topic Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum in Credit Cards

Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:38:31 GMT

Hello everyone,

Last week I wrote a short story comparing Visa's concierge to Amex's. Today I have another comparison; customer service. Both my friend and I called Amex for service. He holds a Zync while I hold a Platinum. I had my card for a week and he had his for 6 months. He called to check his spending and I called for SPG status. I really wanted to see if paying a higher AF means better/faster service. First ill start with his experience.

He first called them, gave them all the info (card number, pin, name) and was put on hold for around 5 minutes. The rep came back and said he would have to be transferred. 7 minutes later another rep came on the line and asked for the personal info again. After giving his name, card number, and pin a second time, the rep put him on a brief hold and came back saying you need to be transferred again. After a 12 minute hold a 3rd rep answered. He was asked to enter in the info for a 3rd time and by now quite frustrated. She then could/would not tell him if he would be approved for a charge he was inquiring about and asked if he had any other questions. All of the reps were overseas and very hard to understand. My friend walked out of this very dissatisfied.

My turn. I figured requesting SPG Gold would be much harder then checking if a charge would go through or not. Prepared for the worst, I called platinum service. Within 2 rings I had an American who asked how can she help me. All she needed was my name. I told her I would like to be upgraded to SPG Gold. She said sure and brought me on the line with a SPG rep. She then thanked me for my membership and hung up. The SPG rep was fast and efficient. Overall I had everything I requested within 3 minutes of the call. Safe to say, I came out very happy and satisfied.

To make it fair I did inquire about spending limit as he did. This is a charge I did the next day and was quite high compared to what I normally charge so the inquiry was valid. WIthin 30 seconds I was told it will be approved. No transferring, no holding, just a straight answer.

After seeing this, my friend checked his accounts eligibility to upgrade to platinum but he hadn't held zync for 12 months yet. Just thought id share our experiences as real life can be different then what the banks promise.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:24:06 GMT

Isn't improved customer service one of the things you're paying $450 for?

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:48:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Isn't improved customer service one of the things you're paying $450 for?

Technically no. Your paying for travel benifits. It does seem that service gets better the more the fee goes up though.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:11:46 GMT

USAA has incredible customer service. Aside from being well-trained they must go through a niceness filter.

I agree that travel benefits are part of the deal but really would expect any customer service needs to be handled faster (and stateside) for $450.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

ibmrad7 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:15:36 GMT

Not sure about others who hold Zync, I personally never talked to any CSR who sat overseas.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

ibmrad7 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:19:54 GMT

Here's a nice read on AMEX call centers:

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/04/american_express_how_we_transf.html

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

afbar1114 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:25:48 GMT

i never have talked to overseas reps..always in the US and i hold the zync best cs so far

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

ibmrad7 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:27:30 GMT

@afbar1114 wrote:
i never have talked to overseas reps..always in the US and i hold the zync best cs so far

+ 1. Me and my cousin have owned this card over a year now and not once we were ever connected to an Overseas call center. (Does it even exist for AMEX?) I dont think so

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Ron1 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:56:57 GMT

I talked to overseas csr once a couple of years ago and it was on Sunday. I heard they treated you when you had a charge. About USAA, the customer service is great. It is not 24 hours. Last year, my card got comprised and they didn't even know. I had to call them. The lost/stolen card no. is not 24 hrs. like Amex. and lost/stolen reported number is regular customer. I called them after 7 pm. and they were closed. I had to search for the number for emergencies. I was able to contact them after hours and it was pain. Their fraud dept. is not as good as Amex. They were able to re-issue a new card. I didn't get any new card within next day.

For Amex, they were able to stop unauthorized charge. They called me at home and at work and they also sent me an email. They have dedicated dept to handle that kind of things. They were able to issue next days. Crooks used my Blue to purchase airplane for $7K. By the way, they stopped charges coming through. Crooks somehow my Blue/Blue Cash twice. NOT USAA.

Ron.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:59:03 GMT

@ibmrad7 wrote:
@afbar1114 wrote:
i never have talked to overseas reps..always in the US and i hold the zync best cs so far
+ 1. Me and my cousin have owned this card over a year now and not once we were ever connected to an Overseas call center. (Does it even exist for AMEX?) I dont think so

Just to clarify the first rep was American, the other 2 were overseas.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

ibmrad7 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:02:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@ibmrad7 wrote:
@afbar1114 wrote:
i never have talked to overseas reps..always in the US and i hold the zync best cs so far
+ 1. Me and my cousin have owned this card over a year now and not once we were ever connected to an Overseas call center. (Does it even exist for AMEX?) I dont think so
Just to clarify the first rep was American, the other 2 were overseas.

So I guess it automatically routes to overseas center based on call volume for Non platinum memebers?

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:15:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Isn't improved customer service one of the things you're paying $450 for?
Technically no. Your paying for travel benifits. It does seem that service gets better the more the fee goes up though.

Technically you're paying for everything provided by the card, of which travel benefits are included. You are of course paying for improved customer service. Do you really think AMEX will leave bad CSRs on the help lines for Platinum accounts? Hell no. They'll put them on the phones for prepaids and lesser AMEX cards... or just fire them.

Big spenders get treated better in any business model, and if you think that's not a fact you are either in denial or are just a bit slow to understand how the world works.

Edit: Not YOU in particular, but "you" in a general sense meant to include everyone.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

pizzadude — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:08:20 GMT

I have a ZYNC® and several times when I have called in I was directed to a "foreign call center". However thankfully I did not experience any "foreign call center frustration". They were able to answer my questions with no issues.

I am sure that AMEX, like many companies, has different tiers of CSRs, and that people who have cards with $450 AFs like platinum will get a direct route to the highest tier.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:19:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Isn't improved customer service one of the things you're paying $450 for?
Technically no. Your paying for travel benefits. It does seem that service gets better the more the fee goes up though.

Technically you're paying for Everything provided by the card, of which travel benefits are included. You are of course paying for improved customer service. Do you really think AMEX will leave bad CSRs on the help lines for Platinum accounts? Hell no. They'll put them on the phones for prepaids and lesser AMEX cards... or just fire them.

Big spenders get treated better in any business model, and if you think that's not a fact you are either in denial or are just a bit slow to understand how the world works.

Edit: Not YOU in particular, but "you" in a general sense meant to include everyone.

While that may be true, there not going to say that anything below a certain AF will be poor. I do think that plat is better serice wise and agree that the AF helps. Also noticed that every charge card has a different number to call into. What I posted was just our experience when we called around the same time. It wasn't a test of the CSR's, just an observation.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

lithium78 — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:25:19 GMT

I'll stick with my Discover card (at least for their 5% categories and ShopDiscover rebates.) When I call them, I get a call center in Salt Lake City and they are very courteous and helpful.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Red1Blue — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:25:58 GMT

All card holders can check online. Not sure if there is any reason to call. Even if you call CSR will be doing the same. Punch in the number into the computer and it will tell if the charge will be approved or not. I do not think it has any thing do with the level of card one has.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:28:40 GMT

@Red1Blue wrote:
All card holders can check online. Not sure if there is any reason to call. Even if you call CSR will be doing the same. Punch in the number into the computer and it will tell if the charge will be approved or not. I do not think it has any thing do with the level of card one has.

The reason for the calls are that we had no access to a computer at the time and SPG Gold must be called in now.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:47:26 GMT

I personally prefer to never call anyone about anything. If I can't solve my issue through other channels, a phone call is last resort. Some things cant be done online, so when I do have to call, it is good to be met with great service.

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:46:27 GMT

Always appreciate these comparisons you do, keep them up!

Re: Customer Service: Zync V Platinum

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:50:52 GMT

Citi Cash Returns and Diamond Preferred have different customer service numbers. Cash returns is always a better number to call unless I'm specifically calling about a Diamond feature.