Is any forum member here happy with the Cairo or NZ based Call Centres??

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › Is any forum member here happy with the Cairo or NZ based Call Centres??

amiga500

1484 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 422
Inactive user

#21067 15-Apr-2008 00:09

I'd guess that pre-pay customers who have a low monthly spend are being shunted off to the Cairo call centre to talk with very polite but hopelessly trained and ill-informed staff. Perhaps the staff at the NZ Vodaphone call centres manage a little better but from reading the posts here I have my doubts.

mikal

172 posts

Master Geek

#123746 15-Apr-2008 18:27

Vf had been charging my minutes incorrectly since I signed to Talker in September. Every month I had to call to get my account credited back, no one would tell me why, but usually this was done on the spot.

I called in Feb as I usually do to get my account credited and I get this customer rep who promises me this and that she will get it all sorted (I knew she had to be from the Cairo call centre, her accent blatently gives it away along with her in-ability to understand what was going on). She finally then said she would apply the credit, 2 days go by I ring back, cs rep e-mails her. 2 weeks go by I ring again, cs rep says he will e-mail her again, I explain to him I don't care if she hasn't done anything I'm on the phone to you, fix-it and stop being lazy, end of conversation.

I understand I probably shouldn't of said that but I'm sure many of you understand how lazy some of these people are, they have the opportunity to fix it then and there, yet they would rather let it procrastinate because I talked to the lady in Cairo first...

Finally after 1 and a half months I receive a text that they have given me bonus credit.

But amiga500, no I feel as an on-account customer doing $100 a month I'm being shunted to Cairo too :(.

zocster

1994 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 105

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#123747 15-Apr-2008 18:33

Touch wood I have not had any problems with vodafone, spending 200 a month here on 2 numbers.

VFNZPaulBrislen

970 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#123776 15-Apr-2008 19:20

mikal: Vf had been charging my minutes incorrectly since I signed to Talker in September. Every month I had to call to get my account credited back, no one would tell me why, but usually this was done on the spot.

I called in Feb as I usually do to get my account credited and I get this customer rep who promises me this and that she will get it all sorted (I knew she had to be from the Cairo call centre, her accent blatently gives it away along with her in-ability to understand what was going on). She finally then said she would apply the credit, 2 days go by I ring back, cs rep e-mails her. 2 weeks go by I ring again, cs rep says he will e-mail her again, I explain to him I don't care if she hasn't done anything I'm on the phone to you, fix-it and stop being lazy, end of conversation.

I understand I probably shouldn't of said that but I'm sure many of you understand how lazy some of these people are, they have the opportunity to fix it then and there, yet they would rather let it procrastinate because I talked to the lady in Cairo first...

Finally after 1 and a half months I receive a text that they have given me bonus credit.

But amiga500, no I feel as an on-account customer doing $100 a month I'm being shunted to Cairo too :(.

Mikal, I don't know quite where to begin... First off, let me apologise if you're having problems with the Talker product. PM me your details (or email them to me) and I'll escalate it for you.

Secondly, the idea that "these people" are "lazy" is just shameless. They work hard, they're on the night shift in Cairo, they are better educated than most New Zealanders and they know the difference between "have" and "of".

Call centre staff work hard, no matter who they work for. Dealing with the public, with people who think they know their jobs better than the staff member, dealing with people who are emotional about their problems, for whatever reason, is difficult. I wouldn't want to do it and I applaud those that do it and keep their cool day in and day out.

You might consider trying their job out for size before you attack both their professionalism and their language skills.

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

paradoxsm

3000 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#123779 15-Apr-2008 19:27

After a really bad patch last year things seem to have improved substantially.. I now usually get the NZ call centre only and have had good service since January, just a shame their systems are just always going down.
Today was another failure however the 777 announcement stated that were having problems with the systems which was admirably honest. (and not calling it an "upgrade")

As for the egypt call centre.

I have struck one representitive whom was genuinely helpful and had taken a lot of care in obviously learning about the product whom I escalated a praise.
Most seem to simply need more training and not repeat phrases like machines.
Two have been outright rude. (this was around the time of the system issues so they had possibly got tired of screming customers)

I had the overcharging issues last year and I just disconnected my account and got my number out of quarantine and reconnected under a whole new customer billing account tand have not looked back since. (Choose20 Mega pack)

cokemaster

Exited
4937 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1089

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#123781 15-Apr-2008 19:30

PaulBrislen:

Secondly, the idea that "these people" are "lazy" is just shameless. They work hard, they're on the night shift in Cairo, they are better educated than most New Zealanders and they know the difference between "have" and "of".

Call centre staff work hard, no matter who they work for. Dealing with the public, with people who think they know their jobs better than the staff member, dealing with people who are emotional about their problems, for whatever reason, is difficult. I wouldn't want to do it and I applaud those that do it and keep their cool day in and day out.

You might consider trying their job out for size before you attack both their professionalism and their language skills.

Paul

I agree 100%. It happens all the time here and I just can't help but shake my head in disbelief sometimes.

webhosting

Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

zocster

1994 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 105

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#123782 15-Apr-2008 19:34

cokemaster:
PaulBrislen:

Secondly, the idea that "these people" are "lazy" is just shameless. They work hard, they're on the night shift in Cairo, they are better educated than most New Zealanders and they know the difference between "have" and "of".

Call centre staff work hard, no matter who they work for. Dealing with the public, with people who think they know their jobs better than the staff member, dealing with people who are emotional about their problems, for whatever reason, is difficult. I wouldn't want to do it and I applaud those that do it and keep their cool day in and day out.

You might consider trying their job out for size before you attack both their professionalism and their language skills.

Paul

I agree 100%. It happens all the time here and I just can't help but shake my head in disbelief sometimes.

I'll second this, Vodafone is not the only company that is heading overseas, and they would have done their research before signing on the dotted line.

Apple TV

Stream your favourite shows now on Apple TV (affiliate link).

paradoxsm

3000 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#123786 15-Apr-2008 19:41

Have vodafone considered using the Cairo centre for our night shift and using the local staff for the day shift?
(which would fit their day hours superbly) or routing just say "pre pay" and less complex queries to them. I'm personally be happy to wait 10 minutes on hold to speak to a complex billing specialist for example..

I must say most of the "overseas call centres" have improved substantially and I have had no complaints of recent whatsover (and two compliments to the management)

mikal

172 posts

Master Geek

#123835 15-Apr-2008 21:36

My billing issues seem to have resolved themself as my bills have been correct for March -> April.

What got me is that I work retail in the industry and have been for the past 1 1/2 years, the lack of follow through has been shocking.
My head would be on the chopping board if I left something for so long like that and probably have received a written/verbal warning.
1 month for something that could of been done on the day in a matter of 10 minutes.
I said some of the customer services staff (Not the Cairo based ones but all, as it was the NZ based one that kept telling me they will get my first contact CS Rep to get back in touch with me).

Paul, I merely base my opinion on my own experiences, remember for every bad experience a customer will tell 10 people?
I can respect the fact that you defend them, but there must be more ways to weed out the useless reps and praise the good ones?

Perhaps CS reps should be mystery called e.g. like a mystery shopper in a retail store?

But I have to admit now Its been getting better since the TDR came into effect.

brentbart

137 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#123852 15-Apr-2008 22:18

jmosen: As the VP of an IT company with a large customer service team, I find it appalling that a representative of a company can come on here and make snide remarks about a paying customer's grammar, and belittle someone who helps to pay his wages for voicing an opinion regarding unsatisfactory quality of service. If I did that in a public forum on behalf of my company, I would be gone, and rightfully so.

I'd love to know what IT company you work for and would be interested in the experiences people have had with them. Grass being greener and all.

jesseycy

294 posts

Ultimate Geek

#123855 15-Apr-2008 22:27

I don't notice it at all.... I get the help I need, the staff are polite, they reply to me helpfully........

So, I don't care if it's Cairo or NZ. As long as it functions all well, Vodafone are free to do as they please....

Heck, if I'm the Vodafone boss, I'll move it to Cairo too, hey, less labour costs, higher profits! Duh!

paradoxsm

3000 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#123859 15-Apr-2008 22:33

Where companies need to move to is online and phone based, real-time servicing of your own accounts, cheap as chips and you can only blame yourself!

Based on something I heard/read, Vodafone are looking at such a setup which will be greatly welcomed.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

VFNZPaulBrislen

970 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#123892 16-Apr-2008 06:15

mikal: My billing issues seem to have resolved themself as my bills have been correct for March -> April.

What got me is that I work retail in the industry and have been for the past 1 1/2 years, the lack of follow through has been shocking.
My head would be on the chopping board if I left something for so long like that and probably have received a written/verbal warning.
1 month for something that could of been done on the day in a matter of 10 minutes.
I said some of the customer services staff (Not the Cairo based ones but all, as it was the NZ based one that kept telling me they will get my first contact CS Rep to get back in touch with me).

Paul, I merely base my opinion on my own experiences, remember for every bad experience a customer will tell 10 people?
I can respect the fact that you defend them, but there must be more ways to weed out the useless reps and praise the good ones?

Perhaps CS reps should be mystery called e.g. like a mystery shopper in a retail store?

But I have to admit now Its been getting better since the TDR came into effect.

And I can understand your frustrations... I've been on hold for far too long listening to bad music waiting for someone to tell me they can't help me and have I rebooted my server (etc). And you're absolutely right - the lack of follow-through, especially when the customer is told someone WILL follow up, is just unacceptable. But that's not because they're based in Egypt, that's just bad service.

The Cairo team are coming up to speed pretty quickly but as with most things, it's a work in progress. You'll always get people who are very good at one aspect of customer support (solving technical issues for example) who shouldn't be allowed near a customer (I can think of a couple myself) so it's a matter of managing that to get the best result for all.

But if you want to PM me the details, I'll chase up with the customer care team. Not calling back is a cardinal sin in my book - if someone says they'll call and they don't that's just wrong.

Cheers

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

richms

29097 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10206

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#125066 20-Apr-2008 13:46

When I have called and got someone I think was offshore (hard to tell on a cellphone since there is already bad compression and echo cancelling happening) they have being polite, well spoken and tried their best with what is obviously not enough information available to them.

Whereas when speaking to NZ (accent gave it away) I have being told totally wrong things. I was told by one nz csr that there was no way to put a total voicecall bar on my phone without affecting data (its a data only plan on my s60 till vodafone sort out prepay to plan porting and I dont want to accidentally pocket dial) - when I called again someone was able to sort it.

So if there are any lazy CSRs, I would say they are the NZ ones. they have no incentive to not jerk customers around since firing them is so damn hard in nz, unlike overseas where they know that their continued employment relys on them being top notch CSR's

Richard rich.ms

DonkeyKong

115 posts

Master Geek

#125159 20-Apr-2008 20:57

I have has numerous problems with the VF reps but the one thing is they are ALWAYS polite.
The last few times I requested to speak to manager etc. and was promised this 3+ times to no avail, but the issue got sorted.

I think I was speaking with a Heidi, who was great and got my issue sorted.

----------------------------------------------------

Seriuously...........huh?

----------------------------------------------------