Meteor customer service rant

schqually

Two and a half weeks ago, logged an issue with Meteor about not being able to receive any calls or texts from the Three network. I was fobbed off for the full two and a half weeks until got really pi**ed off with them on their own customer serivce thread and, suprise surprise, the problem was sorted out a few minutes later. Here is what I posted this morning:



"I am opening this topic here a as result of my recent and current dealings with Meteor customer service.

I realised recently that callers from the Three network have been unable to text or call my mobile. I opened a topic re this on 13th September, 2011 (I was not quite sure who could not get through to my phone at this stage) and on 19th September I gave very specific details about the issue.

Since then, I have received no update of any significance. The only responses to this issue have been to pass the blame on to the engineers, etc. I, like any other customer, am not interested in excuses or seeing blame passed around.

Does Meteor have a structure in place that would enable issues to be dealt with in a more efficient manner, or will I have to put up with this as long as I am a Meteor customer?

Meteor are currently in breach of the terms and conditions of their contractual obligation to me and seem not to care in the least. Perhaps others could share their views here."



Anyone else have to put up with this sort of cr@p recently? I understand that problems will happen, just can't deal with the frustration of being provided terrible customer service.

Rant over...

evolutionqy7

THe only problem i have with them is that certain CC Reps are quite cheeky. Some of them are clueless.

But otherwise than that ive talked to a larger majority that were nothing but helpfull.

Ive no problems with recieving calls from three or making calls to them.

Ive quite a few good friends on three.

srsly78

In fairness all mobile companies have ****e support. The only way to get any decent treatment is to "unleash the comreg" on them. Suddenly they roll out the red carpet for you once that happens.

srsly78

In fairness all mobile companies have ****e support. The only way to get any decent treatment is to "unleash the comreg" on them. Suddenly they roll out the red carpet for you once that happens. Comreg got me 6 months free from vodafone

schqually

srsly78 wrote: »

In fairness all mobile companies have ****e support. The only way to get any decent treatment is to "unleash the comreg" on them. Suddenly they roll out the red carpet for you once that happens. Comreg got me 6 months free from vodafone

Will keep that in mind for the future:)

_Kaiser_

srsly78 wrote: »

In fairness all mobile companies have ****e support. The only way to get any decent treatment is to "unleash the comreg" on them. Suddenly they roll out the red carpet for you once that happens.

Not necessarily...

ComReg only have the authority to ensure your complaint is looked at - but what is done, or what compensation (if any) is offered is entirely up to the mobile company themselves (fantastic country we live in where the regulator is as powerless as the ordinary punter)

I'm just done with an 18 month contract with Meteor and had nothing but ongoing problems with the billing end of things - either they took too much, lost payments, didn't take it at all etc... and in each case suspended the account until I started calling and escalating.

I talked to numerous team leads, credit control, customer complaints, centre managers and in the end directly to eircom (via Comreg) but STILL the problems continued - and they wouldn't release me from the contract.

In the end (in the last week) I finally got a senior manager who (to his credit) seems to be appalled at the issues and how long they've dragged on for and has made me a pretty good offer to stay with them at this point.

However, given that eMobile is basically Meteor but cheaper, I think I'm gonna port over there and if the same problems continue I'll be getting out of the new contract at that stage.

srsly78

Once I got Comreg involved a senior Vodafone manager immediately took charge of my case. Very happy with Comreg tbh.

Padraig Mor

I have exactly the same problem as the OP (people on Three cannot contact me). I have been fobbed off with lame excuses and lied to by Meteor CS and the issue has not been resolved. Going to move to Three as Meteor are obviously not interested in helping me. OP: what was the actual problem?

Sam Vimes

Padraig Mor wrote: »

I have exactly the same problem as the OP (people on Three cannot contact me). I have been fobbed off with lame excuses and lied to by Meteor CS and the issue has not been resolved. Going to move to Three as Meteor are obviously not interested in helping me. OP: what was the actual problem?

Tbh I don't know if Meteor can take all of the blame here. I used to be on Three and I couldn't contact my friend who was on Meteor, same scenario as you two. If I recall correctly, when I tried to call him I got a message about his voicemail not being set up but it was the recorded message that O2 gives, not Meteor's.

But when I went to England I could call him. Nothing on Meteor's side had changed, nothing on my phone had changed, the only thing that had been taken out of the equation was the Three network and suddenly everything worked fine. And if the problem is on the Three network's side and they're denying all responsibility there's not a whole lot Meteor can do

Max Power 2010

Not sticking up for meteor CS here, I agree, there ****e, but I just wanna give you an explanation as what probably happened.

When you Port from one Network to another a notification is sent to all networks during the port, 08xxxx has moved please route calls to Meteor or whatever.

Not all operators do it, due to crappy software, or the the request fails etc.

So not really Meteors fault here, all they can do is ask there competitor to update call routing, they can say yea that's done Meteor, doesn't mean it is, we have all read or experienced how good Threes tech support is.

So not really a customer care fault I think.

schqually

Padraig Mor wrote: »

I have exactly the same problem as the OP (people on Three cannot contact me). I have been fobbed off with lame excuses and lied to by Meteor CS and the issue has not been resolved. Going to move to Three as Meteor are obviously not interested in helping me. OP: what was the actual problem?

Here's a link to the thread that I started about it on the Meteor Customer Care forum - you can have a read for yourself and see if it actually says at any stage what the problem was... :

http://forums.meteor.ie/index.php?showtopic=2463


I would advise you to start a new thread on this forum making reference to my problem - hopefully they won't leave you hanging as long as I was left.

Kristopherus

Slightly off topic, but I think related as well. I had a phone unlocked on the Three network which was unlocked by Three when my contract with them ended. When I put other network simcards, they all work EXCEPT a Meteor sim.The Meteor sim would connect to its network and I could get to make 1 call or send 1 text.Any further activity would result in the phone losing contact with Meteor. I have contacted Meteor CC and their Techie Unit, who would not accept that the problem was on their side. My contention is that there must be some compatibility issue with the Meteor & Three interface that fecks up the ability to connect:mad:.

7.Ronaldo

Kristopherus wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but I think related as well. I had a phone unlocked on the Three network which was unlocked by Three when my contract with them ended. When I put other network simcards, they all work EXCEPT a Meteor sim.The Meteor sim would connect to its network and I could get to make 1 call or send 1 text.Any further activity would result in the phone losing contact with Meteor. I have contacted Meteor CC and their Techie Unit, who would not accept that the problem was on their side. My contention is that there must be some compatibility issue with the Meteor & Three interface that fecks up the ability to connect:mad:.

Does it work when you put the SIM in a Meteor phone? If so they are hardly going to support a phone that you purchased on another network likely running another networks approved software.

The original issue here may be poor customer service but the fault is not on Meteor's side or indeed with your account. The problem is with the 3 customers trying to contact you. There calls originate on the 3 network. The 3 network then looks to route the call to your number. To do so it queries a routing table that should have the destination of your number. The destination of your number is likely still showing as your old network and not Meteor which is why calls from 3 customers are failing. Meteor have no access to fix this. They can merely contact 3 and ask them to fix it for you. That's likely where the delay is.

Kristopherus

7.Ronaldo wrote: »

Does it work when you put the SIM in a Meteor phone? If so they are hardly going to support a phone that you purchased on another network likely running another networks approved software.

The original issue here may be poor customer service but the fault is not on Meteor's side or indeed with your account. The problem is with the 3 customers trying to contact you. There calls originate on the 3 network. The 3 network then looks to route the call to your number. To do so it queries a routing table that should have the destination of your number. The destination of your number is likely still showing as your old network and not Meteor which is why calls from 3 customers are failing. Meteor have no access to fix this. They can merely contact 3 and ask them to fix it for you. That's likely where the delay is.

You've given me more info than Meteor's CC did. When I put a Meteor or any other sim I made sure I had the correct network settings there before I made a call or sent a text. If what you are saying is correct, why do the other network's sims work no bother, namely Voda. O2 & Just Mobile(RIP).

7.Ronaldo

Kristopherus wrote: »

You've given me more info than Meteor's CC did. When I put a Meteor or any other sim I made sure I had the correct network settings there before I made a call or sent a text. If what you are saying is correct, why do the other network's sims work no bother, namely Voda. O2 & Just Mobile(RIP).

It depends really. Authentication needs to take place between the phone and the network when you power it on with the sim inserted. Could be an incompatibility issue between the phone and the Meteor network. Do those networks sell the same phone by any chance? Generally phones are tested on the network before the network sells them. If Meteor have sold the phone it will have been tested and you will get support from them (generally in store). If they have never sold that phone model then it wont have been tested and they generally wont offer any further support.

Walkman

Schqually did you port your number recently, if yes then it is indeed up to Meteor to fix this. If for example you ported from O2 to Meteor and now can't receive calls from Three the issue is Three but not their fault. Their systems have obviously not been instructed to now route your calls to Meteor. Meteor now get onto your original network and ask them to ensure they have sent the notification to change the routing to Three. It's the donar network who do it not Three but seeing as you are no longer their customer you go through your current provider ie Meteor

schqually

Walkman wrote: »

Schqually did you port your number recently, if yes then it is indeed up to Meteor to fix this. If for example you ported from O2 to Meteor and now can't receive calls from Three the issue is Three but not their fault. Their systems have obviously not been instructed to now route your calls to Meteor. Meteor now get onto your original network and ask them to ensure they have sent the notification to change the routing to Three. It's the donar network who do it not Three but seeing as you are no longer their customer you go through your current provider ie Meteor

Not recently, nearly two years ago...
Having said that, this could have been dragging on for a long long time and I wouldn't have known about it. It's only since Three has beome a little bit more popular recently with the iPhone deal that I'm getting hearing from Three customers who have not been able to contact me.

dekeed

I have a few phones with Meteor, I'm stuck with them for now because my house is in a signal blackspot and as far as I know Meteor gives the best reception.. though I probably should do more investigation.

I was looking to get a business mobile phone and they wouldn't allow me because I didn't have a house phone - told them my business involved me being on teh move a lot and I had not need for one - they refused to give me the business phone offer.

Then my bill went over due by a few days - mixup due to my credit card being lost.. and they just cut me off - I lost 2 days business because of them.

Rang customer service and the poor folks on the phone in the front line can't do anything... no supervisor would talk to me and they just basicall want you off the phone and to just go away.

Stay away from Meteor is my advice. I hate to think that other networks are the same.