Had a interesting experience pre-ordering the iPhone via 2degrees' website.

I filled out the pre-order form on their website and it said they would phone me to complete the order. A bit of an issue for me because I'm Deaf so I decided to divert all my calls to my partner. The next day my partner received a call from 2degrees and asked them to call back after 5 when he'll be home with me and he can interpret/translate for me. They said they would call back after 5. Never received a call after 5. Then they did the same thing (with the same promise) all over again the next day. Then all over again today. Naturally my partner was quite annoyed.

He also observed that all four 2degrees reps he spoke to had an Indian accent. However he also mentioned the call quality was pretty poor like it was an overseas call. I told him I was pretty sure 2degrees has a NZ call centre and he couldn't believe me. Is it still the case that 2degrees has a NZ call centre or have they outsourced some of their call centres overseas? He mentioned that he has always had a Kiwi when he phones Skinny.

So I decided to phone Telesales directly. To their credit the call was picked up within a minute. I was fairly surprised to to have the sales person ask me what specs phone I was after etc (as surely they'd have that info captured via the online form). Seemed like they were processing it as new order? I also found the pre-order process to be very long-winded with lots of questions that I wish 2degrees captured as part of the online form.

Maybe this is due to them still bedding in their new system but it's a pretty poor customer experience for a rather trivial matter. Ideally it'd be great if they captured all the info they needed online, processed it and send me a simple confirmation email. Should only need to phone for exceptional issues IMHO.

Oh and another issue. I've just received an email from 2degrees to say:

Your 2degrees account is now over it's credit limit of $750.00.

 

This means your connections won't be able to use any 2degrees services which have a charge. Don’t worry, you can still use any remaining balances in your plans or packs. You can also make emergency calls and call our Customer Care Team on 200.

 

Please make a payment that brings you back below your credit limit in order to get access to chargeable services. You can do this by calling 201 with your credit card handy, or by logging in to Your 2degrees.

I assume it's a side effect of them charging the iPhone order to my account. Given the monthly payments I'm making is only supposed to be $59.16 over 12 months I wonder why they're counting the entire phone's cost toward my credit limit.

Not sure if I'd recommend 2degrees anymore given my disappointing experience.