Consumer satisfaction survey results: Vodafone down

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freitasm

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#228942 31-Jan-2018 10:48

Just received:

Vodafone gets poor reception in latest telco survey

In Consumer NZ’s latest satisfaction survey, telco customers rated Vodafone last for both mobile and broadband services, the same place it occupied last year.

“Vodafone was the only provider that rated below-average on all our performance measures – from customer support to value for money,” Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin said.

About three-quarters of Vodafone's broadband customers reported spending a long time on the phone waiting to speak to a rep. Nearly half said the service was poor once they finally got through.

“Vodafone needs to spend less on flashy advertising and more on sorting out its service," Ms Chetwin said.

Vodafone wasn't the only large player leaving customers hanging. Spark also clocked below-average overall satisfaction results from its mobile customers. The dismal performance of the two biggest telcos dragged down average overall satisfaction scores to 54% for mobile providers and 49% for internet service providers (ISPs).

"Smaller providers returned better results than the big guys. Best in show for mobile providers was Spark-owned Skinny, with a satisfaction score of 75%. 2degrees also clocked above-average results, sitting on 61%," Ms Chetwin said. Vodafone rated 48% and Spark 49%.

The top-rated ISP was Flip, with an overall satisfaction score of 70%. However, it doesn’t offer fibre. Among ISPs that do, Skinny customers reported fewer problems than others.

Ms Chetwin urged consumers unhappy with shoddy service from their mobile or broadband provider to switch.

Consumer NZ’s survey suggests fibre is now the most common type of residential internet connection. However, for many households, the installation process has been far from plain sailing.

"One in three fibre customers encountered issues during installation. Twenty percent said agreed time frames weren’t met, while 12% told us their property had been damaged or not restored properly during installation," Ms Chetwin said.

If you have problems with your mobile or broadband provider, you can contact the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution (TDR) scheme, a free service for resolving telco complaints.

The Consumer NZ telco survey was based on a nationally representative sample of 1561 New Zealanders, aged 18 and over, and carried out online in December 2017. For a full report on the survey visit consumer.org.nz or see the February issue of Consumer magazine.

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#1949116 31-Jan-2018 10:52

Wow. the transformation into most disliked telco - Telecom - is complete.

________

Antonios K

quickymart

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#1949544 31-Jan-2018 18:02

They need to get rid of that stupid outsourced Philippines call centre. They obviously don't know how to do what they're meant to do.

Coil

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#1949550 31-Jan-2018 18:15

quickymart:

They need to get rid of that stupid outsourced Philippines call centre. They obviously don't know how to do what they're meant to do.

Back in the day when you'd try and transfer a customer to that place they hardly got the idea of what you were trying to convey. I do not know how they thought it was a viable option int he first place.
Suppose you gotta make money tho. Even then, I heard they had this network in WLG and CHCH that they own outright and make a LOT of money off and no one else has one of them and can actually support their customers.

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#1949554 31-Jan-2018 18:20

You know what earns 0% satisfaction... obnoxious pop-ups/lightboxes that follow you down the page saying "LOG IN OR JOIN NOW!!".

I'm surprised by these results a little. I thought 2degrees should be well down after their billing debacle - that was a huge screw up that lead to a huge amount of pissd off people.

I don't agree VF are bad value for money - i think that is just NZers perception of the industry as a whole. If I was to say VF are anything, it would be cheap - the amount of bundles/discounts you get for various things are fairly up there. All comes down to how their support staff handle things. I hate the way you get bounced around that call center - especially when business account related. In comparison, dial 126, speak to CSR, get query sorted, or get sent directly to the correct technical team who already has everything you told the front CSR in front of them.

What was the spread of users too I wonder? 1500 seems relatively small to get a fair representation of the telco's. Maybe it's in the article but the horrible pop-up stops me reading it and I refuse to try any harder to read an article.

Linux

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#1949555 31-Jan-2018 18:22

A major part of the issue is sending calls off Shore to what seems like the cheapest bidder and the out sourcing of many jobs including IT and letting go of the staff that had many years experience (cough cough)

I personally and very sad for me to be saying this will never use another VodafoneNZ product again for a number of reasons and it's not just cause I got let go after 17 years some of my friends know the reason why. I have personally helped family and friends move to 2Degrees and I will continue to

(would be nice if I got a cut from 2Degrees but I don't) :P

JohnR

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#1949589 31-Jan-2018 19:18

quickymart:

They need to get rid of that stupid outsourced Philippines call centre. They obviously don't know how to do what they're meant to do.

When I worked for them, they prided themselves at the time for being in NZ, even advertised their call centres were here...oh how times have changed sadly. I used to be proud to work for them. Now they are but a distant memory.

gmball

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#1949615 31-Jan-2018 19:21

I admit while I am a Vodafone customer and do get good value out of their products, I have never experienced good customer service, whether by phone or instore.

The telephone reps based in the Philippines barely speak English, have no idea what products Vodafone offer, and can never seem to do what your phoning to request. They are so unfamiliar with products Vodafone offer, that I usually have to educate them or refer them to the Vodafone website.
Can’t for the life of me understand why companies like Vodafone can’t bring their call centres home.

mattwnz

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#1949646 31-Jan-2018 19:38

It is the way NZ companies seem to be heading, with contracting out support overseas. It guess it is a sign of a very competitive market, where costs have to be trimmed down as much as possible. But the fact is that people will usually always go for what on paper looks like the best value.

dejadeadnz

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#1949648 31-Jan-2018 19:38

In my experience, Vodafone's problem is that (and I have heard many people say the same thing) they are sometimes capable of delivering some of the most god awful customer experience imaginable. When you complain, you get fobbed off or worse even abused by their own staff for daring to complain. This has been the case before they moved the call centre offshore. Yet mixed in amongst all that, when you run into the right person, they are capable of doing absolutely amazing things.

Generally speaking, the connections they provide are great. But I'd probably choose to talk to a serial killer before I would choose to deal with VF's customer "service".

alasta

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#1949719 31-Jan-2018 21:16

The best way to get any service out of Vodafone is to ring the overseas call centre, tell them that you are planning to move to another provider, and then they will arrange a callback from the NZ based 'retention team' who mostly appear to know what they are doing.

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#1949725 31-Jan-2018 21:27

mattwnz:

It is the way NZ companies seem to be heading, with contracting out support overseas. It guess it is a sign of a very competitive market, where costs have to be trimmed down as much as possible. But the fact is that people will usually always go for what on paper looks like the best value.

Ultimately this is the issue - and despite the fact a survey like this can show a poor result it means very little in the real world if customer numbers don't drop.

hio77

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#1949736 31-Jan-2018 21:45

I love the vodafone reps.

They never in my experience; disclose any Callout fees, Makes me wonder how it hasn't been chomped down on yet...

Within my role, i spend a ton of time looking into things like the experience, the outcome etc.

I get to see the occasional bad unfortunately, but i also am often very pleased with outcome of a call that goes offshore.

Truth be told, It only takes a few bad eggs, on someone to have an off day to totally sour the pudding.

I expect the same is actually true for Vodafone.

alasta:

The best way to get any service out of Vodafone is to ring the overseas call centre, tell them that you are planning to move to another provider, and then they will arrange a callback from the NZ based 'retention team' who mostly appear to know what they are doing.

This one pains me to read. It's just like asking for a manager off the bat..

While they may have the skills and/or capability, often these teams are trained for their particular role.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

MikeB4

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#1949739 31-Jan-2018 21:55

alasta:

The best way to get any service out of Vodafone is to ring the overseas call centre, tell them that you are planning to move to another provider, and then they will arrange a callback from the NZ based 'retention team' who mostly appear to know what they are doing.

My experiences dealing with their NZ based retention team was way less than ideal

Mike
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The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

He waka eke noa

cadman

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#1949785 1-Feb-2018 02:01

alasta:

The best way to get any service out of Vodafone is to ring the overseas call centre, tell them that you are planning to move to another provider, and then they will arrange a callback from the NZ based 'retention team' who mostly appear to know what they are doing.

Which really just proves the point: If you're with Vodafone... you should ask yourself why.

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#1949788 1-Feb-2018 02:11

I've ended up cutting all ties to Vodafone, to put it simply every request I made of them I had to pray they didn't stuff it up.

It to me seems like no one there knows how to write a simple process book for everyone to follow, my last experience with them which was the last-straw was an attempt to upgrade from tbox to the new VF TV. I got passed around several people then the person who took my order did it as a new order instead of an upgrade. There was no followup done on this, I even got a call from a very confused sounding Downer rep who didn't know/understand what they had to do. I think I had to followup this myself several times which I shouldn't have to do but in the end it was easier to cancel it.

For them to improve I think moving to a single CRM/Billing system would be a huge step forward then making sure all their processes are clear and simple.

I ended up moving everything to Spark and I love how simple their bills are to read compared to Vodafone ones (esp the Mobile ones)

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