It's not the money ... it's the principle ...

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › It's not the money ... it's the principle ...

robscovell

123 posts

Master Geek

#25018 9-Aug-2008 16:57

I have been trying to set up a Best Mates number. I texted the number to 756 and got a reply saying 'number not valid' although I know it is a Vodafone number. I tried doing in on-line and got 'this service is not available at the moment'. So I rang customer support. You now have to pay $1 to speak to a real person.

I have no problem with is if I someone is asking a question about how to do something. However, the guy told me that there is a problem with the system that processes Best Mates at the moment. I asked for my dollar to be refunded because I was calling due to a problem with their system. He said that is not possible.

I could have asked to speak to a manager and would have done if it were a bigger amount but making a fuss over a dollar just comes across as petty.

But there's a principle here: I should not be charged any amount, however small, if I am calling about a fault with a company's system.

Sure, I can easily spare a dollar. But I am annoyed anyway.

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355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#155465 9-Aug-2008 18:29

We were discussing this as the changes are coming about and I think it's been established by someone from Vodafone that the charge can be credited back at the discretion of the CSR. This now appears to be a lie, so thank you for putting everyone straight.

I find this sort of thing morally repugnant myself, as do most. Vodafone has declared proudly that millions upon millions have been spent impriving the self help system and I know from personal experience it's only up about as much as it's down.

The message is clear here: Do not belong to Vodafone as a prepay customer, they simply don't want you.

JoeBloggs

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#155468 9-Aug-2008 18:45

OK, I just did some hunting and Alison Sykora stated in another thread that CSR's will be able to credit back the $1 at their discretion. It's not really surprising that someone 'forgot' to tell the CSR's this.

robscovell

123 posts

Master Geek

#155470 9-Aug-2008 18:48

Hmmmmm ...... I said I wasn't happy when he said it wasn't possible and he went into 'sorry for the inconvenience' in a voice that said "I don't care a toss, get off the line so I can keep my calls stats up."

I guess when they've got call number targets, they're not going to want the extra 'hassle' of clicking around to refund the $1.

What makes it worse is that until they get their system working again, I'm losing money whenever I call the bestmate number I was trying to add in the first place.

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#155471 9-Aug-2008 18:48

What happens if you ring customer service on 0800 rather than 777? Will VF ask for your number and then deduct $1 from your account? Surely you can refuse to give your number but want an answer to something simple such as this that doesn't require them to have your account details then they can't charge you?

robscovell

123 posts

Master Geek

#155473 9-Aug-2008 18:53

I tried 777 first and got as far as the $1 announcement and then tried 0800. When you dial 0800 you have to enter your mobile phone number and PIN before you get to the CSR option, and the dollar is deducted as soon as you press '1' for a CSR.

itxtme

2102 posts

Uber Geek

#155513 9-Aug-2008 22:57

robscovell: I have been trying to set up a Best Mates number. I texted the number to 756 and got a reply saying 'number not valid' although I know it is a Vodafone number. I tried doing in on-line and got 'this service is not available at the moment'. So I rang customer support. You now have to pay $1 to speak to a real person.

I have no problem with is if I someone is asking a question about how to do something. However, the guy told me that there is a problem with the system that processes Best Mates at the moment. I asked for my dollar to be refunded because I was calling due to a problem with their system. He said that is not possible.

I could have asked to speak to a manager and would have done if it were a bigger amount but making a fuss over a dollar just comes across as petty.

But there's a principle here: I should not be charged any amount, however small, if I am calling about a fault with a company's system.

Sure, I can easily spare a dollar. But I am annoyed anyway.

You should have escelated it, whats more take this over to the vodafone forum they have set up and take a print screen of it. Would be intresting to see if it gets deleated..

I had massive problems setting my GF's phone up on my newly ported 027 number as a bestmate. I called 777 4 or 5 times before it finally got done. 4-5 dollars she would have been charged if the cost had come in earlier..

VFNZPaulBrislen

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#155536 10-Aug-2008 07:42

If you call the call centre with a problem with a self service function (like signing up for a Best Mate) then tell them that and they'll be able to reverse the $1 charge.

Call centre staff aren't assessed on how many calls they churn through. Instead we use "right first time" to determine how well a call centre staffer is doing. They're expected to solve the problem on the first try no matter how long that takes.

Cheers

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

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Geektastic

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#155812 11-Aug-2008 10:05

robscovell: I tried 777 first and got as far as the $1 announcement and then tried 0800. When you dial 0800 you have to enter your mobile phone number and PIN before you get to the CSR option, and the dollar is deducted as soon as you press '1' for a CSR.

I wonder what they do if you are not a VF customer and you ring them to ask them something?!

richms

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#156003 11-Aug-2008 19:50

robscovell: I tried 777 first and got as far as the $1 announcement and then tried 0800. When you dial 0800 you have to enter your mobile phone number and PIN before you get to the CSR option, and the dollar is deducted as soon as you press '1' for a CSR.

Oh great, so its not $1 to speak to a CSR, its $1 to get to wait to possibly speak to a CSR, and if you get cut off, or have to go do something else or they hang up on you then you still get charged? Its getting worse all the time.

Richard rich.ms

VFNZPaulBrislen

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#156022 11-Aug-2008 20:50

Customers have the option of using the self service channels BEFORE they go through to an operator... and customers have to select to go through to an operator and are warned it will cost a dollar before they do go through. Up to that point, the call doesn't cost. As soon as you select "speak to a representative" it costs a dollar, even if you hang up at that point.

Cheers

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

Geektastic

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#156059 11-Aug-2008 21:35

PaulBrislen: Customers have the option of using the self service channels BEFORE they go through to an operator... and customers have to select to go through to an operator and are warned it will cost a dollar before they do go through. Up to that point, the call doesn't cost. As soon as you select "speak to a representative" it costs a dollar, even if you hang up at that point.

Cheers

Paul

I may have missed this somewhere, but I am curious as to WHY we are being charged.

Can you imagine New World - to pick only one example - charging us a $1 to use the checkout?! The cost of checkout staff is paid for in the food and - given the extortionate cost of mobile services in NZ - the cost of speaking to a person working for the company that bills me $100 a month ought to be in that $100!

It just looks a bit like a way of getting some "free" money from customers to most of us, I suspect.

VFNZPaulBrislen

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#156066 11-Aug-2008 21:47

Geektastic:
PaulBrislen: Customers have the option of using the self service channels BEFORE they go through to an operator... and customers have to select to go through to an operator and are warned it will cost a dollar before they do go through. Up to that point, the call doesn't cost. As soon as you select "speak to a representative" it costs a dollar, even if you hang up at that point.

Cheers

Paul

I may have missed this somewhere, but I am curious as to WHY we are being charged.

Can you imagine New World - to pick only one example - charging us a $1 to use the checkout?! The cost of checkout staff is paid for in the food and - given the extortionate cost of mobile services in NZ - the cost of speaking to a person working for the company that bills me $100 a month ought to be in that $100!

It just looks a bit like a way of getting some "free" money from customers to most of us, I suspect.

But imagine going to New World and finding every check out operator is dealing with a queue 100 people deep all of whom are asking "what time do you open" and "where can I find the cat food" and "can you tell me how much the cat food costs" and "why don't you sell more cat food" and you can't get to the check out with your groceries.

That's what the call centre's been like. We get millions of calls a month and of those, 95% are legitimate, but the remaining 5% are customers asking questions that they simply don't need a customer rep to answer. If we eliminate, or radically reduce, those 5% we will free up a significant number of call centre reps and their time. Time that's better spent answering questions that you can't find through other means, questions that need to be answered by a person.

The price, one dollar per call, is purely and simply there to be a barrier to stop the pointless calls. It's not a money-making scheme - the call centre rep's time is worth more than that per minute and typically calls last a lot longer than 60 seconds.

That's why we're pushing self service. Most of our customers are quite happy using self service through the website, through the voice prompts and now through the Forum as well. And when you do need a customer rep, you'll get through in less than 45 minutes and the rep will be able to spend the time to get it right first time (our new metric - no more average call handling time but rather a qualitative measure based on getting the problem solved in one call).

Hope that helps, and thank you for posting a question instead of just venting... there's been a bit of that on other forums lately!

Cheers

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

richms

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#156077 11-Aug-2008 21:55

If we are continuing the new world analogy, can you imaging going to new world with a trolly full of various things from the deli and the pick'n'mix, and getting to the checkout and they start to scan the items and at some point you get to a point where they tell you you have spend all your money and cant have any more till you pay them more, yet to find out what each of the items you bought is not available without paying to talk to a checkout operator to find out what each item costs and where you have spent your money, or to query the accuracy of their pricing.

That is effectivly what is happening now on prepay.

Richard rich.ms

robscovell

123 posts

Master Geek

#156078 11-Aug-2008 21:55

I think there should be two CSR options. One would be for the kind of thing that COULD be done through an IVR sequence but where individuals prefer to speak to a 'real person'. They could have that option and pay for the privilege. But there should be another option for reporting faults or other issues, such as in my case:

"Press 1 if you are calling about a fault or problem with our system. Press 2 if you wish to speak to a Customer Service Representative. Your account will have one dollar deducted if you press 2."

That way, people like me wouldn't write posts like this on forums like this.

Rob

richms

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#156082 11-Aug-2008 22:00

robscovell: I think there should be two CSR options. One would be for the kind of thing that COULD be done through an IVR sequence but where individuals prefer to speak to a 'real person'. They could have that option and pay for the privilege. But there should be another option for reporting faults or other issues, such as in my case:

"Press 1 if you are calling about a fault or problem with our system. Press 2 if you wish to speak to a Customer Service Representative. Your account will have one dollar deducted if you press 2."

That way, people like me wouldn't write posts like this on forums like this.

Rob

Thats just an invitation to have people not press 2...

If the charge only happend when you sucessfully got a CSR on the phone, then it would be ok, but to pay to go on hold (which last time I called was more then 12 mins that I was prepared to wait before making more important phonecalls) then thats not acceptable IMO. Its not like the phonecall costs them anything unless I call from my telecom on the 0800 and put in my prepay number before choosing to get put thru, so I can see no reason to charge upon going on hold.

Richard rich.ms

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