9/5/06

Thomson/RCA Unbelievable customer support!

I got a RCA DVD Recorder/VCR combo for Christmas 2005. By April 2006 it was not playing or recording half as good as it should. Around May I decided that I would try and get it fixed. Guess what. Thompson/RCA now requires the customer to deliver the unit to a qualified service center.

I called RCA and they gave me 2 service centers. Both were 50 miles from my home, the closest. I decided since gas was so high I would mail it to the center. I cost around $10 to ship it. I waited around a week and called the "service" center. They asked why I sent it to them. I told them Thomson had directed me to send it to them. They agreed to work on it because I said Thomson told me to send it. I waited another week and had no response from the "service" center. I called again and was told that the service center got an email that day from their head office to not work on any more RCA equipment, and that I needed to come get it.

I immediately called the Thomson toll free number and was given about 5 more "service centers". This time I called the centers first and all of them told me they no longer worked on RCA. I re-called Thomson again and was given 2 more centers to contact. I told the customer support rep that I was a little tired of chasing service centers and it seemed to me that RCA should chase the centers down and see which ones of them still worked on RCA and then contact me with the ones that did. They said that's not the way it works.

Luckily one of the two centers above said they did work on RCA and just bring it in. I called the first center and asked since I had been misled by Thomson and spent money shipping it to them, would they just ship to the new "service" center. They agreed.

I waited a week or so with no response so I decided to call the new service center. I called and talked to the owner and explained what was wrong with the unit and he said he would get right on it. I waited about a week and called again. He again said he hasn't had time to look at it but give him a few days and he would check it out. I waited and called the following Saturday. He answered and told me he didn't understand why it was still at his shop, that he had checked it out and placed a sticker on it to be replaced by RCA. He said the girl that handled the replacement was off on Saturday and he would put a note on it for here to handle it Monday.

I called back Monday and a woman answered the phone with Hello. I asked if this was Bill's Tv. She said of course this is Bill's Tv! I replied with I wasn't sure, you just said hello, not hello this is Bill's TV, may I help you? She then replied, What do you need?. I told her I had a DVD recorder there and that I had talked to the owner Saturday and he said she would get on it Monday. I also told her I had a Case number to look it up but she put me on hold before she heard it.

She returned and asked me what my name was. I told her and was put on hold again. She finally returned and told me there was no units there under my name. I told her I had talked to the owner 2 days ago about it and he said it was to be replaced by RCA. She finally asked me for a Case number. I replied that I had tried to give it to her the first time we talked. She then replied that she didn't have to listen to me talk to her that way. I said let me talk to the owner. She said he was not there. I said can you page him or something because I'm tired of the run-a-round I have been getting in regards to this units repair. She hung up on me!

I called back and asked her name. She replied Serena. I asked for the owner's name. She said Conrad. She then said she didn't want to talk to me anymore. I said I didn't want to talk to her anymore either, but that I wanted my DVD replaced & returned, NOW! She hung up again.

I immediately called RCA again and reported this confrontational service center. The RCA rep called her, with me on the line, and she said I hung up on her while she was trying to help me. She said she did find the unit and it was to be replaced and that she had faxed the information needed to RCA that day. He asked her to fax the information again to him, and verified the fax number, to RCA to get the unit replacement started. She said she would fax it again. That was 2 weeks ago. He hung up and said to call him in a few days with the update.

I called in about a week and the RCA customer center rep told me that they were still waiting on the fax from Bill's Tv to replace it. I went over with him all the trouble I was having and he assured me he would get to the bottom of it and as soon as he found out something he would call.

I have heard nothing as of today so I called RCA again. The rep told me they still have not received the Fax. I've had it!! I asked for a Supervisor. She said none were there. I said I couldn't believe that a company as big as Thomson did not have any supervisors available. She said a supervisor wouldn't tell me anything different that she did. I told her that she didn't know what a supervisor might tell me and that if she didn't put me thru to a supervisor that I would call every five minutes today until one answered. She put me on hold for about 10 minutes and a supervisor answered the phone.

I explained to him the problems I was having and guess what? He told me he would look into it and someone would be calling me soon.

An RCA service center has had my DVD since 6/28/06, nearly 3 months. I have made dozen's of calls to service centers. I have mad more dozens of calls to the toll free RCA service center. I have not spoken to two customer service agents that say the same thing. I have NOT been contacted once by RCA. I have to deliver my unit to the center and pick it up from the center, about a 150 mile journey.

What is up with customer service these days? It's more like sell it and forget it!

Brent

wood, Texas
U.S.A.

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11 Updates & Rebuttals

Brent

wood,
Texas,
U.S.A.

Thomas

#2Author of original report

Mon, November 20, 2006

Thomas, GET LIFE of you own!! I tried not to respond but, If ALL you got from visiting this site and looking at the hundreds of people who are fed up with poor customer service,with this company alone, and reading my info and deducting it was my fault YOU need to read a few books on Reading Comprehension !! This is my last post on this site because I am not going to quible with a moron, on this forum any longer. You do your thing, I'll do mine. You seem rich , smart, young enough to know everything about everything and everybody. Use your great knowledge and "Karnack" skills on saving the whales or something! Just so I can read more idiotic emails,daily, and just for humongus laughs during the day, my email is (((ROR REDACTED E-MIAL ADDRESS FOR SECURITY PURPOSES))) Please send me as many as you can. I would like to share your "insignificant" thoughts to as many around my world as possible, and maybe we can change the world. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

Thomas

Anderson,
South Carolina,
U.S.A.

No, Brent, I do not need any job

#3Consumer Comment

Sun, November 19, 2006

I am now in a very good position, retired with money and benefits. And young enough to enjoy it. I did not get where I am by mistreating or abusing people, no matter how far down the totem pole they were. Some very "insignificant" people 'came through in big ways' for me over the years, which proved that no matter what is happening, being polite and considerate to EVERYONE, ALL of the time, was the smart way to behave. You had a lot of difficulty with your problem, way more than I have ever had even with far bigger matters, and your posts also indicate that you are insensitive to how you treat others. So you are/were in sales. So what. 20% of salesmen make 80% of the money, leaving the remaining 20% of the money for the remaining 80% of the salesman. Your posts suggest that you are your own worst enemy. Good luck, you will need it.

Brent

wood,
Texas,
U.S.A.

more information

#4Author of original report

Sat, November 18, 2006

Ive been in sales oll my life. I dont think I need any corses on influencing people. Unfortunatly, I dont need to catch any flies! I was polite for months. After many lies and different stories I decided to get what I paid for. The Warrantee, on an item that work for a few weeks. I dont need friends, I need customer service. No confrontation, no talking down to anyone, and a polite request for help that will make the other person feel appreciated and needed attitude got me nothing for months. Thanks for the info, but not needed as I did recieve my unit a few days ago, my way. O yea, what is your title with RCA's customer service? If your looking for work, Bills TV might be the place for you. You both dont seem to grasp the idea of how important the customer is.

Brent

wood,
Texas,
U.S.A.

more information

#5Author of original report

Sat, November 18, 2006

Brent

wood,
Texas,
U.S.A.

more information

#6Author of original report

Sat, November 18, 2006

Thomas

Anderson,
South Carolina,
U.S.A.

I think OP never learned that honey gets more flies than vinegar

#7Consumer Comment

Sat, November 18, 2006

Ah, well... Really, Brent, this is simply poor behavior and bad manners: "I called back Monday and a woman answered the phone with ?Hello?. I asked if this was Bill's Tv. She said ?of course this is Bill's Tv!? I replied with ?I wasn't sure, you just said hello, not hello this is Bill's TV, may I help you?? " I would have: ""I called back Monday and a woman answered the phone with ?Hello?. I asked if this was Bill's Tv. She said ?of course this is Bill's Tv!? I would say "Great! Maybe you can help me with....." No confrontation, no talking down to anyone, and a polite request for help that will make the other person feel appreciated and needed. Pure Honey. I think you need the Dale Carnegie "Make Friends and Influence People" course, because you are one prickly and abusive person.

Brent

wood,
Texas,
U.S.A.

Definition of Customer Service

#8Author of original report

Sat, November 18, 2006

Some of the companies listed here need to read and remember this: "Excellent customer service (is) the ability of an organization to constantly and consistently exceed the customer's expectations." Improving customer service involves making a commitment to learning what our customers' needs and wants are, and developing action plans that implement customer friendly processes.

Brent

wood,
Texas,
U.S.A.

RCA Thomson, Inc. Update!!

#9Author of original report

Sat, November 18, 2006

11-01-06 After cooling down I decided to look at he RCA owners manual and as we all know, there are no phone numbers in it. I decided to call information for RCA in Marietta, Georgia. I got a phone number and called it. It was a recording to input the persons name in and connect, but I didn't have a persons name. I quickly typed in a generic last name and there were 2. I selected one and when the person answered, I quickly told him about my problem. He said he was only an engineer there but was willing to help. He gave me an email address & phone number of a man and when I called him, he was very helpful. I asked could I send him this word document and he said please do. He informed me that RCA did want return business and he would get to the bottom of it. O yea, I almost forgot. He said that I shouldn't have 5 case numbers, just one. He said the main problem is that Thomson let someone in the Philippines handle their customer service now. Well it's been a week and I called Thompson. I talked to an agent that said he had heard from my new contact about my service problem and was here to help me. He called Bill's TV & electronics in Mt pleasant and said he would call me back. In about 15 minutes he did call me and said that RCA had approved and additional moneys, totaling $43 and Bill's said if RCA would pay the money that I could come pick up my unit. I immediately told him that if RCA had approved Bill's TV that much money, why did I have to pick it up? Come on!! He agreed and called Bills back and said he would call me back. This was around noon. I called back just before 5 and left a message on the answering machine there. He called back and left me a tracking number to look for the package on my machine just before 5pm. I looked it up on USPS and the site couldn't find any such package. Ill check more on it this coming Monday. 11-13-06 I didn't receive any package from UPS as predicted today so I called UPS. The tracking number they gave me earlier was given to UPS. Guess what? It was shipped to a city 50 miles from me with another COD!!! $27.26 this time. What part of I'm not going to pay those inflated shipping prices, do these people not understand. Unbelievable. So I called RCA again, this rep is nice but even he doesn't understand what is wrong with Bills TV. I think I do. I feel they are just continuing to make my delivery as hard as possible ever since the day Serina hung up the phone on me. When will RCA see that this service center is just playing games or incompetent? Also it seems that the RCA rep & I are having the same problem with Bills TV. Serina is never available when we both call. I have called at different times of the day and she is not available. Conrad is the owner and he has been in some of these negotiations but he always tells us that serina is over RCA products. It seems to me that Bill's TV & electronics in Mt Pleasant Texas is as much of the problems as anything else. My unit has been there for months, hostage, until I was to agree to pay the outrageous shipping. I looked on USPS, UPS & Fed EX and a package weighing 10 lbs was anywhere from $7 to $9 to ship from Mt Pleasant to my home address and takes 2 days. It seems someone is wanting to make money one the shipping in my case. It is my opinion for everyone reading this to NEVER, ever do business with Bills TV & electronics in Mt Pleasant Texas either. They have done nothing but lie to me and Thomson, sit on paperwork that Thomson needed for weeks, and be nothing but very unhelpful in this process. Stay away!! 11-17-06 I contacted my contact with rca and told him about this sage going on with Bill's TV in Mt. Pleasant Texas. He emailed me and said one would be mailed direct to me in a few days. It arrived today. My advice is to call Thomson, Inc in Marretta Georgia and talk with them direct.

Brent

wood,
Texas,
U.S.A.