Unit 1 Case Study Consolidated Communication

For this assignment I contacted Consolidated Communications to negotiate a credit for the 12 days we were left without internet or cable service.
A. How did you prepare for this negotiation in advance?
I reviewed all of my notes from the service outages we have experienced in the past 6 months. On the last outage a customer service manager was supposed to get back to me discuss the problems I was having with my service. I never heard from the customer service manager and was going to probably let it go. This is assignment has pushed me to call the customer service rep back.
B. What was your strategy going into the negotiation? Why?
My strategy was to ask directly for the customer service manager to discuss the situation. I would
like the customer service manager to provide me the amount of documented problems that were associated with my account. My desired outcome for the negotiation was to receive complimentary service for the amount of days I was left little or no service.
C. How/where/when/with whom did your negotiation take place?
The negotiation took place on Monday morning with Tom from Consolidated Communications.
D. Were you nervous/unsure before or during the negotiation, and if so, what and why?
I was not nervous with this negotiation agreement. I had made some notes prior to the call and felt prepared for questions that would arise. I also feel it helped to have the negotiation take place over the telephone and there was no face-to-face interactions. I was able to hide any nervous reactions that may have been present in a face-to-face negotiation.
E. What was the outcome of the negotiation; describe the negotiation process.
A customer service call center representative greeted me, my response was immediately to speak to a manager.
The customer service representative tried very hard to get me to discuss my situation with them. I thanked them for their initiative to help but continued to request to speak to a manager. I waited on hold for around 4 minutes, when the manager got on the phone, John responded by asking me a few security questions about my account and then said, “Mrs. Lamping how may I help you.
“
I jumped right in and explained that I have been waiting for a manager to call me for several weeks regarding my technical problems with service that has been provided for cable and internet service.
I said I had over 12 complaint confirmation numbers written down for the service issues. I asked the manager to confirm that he saw these records associated with my account. There was a pause for what seemed like 5 minutes but in reality it was probably only 30 seconds. John apologized and noted that these issues were documented with my account. The problems that seemed to be associated with my account have been resolved and I should not see these issues again. I thanked John for the information and said that I have been waiting for a manager to call me back regarding these issues. I wanted to know if that was documented on the last call. John put me on hold again for a few minutes and when he came back he did not see this documented on my account. I gave him the claim number and said that at the end of my last call the customer service rep claimed the manager was busy and it would be 15 minutes or so to wait. They gave the option of holding or having the manager call me
back.
I chose to have the manager call me back and I am now disappointed in the service issues and the lack of follow up from the managers. John apologized and again stated the issues have been resolved and this will not happen again. I said well it would have been nice to have someone notify me that they were aware of the problems and they have been resolved. John said, “Mrs. Lamping how can I make you happy today.” I requested a month of complimentary service for the inconvenience of leaving work to meet technicians and the loss of coverage for almost half of a month. Again I was put on hold. At this point I was wondering why I was being put on hold so much if John was a manager. When John got back on the phone he said that I would see on the next month bill complimentary service charges for the previous month related to the their lack of follow-up and technical problems.
I thanked John and asked for a confirmation number for the call.
F. Specifically, in what ways were you satisfied/dissatisfied with the outcome?
I was satisfied with the outcome of the negotiation. I wanted to let John know I was unhappy with the service and the lack of follow-up. I wanted compensated for the days I was left with no service.
G. Explain the things did you do well in the negotiation?
I was well prepared and had all of notes from previous call available for reference throughout the negotiation.
H. Specifically, explain what you did during the negotiation that could use improvement?
Although I had all of the confirmation numbers from the previous calls I wish I had the names of the service representatives and the call center representatives in my notes.
I. What did you learn that you will help you improve how well you do on your next negotiation?
I will not wait as long to follow-up with a problem. I will call again the same day until it is resolved.
J. Finally, what did you learn in this negotiation that could help you in your career?
In my role I am constantly reviewing service plans and contracts. This assignment will help to try to negotiate lower rates for events and programs enhancing the member experience.