A LOOK AT THE WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF A CONSERVATIVE FREE-SPIRIT

Sunday, July 31, 2011

To whom it may concern at Straight Talk,

First, I'd like to say that I have been enjoying the Straight Talk service for nearly a year now. I have had very few problems with y'all. I adore my little phone with its qwerty keyboard and 3.1 MP camera and all the other fabulous features. I have a great signal even though I live in a rather small town in the middle of nowhere. I am usually ecstatically happy with my little phone. I think it is clear to see that I'm a fan. However, right now--I am severely displeased with y'all. I phoned your customer service department a few months ago requesting that I be taken off of the "text in the middle of the night informing me that my minutes have been refilled" list. That request had been filled for several months--until this morning at about 1:17 a.m. in the morning. The fact that this happened AGAIN is completely unacceptable for several reasons.

1) I requested that it stop several months ago. That fact ALONE should be the end of the matter since I'm the customer, i.e. the one who pays a portion your salary via my patronage of your services.

2) You may say that I should just turn off the phone at night so that I don't hear it. Why should I? This is the only phone I have. What is some member of my family called with an emergency in the middle of the night and my phone was turned off? I use my phone--probably like many employees of your company--to keep in contact for both normal and emergencies reasons.

3) Speaking of emergencies, do you know what it is like to be awakened at 1:17 a.m. with a "phone call?" What do YOU think of when you get a phone call in the middle of the night? Very likely you immediately think, "Oh no! What is wrong? Something must be wrong for someone to be 'calling' me in the middle of the night--aka 1:17 a.m.! Who is hurt? Who is dead?" Your heart rate rises exponentially. If you are at all prone to heart issues, strokes, or panic attacks, you might be in the danger zone in the moments immediately following one of these middle of the night Straight Talk business phone calls. Seriously folks, there should be no business phone calls from ANY business--unless there is a pre-arranged agreement between vendor and customer--between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. Listen, my MOTHER won't call me or allow me to call her from between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. unless it is an emergency. That is just basic, decent, common social etiquette.

4) In these "modern" times, a text message from a business is like a business phone call. I'd really like to know why in the world a business is calling and awakening me at 1:17 a.m. That is completely and totally unacceptable. It actually should be a practice that is abandoned--WHOLESALE--by Straight Talk. Not one single Straight Talk customer should be receiving business phone calls (i.e. texts) from you between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. Once again--that is just a common and widely accepted bit of social etiquette. I am quite certain that you have--on staff somewhere--some wonderfully adorable computer nerds who have the skills necessary to write codes which requires these business calls (i.e. texts) be done ONLY during acceptable times. I know this can be done, Oh Straight Talk, cos computer nerds can do just about anything. They're like Daddies that way.

Seriously, this issue needs to be addressed--post haste--by your company. I certainly do not expect another phone call/text from y'all in the middle again FOR ANY REASON. If it happens again, I will have to very seriously consider spending my money elsewhere. I hope that y'all seriously consider making changes across the board in this practice of 'middle-of-the-night' business phone calls.

Thank you for your time. I seem to have plenty of it since I'm still WIDE AWAKE an hour after receiving your text--in the middle of the night.

Loralee

4 comments:

  1. Oh, I hope you get results i.e. no middle of the night awakenings after this.
    You might contact the state attorney general as I think there is a state(Texas) law about business phone calls after a certain hour at night and before a certain hour in the mornings and I think it even makes them call later or not at all on Sunday. Something to check into if necessary!

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  2. Hope you get results from this, i.e., no more midnight messages.
    You might check with the state attorney general's office. I think business are forbidden from calling after a certain time in the evening and before a certain time in the morning(in Texas).This may only apply to debt collector's, but it is worth checking in to.

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  3. Just guessing that the people who are refilling your minutes are doing it during regular business hours--where they are. So much technology business is out-sourced. Seems like every time I have to call for technical help I get somebody in Pakistan or India. At 1 a.m. here, it's a respectable 1 in the afternoon there. I'm not sure what can be done about that, except maybe find a way to turn off your message alert tone at night without turning off your phone.

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  4. That could be the case, DH; however, I go to an automated phone system a few days before my minutes are up and add the new "card" full of minutes to the automated system. Sometime after midnight on the day after my 30 days of minutes run out, the computer adds the new 30 days of minutes to my phone and send me the text--at least that is what the customer service guy led me to believe when I called the first time about three months ago or so.
    And really, if it IS an automated system which does it--like he said--then they should be able to find a way for the automated system to act differently--since it is automated.
    But you're right about how things are going. Lots of customer service is done overseas. ;)

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Hey, Y'all!!
I'm so glad you came to visit and welcome your comments!
Hope ya have a great day!
Loralee : )