automatically transferred to level 2 support?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › automatically transferred to level 2 support?

newbellies

159 posts

Master Geek

#150425 22-Jul-2014 12:19

I've been fighting a lengthy battle with frequent disconnects on VDSL and having a hard time convincing someone them that it's a problem that needs to be resolved. As a result, I'm having to call broadband support rather often. I called again today, expecting to have to have to wait for a half hour on hold, and 'fight' to get to level 2 support. ("yes, i'm using your modem. no, actually it doesn't matter that I'm not using filters because i have VDSL. Actually doesn't matter if I'm using WIFI or not because DSL + Internet lights are turning off on modem ....").

Just wanted to say that I was pleasantly surprised today that in spite of 'unusually high call volume', this time my call was immediately routed to level 2 and I spent zero time on hold. If that's by design with the support system, just wanted to say thanks, and well done. If it was a fluke, i'll just pretend that was by design. :-)

thanks!

huckster

708 posts

Ultimate Geek

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Lifetime subscriber

#1093623 22-Jul-2014 12:32

Hee-hee.

Sometimes if you are nice to the IVR, it can be nice to you......

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newbellies

159 posts

Master Geek

#1093854 22-Jul-2014 19:08

Telecom/Spark, in case you are listening I do have one suggestion though.

Instead of assuming that when you've scheduled Chorus to come, that everything must be fixed if I haven't called back, it would be great if you took ownership of the problem. I don't want to have to micromanage the situation. I don't want to spend 30 mins every day on hold to tell you that it's still not fixed. I have become a jerk on the phone now. "No, they didn't even stop at the house. No, resetting the port didn't do anything. They had already determined that wasn't the problem last time they were here. " [but way less polite - sorry level 1 support :=( )

Having said that though, I now have means of contacting level 2 support directly, which is fantastic. It's just unfortunate that I had to call so many times (and possibly needed to be a jerk?) to get to that point.

Jarsky

142 posts

Master Geek

#1094272 23-Jul-2014 15:26

It is by design ;)

dotnetdev

36 posts

Geek

#1094977 24-Jul-2014 14:05

I had the same feeling not long ago when I was told something different every time I phoned and spent in excess of six hours on phone over 2 days, with all but one promises broken. I guess auto transferring to higher level of support is not the solution, call centers have no easy way to check how technical a customer is, and they want to cover their own asses too. Focusing on how to improve customer service in general may be the way. (don't see why level 1 support cannot do some basic diagnostics).

newbellies

159 posts

Master Geek

#1095000 24-Jul-2014 14:41

i think there's something fundamentally broken with how spark and chorus work together. I'm essentially stuck in a loop (and in the middle) where each is pointing the finger at the other. If I'm lucky enough to have Chorus sent out, they don't seem to look at history, or maybe the system isn't setup for them to be able to see it. Reset the port at the cabinet, job done, leave. Adding to that, Spark has no means ("not allowed to") to talk to Chorus technicians directly. I guess I have to start camping out at the cabinet so that I can talk to them.

I'm not ready to throw my toys yet, but I'm definitely not getting warm fuzzies from this experience.

But I did enjoy that one time I didn't have to stay on hold! ;-)

hio77

'That VDSL Cat'
12984 posts

Uber Geek

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Trusted

Voyager

Subscriber

#1095009 24-Jul-2014 15:03

for someone who clearly has the technical chops, absolutely dealing with level 1 support can be a total pain in the ass.

as isps get bigger, they seem to employ alot more temp csrs to handle level 1, and often getting past that step takes a bit of effort.

with issues i have now, ill often use email support (which in my experience has always landed with the ticket being passed around to someone who is keen and happy to play middle man between the tier 2+ support, or directly with them)

ofcourse line faults fall on the slightly more urgent list, and a phonecall does need to be made to get the ball rolling..

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