Gave up after 90 minutes

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Jonski

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#157449 1-Dec-2014 22:55

Called Vodafone's fixed line support tonight. After listening to the on hold music through three times and 90 minutes of no joy, I gave up. It's the longest wait ever. Their support sure is going down the tubes. I have a strong suspicion they have transferred my account to UFB although it is yet to be installed. If so, it will be my fourth official complaint in as many months. Other than changing ISPs, what are my options?

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#1186669 1-Dec-2014 22:59

Vodafone support via call centre has been going downhill in the last few months. Vodafone is well aware of it. When it's going to be fixed is another story.

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tardtasticx

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#1186683 1-Dec-2014 23:26

Seems to be a new one of these posts every day.

And the people who'll probably get a yelling at will be the frontline staff for not being fast enough, not the management who can't plan enough staff to meet demand or executives who cut budgets in that department.

ckc

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#1186686 1-Dec-2014 23:57

You work with what you're told to. So you pay staff less until you can't legally pay them any more, and then you offshore them and pay them less until you can't legally pay them any more, and then you move them around to another country and pay them less, ad infinitum.

Nike and Adidas have been doing it for years, but it matters less with them because your shoes don't have ping issues. Unless they're a specific brand of golfing shoe.

hio77

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#1186692 2-Dec-2014 00:13

Threads like this are becoming so common, it really is a shame vodafone are sliding so much!

Given these threads, im not looking forward to the eventual call ill be making to vodafone for some fault at some point...

Hopefully Vodafone will look to employ some decent techs for their first level support to help speed things along.

Having a snap connection on a second pair, i have to say, im always pleasantly surprised and not keen to deal with the other side of the fence!

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nakedmolerat

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#1186697 2-Dec-2014 00:54

To answer OP. Your only option is to change ISP.

I could save money on my vdsl connection with vodafone but I went to bigpipe to avoid unnecessary headache.

johnr

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#1186724 2-Dec-2014 07:24

Sorry nothing I can do about the wait times can I ask what the actual call into Vodafone was about? Maybe I could add some value here on Geekzone,

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jnimmo

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#1186730 2-Dec-2014 08:01

Your only option is changing ISP, which you're free to do. Or relying on the helpful people you can find in other channels like here.

Been downhill for much longer than the last few months, I remember waiting about 90 minutes in October last year just to find out what IP address a colleague's router needed to be set to for their VF cable (as their router had to be reset), before having to try again the next day.

Jonski

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#1186822 2-Dec-2014 10:04

johnr: Sorry nothing I can do about the wait times can I ask what the actual call into Vodafone was about? Maybe I could add some value here on Geekzone,

No, it's not the kind of thing that can be resolved here thanks. But I'll give you the story anyway:

On Thursday or Friday, I fell off the internet. I checked our phone line, that was working fine (I've had recent problems with the physical lines and both services died together). Anyway, didn't have time to investigate. On Saturday, I checked again, this time only got side tone on the phone. On Sunday I finally had a chance to call VF.

They went through the usual checks (unplug everything etc), and dispatched Chorus to check the line. On Monday, Alex from Chorus (he's my regular tech, says something about the connection!) came and tested the lines, all tested fine. I got home and dial tone was back on the phone, the DSL light on the modem but still no connection to the internet.

So to troubleshooting. I ended up bypassing the Wifi router and plugging LAN directly into the modem. Logging into the modem, I see that it is "connected", but a number of IPs are in the non-routable 10.x.x.x range and there is other weirdness reported as well. I'm not at home at present so I can't give you specifics.

Also, when trying a web browser I now get a webpage message from Vodafone saying it takes up to 60 minutes to set up the service and I should wait that long, reboot the modem and try again.

Seeing as I have an order in for UFB (which was the subject of another official complaint), I strongly suspect I've had my account transferred to the new service, although Chorus has yet to even run cable down my drive.

So something that can't be resolved in this forum.

I used to rave about Vodafone. I have even sent unsolicited emails commending certain support staff for their performance. Seeing as I'm IT Service Manager at a household-name online company, technical support is my bread and butter, and I give credit where it's due. But after years of not needing support, I've had to deal with Vodafone several times in the past 6 months, and almost every time I've had to escalate the issue, usually to the formal complaint process. 90 minutes to not answer the phone? In our call center, our TTA SLAs are measured in seconds not hours! Our call abandonment rates are in the low single digits, I would hate to see what Vodafone's are.

I started online with Voyager in 1995. I remember the Clone Wars, or at least the finger wars. I transitioned to ihug and later Vodafone. For many, many reasons built up over the years, I will never do personal business with Telecom!, and the smaller ISPs can't meet the price point I am working to on my personal budget. So I'm kind of stuck with ISPs. Conceivably if I had more experience with SIP, I'd look at alternatives but I don't know enough about that corner of IT yet to transition my landline away in a cost-effective manner.

So it will be back on the phone later this morning, and I expect to be raising my voice to the poor contact center worker at the other end. Not their fault, but their management is effectively unreachable.

Jon

I reject your reality and substitute my own!
- Adam Savage, Mythbuster

MikeB4

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#1186871 2-Dec-2014 10:18

raising your voice at the CSR's is pointless and completely unproductive. More likely you will get further if you do the opoosote.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

jnimmo

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#1186872 2-Dec-2014 10:19

Jonski:For many, many reasons built up over the years, I will never do personal business with Telecom!, and the smaller ISPs can't meet the price point I am working to on my personal budget. So I'm kind of stuck with ISPs.
Jon

I don't think I'll be the only one to say Spark is not Telecom, and I certainly wouldn't have previously considered Telecom but now I would be happy to switch to them.
Also, since when are Spark or Vodafone cheaper than the smaller ISPs? Everyone is doing pretty similar pricing really

ckc

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#1186880 2-Dec-2014 10:30

Spark is Telecom. They changed their name, not their practice of outsourcing and contracting out everything possible to increase their dividends.

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DarthKermit

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#1186882 2-Dec-2014 10:31

We inherited vodafone when they bought out Telstra. I can't say I've had many technical problems with our broadband. I've only ever had to phone VF a couple of times.

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Jonski

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#1186883 2-Dec-2014 10:34

KiwiNZ: raising your voice at the CSR's is pointless and completely unproductive. More likely you will get further if you do the opoosote.

That's not what I've found. A certain degree of tense exasperation and ridicule pointing out the simple failures of The System has usually got me onto the team leads reasonably quickly. I don't shout, swear or abuse so "raised voice" was probably the wrong choice of words but I do make it the CSR's problem not mine.

I reject your reality and substitute my own!
- Adam Savage, Mythbuster

Jonski

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#1186886 2-Dec-2014 10:45

ckc: Spark is Telecom. They changed their name, not their practice of outsourcing and contracting out everything possible to increase their dividends.

I worked at the Post Office when it became Telecom and later Telecom!. I saw front line workers forced to change, top level management had already bought into the new hegemony, but a large swathe of middle management were still Post Office workers. This time round, (and yes Telecom! eventually became a different beast to the Post Office), I expect a similar process. Front line workers and senior management will wave the flag willingly or not, and all those staff who aren't directly customer facing will continue to give a very distinct lack of sh1t. My cynicism is a result of watching Telecom! make so many egregious mistakes over the decades. I will give it another 5 years before I consider giving them yet another chance. At least until then they're still Telecom! to me.

I reject your reality and substitute my own!
- Adam Savage, Mythbuster

Jonski

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#1186935 2-Dec-2014 11:48

...aaand now I can't log into my account portal nor Vodafone webmail.

#FFS

On the phone now. Wish me luck.

I reject your reality and substitute my own!
- Adam Savage, Mythbuster

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