel seems to not have a very large vocabulary.
Do you actually expect the booking agent to call you on the 22nd??
Jeez Neil. You’re a ball buster.
“Do you have a calendar in front of you?”
That part made me laugh.
Good God that whole exchange was painful. Please tell me you had a drink right after that!
Do they not realize their call centers wouldn’t be so busy if they actually solved the problem? And then they could lay Menuel off and save themselves a good $12,000 thereby?
GAAAH. Those “customer service” exchanges are the worst.
Usually I just hang up when I realize the person is pridefully not going to help me, and/or is LYING to me (the way he was lying to you about there being no supervisors to take your call), wherein I typically get someone completely different, and probably also based out of India, or perhaps Australia, or anywhere but the U.S., who is incredibly sweet and maybe might even help me. Maybe.
I get it – he was telling you he was reading from TLC’s “manual”
The lesson here is that you get exactly what you pay for. How many pairs of pants was this ticket?
That said, I am removing my pants in protest.
Oh you so must try to “negotiate” a flight for a date that occurred PRIOR to when they call you. If they call you. And you must record it because I want to hear this.
You better be one hell of a negotiator.
WOW.
Fucking robot.
I wonder if Menuel and Emily the automated attendant at Bell Canada are related. Are you sure Menuel was human?
Oh wait I know this one: A booking agent will call you.
Menuel was definitely from India, and I actually felt bad for him. What a crappy job, having to deal with grouches like me. I was more interested in getting the whole conversation recorded by them.
Wow. Just plain wow.
Have you thought about submitting this to “The Consumerist?” May be worth checking out. (The address is www dot consumerist dot com — if I spell it out here, I’m sure my comment will be treated like SPAM…)
If you want to go to BlogHer, then go to BlogHer. Try sidestep.com or kayak.com or even Southwest (www.iflyswa.com) from Long Island to Oakland & take BART.
Nothing wrong with trying to save money. You gave it your best shot, and it didn’t pan out.
It’s sad when the fine print of contest rules allows the JCP/Docker folks to give out a handful of airline tickets and bupkis to everyone else.
Judy C — I always had a thought that maybe he just looked in front of him at his “TLC manual” and used that as his “American name.”
Kelly — actually, this isn’t the case of a company using the “small print” excuse. They just screwed up. I have no doubt that everyone will eventually be compensated because Dockers and JCPenney won’t want a lawsuit. They will just make it as difficult and unpleasant as possible, putting their screw-ups on the shoulders of the customers. There should be no reason I have to spend all day doing this just to get some answers. I should charge Dockers one day lost wages.
I hate, hate, hate those stupid scripts.. I also hate that there are no winners in this whole customer ‘service’ thing – because you know that job has got to suck….
My blood pressure rose just reading your post…
So super sucky…. good luck…
In Sweden. Kidding. Maybe they have a time machine? If you’re done banging your head against a wall in frustration, have a drink.
Thanks for clarifying. I hate wasting time on stuff like this but I’m prone to do it because I want to find out what the heck is going on.
“Blame the consumer” – such a lovely marketing tool. Wouldn’t it be nice if they simply posted the relevant information (and an apology) on their web site? And to think I just bought my son a pair of Dockers from Costco. I was just happy they weren’t made in China.
On a much smaller scale, Glaceau (the Vitamin Water people) had a promotion at Gelson’s. I filled out the form. I “won.” I sent in the NOTARIZED forms they asked for. I still haven’t received anything (case of Vitamin Water, some item of winter apparel (no idea what) and lift tickets). Gelson’s tells me they are disappointed in the Glaceau people too. No doubt the real idea behind “contests” is to gather personal info.
HOW RUDE THAT THEY HUNG UP ON YOU!!!!!
Neil, clearly you should just discuss this with the booking agent. Oh hey, look! My head just exploded all over my keyboard. Hmm. Interesting that.
Sorry you had to deal with such bullshit. I always wish I could go through the phone when dealing with people like our buddy Menuel. Manual. Emmanuel. Man well.
No, I promise I’m not drunk right now. Srsly.
I come home from work. Make myself a nice salad. Pour a glass a wine. And sit down to relax in front of the computer. But now I’m so agitated I need to go take a valium.
Clearly you were talking to a time travel bot. Your request is no problem for them. You must simply wait for the right point in the space-time continuum to open up. That will occur on July 22nd. Don’t panic.
Neilochka, you are a liar…you were talking to some disembodied voice from my workplace weren’t you?? I would recognize that genius logic anywhere.
Pam from Nerd’s Eye View sent me this interesting link — How to Be a Customer Service Ninja –
http://consumerist.com/consumer/howto/be-a-customer-service-ninja-177811.php
Obviously Menuel is in such fear of losing his sucky job that he would never dare to stray from the script.
I don’t know, Neil. I looked at that link and it looks like a lot of work. Hard work. Did you ever think about just breaking down and crying, and by crying I mean sobbing, or saying,”Oh my God. I think I’m having a stroke” and making throaty/gagging noises?? Menuel needs to sweat a little at work. That’s why we go to work–you would be doing a public service and a good deed for Menuel.
This is one for Consumerist. Send it to them and maybe you WILL get your flight. And then it might even be in First Class…but routed through India so you can meet Menuel in person.
Holy shit! TLC Marketing has perfected time travel!
My world, welcome to it. Having lived in India for 18 months, I experience something along these lines at least a couple of times a week… Your mistake is that you tried logic, a most certain highway to insanity. What you have to do (and I hate to say this) is just demand to speak to a supervisor or manager. You (almost always) need to be rude before they will transfer the call… It goes against how we from the west were raised, but it is what I learned from my Indian friends and my stay here…
Wow.
I’m just astonished that you survived the entire phone call without using the phrase “time travel” once.
By the way, this post is pretty much 100% true. If anything, the conversation was even longer. I wish I would have taped it, because it would even be funnier hearing his deadpan answers and my ranting.
Neil, I hate to laugh because I have been on your end of the call and it is so frustrating. But dude. HAHAHAHA! I feel bad for you, but I also feel a little sorry for Menuel. I mean, he probably doesn’t KNOW the answers except for what’s in his script. This promotion is so shady it wouldn’t surprise me if no one ever told him about it to begin with. I also wouldn’t expect a call on July 22.
By the way, I am prepared to send a complaint on your behalf to every consumer agency I can think of about this situation. What can I say? It’s been slow in the office.
Yeah, I felt a little bad for Menuel, too.
That is kind of you, but I think consumer agencies already know about this, considering all the talk I read on “Flyertalk” forum that I linked to. There are already 600 complaints with the Massachusetts Better Business Bureau.
I got an email from an intern at the Consumerist today. Not sure how serious they are, but maybe they will look into it. That would be good because they have a much larger readership.
YIKES. Poor Menuel. Poor you.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this eventually pans out!
LOL. Who’s on first.
This reminds me of the really persistent calls I used to receive, urging me to switch long-distance carriers. For a while, I was getting them a few times each day! They would always use the same phrases, including “what would you want in order to switch?”
Eventually, I prepared a list.
Next time they asked, I SLOWLY read them all 40+ “demands,” including an airplane, a pizza dinner with Mr. T, various magical animals, a Trans-Am, well-stocked pantry, etc…
UGH. HATE.
Call centres suck. As do scripted answers.
My head exploded just reading that exchange. I’m so glad you’re using your blog to expose this kind of annoying crap. I hope all the companies involved get reamed by the Better Business Bureau.
ok everyone…do your part.
TLC Marketing
3rd floor
4 faneuil hall marketplace
Boston, MA 02109
U.S.A.
Phone:+1 617 788 9600
Fax:+1 617 742 0102
Email: americas@tlcmarketing.com
After letters to the BBB and the customer service departments of JC Penney and Dockers I finally got a call and was able to book a flight to Dallas. They took a credit card number for fees but they never charged my CC. All worked out in the end.
I talked to a travel agent in Atlanta who was working with Dockers TLC and she told me that most people screamed at her for all the trouble they had to deal with. It was out of her control. She was given hundreds of people to call and that did not make a dent in the number of people who needed to be contacted. They were overwhelmed!
Bruce, how long was it between the time you heard from Dockers and when the travel agent called you?
God, I hate these scams and the way they employ hapless automatons like Menuel. I’ve been getting calls every day on my cell phone from the number 602-516-1113 which is a total scam outfit. You have no choice but to be blatantly rude since they don’t stop calling and you have to demand to be taken off their list. Not that this does any good. What a demoralizing job that must be. Do you think they get more than a 1% rate of people who will listen to their shpiel? Is that worth it?