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I recently purchased a new phone that required a switch from a CDMA to a GSM provider. I was sad to leave Page Plus Cellular because I loved their $30 plan and great customer service. I researched the entire Wikipedia list of MVNOs to find a GSM provider that offered a comparable plan.
I settled on Spot Mobile, ordered a SIM card through their website, and called to port my phone number on November 22nd. After being on the phone with them basically every day for the next 19 days I finally got voice, SMS, and data working. Working with Spot Mobile customer service was a mixed bag, sometimes I was impressed with their professionalism and competence, other times not so much. A particularly low point was when a representative told me that Page Plus Cellular was lying to me and that I didn’t understand how computers and databases work (I held my tongue about my actual knowledge of such things).
After this long ordeal it was frustrating when customer service refused to have my start date changed to when my phone was fully functional (voice and SMS worked after 10 days, data took another 9). Since nobody at customer service was willing to listen I decided to follow the lead of Eddie Cochran in Summertime Blues and take my problem to the United Nations, also known as social media.
@eldonprince Eldon, It should not take that long – sorry to hear. Please be in touch with us if you have any further issues. Welcome aboard.
— Spot Mobile (@SpotMobile) December 11, 2013
I appreciated the apology from Spot Mobile, but what prompted this post is what they did next:
@eldonprince We’d love to make it up to you. Please DM us for assistance moving forward. We’re thrilled to have you on board, Eldon! — Spot Mobile (@SpotMobile) December 12, 2013
Followed by:
@eldonprince We’d also like to extend your expiration date as a courtesy for the inconvenience this may have caused. Please DM us your info.
— Spot Mobile (@SpotMobile) December 12, 2013
What customer service refused to offer in a private conversation was given publicly, namely an extension of my expiration date. I won’t lie, I thought of leaving Spot Mobile multiple times during the porting process, but their pricing is hard to beat. Good companies learn from their mistakes; thanks to social media I am willing to give Spot Mobile a second chance to earn my loyalty.
Take-home message: Don’t just use social media to advertise, use it to listen.
