MCI WorldCom & Worldcom Wireless unscrupulous, infuriating, and a RIPOFF - never have anything to do with them

I am one of the ex employees of MCI WorldCom Wireless (laid off when the company closed)and I must say the whole scandal that surrounds the company's closing was nothing but expected by myself and all my coworkers.

I myself had been saying for years that it was going to happen. Why? Because being a customer service representative for mci was the worst thing I have ever experienced.

The problems with the company deactivating phones was no error. It was common knowledge that MCI purchased service from Verizon & ATT Wireless and when we couldnt get numbers to give to new customers we deacted old numbers and worried about the old customer later.

We were highly short staffed and turnaround was so high. At any point in the day we had 190-240 people on hold in our call center. and a staff of at any given time 60 people. People were always getting hired but because of the supervisors practices people would get fired within a week of starting.

My training class started with 50 people and at the end of a 3 week session only 12 remained and out of that 12 4 people remained after 6 monthes.....and it went on and on. Sorry to be so longwinded I just wanted to give you an inside view of the problem with the company. The big problem was that we as customer service agents were told to promise the customer this and that actually saying "whatever will make them happy but were not really going to give it to them" Just get the people on and off the phone as soon as possible.

So we made promises that we knew we couldnt and wouldnt keep. Billing was at times 6-8 months behind and we didnt know why, we lied and made up stuff that sounded believeable to get the customer off the phone because thats what we were told to do. And there were millions of instances of so,eone getting a bill with their name and address on it but it listed calls and rates for another phone so some paid $49.99 when their bill was really $99.99 and vice versa.

As a former employee I would advise everyone to go over their contracts with a fine toothed comb (alot of things we said we were allowed to do under contract we really were not allowed to do, we just made up things on the spot) because alot of people have lawsuits.

They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:

Their email: kwanza_o@yahoo.com
Their name: Kwanza Oliver Smalls

Their relationship to the company: Owner

Rebuttal:
January 12, 2002

Kwanza Oliver Smalls
Charlotte, NC 28215
(704)536-7080

WorldCom
P. O. Box 1178
Nederland, Texas 77627

former mobile # 704-357-0509
new mobile # 704-957-5853

Re: Mobile Phone Service

Greetings:
My name is Kwanza Oliver Smalls and I became a WorldCom Wireless customer on November 30, 2001. I obtained the service through an independent dealer who gave me his card in the grocery store. Currently it appears to be the worst decision I could have ever made. From the very first day I have had nothing but problems out of my wireless service.

On December 5th my service was "deactivated in error". I learned this from a customer service represenative named Ann who I was able to speak with after being on hold one hour and 18 minutes. This was only after I had attempted to call several times but received the - " . sorry but our business has
jumped by leaps and bounds, therefore we can't take your call at the moment but we appreciate you for calling WorldCom Wireless and we value your business but you have to call us back at a later time." What kind of mess is that? That message alone is an awful showcase of customer service management. How could my service be "deactivated in error"? Ann explained that, through no fault of my own, the system just kicked the number out. But don't worry, she said, we'll have you restored in 48 to
72 hours.

Now I had to wait 2 - 3 days to have the phone working again.
When it was finally turned on at the 71st hour, my cell phone only worked 4 days before it was turned off again. I just assumed that once again it was "deactivated in error". I called back and went through the same spiel - hanging up, calling again, and again, and again until I finally got through and then waiting on hold an inconsiderable amount of time. It actually reminded me of the time I tried to win tickets to a concert by
calling the local radio station, only worse. To put a temporary end to this long, drawn out, nightmare: today is the 12th day of January and to date my service has been "deactivated in error" twice. Yesterday I could take no more and after my lengthy hold time I asked a very nice customer service representative named Ricci to speak to her supervisor. Lee took
the call and proceeded to explain to me that the problem is that my cell phone number has been given away to another customer and now I would need to be given a new number. I couldn't believe this. (And still can't).

After I have given every family member, friend, associate, acquaintance, school and daycare worker my cell phone number it would now have to change. I was furious. Lee said there was nothing else that could be done. I asked why can't my number just be taken back from the person that it was given to in error. She simply said that in the contract that I signed to become a WorldCom customer it says that the company may take
back a mobile number at anytime. Her telling me this only made it worse.

So not only will I have to give out my new number again to all those people but I also run this risk of having my number changed again by the company. I don't know how many ways I can say that this is the worst effort at customer service I have ever been exposed to. The only thing that could be done at this point is to change the number and hope that I get to keep it. Even then I will have to wait 48-72 hours to have mobile
phone service again. Not to mention that after Lee changes the number for me I would have to wait on hold to speak with the TAC department in order to program the new number into the phone. In order to "compensate me for my inconvenience" Lee placed a $14 credit on my bill and told me that the first time my service was "deactivated in error" the customer service representative named Ann should have changed the number right then but in
order to take the easy way out she simply reactivated the service (then the phone would only work for a couple days and then be deactivated again).

I thanked her for the kind gesture but that did not dispel my
feelings of being cheated by WorldCom. I also reminded Lee that the new customer whom will be given my cell phone number will more than likely be calling in to complain that they keep getting calls asking for a "Kwanza" and they would like a new number.

WorldCom Wireless is not my first mobile phone service provider. It actually happens to be my third and I am accustomed to being given excellent customer service and satisfaction. That should not change just because I changed companies. I am spending the same money, if not more,
and therefore I expect the same type of service. That means that I intend to be given the utmost respect that I deserve. When I view the company's webpage http://www.worldcom.com/main.phtml?grph=1 there is no mention
that customer's will have experience numerous hold times when attempting to call in or that the company can take back a cell number at anytime or that that your cell phone can be "deactivated in error" and then you must wait 2-3 days in order to have it activated again.

Neither does it mention that if you happened to have an emergency in that period of time you are simply out of luck, up the creek without a paddle, because there is no way to rush this process.

Now the ultimate question - what can WorldCom do to compensate you for this awful experience and winback your approval, Mrs. Smalls? Simply, I would like 3 free months of cellular service ($150 credit) and be given the option of terminating my contract with no repercussions.

Thank you,

Kwanza L. Oliver Smalls

They filed the following to the above Rip-Off Report:



Their email: danman916@aol.com



Their relationship to the company: Consumer Suggestion



Rebuttal:

this company is awful. I have had service for them for almost a year. They do not send me bills, then they suspend service. I pay them by credit card, then they say they never received payment.

I hate this company and will do whatever i can to tell others to avoid them at ALL COST.

I am about to cancel my service, and I am expecting my cancellation to be a bumpy road!

They filed the following to the above Rip-Off Report:



Their email: danman916@aol.com



Their relationship to the company: Consumer Suggestion



Rebuttal:

this company is awful. I have had service for them for almost a year. They do not send me bills, then they suspend service. I pay them by credit card, then they say they never received payment.

I hate this company and will do whatever i can to tell others to avoid them at ALL COST.

I am about to cancel my service, and I am expecting my cancellation to be a bumpy road!

They filed the following to the above Rip-Off Report:



Their email: danman916@aol.com



Their relationship to the company: Consumer Suggestion



Rebuttal:

this company is awful. I have had service for them for almost a year. They do not send me bills, then they suspend service. I pay them by credit card, then they say they never received payment.

I hate this company and will do whatever i can to tell others to avoid them at ALL COST.

I am about to cancel my service, and I am expecting my cancellation to be a bumpy road!

They filed the following to the above Rip-Off Report:



Their email: danman916@aol.com



Their relationship to the company: Consumer Suggestion



Rebuttal:

this company is awful. I have had service for them for almost a year. They do not send me bills, then they suspend service. I pay them by credit card, then they say they never received payment.

I hate this company and will do whatever i can to tell others to avoid them at ALL COST.

I am about to cancel my service, and I am expecting my cancellation to be a bumpy road!