[Primetime] Service with a snarl

BendiBus

On RTE Primetime now. All about customer service.

Any chances our esteemed broadband providers might make an appearance?

Edit: LOL, Chorus/NTL are first up

Sponge Bob

Chorus/NTL

Vodafone is getting it too, Voodoofone are absolute gentlemen compared to Chorus/NTL may I add.

Three are up now, that should complete the usual suspects ....although BT Billing should really get a bit of a mention at the end .

NO NON TELCO SO FAR :eek:

Cabaal

Three just got a mention, exceptional circumstances eh?

Onto Meteor now and ID fraud with a bill pay mobile,

Sponge Bob

Meaty Hoor up now , Meteor were conned and would not accept that they were conned in an identity theft fraud. I am a bit sorry for Meteor getting dragged in over something like this but they really should have a better fraud control system especially if the victim shows up in the shop.

barnicles

3 were on also.

Sponge Bob

Three deserved a much better exposure ...Chorus style. They are complete scammers !

Sponge Bob

Smart Vision now, not Smart Broadband mind, Smart Vision !

I really look forward to some non telco coming up at some stage !

Cabaal

Smart now and how people in a building can only go with Smart, shame smart are getting bad PR there are many companys that could do with it more.

I missed the start so no idea how they threated UPC.

Smarts response was good, shame it dragged on so long for there customers,

Sponge Bob

The Smart complaint is about the old Smart , 2006 and 2007 version . It does not differentiate against the new Smart which is unfair.

Smart should not be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Chorus/NTL and Three , chalk and cheese come to mind , very unfair !

Cabaal

Sponge Bob wrote: »

The Smart complaint is about the old Smart , 2006 and 2007 version . It does not differentiate against the new Smart which is unfair.

Smart should not be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Chorus/NTL and Three , chalk and cheese come to mind , very unfair !

I'd tend to agree, although as noted the complaint was still being dragged onto to today, but there response of having an engineer onsite tonight was a bloody good response in relation to the complaint.

Looks like some non-telco's coming up

Sponge Bob

BT , why am I surprised .

Its like the Primetime researchers only read the BB forum on Boards.ie .

Perlico up now . Poor bastard rang Perlico 150 times .

Clearwire then

Only Imagine and eircom left from the usual suspects !

Cabaal

Perlico & BT phone now, fun fun
Given Paul Woods previous positive resolutions on boards I'd expect this to end very well for Perlico and perhaps somewhjat negative for BT on the billing side
(BT saying they have a recording of his call switching to BT and then saying they cant find it)

[UPDATE]
I think Perlico's response was pretty good, free month for phone, broadband and calls and 100e goodwill ontop of that, BT's was funny (our customer) and he never was there customer,

Cabaal

Good old Damien on now,

Direct Debits and BT...oh joy of joy,its only fair they get a grilling given there massive billing issues....I had three official billing complaints with them on there business package myself when I used to be with them.

[UPDATE]
BT reactivating canceled direct debits, so even though they cannot reactivate DD they did without authorization from the end user. Direct Debit scheme guarantee protects him but thats not much good to him if he has to spend ages chasing them

Onto Dell now....

Sponge Bob

You will have feck all moderating to do Cabaal ....until 10:30pm when the program is over .

BT back on again , sheesh , BT BILLING in fact and that long running BT Ireland Direct Debit Fraud scam that has a few hefty threads in here

Comreg and IPSO have escaped scot free so far , the bastards .

IPSO have claimed that BT are ( in effect ) changing the DD data but that the DD service is secure.

ARSE

zAbbo

The problem is that they only seem to fix problems once you involve primetime/media

Cabaal

zAbbo wrote: »

The problem is that they only seem to fix problems once you involve primetime/media

This happens alot alright, I've seen from first hand experience that companys incl BT and Three are very quick to resolve issues if one of two things happen (depending on the issue)
1. They are dealing with media/reporter
2. You request an official response from the company (this only works with certain issues)

Anyway onto non-telco companys now

Sponge Bob

If we all clubbed togethe and simply hired an Irish Times journalist ( cost c.€500) to pump queries in for 2 days on our behalf it would be great value for money , so much less traffic on this Board and so many resolutions.

Cabaal

Sponge Bob wrote: »

If we all clubbed togethe and simply hired an Irish Times journalist ( cost c.€500) to pump queries in for 2 days on our behalf it would be great value for money , so much less traffic on this Board and so many resolutions.

I'm sure some hard pressed Irish Times journalist would love the extra money, all he/she would have to do is send off a few e-mails.

jonny68

Absolutely shocking, those companies should be ashamed of themselves, this bleedin country has the worst customer service in the world, i missed the start did they happen to mention the absolute worst of the lot Ryanair, i can relate to most of the companies mentioned especially cowboys like BT Ireland and Jackie Skellys who had the audacity to actually "reject all allegations" i can categorically state everything said about Skellys is absolutely true as a former member and i know someone who used to be employed there as well and they said exactly the same as that bird who used to work with them.

It's good that these companies pathetic customer service is being exposed, most had no option but to admit they were in the wrong but where does it end, it doesn't, the problems will just continue and continue, compared tot he customer service in paces like Dubai which is of a seriously high standard which i can vouch for, Ireland has absolutelo shocking customer service.

Karma

For those who missed it, its on the rte.ie site in live tv...
my internet(20mb ntl) is so slow i can't watch it

jonny68

Also why did they only mention people who live in apartments in Park West having problems with Smart Telecom, in Smithfield it was exactly the same only had one provider to choose from, we had a nightmare with these monkeys for a long time worst TV service ever, im not living there at the moment but i know people who still are, disaster.

conical

Would have been better if they got a reporter undercover inside a call centre or two.

and LOL at the woman in the reconstruction using the iPhone upsidedown

dub45

Cabaal wrote: »

Good old Damien on now,

Direct Debits and BT...oh joy of joy,its only fair they get a grilling given there massive billing issues....I had three official billing complaints with them on there business package myself when I used to be with them.

[UPDATE]
BT reactivating canceled direct debits, so even though they cannot reactivate DD they did without authorization from the end user. Direct Debit scheme guarantee protects him but thats not much good to him if he has to spend ages chasing them

Onto Dell now....

Any company reactivating a dd should be charged with attempted theft. The ipso representative looked distinctly uncomfortable and should have been challenged much more - he got away very lightly indeed. I now have it in writing from IPSO that no originator (ie the biller) has ever been expelled from the dd system. Imagine that in all its years and all the awful things these guys have done no one has ever been thrown out - so they can do what the bloody well like. And the bill payer misses a payment and it can cost up to €25euros!!!!! We really need a prime time on the dd scheme to expose it once and for all.

dub45

Cabaal wrote: »

Smart now and how people in a building can only go with Smart, shame smart are getting bad PR there are many companys that could do with it more.

I missed the start so no idea how they threated UPC.

Smarts response was good, shame it dragged on so long for there customers,

''Responses'' are mere PR it is nonsense to praise a response and so blithely say ''shame it dragged on for the customers''

jonny68

Why was there no banks featured on it they are also guilty of shocking customer service, and RTE themselves who provide a sub standard TV service:mad:

dub45

zAbbo wrote: »

The problem is that they only seem to fix problems once you involve primetime/media

Indeed - this will be a one day wonder and nothing at all will change. Most of us could have written the PR blather in advance that appeared on Prime Time.

lostexpectation

what they need to do is invite the reps on live tv and get themss to explain themselves.

dub45

lostexpectation wrote: »

what they need to do is invite the reps on live tv and get themss to explain themselves.

Yes agree totally. And have an invited audience of all the customers to whom they have uttered the immortal words 'we regret the inconvience' and ''as a gesture of good will'' etc etc. Feed them to the lions!!

I want the IPSO guy:D

MunsterCycling

Gather yer pitchforks!!!

MC

J_Dublin15

Out of interest, what was said about Clearwire?

Sponge Bob

Munsterscycling, where are me bleedin Cork exchanges for the map ??

Customer service in Telcos in Ireland is so bad that you would have to run a primetime special each week for a year to change them .

Sending the fraud squad in after them + Comreg would be a start.

Comreg refused to come on, IPSO explained that BT are committing DD fraud and how...in effect..but tacitly that no sanctions had been or would be taken against fraud by IPSO

Dub45 is sick going on about the fraud that is the DD system. All of those scammers including Jackie Skelly hide behind this fraudulent DD system .

MunsterCycling

I went looking for Sallybrook last Firday but had no luck and the others are on the other side of the harbour/city and require a special trip to find as I'm not normally that side of the county, I promise you you'll have them before 2009.....

dub45

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Munsterscycling, where are me bleedin Cork exchanges for the map ??

Customer service in Telcos in Ireland is so bad that you would have to run a primetime special each week for a year to change them .

Sending the fraud squad in after them + Comreg would be a start.

Comreg refused to come on, IPSO explained that BT are committing DD fraud and how...in effect..but tacitly that no sanctions had been or would be taken against fraud by IPSO

Dub45 is sick going on about the fraud that is the DD system. All of those scammers including Jackie Skelly hide behind this fraudulent DD system .

Earlier this year I sent a letter with a long list of questions to IPSO. It was addressed to the gentleman who appeared on Prime Time. I got no response. However as you know Dub45 does not give up easily. I had to send a registered letter to said gentleman threatening press embarassment etc etc to get any response.

Amazing how people with such total contempt for the public are in charge of such an important scheme.

I dont know if anyone else noticed but it was very disturbing indeed to hear on the PT prog where they were talking about how the dd was 'resurrected' that it had been removed from 'one part' of the system but mysteriously stayed on 'another part'. And no one challenged this nonsense. It should be an integral part of the dd scheme that when a dd is cancelled the customer receives a written and signed confirmation that all bank related data has been removed from the company system.

lostexpectation

it wasn't a very good show, same old same old ,reading out the statements where the company talks about their high standards is no good, conor pope said it himself, hello this is consumer rights program that will show you absolultly nothing surprising, and will only get a handful of people who contacted us problems fixed, and do nothing for the indsutry as a whole.

Sponge Bob

You should have a quiet natter with Conor Pope Dub45. The DD system is fraudster central in this country

krudler

No mention of O2 at all on it, guess they got away with it

Sponge Bob

O2 have by far the best CS of any telco in Ireland , always have had. Maybe if the programme was 3 hours long they would have gotten their turn .

jimmycrackcorm

The whole programme was so mild - it was as if - hey every company has its problems so just get used to it.

dub45

Sponge Bob wrote: »

O2 have by far the best CS of any telco in Ireland , always have had. Maybe if the programme was 3 hours long they would have gotten their turn .

Just to continue my obsession with dd's.

O2 are actually a big offender in this regard as every dd they send out breaches the notice period of the dd scheme - that is if you are in receipt of a paper bill.

The notice period under the dd scheme is 14 calendar days. O2 debit customers 14 days after the date on the bill irrespective of when it is posted or when it may be received by the customer. I noticed that the bill was arriving in most cases 5 or 6 days before the date of the dd so challenged o2 got nowhere; reported it to IPSO got nowhere so cancelled the dd.

Its unfortunate that business letters do not carry any postmarks so it is impossible to tell when they are actually posted. Companies can therefore put any date they like on a letter and the date of posting cannot be challenged. Keep an eye on the dates of bills etc in relation to when you actually receive them.

But this demonstrates another flaw in the direct debit system - it is impossible for the customer to ensure that they get the correct notice. IPSO were openly contemptuous of my complaint when I spoke to them about it.

barnicles

MunsterCycling wrote: »

I went looking for Sallybrook last Firday but had no luck and the others are on the other side of the harbour/city and require a special trip to find as I'm not normally that side of the county, I promise you you'll have them before 2009.....

IIRC Sallybrook is out beyond Glanmire.

dub45

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

The whole programme was so mild - it was as if - hey every company has its problems so just get used to it.

Yes I love it when the companies respond and say this customer's experience was 'untypical'. It would be great if the narrator could say Yes indeed it was untypical - as bad as this one was others were far far worse!!!

jor el

Nice to see the shoddy customer service departments being aired in public, but I don't think it'll change anything. The program wasn't asking the right questions, and should really be an entire series.

The IPSO guy, as well as all the banks, should be grilled on the Direct Debit sham scheme. All the companies that have been proven, by customers, to have re-instated canceled direct debits, should also be called to answer, in person, for their actions. The Gardai should be asked to investigate if this is truly a matter of fraud, and if it is, action should be taken against them all, companies, banks and the IPSO, who all facilitate it.

The letters of apology issued by the companies, and their claims of it being a one-off and not the norm, were such BS. How can 50,000* of the exact same complaint, with the exact same response, and the exact same outcome, all be one-offs?




*Number made up, but probably real.

lostexpectation

should have more pols and industrial bodies on.

but hey DM got to say 10 words.

Sponge Bob

True DUB45 , however O2 billing is accurate and a real human is in place to answer the phone in a professional manner . IPSO should crack down on these people and delay the implementaion of the DD to teach them . IPSO is a scam , unfortunately, and lots of companies wing it with the DD knowing IPSO will do feck all.

I would hate to see the O2 Limerick call centre go because it does things right by CS standards . That would be a ****ing tragedy in this country ....nay a travesty.

Rather would I like the rest of them to aspire to be as good as O2 ! Surely I am entitled to standards and so are the Irish public.

Cabaal

jor el wrote: »

Nice to see the shoddy customer service departments being aired in public, but I don't think it'll change anything. The program wasn't asking the right questions, and should really be an entire series.
.

Doesn't RTE have a new separate consumer program that started recently, surely they could make use of it now?

I honestly can't see RTE coming out with anything the likes of Watchdog in the UK

Jumpy

Personally the part that I noticed and totally agree with is the comment that "Irish people do not know how to complain"

jor el

Jumpy wrote: »

Personally the part that I noticed and totally agree with is the comment that "Irish people do not know how to complain"

And also, that Irish people don't know what Customer Service is. I guess that applied to the people working in customer service, as well as the customers themselves.

Cabaal wrote: »

Doesn't RTE have a new separate consumer program that started recently, surely they could make use of it now?

I honestly can't see RTE coming out with anything the likes of Watchdog in the UK

You're right, they do. It's on a Thursday night I think. There's a thread about it over on the TV forum, but it looks like it's not up to much, going by some of the comments on that thread. Certainly no Watchdog.

Magnet: Rory

Is anyone else puzzled as to the lack of Eircom....some of the hairiest stories ive ever heard in telecoms have included them, but still no mention.....are they really doing that well?

thebman

How is Customer Service by companies supposed to improve if the Consumer shows can even ask the right questions?

Hell how is Customer Service supposed to exist at all when the regulators stick up for incompetency?

We all need to either get rid of this government or emigrate to teach them a lesson. Seems its the only way they'll learn.

Jumpy wrote: »

Personally the part that I noticed and totally agree with is the comment that "Irish people do not know how to complain"

I know perfectly well how to complain, I do it all the time. Too much if anything

It doesn't help when these companies lie to people about their rights. It should be illegal for them to lie to you about your rights. If they don't know, they'd then keep their mouths shut or admit their ignorance. Hell companies might actually start training customer service in what the rights of their customers are.

The Dell case particularly where the customer service person refused to speak to her because she was a woman and hung up should be fired and Dell fined for allowing a customer to be sexually discriminated against when trying to get support under the warranty she paid for when she bought the product.

gordonnet

Eircom didnt get a mention either, especially regarding the tech support out sourced to india

dub45

Rorser wrote: »

Is anyone else puzzled as to the lack of Eircom....some of the hairiest stories ive ever heard in telecoms have included them, but still no mention.....are they really doing that well?

Yes but it is interesting to note the overall absence of threads on boards over the years of say Eircom billing woes and so on? Given the large number of customers that they have there have to be billing woes but nothing has surfaced here to compare with our usual suspects.