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Federal law requires that at least one party consent to the call being recorded. Twelve states have all-party conditions.

"Can We Tape?"

Recording Phone Calls and Conversations | Citizen Media Law Project

From the same site you mentioned ( can we tape? )
( On interstate calls )
In light of the differing state laws governing electronic recording of conversations between private parties, journalists are advised to err on the side of caution when recording or disclosing an interstate telephone call. The safest strategy is to assume that the stricter state law will apply.

For example, a reporter located in the District of Columbia who records a telephone conversation without the consent of a party located in Maryland would not violate District of Columbia law, but could be liable under Maryland law. A court located in the District of Columbia may apply Maryland law, depending on its “conflict of laws” rules. Therefore, an aggrieved party may choose to file suit in either jurisdiction, depending on which law is more favorable to the party’s claim.

Hence why I say again why is it so hard for you to say may i record this call for my own quality insurance. doing that keeps you legal in all states .
 
I am trying to help you out dont know why your being so stubborn about notifing the other person.

I guess its just a completely different point of view. When I run a business I like openness and transparency and a customer with a recording of one of my employees promising them something that they didnt get is something I'd like to hear. I'd either give them what was promised or tell them I'm sorry and let them out of any contractual agreement.

I sort of think that when the CSR promises something that directv doesnt want to deliver, they rarely let them out of that contract and etf. "Sorry" only goes so far.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer and I'm not particularly interested in the legal aspects, since I imagine there has to be a plaintiff that reports the matter. I guess if you want to add insult to injury, you could have a poorly trained employee with a crappy system that allows them to promise something that the company doesnt really want to deliver, then tell them "gosh, we dont want to do that" and then stuff them with an ETF if they dont like it. Maybe we're getting a glimpse of why that BBB rating dropped to an "F" because of operating in an untrustworthy manner and why the customer service ratings are slipping?

I dont know why you're so stubborn about not understanding that business is pretty simple. Say what you're going to do and when, then do what you said you were going to do when you said you would do it. If it turns out you cant, make it right for that customer because you screwed up. This is the metaphorical 'you', since a company that hires and trains people and puts them in contact with the customer is responsible for what they commit to. Its really not a case of "but, we dont really WANT to do that and that stupid employee screwed up and promised stuff to the stupid customer!!!". If the people you've hired cant be trusted to do the deal right, you need to train them more or hire better people. If you unleash a poorly trained employee or loose canon that offers a customer 5 HR24's for free, give the fricking customer 5 HR24's for free and fire the employee, then do a better job of hiring, training and monitoring.

Sad that they have to have a recording of the errant transaction and even then the first thing that pops to mind is "oh gosh, thats illegal!!!".

I think the main problem is that directv, and many of its employees, hasnt quite gotten to the point where they understand that you have to be responsible for your business dealings and there arent any excuses. All I hear is excuse after excuse after excuse.

I know, I know. You dont get it. I understand that. And you're not alone at directv or other businesses. For what its worth, comcast and dish have done worse by me than directv, but directv is just a shadow of what they used to be customer service wise. I've run businesses from 5 people to 120,000 and it would never occur to me to tell a customer "I dont think you're telling the truth, and if you have a recording that proves what you say, I'll have you prosecuted!!!" or "Well, we hired some $8 an hour schmuck who promised you something we dont want to give you, so either take this other deal thats not as good or pay us a $500 fee!".

Its just a bunch of stupidity. Thats why I'm stubborn. I want you guys to get better. I want you to be what you used to be.
 
CFB your way off base.

The reason why I mention the legality of it. Is I know that there only so much a supervisor and there operations manager can do . Which sometimes means going another route such as BBB, TV station , or even filing a lawsuit. Am I saying you have to do this no but it about the CYA aspect of this . If you feel you need to record to CYA(cover your ass) then go the extra step and notify us you are recording for your own reasons. It wont phase most people. Again this is not me trying to be hard or or be pro dtv, I been in this situation where someone recorded me with out my knowledge and then they doctored the tape and tried to sue. all I can say is thank god dtv records every call .

If an agent promises you free HD and you didnt get it I can make that happen. If they promise a reasonable credit with in our guide line or maybe a little more then I can still make that happen.

If they promise you a new escalade for signing up I cant make that happen . If they say you have a have 2 free hddvrs when you already have 3I cant make that happen either. they say you can get out of your contract with out plenty with out a qualifying reason I have to stick with policy. You want exemptions to policy that is wher the Office of the President steps in.

I personally put my neck out there for you and everyone else here because I beleive in the company and I believe help should be personal and not cold drawn out on the phone. that we are people too. Which base on some of the postings and your last one prove that A. you upset at the company. B. you think were all idiots.

If an employee promise 5 hddvrs they would simply be fired. I doubt that you actually see the 5 hddvrs . If it was an issue of new service I can tell you we would ask why did you sign the paperwork if the order was not right. If your an exisiting sub we would try to work somethign out but 5 hddvrs just not going to happen. No customer service experience is 100 perfect we know that. There is always room to grow. But some times common sense has to stop in and say is this too good to be true?


We now have third party verifiers when placing equipment orders why because people complained and complained about contracts if an agent takes an order and not mention s it there fired. But to CYA we now transfer you to a third party ( indepent of dtv) to finish the order as they go over the contract ext again so customers cant say they were not told .

I simply cant go out side policy not when it way out there in far left field. Hence why I would understand if you went above my head and went to bbb or tried some other method. But I also know DTV lawyers and they pull no punches they would go after you if the recording was not legal to get it thrown out .

I am trying to help. There are reasons for my madness and frankly you can type a long post again which I more then happly read but it not going to change policy. And it would not change what would happen if dtv found out your threatening people with a recording that depending on state law may or may not be illegal.
 
I guess its just a completely different point of view. When I run a business I like openness and transparency and a customer with a recording of one of my employees promising them something that they didnt get is something I'd like to hear. I'd either give them what was promised or tell them I'm sorry and let them out of any contractual agreement.

I sort of think that when the CSR promises something that directv doesnt want to deliver, they rarely let them out of that contract and etf. "Sorry" only goes so far.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer and I'm not particularly interested in the legal aspects, since I imagine there has to be a plaintiff that reports the matter. I guess if you want to add insult to injury, you could have a poorly trained employee with a crappy system that allows them to promise something that the company doesnt really want to deliver, then tell them "gosh, we dont want to do that" and then stuff them with an ETF if they dont like it. Maybe we're getting a glimpse of why that BBB rating dropped to an "F" because of operating in an untrustworthy manner and why the customer service ratings are slipping?

I dont know why you're so stubborn about not understanding that business is pretty simple. Say what you're going to do and when, then do what you said you were going to do when you said you would do it. If it turns out you cant, make it right for that customer because you screwed up. This is the metaphorical 'you', since a company that hires and trains people and puts them in contact with the customer is responsible for what they commit to. Its really not a case of "but, we dont really WANT to do that and that stupid employee screwed up and promised stuff to the stupid customer!!!". If the people you've hired cant be trusted to do the deal right, you need to train them more or hire better people. If you unleash a poorly trained employee or loose canon that offers a customer 5 HR24's for free, give the fricking customer 5 HR24's for free and fire the employee, then do a better job of hiring, training and monitoring.

Sad that they have to have a recording of the errant transaction and even then the first thing that pops to mind is "oh gosh, thats illegal!!!".

I think the main problem is that directv, and many of its employees, hasnt quite gotten to the point where they understand that you have to be responsible for your business dealings and there arent any excuses. All I hear is excuse after excuse after excuse.

I know, I know. You dont get it. I understand that. And you're not alone at directv or other businesses. For what its worth, comcast and dish have done worse by me than directv, but directv is just a shadow of what they used to be customer service wise. I've run businesses from 5 people to 120,000 and it would never occur to me to tell a customer "I dont think you're telling the truth, and if you have a recording that proves what you say, I'll have you prosecuted!!!" or "Well, we hired some $8 an hour schmuck who promised you something we dont want to give you, so either take this other deal thats not as good or pay us a $500 fee!".

Its just a bunch of stupidity. Thats why I'm stubborn. I want you guys to get better. I want you to be what you used to be.

I agree
You could not have said it better
 
Thanks Greg, I try!

CFB your way off base.

I said I didnt think you'd understand. You've got your eye on CYA rather than "deliver what your representative promised to the customer". If Directv has hired and trained a person and set them down to a phone to act as their representative to the customer, its Directvs responsibility to fulfill what that representative promises to a customer. If there is any doubt about what was promised, a recording would certainly resolve that question. In this instance its not being presented as evidence, its not being used to extort, its not being used to embarrass, its being used because the customer is not always right these days and will be called a liar by a company if they have no proof.

And again, its sad that the big concern is the legality of the discovery of a problem rather than the problem. Thats why we have a $500 ETF to prevent customers from leaving Directv rather than figuring out why they want to leave and fixing that problem. It appears to be the corporate mindset.

Is I know that there only so much a supervisor and there operations manager can do.

Yes, I understand that not a whole lot is under your control. However, if we remove all the discussions that involve stuff we cant fix or control, we wouldnt have much to talk about.

If they promise you a new escalade for signing up I cant make that happen.

Nice strawman there. I dont think thats a reasonable statement. I do however think that whatever in directvs array of products, services and pricing structures that a representative offers a customer, directv should fulfill that promise or come collect their gear without any ETF.

You want exemptions to policy that is wher the Office of the President steps in.

Sad that the president of the company has to authorize doing the right thing for the customer.

I personally put my neck out there for you and everyone else here because I beleive in the company and I believe help should be personal and not cold drawn out on the phone. that we are people too. Which base on some of the postings and your last one prove that A. you upset at the company. B. you think were all idiots.

I know you're trying to do good here. I understand that. I also see that you often stand up for policies that I dont believe are good ones. I'm not upset at Directv, I'm upset that they have adopted a lot of poor customer policies and as a result of those policies being put in place, I dont think your management is particular customer friendly. It appears that by survey and study and applied business analysis, that Directv is not held in high esteem by a number of customer agencies. So its not just my opinion. You do understand that you dont have to be upset or hate something to want to identify its problems and try to resolve them, right?

If an employee promise 5 hddvrs they would simply be fired. I doubt that you actually see the 5 hddvrs.

Can we agree that the problem here is that directv hired the wrong person or trained them improperly, and doesnt intend to stand behind that person?

But some times common sense has to stop in and say is this too good to be true?

Maybe not. Sounds like you think its the customers fault in this instance because they believed the CSR's offer for service, regardless of how good it was. Is that really the mindset in US business today? If you offer something thats really great to a customer, they ought to know better and if they dont, its their fault? Come on...

I'd think that even a pretty savvy, fairly intelligent customer thats really on the ball might say "well, shoot, they're leased boxes and I'm going to have to give them all back at some point, so why wouldnt they give me 20 of them if I was paying for all those receiver fees and all that monthly service?"

But I also know DTV lawyers and they pull no punches they would go after you if the recording was not legal to get it thrown out.

Wow. Just wow. The beatings will continue until morale improves! "If you record one of our incompetent people offering you something and then show us the recording so as to prove your side of the story, if you werent a lawyer and didnt know you had to get consent, we're going to sick our lawyers on you!"

I suspect the BBB might have to invent a "G" or "Z" rating at some point in the near future.

And it would not change what would happen if dtv found out your threatening people with a recording that depending on state law may or may not be illegal.

Hmm, I dont remember saying anything about threats. I think my entire premise throughout this discussion has been that it should be more important to find out what was promised to the customer and deliver that, rather than getting hung up on and that a customers taped record of the transaction as they heard it should be interesting to the company, rather than something to be beaten on the head with a stick.

By the way, only 12 states require two party consent for taping, and if the tape is not disclosed to anyone outside of the two parties, there isnt a lot of room for any sort of criminal or civil penalties. These laws were primarily put in place to prevent 3rd party eavesdropping or secret taping of voice and video that would be broadcast or distributed and may cause damage to one of the parties.
 
This is my last comment on this.


1. there nothing wrong with my morale. I cant kick down the doors for ever little thing. I wish I could.

2. I am not here to change policy I am here to state policy and how to work with in the system. I have gone above and beyond but that was for people who were actually wronged. Not people who might be wrong or feel that they should get a specific model receiver.

3. If I was such a DTV stooge as you like to make me out to be I would of psuh Scott, Jason , Iceberg , to closed this thread and this place would be like that god awful dbstalk site.

4. Office of the President staff is there for one reason to override dtv policy for the one time exceptions out there . To make things right when supervisors can amke it right with there own limits. It does not mean they will side with you just it there job to make exceptions to policy and I seldom tell people to go there unless I feel there there is nothing I can do with in my limits sorry you feel this way. But let them do there job that why there here.

5. You thought my escalade example was way off base I find the 5 hddvrs way off base why would we give 5 hddvrs to anyone for free when the offer is currently only for 1 hddvr and 1 hd box.

6. Most of the issues that seemed to come up in this thread was would of been simply sloved with reading everything. Which I know you going to be upset with me about. Cause even I dont read though ever piece of paper I get . but when it in black and white they simply hard to side with someone not willing to sign the own paperwork they agreed to.


7. You give me an account and a issue and I will try everything I can to get it taken care of you come in and talk about how you feel you need record the converstation like some how that going to make the difference. we take you word for it recording or not everytime i take a complaint I have to go pull a call it not fun but I do it because if someone did screw up they butt is on the line. You may not get what you want but the agent will either be written up or fired . sorry someone loosing there job does not make you happy . Maybe we should drag them out into the streets and shoot them.
 
Dude, you've read an awful lot of stuff into what I said that wasnt there and taken a lot of this personally, which I guess you're entitled to if you really want to.

Nowhere have I said that you have to go make changes to the company, or that you're obliged to do so on anyones behalf. Nowhere have I made any comments about your character or morals.

I've simply stated that the company you work for has policies and processes that are poorly executed by some employees, and that its a good idea to make a good record of whats offered to you because directv wont stand behind the word of its representatives. And that its unfortunate that many of these policies are pretty unfriendly to the customer. Not to mention its kinda crazy to say that its the customers fault when the vendor offers them something and doesnt really want to give them what was promised.

You chose to defend some of those policies, and I dont believe that they're very defensible. But directv is not alone. We live in the world of "I got mine", "every man for himself", "the customer is not only not right, its HIS fault for thinking we'd actually give him what we promised" and nobodys word or handshake is worth a damn anymore.

And thats all I have to say about that! :)
 
Dude, you've read an awful lot of stuff into what I said that wasnt there and taken a lot of this personally, which I guess you're entitled to if you really want to.

Nowhere have I said that you have to go make changes to the company, or that you're obliged to do so on anyones behalf. Nowhere have I made any comments about your character or morals.

I've simply stated that the company you work for has policies and processes that are poorly executed by some employees, and that its a good idea to make a good record of whats offered to you because directv wont stand behind the word of its representatives. And that its unfortunate that many of these policies are pretty unfriendly to the customer. Not to mention its kinda crazy to say that its the customers fault when the vendor offers them something and doesnt really want to give them what was promised.

You chose to defend some of those policies, and I dont believe that they're very defensible. But directv is not alone. We live in the world of "I got mine", "every man for himself", "the customer is not only not right, its HIS fault for thinking we'd actually give him what we promised" and nobodys word or handshake is worth a damn anymore.

And thats all I have to say about that! :)



Kudos CFB

You can sure tell who has run their own business and who has not.
 
Are not ALL calls into the center RECORDED ?

There is no need to do your own recording unless you EXPECT to have a confrontation with the CSE ....

I have NO idea what it takes to get a copy of the recording of a particular conversation, but would thing that if you had the date and time, it would narrow things down quite a bit.

I'm surprised they cannot just pull up your account, they have notes on you account each time you call in.
 
Are not ALL calls into the center RECORDED ?

There is no need to do your own recording unless you EXPECT to have a confrontation with the CSE ....

I have NO idea what it takes to get a copy of the recording of a particular conversation, but would thing that if you had the date and time, it would narrow things down quite a bit.

I'm surprised they cannot just pull up your account, they have notes on you account each time you call in.

We do record every call some times it invovles more work then others. alot of times it just a matter looking at an account seeing the employee ID pulling the call based on the date and approx time. Some time we have to go by what phone numbe the customer calling from . and track it that way . There is usually a 24/36 hour delay in requesting a call from the archive department.

Everytime some swears up and down to pull the call I do . and if it is something can handle I will do so . If not I will try to get the issue up to someone who can try and help the customer out as we know that not all situations falls inside policy.
 
I agree
You could not have said it better

I own my own business, we do background checks and credit checks for employees / realestate people and landlords.

If one of my customer had a problem I try to bend over backwards for them. Because as my status as majority partner I have that power to do so.


You and CFB seem to forget that there is at the very least 11 different people above me as supervisor. I am more and willing ot bend over as far back as dtv will let me.

My main point being is your all expecting to jump to it and give you what ever you want I simply cant do that my boss cant do that. If you not happy with those answers there is a procedures for esclatation to someone who can review the cast. less then 1% of my calls have to be escalated above me.

I feel that you all mean well but are coming off short sighted to the big picture of how to get things done.

How you get something done in a small business is not the same way you get something done with a fortune 100 company.
 
Hmm, well I was head of marketing for a fortune 50 company just prior to my retirement, so I guess so much for that theory. I think I understand the big picture just fine, thanks.

I really have no idea why we're misunderstanding each other so much. We're not asking you to DO anything, we're explaining why directv's policies and procedures arent customer friendly and why customers seem to keep getting offered things that they dont receive and have to fight for. And what the customer should do to protect themselves.

At every company I ran, was a senior manager of, or just worker bee'd, I clearly communicated with my customer, eliminated doubt and confusion, delivered everything I said I would, and when there was a miscommunication or error I resolved it in the customers favor. Sure, there were a few 'bad' customers who werent interested in a business relationship with me. I suspect there are more of these types of customers in todays world because vendors have trained us to watch out for ourselves by spending most of their money courting new customers and giving the finger to the people who already spent their money.

As a result of my fair business operations, I may have left some money on the table, I may have had to work harder for every dollar, and I definitely went home tired most days. But I had no trouble picking up and retaining high quality people to work for me because they knew they werent going to have to 'do the wrong thing' because the company policies said so, they wouldnt have to get behind anything they didnt believe in. And gee, I had customers follow me around for three decades because they trusted me. So I didnt have to spend $100 per subscriber per year to lure in new people because I could make a great living on the existing relationships that I'd taken the time to nurture. It worked out so well that I made a lot of money and was able to retire early.

Just so we're clear, and hopefully so we can stop saying we're done talking about this and then talk about it some more:

- Nobody is blaming you for anything
- Nobody is suggesting you have any role in creating any policy at directv
- I think everyone is pretty happy about how much you try to help people
- I do however think you kinda stink at public relations ;)
- Nobody is suggesting that you can change any policies at directv
- Nobody is claiming that you are doing anything wrong, just following orders
- The thrust of this discussion is to document your offer from directv
- You should document because directv sometimes makes an offer and then doesnt live up to it
- When a company does that, I feel its wrong not to live up to your word and give the customer what you promised
- I also feel that if you're going to go back on your word, and your representatives word IS your word, look up the definition of the word 'representative', you should let the customer out of any agreements
- In 38 states, you can record your own conversations without any consent, and its a good idea to do so
- In the other 12, you're supposed to get 2 party consent but if the recording is only shared between those two parties, there isnt much of a case to file should the non-consenting party be upset about this
- I dont think its a good idea to rely on whatever directv did and didnt record, and rely on their ability and willingness to provide a full recording
- I think that if directv's policies were simpler and more customer friendly, they might lose out on some up front money, but they'd have a lot fewer problems with customers, better customer service ratings, and perhaps a higher BBB rating.
- If the policies arent simplified, hiring better people, training them better and giving them a more restrictive system to use might help.

Simple enough? I know you dont agree with some of what I said, but if we all agreed on everything, there'd be nothing to talk about. Directv has their minds made up on some policies and the proof of the pudding is that its made for a lot of unhappy customers. When you cant successfully sell a home entertainment product/service through costco/bestbuy, you have a problem!
 
I think you still dont get it.


DTV offical policy is go ahead and record you want to record go ahead.


Stonecold is saying though if you record to keep and it goes beyond the company and you want to sue or take it a onyour side tv news program DTV legal will be on you like white on rice to say you took it illegally. Most of the call centers are in those 12 states. So I am saying just CYA your self. You might not like saying hey look I am recording you but it covering you from dtv legal getting it from being used on tv or in cord or any kind of mediation.


I have always been about protecting you from the company's policies. You come off as I am in favor again I am here to help not to fight with this and when you dont get that saying I am protecting the company and I am being blindly defneidn them upsets me you want to see blind defense go sit over at dbstalk them come back over and talk to me.
 
Just don't let anyone tell you that you are not too confrontory

Sorry if I seem a little confrontory at times

I work two jobs and on the side I do this for you because I feel it the right thing to do . You might not see it that way But I dont make a dime doing this and personally I am sure corporate doesnt like it.
 
I think you still dont get it.

Yes, I do. I'm talking about something and was very specific about what, and you're talking about something different. Plus you keep changing roles.

I have always been about protecting you from the company's policies. You come off as I am in favor again I am here to help not to fight with this and when you dont get that saying I am protecting the company and I am being blindly defneidn them upsets me you want to see blind defense go sit over at dbstalk them come back over and talk to me.

Please quote one single thing I've said that backs up this statement. I'm going to repeat again: this is not about you!
 
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