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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#1164201 29-Oct-2014 11:23

If it is officially an excuse that they have 3 systems and cannot merge them for 2 years than this is very lame. Vodafone NZ on the world stage is a small player and much much larger mergers and acquisitions happen daily without this sort of nonsense after 2 years.

MikeB4

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#1164202 29-Oct-2014 11:29

mattbush: If it is officially an excuse that they have 3 systems and cannot merge them for 2 years than this is very lame. Vodafone NZ on the world stage is a small player and much much larger mergers and acquisitions happen daily without this sort of nonsense after 2 years.

Maybe you could post some suggestions and insights for them here to pick up on.

NonprayingMantis

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#1164204 29-Oct-2014 11:30

mattbush: If it is officially an excuse that they have 3 systems and cannot merge them for 2 years than this is very lame. Vodafone NZ on the world stage is a small player and much much larger mergers and acquisitions happen daily without this sort of nonsense after 2 years.

they acquired iHug around ten years ago.

AFAIK you still cannot have 'vodafone' (iHug) broadband on the same bill as a mobile.

mattbush

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#1164212 29-Oct-2014 11:43

KiwiNZ:
mattbush: If it is officially an excuse that they have 3 systems and cannot merge them for 2 years than this is very lame. Vodafone NZ on the world stage is a small player and much much larger mergers and acquisitions happen daily without this sort of nonsense after 2 years.

Maybe you could post some suggestions and insights for them here to pick up on.

There are hundreds of examples out there. I am sure all the fat cat execs are aware of them, but would sooner fatten their salaries/bonuses then improve their systems. As I said earlier it does cost a lot to merge legacy systems from past mergers, but this should be budgeted for as part of the merger/acquisition.

MikeB4

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#1164232 29-Oct-2014 11:55

mattbush:
KiwiNZ:
mattbush: If it is officially an excuse that they have 3 systems and cannot merge them for 2 years than this is very lame. Vodafone NZ on the world stage is a small player and much much larger mergers and acquisitions happen daily without this sort of nonsense after 2 years.

Maybe you could post some suggestions and insights for them here to pick up on.

There are hundreds of examples out there. I am sure all the fat cat execs are aware of them, but would sooner fatten their salaries/bonuses then improve their systems. As I said earlier it does cost a lot to merge legacy systems from past mergers, but this should be budgeted for as part of the merger/acquisition.

Oh OK. So nothing then.

Demeter

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#1164249 29-Oct-2014 12:42

NonprayingMantis: they acquired iHug around ten years ago.

AFAIK you still cannot have 'vodafone' (iHug) broadband on the same bill as a mobile.

That would be mainly because any time we change something that might affect the way services are billed, no matter how minor, people cry rivers of tears. We would have merged everything together years ago if it were possible or simple.

zaptor

745 posts

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#1164298 29-Oct-2014 13:28

Demeter:That would be mainly because any time we change something that might affect the way services are billed, no matter how minor, people cry rivers of tears. We would have merged everything together years ago if it were possible or simple.

This.

For those who have experience with Enterprise level real-time billing systems, they are anything but trivial. This is just the front end operational side, let alone the back end (which typically comprises several disparate middle-ware services, feeding heavy duty database instances).
Even when two companies merge, who both use the same exact billing vendor there are significant issues in customer/subscription migration.

Although, billing protocols (like Diameter) exist for standardisation of inter-entity communication it doesn't saying anything about how each entity is implemented or how data is stored.

It is not easy.

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Jaxar

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#1164328 29-Oct-2014 14:09

zaptor:
Demeter:That would be mainly because any time we change something that might affect the way services are billed, no matter how minor, people cry rivers of tears. We would have merged everything together years ago if it were possible or simple.

This.

For those who have experience with Enterprise level real-time billing systems, they are anything but trivial. This is just the front end operational side, let alone the back end (which typically comprises several disparate middle-ware services, feeding heavy duty database instances).
Even when two companies merge, who both use the same exact billing vendor there are significant issues in customer/subscription migration.

Although, billing protocols (like Diameter) exist for standardisation of inter-entity communication it doesn't saying anything about how each entity is implemented or how data is stored.

It is not easy.

It is not particularly fast process from what I've seen either. I was involved in merging a small ISP, dial up and UBS only with less than 10k customers. It took over a year prep and another 6 months to clean up the fallout.

Please note: I have a professional bias towards Vodafone.

gbwelly

1243 posts

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#1164338 29-Oct-2014 14:20

Demeter:
NonprayingMantis: they acquired iHug around ten years ago.

AFAIK you still cannot have 'vodafone' (iHug) broadband on the same bill as a mobile.

That would be mainly because any time we change something that might affect the way services are billed, no matter how minor, people cry rivers of tears. We would have merged everything together years ago if it were possible or simple.

Frankly the billing is the least of the problems at Vodafone. My mother is now into the third week with no landline. NikT managed to pull the strings to get someone to call her back. Unfortunately in spite of her careful effort to get her neighbour's phone number listed as the onsite contact for the job, the engineer called her whilst she was working. Well of course the call was missed. The neighbour waited at home all day to let the engineer in, and the engineer smucked off fartly with a note left. Nice one. My mother is verging on both ripping someone's head off over the phone at vodafone and crying with frustration. Fortunately no-one at Vodafone will answer the phone or call her back so I guess they don't have to worry about her cancelling her service.

Voda Man

johnr

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#1164351 29-Oct-2014 14:41

zaptor:
Demeter:That would be mainly because any time we change something that might affect the way services are billed, no matter how minor, people cry rivers of tears. We would have merged everything together years ago if it were possible or simple.

This.

For those who have experience with Enterprise level real-time billing systems, they are anything but trivial. This is just the front end operational side, let alone the back end (which typically comprises several disparate middle-ware services, feeding heavy duty database instances).
Even when two companies merge, who both use the same exact billing vendor there are significant issues in customer/subscription migration.

Although, billing protocols (like Diameter) exist for standardisation of inter-entity communication it doesn't saying anything about how each entity is implemented or how data is stored.

It is not easy.

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networkn

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#1164361 29-Oct-2014 14:49

Is there ANYTHING that can be done to change the music. I have spent what seems like 2 months on hold and I am getting homicidal listening to crowded house. It's a LONG LONG LONNNNNNGGGGGGGG standing complaint. Someone have Russell's Number, perhaps we could make him stay in one place for a few days listening to the same song over and over!

Insanely frustrating. Worse still it restarts everytime you are on hold and then picked up and then put on hold again!!!!!

Coil

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#1164650 29-Oct-2014 21:43

networkn: Is there ANYTHING that can be done to change the music. I have spent what seems like 2 months on hold and I am getting homicidal listening to crowded house. It's a LONG LONG LONNNNNNGGGGGGGG standing complaint. Someone have Russell's Number, perhaps we could make him stay in one place for a few days listening to the same song over and over!

Insanely frustrating. Worse still it restarts everytime you are on hold and then picked up and then put on hold again!!!!!

If i still worked there i would love to help you out :(

quickymart

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#1164720 29-Oct-2014 22:29

LOL they played the same six songs continuously (at Customer Services) when I worked there for the entire three years. To this day I still can't stand Insatiable by that Darren bloke from Savage Garden.

MadEngineer

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#1164724 29-Oct-2014 22:36

What's (big) business support like from vodafone, out of interest?

I know their pleb support is diabolical, surely bus support is better?

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matisyahu

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#1164741 29-Oct-2014 23:24

zaptor:
Demeter:That would be mainly because any time we change something that might affect the way services are billed, no matter how minor, people cry rivers of tears. We would have merged everything together years ago if it were possible or simple.

This.

For those who have experience with Enterprise level real-time billing systems, they are anything but trivial. This is just the front end operational side, let alone the back end (which typically comprises several disparate middle-ware services, feeding heavy duty database instances).
Even when two companies merge, who both use the same exact billing vendor there are significant issues in customer/subscription migration.

Although, billing protocols (like Diameter) exist for standardisation of inter-entity communication it doesn't saying anything about how each entity is implemented or how data is stored.

It is not easy.

It is easy if you did what I suggested - a piece by piece migration. All new customers go into the new system, all customers re-signing up go into the new system, any customers ringing up to change their payment move them over to the new system etc. A piece by piece migration to the point that there is a handful left over to sort out. It is easy if you have a plan in place and don't try to do it over night but the problem is that there is no plan at all meaning it is made harder than it needs to be.

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

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