They can't survive... [Whoosh]

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nzdn

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Topic # 7161 24-Mar-2006 12:42

After much to-ing and fro-ing I decided to sign back up with Woosh after one guy there put a lot of effort into helping me get a good enough signal for voice.

Unfortunately I decided to sign up at 4:30pm on a Friday. The salesperson (someone else) was having trouble with the CRM, apparently it wouldn't let him tick the product boxes he needed to. So he said he'd call me back when it was done.

I haven't heard anything for three weeks. I'm guessing, but I think he just decided at 5pm that it's home time and didn't ensure that I was on a to do list for completing the signup.

I would have thought that in their current position they seriously need to focus on sales and retention. If they can't even manage that, I don't have much hope for their future. Certainly I don't intend being a part of it.

[Moderator edit: New music Wednesday - Gustav Holst - the Relevant Title Suite]

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BDFL - Memuneh
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Reply # 31415 24-Mar-2006 12:48

First of all, I am sorry to hear you have troubles - with any company.

Second - they don't deserve your business. I know they could possibly be a cheaper alternative than a landline broadband solution, or even a cellular data solution. But would you be willing to pay less for a service that you can't trust? It's a telephone service you are buying there! Telephone services are the kind of commodity that should be as easy as 1-2-3 to sign up and use.

The technology is new, but the service offering is old. At the end of the day we shouldn't worry about the under the hood tech/gizmo stuff. It should be simply a turnkey thing, transparent for the user.

Bad experience, no service, no customers, no revenue...

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bcourtney

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Reply # 31417 24-Mar-2006 13:01

I am astounded at your patience!! 3 weeks - have you not tried to get back in touch with them yourself? TelstraClear hear from me within hours i f i have a problem with them

Then again, maybe your Woosh guy was one of those that have been shown the door...

skykissme

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Reply # 31419 24-Mar-2006 14:32

When I signed my Woosh up, I have quite a similar situation, so I actually call him back in 3 days..I'm not very patient, and asking to talk to the guy I talked to last time. Other sales will try to talk you to get the product from them...

At the end I asked to talk to his supervisor, 2 days I was up and running.

We'll never be too old to learn, and we learn at least one new thing every day.

nzdn

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Geek

Reply # 31426 24-Mar-2006 16:34

I'm sorry to hear that I have troubles with Woosh too - not just for myself but for Woosh as well. They strike me as keen novices, and everyone loves a trier. But it's a shame they didn't poach more expertise from V & T (unless they somehow ended up with all the duffers!)

I did call back a couple of times but because it wasn't a standard deal I was advised to deal with the same person again. I don't know if he was downsized and his motivation died, but I know mine certainly has.

nzdn

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Geek

Reply # 32246 4-Apr-2006 23:02

I received an invoice today for the service they didn't advise me was up and running and hadn't delivered any equipment for. When I called up to cancel everything and demand a reversal of the invoice, the helpdesk guy gave me a lot of backchat! It's all so tragic that it's funny.

paradoxsm

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Reply # 32252 5-Apr-2006 00:23

Backchatter., I think I know the guy, spoke to him the other day, He was doing just what you had explained , proving I was wrong.

I needed another power adaptor for my gateway as I had "broken" mine and was prepared to pay the $15 replacement cost, 2 weeks later and no adaptor to no surprise.

I ended up getting quite arrogant and saying "no because he won't phone me back" and he said i'll make sure he does...

Sure enough, a whole week later, no call, no power adaptor.

Time to return that gateway I think. If they try and charge me a $100 termination fee i'll ensure it costs them much much more than that in bad publicity.
I'd cancel the whole thing but I have "roaming for life" which avoids the $20 roaming charge. Though my punt is that "life" is the limited life of the woosh network (years end?)

Their logistics are pretty bad, I have 7 Woosh modems now. two P1D and 5 P1C's.
Each time I report a fault.. out comes yet another modem. They have no records of them somehow.

skykissme

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Reply # 32253 5-Apr-2006 00:59

I have 3 power adaptors for 2 modems but I'm not using modem very much because I only have a laptop at home and using PCMCIA, for my desktop PC - unfortunately was taking off me by my good flatmate to his office to make sure I will go to bed at night and go to work and study during the day.

Anyway, if you can remember the sale person's name you can actually say to other sale that he agrees to send you one for free of charge. :) I think that's how I got my 3rd adaptors. After no call back from one name Kevin about extra power adaptor. I dropped in that line to other sale reps. The power adaptor arrives a day later. Perhaps earlier as I didn't get home until a week later - out in Methven on a PBX fault :(

We'll never be too old to learn, and we learn at least one new thing every day.

nzdn

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Reply # 32323 5-Apr-2006 15:26

For sale, Woosh modem and assorted extras sufficient to provide internet only service in poor signal area (i.e. typical Woosh customer area).

The modem has never been physically mistreated but has extreme psychological problems from being constantly sweared and gestured at. It has also developed a fear of its own cables, having been threatened with strangulation by them on several occasions.

There is no Buy Now price as I'd prefer to watch the modem suffer by finding out how unwanted it is.

paradoxsm

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Reply # 32325 5-Apr-2006 15:35

For sale, 7 woosh modems, 5 power adaptors, One still works well with paddle antenna though I'm happiliy using this to broadcast Sky over one of those Video senders (souped up of course!)

1 was left outside garden shed, rained till she bled white powder,, whoops.

2 Finally went Woosh! (hurled from top floor into concrete) Kasmash!

3 stupid mini data connector was fouled up, modem subsequently DESTROYED (battery salvaged for mates Nokia 8250)

4 deliberatly torn to bits to discover it's internal workings and flash rom ripped.

WSHHOSH and out the door you went.

5 Woa,, that thing flies!

6 & 7 left at the bottom of fish boxes to get thrown around and scratched with ISA vga cards and SB16's for eternity.

pics up sooon,

$1 Res

sbiddle

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Reply # 32328 5-Apr-2006 15:53

I'm beginning to wonder about the amount of junk you have.. When my girlfriend next complains about my IT museum I'll send her around to look at your place! :-)

bcourtney

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Reply # 32331 5-Apr-2006 16:10

haha, i had the hard word put on my by my girlfriend at the beginning of the year and as such was told that i had to bring anything into work that wasn't "actually" being used. So now my office is an IT museum instead :)

Rickles

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Reply # 32415 6-Apr-2006 11:18

Hi people,

I've been using Woosh here in Wellington since last October and so far it's been pretty good as a "first step" into broadband ... never had a disconnection or major fault so far.

I've sent e-mails to Woosh on two occassions, one to complain about no signal one morning (base station was down) and a small problem setting up Outlook as an e-mail client. In both instances I received telephone calls from their Rep within hours, this first advising me how long the base station would be out (15 mins as I recall), and 3 or 4 calls trying to resolve the e-mail problem (resolved too).

I really hope they keep going as it's a great alternative to DSL and our beloved telco <bg>.

Cheers,

Ricky.

Andy_Walker

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Reply # 32463 7-Apr-2006 00:18

I think you guys are being pretty harsh on Woosh. They may have forgotten to return your call but I doubt Telecom would give you any better service. I find the team at Woosh pretty friendly & helpful to deal with. Sometimes you get a operator that is a little naïve but generally they have a good attitude. What I like is that it is a small team there & they get to know you. When I call up customer service I often get someone that remembers me. One guy stayed in after his shift for almost an hour helping my set up my router. He did not have to do that, it was not really Woosh’s problem he was not even getting paid. He even rang up the next night to see how it was all going. You will never get service like that from Telecom.

If you get any group of middle age adults in a room talking about the service from Telecom you will soon hear horror stories come out. I am sure most people have experienced appalling service from Telecom at some stage. I‘ve had more than my fair share of unforgivably poor treatment from them. As far back as 1997 I promised myself that the day I had the option to use anyone other than Telecom that is exactly what I would do. With the Woosh phone service I have finally had that opportunity. The bonus is that it is saving me a ton of money. I use my Woosh lines for business so I have been saving 5 cents per minute on local calls, plus the fees on the voice mail service, call diversion etc. All that adds up to over $100 per month of savings, which is around $1,500 per year. Plus when I call up customer service they remember who I am. One guy there when I told him who I was said he knew me from reading my posts on Geekzone!

As for forgetting to call you back?? Give them a break. Don’t sweat the small stuff. They are open 24 hours so give them a call if you need to. I often forget to call my own Mum, so I would not hold that against them. It is fantastic we now have an alternative to using Telecom. Woosh deserve your support.

bcourtney

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Reply # 32466 7-Apr-2006 00:57

Andy_Walker: ...What I like is that it is a small team there & they get to know you. When I call up customer service I often get someone that remembers me. ...

I sure as hell wouldn't want to have to contact my broadband provider so frequently that they would remember me!! I'm with TelstraClear and if I ever have a problem (and i've only really had one in the last 2 and a half years that has required me calling them) I make sure that the problem is fixed for me before i hang up, no need for a call back.

Good customer service is one thing, but the company should be providing their core service at the same levels and in Woosh's case this is their broadband service and by the sound of things it is intermittent at best.

paradoxsm

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Reply # 32468 7-Apr-2006 02:52

The saddest part I have just connected a landline to Telecom, I needed a landline connected last week but still waited for the adaptor that never came. I then in desperation shoved another 12v adaptor to the gateway, checked it was all the same and the gateway made smoke and never went again, so 0800 Telecom was my next call.

Good thing is Asterisk is running and there will be some serious abuse from this landline, For $60 a month I now have a mobile landline! Go iTalk, Asterisk, and Telecoms new special mobile deal! he he he he. ;-D i need to figure out how to plug the landline into asterisk.

I spoke to Woosh today and finally spoke to an indian chap who cared and didn't charge me the $99 disconnection fee and $199 for a gateway (even though I'd paid $99 to hook up)

Their problem is people just aren't going to pay $199 to hookup and be lumbered with a 12 month contract. Especially as you keep NOTHING when it's over (sky lets you keep the dish, Telecom lets you keep the handset)

Their network is fine,, it's their service that sucks. You try to avoid dealing with them but when you have to, What a pain.

I want them to succeed, there is some really good people behind Woosh and and ab5olute d1ckhe4ds in marketing (no surprise)

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