Cranky Customer

I as well have a huge problem with Pitney Bowes.

I have been in the business world for about 15 years and I have never seen anything like Pitney. What a disfunctional company! I used to have a photocopier and a postage machine from them. They could never get the billing right. They would post payments to the wrong account even though they were clearly labelled then call me for past due payments. They would transfer funds between accounts then say that I had authorized it.

It became so frustrating that I convinced Canon to buy out the PB lease on the copier to the tune of $9000. I can't believe they did it. But that didn't solve the problems. It took them 6 months to pick it up which we had to pay for. Their pick up fee is absurd - One last chance to zing you with a surprise charge. And of course all that time to pick it up they were still charging for the copier. We have been through so many reps it's a joke. They probably get sick of hearing complaints.

The ink for the mail machine is insane. $200 for an ink cartridge!! You can go to NEOPOST and lease a machine for less than half of what PB charges. The thing is always broken or has and error and they keep charging fees to refill with postage. I think we spend more on that machine than the postage itself!! With 3 years left on the contract (the biggest mistake I ever made) I am considering just using regular stamps and waiting for the glorious day when I can call them to pick it up......then wait another 6 months for the pick up to actually happen.........then call 10 times to get the bill to stop. What a company.....

I too work for Pitney Bowes and am proud of the relationships I have had with my customers. Certainly a large company will have employees who fail to respond to customer needs and, for that, I apologize. It's not uncommon for Neopost or Ascom Hasler sales reps to eventually go to work for PB after the lack of ethics of these companies become apparent. I've repeatedly heard of the sales reps logging on to sites like this one, pretending to be a disgruntled PB customer, and slandering the company. My bet is that at least a few of these posts are from Neopost or Asacom Hasler sales folk. Unethical practices come back to bite when they are eventually found out.

Denial of responsibility by blaming the competition is even more unethical in my opinion.

I have written to the MD and still had no response from anyone in Pitney Bowes for all the errors on our account billings!

The amount of time spent waiting on telephone line for some one to answer a call and eventually when I get through, the responses are "Sorry, can't blah blah blah....", "Hold on, you need to speak to my colleague about it who has been dealing with your account" etc. The Customer
Services Manager promises to call back but doesn't.

Collecting money by Direct Debit and then sending arrears letter with admin fee and interest!!

Promising that Direct Debit will not be collected and then doing exactly the opposite.

One customer services worker contradicting previous worker's promises and explanations.

The list is endless!!!!

I dare a 'caring' Pitney Bowes representative, who is proud of being part of Pitney Bowes organisation to call me if he can take the brunt of my anger at the company and resolve the isses I still have unanswered.

I too am disappointed with the Pitney Bowes meter. I told them from the beginning that we were a small company and it wasn't cost effective for us to have a machine. Well, they had a special promotion and I decided to try it out. The special price only lasted the first 60 days, I was told that I would pay that price for a year. I called to see about terminating my contract, I'm locked into that for a year but they are supposed to be reducing my monthly fee, we'll see...

With the price of the ink cartridges that haven't made it through $30.00 of stamps, and now the hassle of having to order postage, plus the monthy fee, and maintenance on the machine, it's costing me a lot more than just going down and buying stamps. Just like I told them in the first place, and for the customer service representives that respond on this site, quit being dishonest. You don't tell businesses about all your hidden fees and promotion gimmicks so that they can make an informed decision. Pitney Bowes should be put out of business, or have a big SPAM notice in front of there name.

Pitney Bowes is not the only company in this line of business that is guilty of dishonesty, horrible service, and damnable behavior. Neopost is just as bad--no rep has the authority to do anything, and I've spoken to over ten people just trying to terminate my lease! And to terminate, they charge the full amount remaining!

Anyone have any tips on negotiating with these awful firms? Who has the power to negotiate a lease termination? Do these firms have consumer affairs or anyone who gives a hoot what their customers think? Attention all Wall St. analysts covering Neopost and Pitney Bowes--stonewalling customer service reps are a bad sign of what lays ahead for these companies. Firms that need to hang on tooth-and-nail to each and every customer just to eak out another month's lease payments are firms with business models so poor they can't get any new customers!!

---

The bottom line: always read the fine print, including the termination clause, before signing any contract. That said, your conclusion seems appropriate. -rc

I actually work for pitney bowes also. I do not sell or service anything. I call people and take calls from people all day to make sure they don't have questions regarding their bills or machines or anything really.

I call 200 people a day. Sure, I get through to about 80 of em and the rest is answering machines and secretaries but, I talk to 80 normal customers every day. I explain the fee, fax the documents, arrange for service and refer to specialists all day. I am not concieted, I am not pompous, I fear the influence of my balls in every day decisions and still, with knowing my shortcomings and respecting those in others I can tell you, without a doubt, that everyone is a freaking idiot. At some time, we will all deserve the label.
The brain is not imperturbable, inexhaustable, infallable. I speak to professional office workers and business owners all day and the reason for it is that they did not take the time to take ownership of the task of reading their own terms and conditions or instruction manuals or billing statements or lease agreements or a multitude of large and fine print, numbered and categorized words.

I am preternaturally patient with all of my customers, even the screaming ones. I smile at my screen and keep trying to help them understand or correct a corporate injustice until
they stop flailing their limbs and get off the floor. Til they wipe their sniffling noses and puffy eyes and get their pat on the head or scuff on the chin.

I hear these all day long because it's my job and I kind of like it. I just thought 1% of the 1% of the people who might post their sob stories just might have an inkling that 1. it's ridiculous to show your ass in public (metaphor) and 2. there are people working hard every day to cater to the little whims of the delusionally self entitled consumer. Pick up the phone and vent, Pitney Bowes pays us well to help you change your diapers.

---

Yes, I have no doubt all readers here would agree: you indeed represent PB perfectly. -rc

I dare a 'caring' Pitney Bowes representative, who is proud of being part of Pitney Bowes organisation to call me if he can take the brunt of my anger at the company and resolve the isses I still have unanswered.

After receiving years of solicitations from Pitney Bowes for the meter machines I finally succumbed and decided to give it a try. Half my order arrived and then the daunting task of trying to find out my order status commenced.

After the obligatory hold period, the first rep had no clue and said there was no other half of my order. After wasting about an hour and a half of my time being shuffled about and, again, placed on hold, I sent a strongly worded email to the Presidents office only to discover that they had no interest in trying to rectify the situation -- they had me go through the arduous process of terminating the deal.

Bottom line: I was charged a higher amount than I agreed to, their customer service is absolutely awful and they just don't give a rat's (you know what) from the President's office on down. They spend all of that money trying to get my business and then they could care less about my experience with their process. Another scary indication of how service in this country is falling down. The days of Tom Peter's "In Search of Excellence" are apparently over.

Pitney Bowes is the worst company I have ever dealt with. I signed up for one of their postage machines and through several attempts to return it they would not send a label. They claimed misunderstandings and "must have been a computer glitch", yeah maybe once but not 4 times. I finally filed a claim through the BBB and my credit card company.

They are geared to do whatever it takes, even unethical measures to keep you paying, they have had several class action suits against them for this reason. I AM NOT ONE OF THE COMPETITION, I am customer that has been seriously screwed over. When you deal with these scumbags demand that they fax a return tag immediately. Of course the best thing is never to deal with them, period. I think it is more probable that the "employee" that is proud of their service is more likely to be someone from Pitney Bowes marketing. DO NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY, GETTING SCREWED IS INEVITABLE!!!

We are at the end of our lease and am looking forward to getting rid of the Pitney Bowes meter, they finally sent me instructions on sending it back (which are very complicated), I received a quote from the shipper they recommend and I almost fainted! $401.70 TO RETURN A POSTAGE METER!!!!!! I can't believe these guys - they get you and they continue to get you! ARRRGGGHHHH!