I have just experienced the worst customer service experience ever with Max Assurance (National Electronic), Office Max’s partner which is supposed to process their service contracts. We purchased our $470 Brother printer from an Office Max store in Boulder, Colorado in December of 2007. The printer is having problems and we really need it working properly. We are now outside of the year-long manufacturer warrantee, but purchased an extended service contract. Initially, the Office Max person we called in Boulder said we needed to bring it in for a return replacement. Later, a different person there said that we needed to contact Max Assurance to schedule an on-site service visit. My wife contacted Max Assurance on 2/20/2009 and received a service number. Max Assurance indicated that we would be contacted by their local service vendor Prism Point Service within 24-48 hours. Almost a week passed, and we never heard from Prism Point; so, today I called Prism Point (800-282-9530) myself and they had nothing about or request by name or request number. Then I called Max Assurance at (866-805-9095) and was transferred to “Beth” (#156261)) who said she could see in the system Max Assurance had never sent our service request to Prism Point. She said she sent it electronically today 2/26 and it would be another 24-48 hours to be contacted by Prism Point.

Of course having been told this before by Max Assurance and having waited almost a week, I asked for Beth to expedite our request so we would not have to wait and be further inconvenienced. She said she couldn’t do that and we’d have to wait again for their process to cycle through even though she acknowledged it was their fault. I then asked to speak with her supervisor, and she put me on and off hold for about 10 minutes, finally saying that a supervisor would have to get in touch with me within four hours. I then called Customer Service at Office Max and spoke with Andrea in Ohio who filed a customer expedite and who conferenced me back over to another Max Assurance call center person named “LoAnn” (#302098). LoAnn wanted to look some things up and call me back. When she called back she also indicated there was nothing she could do, sounding indifferent about us having waited a week and not being delivered the promised service. She said we should just wait. When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she said she couldn’t because she had called me back. She said I would have to call in again because they have another process that wouldn’t allow her to do so. I called Max Assurance again and was routed to “Shawn” (#304357) who gave me pretty much the same story. Again, when I asked to speak with his supervisor he indicated none were available and I would have to be contacted within four hours. He also said there were about 10 supervisors for 600 people who received calls, and it sounded like the supervisors were pretty busy with others who also aren’t happy with service from Max Assurance.

I then called Office Max Customer Service again and spoke with Katie who was very nice and was able to get through to a supervisor at Max Assurance. “Ron” (#155684) the Max Assurance supervisor was the worst yet. Ron was very scripted in his responses to the point of rudeness, and only seemed concerned with the legal ramifications saying over and over “I’m advising you that you can wait” as if I hadn’t been told that repeatedly since last week (and I’d still be “waiting” if I hadn’t started calling them). Ron also said “Yes, there was a failure” but refused to acknowledge that the failure occurred under what is controlled by Max Assurance. I kept saying that I understood they couldn’t put us back in time to where we would have been without their error, but that they CAN do something now by not putting us through another wait period. It’s bad enough Max Assurance messed up, but it’s intolerable that their supervisor won't acknowledge and they won’t make it right somehow: how about calling over to their vendor Prism Point to whom they send substantial business and asking them to schedule a service appointment while everyone’s waiting on the all-important electronic ticket to arrive? No, that doesn’t fit Max Assurance’s rigid procedures. All of which assumes that the service ticket even arrives this time, and that we won’t have to do this all over again on Monday. Truly terrible customer service at Max Assurance.