Disappointing customer service


First a little background info to what led to the disappointing customer service!!  I purchased a VFX number through worldxchange a little over a month ago.  The whole ordering process went through without a hitch.  I was given my number by the service rep at the time and was looking forward to receiving service!  On the day it was to be connected the phone started ringing at 7am, thinking the number had now been connected I ignored their obvious test call.  60 seconds later the phone called again .  Before I got to it stopped ringing, 60 seconds later it called again.  It kept calling every 60 seconds for about two hours.

I called the help desk, the best they could do was to give me the numbers and told me to call the police!?  I instead called the number provider Telstra clear who against privacy policy told me they were coming from The Department of Labour.  I called the Department of Labour when the calls returned a few days later and my number was found in there pbx voicemail service.  They promised the issue was fixed and i didn’t receive calls for about a week.  Then the calls returned; another call and they stopped for about 1 week;  and in usual fashion returned again!!

Finally after attempt number 2 I gave up and called worldxchange to get my number changed.  It was a “bad” number and while not their fault they had given it to me and so they could surely change it!!  They could but wanted to charge a $25 number change fee.  I was not impressed by this and was then put through to the most antagonising supervisor they could find.  She said that she had to charge me the fee and denied it was their problem.  She suggested I call the police or pay the money.  She denied any responsibility despite admitting that the number I had been given obviously had a problem with it from day one.  Eventually she agreed to ½ pay the fee and I really lost it then.  I pointed out that I could disable the service then re-enable it in 3 days at no cost, she agreed that was possible and said I could do that if I wanted.  Her rationale for not doing anything – “look I am not going to mess with the payment system for you”.  This only infuriated me more at which point she rudely said “fine I will change the number on the first of November”  - clicking noises and back to the other sales rep.  No goodbye, no explanation as to what would happen next; beyond rude to say the least!!

Now I understand that this fault was not caused by worldxchange, however they gave me a “broken” number and the only suggestion they had was to call the police!!  Why should I 1) have to fix a problem on day one of my new service and 2) have to suggest alternative fixes other than going to the police and laying an official complaint (I suggested they change my number)!?  I also wonder how on gods green earth a supervisor with an attitude like this ones could possibly been given the power to be the person I have to deal with!?

I know for a fact all major Telcos have a policy in place for dealing with nuisance calls that goes beyond, “call the police”.  As far as I am concerned if a telco gives you a number that has problems with it from day 1 they have a responsibility to remedy the problem.  Eventually worldxchange came to the party but not without conflict and not without leaving a bad taste in my mouth!  All I ever wanted was a home phone that didn’t call me every 60 seconds~!!

I guess I am mostly dissapointed at the "dont care" attitude of the Supervisor and it certainly was dissapointing as up until now the team has been more than helpful!!