Oh how the mighty have fallen....

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Oh how the mighty have fallen....

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exportgoldman

1202 posts

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#92283 24-Oct-2007 19:22

I remember freaking people out 15 odd years ago when I got my BellSouth mobile and greating the person by name when they phoned. This was long before Telecom landlines got Caller ID when they upgraded to the 61e exchanges.

I still remember calling the Bellsouth helpdesk because my message 'icon' didn't dissapear when I cleared my voicemail, and the guy on the helpdesk calmly explained what text messaging was for I imagine what was only the first of several thousand times he would repeat the same speal in the next few years.

Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.

paradoxsm

3000 posts

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#92325 24-Oct-2007 23:28

Back then, They were extremely reliable and I had superb service and network stability until late 2005. As well as being "cool and funky" they were also quick, extremely proffesional and competent staff whom all loved working for the company.

In the contrary back then, Telecom was the opposite and had begun their price-gouging, sneaky price rises, Dodgy mobile phone dealings (mainly mobile and other horrors) Full-minute-rounding scams and trickery.

Todays Vodafone story.... They issued a friend a new number as they had assigned a companies pool number range beforehand, and then made some fatal mistake which took out her connection and 4 others... 2 of whom were corp customers... whoops.

Vodafone will get it right again, We just hope it's sooner rather than later.

Robz

112 posts

Master Geek

#92354 25-Oct-2007 10:17

I wonder if degradation of service relates to an organisation getting bigger and therefore becoming part of the "mainstream" rather than the underdog out to make a difference.

Alternatively, maybe the degradation of service and after sales support is simply a symptom of the market today and this does not apply just to telcos. Products are getting to market much quicker than ever before and (in general) do not have the same quality about them that was apparent ten years ago. With a reduction in quality and higher turn-over the sales and support staff do not have the opportunities to become passionate about the products and this is reflected in after sales support.

The other distinct change is that stores/telcos/service providers are becoming "everything to everyone" and so there is a lack of "this is all I do so I will do it well".

Note these are only personal observations over the last few years and are not intended for any one organisation. Personally I have had a number of good outcomes (a few not so good) when dealing with after sales support.

pressF1

77 posts

Master Geek

#92401 25-Oct-2007 14:31

Interesting view points on this. I work at Voda now and have previously worked at Telecom (as well as a number of overseas carriers). Voda has the best "in office" feel i have experienced, in fact leaves anything I did at Telecom in the dust. The interesting thing for me is the change in attitude internally over teh last 18 months, the business has been significantly influenced by Global messages (i.e. Make the most of Now, Mayfly ad etc) and therefore the NZ flavour which people have been associating with cool and funky Voda is being pushed into the background a bit. Working in the business side of Voda that kind of suits me as my customers want reliable and trusted, not funky for their service offerings. However I also know there are people internally who "miss" the old Voda....is it the price of growing up and no longer being the challenger (as many have pointed out in previous posts)? I think probably yes.

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