WOW, Vodafone's customer service really has taken a dive!

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › WOW, Vodafone's customer service really has taken a dive!

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745 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1159070 21-Oct-2014 10:14

TimA:
kawaii:
dcole13: Fire all the reps and replace them with Level 2 and up and then hire TimA again and transfer John to the call center.

I'll throw my hat into the ring - pay me $37K per year and I'll be more than happy to work in the Vodafone call centre full time. I've dealt with drunk and abusive customers in the hospitality industry so being in a call centre would be a walk in the park.

The package works out to about 52k

Seriously.

I thought it was much lower. Like minimum wage (paying peanuts theory etc).

Who hires the level 1 people?

cws82us

788 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1159410 21-Oct-2014 17:51

I agree I waited over a month for me to connect to there ufb from snap and i need to reset my password and i called yesterday and waitting for 1 hr and 23 mins and they say they from the switch board and i have to wait for 15 mins more for help so i hung up and called back today and waited for 2 hrs and same thing it was the switch board and i have to wait 24 hrs for a call back or wait for 30 more mins on hold geee this is really pissing me off.

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saeran

139 posts

Master Geek

#1159444 21-Oct-2014 18:27

Beside the wait times (which are awful) my biggest gripe with the Vodafone call centre is that when they forward you to different people – which for some reason always happens to me – they ask you your details and security questions again. When you have to speak to four people to sort out something – which is painful enough on its own – it just gets ridiculously annoying. Even when you only get passed on once it seems like a pointless waste of time.
Surely their system can pass your info on?

matisyahu

1623 posts

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#1159499 21-Oct-2014 19:15

saeran: Beside the wait times (which are awful) my biggest gripe with the Vodafone call centre is that when they forward you to different people – which for some reason always happens to me – they ask you your details and security questions again. When you have to speak to four people to sort out something – which is painful enough on its own – it just gets ridiculously annoying. Even when you only get passed on once it seems like a pointless waste of time.
Surely their system can pass your info on?

Or better still why isn't everyone trained up so that who ever answers they phone can address it without needing to be passed around? I thought the whole point of having a single large integrated entity should mean that all the CSR's can handle any query you throw at them.

"When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick'"

quickymart

13963 posts

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#1159685 22-Oct-2014 05:02

It doesn't work like that. When I was at Faults (TCL) we did not handle billing/sales/customer service inquiries. There were far too many faults/technical assistance calls coming in to deal with customer service queries as well.

Kinda depressing reading the VF Facebook page these days...lots of angry, angry people on there :( (although I would guess the majority of the comments relate to ex-TCL services).

Jaxar

383 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1159735 22-Oct-2014 08:54

kawaii:
saeran: Beside the wait times (which are awful) my biggest gripe with the Vodafone call centre is that when they forward you to different people – which for some reason always happens to me – they ask you your details and security questions again. When you have to speak to four people to sort out something – which is painful enough on its own – it just gets ridiculously annoying. Even when you only get passed on once it seems like a pointless waste of time.
Surely their system can pass your info on?

Or better still why isn't everyone trained up so that who ever answers they phone can address it without needing to be passed around? I thought the whole point of having a single large integrated entity should mean that all the CSR's can handle any query you throw at them.

This idea is aboslutely completely impractical. After having worked in various roles at VF including Biz frontline tech, billing, provisioning, faults and consumer complaints just shy of 8 years the amount of stuff I still don't know in different areas even prior to the introduction TCL is large. There is also the stuff I have forgotten or just couldn't do a very good job on any more due to lack of practise.

The whole point of specilisation is so that people can be good at doing at doing a particular set of tasks. It allows for peole to become good at those tasks fasters. Expecting everyone to know everything actually works counter to a desired result of better customer service. It creates a longer learning curve and provides less opportunity for practise.

Now obviously there is a balancing act between specilisation and generilisation. This is not a new challenge in the work place. It has been accidemically debated for a long time. There are pro's and cons to leaning in either direction. What isn't debated however is that technology like computers, cellphones and the internet could not exist without this kind of specialisation.

This post isn't intended to suggest that VF doesn't have its share of challenges to overcome at the moment. Nor is it intended to address any of them. I simply wanted to point out that a minute or two's uncritical thought doesn't actually produce an immediate and straight forward solution.

Please note: I have a professional bias towards Vodafone.

quickymart

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#1160229 22-Oct-2014 18:34

Don't forget that Vodafone now also have to support a lot of legacy ex-TCL products - and not everyone will be trained up in doing that. Hell, even when I left there (back in 2005) there will still people who weren't trained in ex-Telstra Saturn/Paradise products, and that was almost 10 years ago. Add the high staff turnover and it does not translate to good times.

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mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1160333 22-Oct-2014 21:52

As a result of upgrading my plan to unlimited I believe I was/am eligible for a free(not that anything is free). I have now requested it twice from two different CSR's who all told me they would ensure it was dispatched. That was 3 weeks ago and nada. Last week another (3rd attempt) a CSR told me that he would have to book in a technician to supply it.

I give up.

NikT

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#1160410 23-Oct-2014 08:34

mattbush: As a result of upgrading my plan to unlimited I believe I was/am eligible for a free(not that anything is free). I have now requested it twice from two different CSR's who all told me they would ensure it was dispatched. That was 3 weeks ago and nada. Last week another (3rd attempt) a CSR told me that he would have to book in a technician to supply it.

I give up.

Wireless router on cable? Send me a PM with your account number and I can look into this for you. Does need a tech to come out if cable due to the agreements with our service partners, but they're usually pretty flexible with times. :)

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

matisyahu

1623 posts

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#1161889 25-Oct-2014 03:44

quickymart: It doesn't work like that. When I was at Faults (TCL) we did not handle billing/sales/customer service inquiries. There were far too many faults/technical assistance calls coming in to deal with customer service queries as well.

Kinda depressing reading the VF Facebook page these days...lots of angry, angry people on there :( (although I would guess the majority of the comments relate to ex-TCL services).

That might be true but if I ring up and have an account query then the account query should be handled by anyone with a computer, the ability to type and a happy disposition. It always seemed as though, via my experience dealing with Vodafone for my parents, is that those who are on the cable network are relegated to second class status whilst it seems that mobile phone users and non-ex-TCL were served just as quickly. I really do want to move to Vodafone but given my negative experience when dealing with things for my parents it is difficult to feel convinced that as a customer I actually do matter and any issues relating to the cable network in Wellington is seen as something that addressed in a timely manner without having situations, such as what I've seen on this forum, where the internet is out not just for a couple of hours (hey, these things happen!) to problems that last for days, weeks or even months.

"When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick'"

quickymart

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#1162164 25-Oct-2014 21:29

Your account query should be handled by someone who deals with accounts, not faults. Like I said - there were more than enough faults to deal with (when I was there anyway) without adding billing/accounts inquiries onto the pile.

Having said that, the experience of Telstra Clear customer services at that time was really bad, their turnover was extremely high and they didn't ever really seem to have enough people answering the phones there. And that was just dealing with ex-Clear and ex-Telstra Saturn products. Add on all the Vodafone stuff now and I can't imagine working at Customer Services is much fun - I wouldn't ever want to work there again, nor would I wish it on anyone.

No disrespect to the TCL/Vodafone people on here - I'm sure you're all doing the best you can given the resources you have available to you.

matisyahu

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#1162195 25-Oct-2014 23:28

quickymart: Your account query should be handled by someone who deals with accounts, not faults. Like I said - there were more than enough faults to deal with (when I was there anyway) without adding billing/accounts inquiries onto the pile.

Having said that, the experience of Telstra Clear customer services at that time was really bad, their turnover was extremely high and they didn't ever really seem to have enough people answering the phones there. And that was just dealing with ex-Clear and ex-Telstra Saturn products. Add on all the Vodafone stuff now and I can't imagine working at Customer Services is much fun - I wouldn't ever want to work there again, nor would I wish it on anyone.

No disrespect to the TCL/Vodafone people on here - I'm sure you're all doing the best you can given the resources you have available to you.

But I'm not talking about faults - the fact that I get put through to accounts but that person only does accounts for mobile phones so then I'm shunted over to accounts for broadband only be told that I need to go to the accounts specifically for cable broadband in Wellington. Yes, keep the fault fixers over there and the accounting over there but if I have an account query, regardless of whether it is mobile, cable, adsl, vdsl or courier pigeon then anyone in accounts should be able to handle it.

"When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick'"

gregmcc

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#1162226 26-Oct-2014 07:52

kawaii:
quickymart: Your account query should be handled by someone who deals with accounts, not faults. Like I said - there were more than enough faults to deal with (when I was there anyway) without adding billing/accounts inquiries onto the pile.

Having said that, the experience of Telstra Clear customer services at that time was really bad, their turnover was extremely high and they didn't ever really seem to have enough people answering the phones there. And that was just dealing with ex-Clear and ex-Telstra Saturn products. Add on all the Vodafone stuff now and I can't imagine working at Customer Services is much fun - I wouldn't ever want to work there again, nor would I wish it on anyone.

No disrespect to the TCL/Vodafone people on here - I'm sure you're all doing the best you can given the resources you have available to you.

But I'm not talking about faults - the fact that I get put through to accounts but that person only does accounts for mobile phones so then I'm shunted over to accounts for broadband only be told that I need to go to the accounts specifically for cable broadband in Wellington. Yes, keep the fault fixers over there and the accounting over there but if I have an account query, regardless of whether it is mobile, cable, adsl, vdsl or courier pigeon then anyone in accounts should be able to handle it.

Here is why there are different people who deal with accounts for mobile, broadband, or cable.

Way back when VF entered the country and brought the Bellsouth mobile network, so for a while all they had was mobile, So they then brought the Ihug internet provider and eventually dropped the name Ihug and rebranded it under Vodafone.

After a while they then brought the Telstra/Clear network. All well and good, they have a nice big mobile network, a nice big telco network and now a nice cable TV network, but what they don't have is a common billing platform.

This is why customers get passed around when there is a problem, be it a technical or billing.

It's a right royal PITA for customers, multiple bills to pay, different accounts to pay in to and different people to talk to when things go wrong.

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1162297 26-Oct-2014 10:38

NikT:
mattbush: As a result of upgrading my plan to unlimited I believe I was/am eligible for a free(not that anything is free). I have now requested it twice from two different CSR's who all told me they would ensure it was dispatched. That was 3 weeks ago and nada. Last week another (3rd attempt) a CSR told me that he would have to book in a technician to supply it.

I give up.

Wireless router on cable? Send me a PM with your account number and I can look into this for you. Does need a tech to come out if cable due to the agreements with our service partners, but they're usually pretty flexible with times. :)

Thanks for the offer, but I only wanted the router as backup to the one I have..so do not want a technician.

Issue is simple...free router should be free router!!

quickymart

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#1162306 26-Oct-2014 11:11

gregmcc:
kawaii:
quickymart: Your account query should be handled by someone who deals with accounts, not faults. Like I said - there were more than enough faults to deal with (when I was there anyway) without adding billing/accounts inquiries onto the pile.

Having said that, the experience of Telstra Clear customer services at that time was really bad, their turnover was extremely high and they didn't ever really seem to have enough people answering the phones there. And that was just dealing with ex-Clear and ex-Telstra Saturn products. Add on all the Vodafone stuff now and I can't imagine working at Customer Services is much fun - I wouldn't ever want to work there again, nor would I wish it on anyone.

No disrespect to the TCL/Vodafone people on here - I'm sure you're all doing the best you can given the resources you have available to you.

But I'm not talking about faults - the fact that I get put through to accounts but that person only does accounts for mobile phones so then I'm shunted over to accounts for broadband only be told that I need to go to the accounts specifically for cable broadband in Wellington. Yes, keep the fault fixers over there and the accounting over there but if I have an account query, regardless of whether it is mobile, cable, adsl, vdsl or courier pigeon then anyone in accounts should be able to handle it.

Here is why there are different people who deal with accounts for mobile, broadband, or cable.

Way back when VF entered the country and brought the Bellsouth mobile network, so for a while all they had was mobile, So they then brought the Ihug internet provider and eventually dropped the name Ihug and rebranded it under Vodafone.

After a while they then brought the Telstra/Clear network. All well and good, they have a nice big mobile network, a nice big telco network and now a nice cable TV network, but what they don't have is a common billing platform.

This is why customers get passed around when there is a problem, be it a technical or billing.

It's a right royal PITA for customers, multiple bills to pay, different accounts to pay in to and different people to talk to when things go wrong.

^ this. When I was there, there were the two different legacy billing systems; one for the Clear side, one for the Telstra Saturn side. For some strange technical reason (which may have since been resolved) the two systems did not talk to each other, and at Customer Services in Christchurch, the reps had two PC's on their desks: one for the ex-Clear products and one for the ex-Telstra Saturn ones, both on a specific LAN for each product set. At Faults that wasn't an issue.

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