How to become a proper Vodafone customer, and stop being a TelstraClear customer?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › How to become a proper Vodafone customer, and stop being a TelstraClear customer?

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1eStar

1604 posts

Uber Geek

#1438202 30-Nov-2015 22:26

Just a couple of strategies if you've had enough of head banging...

1

My sister and bro-in-law moved house earlier this year, the 30 day notice didn't seem to work due to Voda incompetence. A terse email to the CEO the night before they moved got some action.

2

Sometimes it's just easier to change provider.

Batwing

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1438207 30-Nov-2015 22:41

I don't want to have to pay to breach contract, even if it seems like Vodafone haven't kept their end of it at any point in the last six months

Salami

237 posts

Master Geek

#1441127 5-Dec-2015 20:53

So I'm lost. Are you on cable hfc?

Whether you sign up after they bought Tcl or not as soon as you are a cable customer it goes thru to the tcl system

I think the rep could've asked you for your account number. Its very easy to distinguish between the vf or tcl account numbers.

Hope your problem has been resolved

larknz

1691 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#1441159 5-Dec-2015 22:06

Doesn't seem to matter if you were a Telstra customer. I swapped from Vodafone broadband to fibre and still got classed as a TCL customer, which means that My Vodafone no longer recognises me and I have to use the hopeless Telstra page.

Andib

1363 posts

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Trusted

#1441170 5-Dec-2015 23:03

larknz: Doesn't seem to matter if you were a Telstra customer. I swapped from Vodafone broadband to fibre and still got classed as a TCL customer, which means that My Vodafone no longer recognises me and I have to use the hopeless Telstra page.

The decision to put high speed customers (UFB & HFC) on the the TCL system was made quite early on after the merger due to it being miles ahead when compared to the existing ex-iHug fixed line system that was in place. The ex-Telstraclear was already setup and geared towards high speed HFC customers so I imagine adding UFB on wouldn't have been *that* difficult.

In contrast the legacy iHug system that DSL customers run off is well past its used by date and is made up of a multitude of band aid fixes and add-ons for new products.
They did try to provision UFB customers on it at the start but from my experience it was never reliable and they quickly migrated users over to the TCL system.

<#
.DISCLAIMER
Anything I post is my own and not the views of my past/present/future employer.
#>

Batwing

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1441203 5-Dec-2015 23:42

I guess telling your customers they're not really customers is fine then, since that's how it pans out for me some of the times I call Vodafone. Basically, oh you're telstra sorry I can't help at all. Despite having signed with Vodafone. Yeah they might have back end reasons but it results in an Orwellian nightmare for customers with the canned response being we should learn the hoops to jump through rather than the contact centre staff helping to guide us through.

Salami

237 posts

Master Geek

#1441210 6-Dec-2015 00:38

larknz: Doesn't seem to matter if you were a Telstra customer. I swapped from Vodafone broadband to fibre and still got classed as a TCL customer, which means that My Vodafone no longer recognises me and I have to use the hopeless Telstra page.

Here's something easier for everyone

UFB,Cable (HFC) or ADSL ( TCL Customers) goes thru the TCL system

VDSL, ADSL (New VF Customers or previous VF customers) goes thru the VF system.

Maybe its a lot easier telling them when you call that you are on fibre and you are on Telstraclear system so the staff there direct you to the proper queue. VF employees especially the overseas one may for whatever reason get confused when you say you joined Cable after the TCL took over.

Let them know what kinda connection you are on and your account number is enough for them to identify which system you are on.

and.. to be more clearer if you are on Cable (NOT UFB) tell them you are on a HFC connection.

Sometimes customers like to explain their life story about their account (How they joined before VF took over or after...etc) ending up confusing the rep on the phone.

Samsung

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Batwing

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1441265 6-Dec-2015 09:54

Again it comes down to our money, their hoops and making it easy on them.

Don't get me wrong I don't try and obfuscate things when I call, they really struggle with even the customer number sometimes and I about mentioning Vodafone or TCL and I do refer to hfc, which they often don't recognise as an acronym so it's pretty hard to progress and I end up saying fibre which they understand even if untrue.

It's still a really bad look for them to say 'no you're not a vodafone customer, you are on TCL' when the fact remains I signed with Vodafone.

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1441279 6-Dec-2015 10:29

@batwing you are %110 correct it's a really bad look and the business is doing something about it

quickymart

13933 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1441294 6-Dec-2015 11:22

Reminds me of this article I saw several years ago:

http://www.computerworld.co.nz/article/508251/e-tales_lost_connections/

See under "TelstraUnclear".

Batwing

673 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1441339 6-Dec-2015 12:34

I apologise for ranting/ soapboxing on this issue.

Thanks to those of you with advice about how to ease things when striking issues with call centre staff lack of knowledge. While not ideal that the onus seems to be (for now) on the customer it's important to remember to remain objective and do what we can to get a positive result, even if it feels like jumping through unnecessary hoops.

My issues with Vodafone are piece by piece being resolved, hopefully fibre is better than HFC when the switch is complete.

The relocations team seem to understand the different customer types better than those I've spoken to about faults or billing.

Salami

237 posts

Master Geek

#1441473 6-Dec-2015 18:28

Last time I heard the relocation team are based in the main city branch where they look after both vf and ex tcl customers on move requests.

Not to offence to anyone but vf has been like this ever since the take over and nothing has changed much.

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