Disgusting customer service

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Disgusting customer service

1 | 2

nigelj

856 posts

Ultimate Geek

#552062 1-Dec-2011 00:27

Orcon are a good ISP I'll give them that, but I have to admit, a few months ago a similar situation happened to me, sent an e-mail personally to notify them that in approximately 30+ days Telecom would be taking over the connection et al. (The T&Cs were worded in a way at the time that you had to notify that a churn would happen as part of the 30+ days notice, at the time & my interpretation)

Guess what? No response after a while etc, and they hadn't fixed up a billing issue from a month or so, had to spend about 15+ mins just trying to ring them (0800 # wouldn't connect etc) and quite a bit of time on hold etc, just to get them to acknowledge "our mess up" then it took a while to convince them that the 30+ days notice should apply from when they ignored the e-mail, and not from when we called up to check on it.

So I sympathise with others that are in/have been in similar situations, but berating a company in a (my opinion) tirade of posts isn't the best way to get a solution, the best way (again, my opinion) if you are not happy with the attitude/lack of response (not if you aren't getting the response you want, unless you know you are right) you are getting from a CSR (particularly over the phone) politely ask to talk to a supervisor/someone more senior.

My opinion and observations have been: frustrate a CSR quickly over the phone, or take it out of people that are trying to help on online forums/Twitter/Facebook, the more you'll find that they'll be less willing to go out of their way to find the best outcome for everybody.

I've got two classic (positive) stories to back that point up that I experienced in Australia with Telstra, but that is getting too off topic for here.

But keep in mind that some of the people around here, may not be actually getting (specifically) paid for the time that they spend monitoring Geekzone/et al. some just do it for the pride/love for the company they work at, or to help people they feel are genuinely are getting a bad deal.

Nokia2012

108 posts

Master Geek

#552069 1-Dec-2011 05:26

johnr:
Kurious1: Do not tell me to tone it down - i have put up with a couple of years of crap from Orcon - i want my money and i want to see the back of them for good. They have shown me no respect whatsoever.

And you are showing Cam no respect either by the way you are ranting on after he has helped you,

it's posts like yours that put good staff off helping online,

John

It's post like yours that put good staff off helping online.

Well that's no good I don't want that happening. Johnr I would prefer if you didn't do that we need good staff helping us online.

bameron

305 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

2degrees

#552103 1-Dec-2011 09:08

Kurious1: Right i got my invoice and i have quite a decent sized credit on it - emailed Orcon and then emailed Cam through here - no reply from either since last week - different story though when a customer owes Orcon huh - Have just been reading through the Orcon facebook page again and am just soooooo disgusted that soooooo many people are having such bad issues with them - they need to be shut down - Cam please reply to me and give me MY money back and don't give me the 'you have to wait until the next refund day' BS as i am fully aware of the 'special circumstances' rule

Sorry about that, I must have missed your message last week.

I've replied to the email that you've sent to the Helpdesk myself, that'll have all the details you need.

Cheers,

Cam

dan

1134 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#552111 1-Dec-2011 09:19

It looks like im going to have fun with Orcon cancelling my sevices as well.

After probably a 15+ calls to the helpdesk and 7-8 different chrous visits between 6 different chorus technicians to my site to fix a single Fault over several months, i decided to move on from Orcon.

Note: the fault was not on my property the jumper on a roadside cabinet was stuffed, the issue i was having was static on the line, constant disconnections, erratic dsl sync speeds, occasional dropped calls.

Although i would classify the people on the helpdesk as great to talk to, their back end systems seem poor and things dont happen in regards to the fault i had to keep chasing them about

So i migrated by services to Vodafone, gave them my notice of 30 days as required etc.

Orcon are trying to charge me 150$ for tor getting that fault fixed, and also informed me they did not cancel the connection properly when i rang up and gave notice so i assume this is going to end up with even more charges for me to have to waste time disputing with them.

bameron

305 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

2degrees

#552115 1-Dec-2011 09:21

dan: It looks like im going to have fun with Orcon cancelling my sevices as well.

After probably a 15+ calls to the helpdesk and 7-8 different chrous visits between 6 different chorus technicians to my site to fix a single Fault over several months, i decided to move on from Orcon.

Note: the fault was not on my property the jumper on a roadside cabinet was stuffed, the issue i was having was static on the line, constant disconnections, erratic dsl sync speeds, occasional dropped calls.

Although i would classify the people on the helpdesk as great to talk to, their back end systems seem poor and things dont happen in regards to the fault i had to keep chasing them about

So i migrated by services to Vodafone, gave them my notice of 30 days as required etc.

Orcon are trying to charge me 150$ for tor getting that fault fixed, and also informed me they did not cancel the connection properly when i rang up and gave notice so i assume this is going to end up with even more charges for me to have to waste time disputing with them.

Hi Dan - would you mind sending me a message with your user name or account number? I'll check it out for you.

Cheers,

Cam

MauriceWinn

141 posts

Master Geek

Trusted

#552548 2-Dec-2011 11:16

Having been at the sharp end of dealing with angry customers for years in the oil industry, I disagree that the customer has to tone it down. The customer is the one being treated with contempt. "Treat people as you would like to be treated" starts with the company handling the problem properly and not just booting the customer out into the doldrums. <
If you emailed them last week you should give them 5 business working days approx to reply and if it's urgent call them! >>

I liked angry customers because it gave me a great opportunity to get business and seriously appreciative customers. Also, they were open people who were honestly expressing themselves and their frustrations. Best of all were angry customers of competitors as they were really easy to switch to somebody who took some trouble to be helpful and solve problems. Even in-house angry customers were okay too as it gave me something to sort out for them and with genuine apologies and careful attention to making things right, they were then loyal as they realized they had been given help they would be unlikely to get elsewhere.

Everyone knows that things go wrong but it's what happens afterwards that really matters. I have and no doubt you have a hit-list of companies and people with which you will never have dealings again. Those are no doubt not those who made a mistake and worked to fix it up assiduously, but those who treated you badly, couldn't care less and nabbed your money and left you in the lurch.

As I told my daughter when she was working at McDonald's serving customers years ago [first job out of school] and she got upset and in tears about how a customer had berated her and treated her badly, "Don't worry about it. They don't know you from a bar of soap and couldn't care less. They have had a day of hassles and problems and have really come in for some free psychotherapy rather than just something to eat. Take the opportunity to help the person. If you make a mistake be genuinely apologetic for mucking them up and see if you can remedy it somehow. You can't make everyone happy, but you can leave them better off for having dealt with you than if they hadn't. If you do a good job they'll be coming back for more of the same as often as they can and tell people about you. If they don't, you'll still be better off in the moment, and happier, for having made things better."

See how Cam has handled the problem without getting on his high horse. He can see that it's the customer with the problem and has been treated badly. Of course the customer is really annoyed and spitting tacks. Well done Cam.

I can't recall any customers who were not highly appreciative of having been treated with respect and apology and fixing up the problem. I can recall quite a few who started out seriously irate.

Stax

9 posts

Wannabe Geek

#552594 2-Dec-2011 12:28

Thank You MW.

Like cool water on a hot day.

Well Done.

Tradepub

Free professional, reference and technical white papers (affiliate link).

BuzzLightyear

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#552650 2-Dec-2011 14:24

Well done Cam.

I understand how frustrated a customer could get but its unlikely to be the people helping you that have caused the problem. You are still well within your rights to get grumpy, but direct that at the management and not front line.

dan

1134 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#552662 2-Dec-2011 14:40

thankyou Cam have sent you a PM

bameron

305 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

2degrees

#552666 2-Dec-2011 14:54

dan: thankyou Cam have sent you a PM

I've sorted it for you Dan - check your messages for the details. Sorry for troubles!

Cheers,

Cam

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79263 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#552729 2-Dec-2011 17:04

BuzzLightyear: I understand how frustrated a customer could get but its unlikely to be the people helping you that have caused the problem. You are still well within your rights to get grumpy, but direct that at the management and not front line.

QFT.

listudio

196 posts

Master Geek

#556998 12-Dec-2011 14:52

freitasm: The TDR process requires a specific set of steps. Basically you must lay a formal complaint to your ISP and if there is no resolution then you can escalate.

Steps here.

Thats a very helpful information, thanks!

I have got the refund from Orcon without an email notice. I guess there was an invisible 'hero' here helping me to get my money back. I would say thank to the person who helped me..

Nebbie

458 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#557115 12-Dec-2011 17:35

In New Zealand I've never used Email as a form of commutations with any ISP past experiences have proven this to be the worst way you can contact your ISP I like to use the good old phone make sure the person writes down on your notes what they say to you and record your calls, its amazing what I have got out of Vodafone in the past 2 years credits after credit becuase of simple mistakes.

ISP's usually operate as Phone as the primary form of contact email secondary this usually means that emails will be left unanswered to take phone calls.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Nebukadnessar

1 | 2