The rudeness of RTE when contacted by phone

The Parish Priest. · 04-04-2017 01:40PM

I think I might know the problem, from what I heard, there are a group of slightly dotty anorak types who bombard RTE with phone calls every time lw goes off so most likely the woman on the phone thought you were one of them ?

tomwaits48 · 04-04-2017 01:42PM

Comhra wrote: »

[/B]

Stupid comment....

Cutting off a caller while they're still speaking is unprofessional any time imho.

Nonsense. The person took the information and passed it on to the relevant department efficiently. Job done. Move on to the next call. Time and time again you have people b*tch and moan about wastage in RTE, this was handled efficiently in my view.

Comhrá · 04-04-2017 01:43PM

The Parish Priest. wrote: »

I think I might know the problem, from what I heard, there are a group of slighty dotty anorak types who bombard RTE with phone calls every time lw goes off so most likely the woman on the phone thought you were one of them ?

Definitely not me.....look, my wireless is working 100%....

gordongekko · 04-04-2017 01:46PM

Why ring rte. Don't 2rn look after the network?

Comhrá · 04-04-2017 01:58PM

gordongekko wrote: »

Why ring rte. Don't 2rn look after the network?

Good point. I suppose it's because RTE are the service provider, they're the first company that comes to mind to contact when there's an outage.

I didn't think of 2rn to be honest. They might be more forthcoming with explanations.

I love Sean nos · 04-04-2017 02:12PM

satguy wrote: »

I would call again and ask for that persons name, it's just not good enough..

Yeah, that'll work.

A general wants to reserve a jeep from the motor pool. His assistant is out so he makes the call himself.
"Motor pool"
"Hello, yes, I'd like to reserve a jeep for General Franklin"
"Well it better be a big jeep if fatass Franklin wants to go for a ride in it."
The General is furious over the insult.
"SON! DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE ADDRESSING?"
"No" replies the motor pool attendant
"THIS IS GENERAL FRANKLIN!"
"Well General, do you know who you are addressing?"
"NO! WHO?" the geneal screams.
"Bye bye fatass..." and the soldier hangs up the phone.

Elemonator · 04-04-2017 02:40PM

DublinWriter wrote: »

Illegal AF unless you notify the other party in advance.

It's not illegal, my opinion can guarantee that.

And hullaballoo is a barrister, you can take his/her word for it :pac:

TallGlass · 04-04-2017 03:28PM

My word that type of carry on from RTÃ‰ is not on to be honest as for some posters on here. Have you lost your manners or something? They cost nothing.

If you don't want to give out the information, you be polite doing so, your talking to people who pay your wages at the end of the day.

I don't see the problem, with answering the phone to the caller like so...

'Thanks for your call, yes we are currently experiencing problems in that area on x frequency on (FM/DAB/etc..) due to x, our technical team are working on the issue at the moment and expect service to resume shortly or x amount of hours.'

Caller asks to speak with technical team..

'Sorry, we don't route calls to our engineering team. If you want I can pass on our details and see if someone can contact you back, but it's not guaranteed they will.'

Really really not that complicated at all you could even automate it if needed.

gordongekko · 04-04-2017 03:49PM

Comhra wrote: »

Good point. I suppose it's because RTE are the service provider, they're the first company that comes to mind to contact when there's an outage.

I didn't think of 2rn to be honest. They might be more forthcoming with explanations.

Well then what did newstalk say when you rang them?

04-04-2017 03:54PM

Just noticed that Woodcock Hill is also offline for planned maintenance. You'd think they'd just say it!

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/desktopxhtml/169-2.html

Due to essential engineering work, our Woodcock Hill transmitter will be subject to power reductions and a complete outage of up to 6 hours between 09:00 and 17:00 from 3rd to 6th April 2017

Comhrá · 04-04-2017 04:07PM

Karsini wrote: »

Just noticed that Woodcock Hill is also offline for planned maintenance. You'd think they'd just say it!

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/desktopxhtml/169-2.html

according to their email to me this morning it might only confuse people. :rolleyes:

......There is ongoing work today on the LW transmitter,it started at 9 a.m and the information I have here tells me it will last for 9 hours, apologies for the inconvenience. Unfortunately it is not possible to make announcements re the break in service, we have asked that this be possible and have been told that it causes too much confusion.Suffice to say if you lose your reception there is an outage.

Please also note Aertel page 169 is available for service issues.

Comhrá · 04-04-2017 04:21PM

gordongekko wrote: »

Well then what did newstalk say when you rang them?

Received an explanation for the outage eventually so no need to contact Newstalk.

Jodotman · 04-04-2017 04:52PM

I'm confused as to why this means so much to you that you had to contact RTE and wanted a technical reason.

Anyway I work in I.T and depending on the scenario if I got a call from non I.T staff demanding information on why somethings down it's a waste of my time and don't give it, only an estimated fix time and have to be firm on the phone like this person was. Person on the phone did nothing wrong. It's the only way to deal with difficult people unfortunately and could of having 20 previous calls and would have more important work than giving you an explanation.

04-04-2017 05:06PM

Jodotman wrote: »

I'm confused as to why this means so much to you that you had to contact RTE and wanted a technical reason.

Anyway I work in I.T and depending on the scenario if I got a call from non I.T staff demanding information on why somethings down it's a waste of my time and don't give it, only an estimated fix time and have to be firm on the phone like this person was. Person on the phone did nothing wrong. It's the only way to deal with difficult people unfortunately and could of having 20 previous calls and would have more important work than giving you an explanation.

So you regularly hang up on callers do you?

vkid · 04-04-2017 05:22PM

How the hell does an outage notification cause confusion? Might raise some questions but confusion..I don't think so.

Jodotman · 04-04-2017 05:33PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

So you regularly hang up on callers do you?

Get them off the phone as quick as possible. So basically yes. It's not my job to explain the technical reason behind it non I.T people. Once I give thell them we are aware of the issue and the estimated fix time that's it. If they keep yapping I say I have to go now and bye and hang up the phone.

It's the only way to deal with difficult people.

gordongekko · 04-04-2017 05:35PM

Comhra wrote: »

Received an explanation for the outage eventually so no need to contact Newstalk.

Are you going to share the reason with us?

Comhrá · 04-04-2017 05:46PM

gordongekko wrote: »

Are you going to share the reason with us?

It's in post #26:

There is ongoing work today on the LW transmitter,it started at 9 a.m and the information I have here tells me it will last for 9 hours, apologies for the inconvenience. Unfortunately it is not possible to make announcements re the break in service, we have asked that this be possible and have been told that it causes too much confusion.Suffice to say if you lose your reception there is an outage.

Please also note Aertel page 169 is available for service issues.

I love Sean nos · 04-04-2017 05:48PM

So it was a planned outage, but RTE feels that letting anyone know in advance would be confusing?

Comhrá · 04-04-2017 05:51PM

I love Sean nos wrote: »

So it was a planned outage, but RTE feels that letting anyone know in advance would be confusing?

That's what the lady wrote in her email. Says something about the esteem in which they hold their listeners salary-payers.

Oh, she also explained that if you lose your reception, there is an outage......highly technical, that.

I love Sean nos · 04-04-2017 05:56PM

Comhra wrote: »

That's what the lady wrote in her email. Says something about the esteem in which they hold their listeners salary-payers.

Oh, she also explained that if you lose your reception, there is an outage......highly technical, that.

Aye, but there's a difference between an unplanned outage, such as equipment failure and a planned outage to perform and upgrade or some maintenance. The latter is normally communicated and managed.

04-04-2017 05:58PM

Jodotman wrote: »

Get them off the phone as quick as possible. So basically yes. It's not my job to explain the technical reason behind it non I.T people. Once I give thell them we are aware of the issue and the estimated fix time that's it. If they keep yapping I say I have to go now and bye and hang up the phone.

It's the only way to deal with difficult people.

Re-read the OP again, thats not what the woman on the phone did.

STB. · 04-04-2017 08:04PM

Comhra wrote: »

It's in post #26:

Eh no its not. That reply relates to LW transmissions.

The actual answer to your question is in Karsini's post.#41

No wonder RTE dont give out technical explanations if people cant distinguish what medium they are using for the stations they are listening too.

Comhrá · 04-04-2017 09:18PM

STB. wrote: »

Eh no its not. That reply relates to LW transmissions.

The actual answer to your question is in Karsini's post.#41

No wonder RTE dont give out technical explanations if people cant distinguish what medium they are using for the stations they are listening too.

I'm just quoting the reply I received from RTE. I thought people who had read the thread had realised it was the FM transmitter the sender meant and that LW was a typo. Maybe it's yourself who can't (or doesn't want to) distinguish the facts here.

I love Sean nos · 04-04-2017 09:40PM

Please also note Aertel page 169 is available for service issues.

I wouldn't even know where to put the coal in. :rolleyes:

byte · 04-04-2017 10:12PM

I think the 2rn Twitter page might be a good alternative to Aertel for service outages.

https://twitter.com/2rnNMC

Anything but Aertel...

byte · 04-04-2017 10:12PM

I think the 2rn Twitter page for network outage info might be a better alternative to Aertel for service outages.

https://twitter.com/2rnNMC

Anything but Aertel...

STB. · 04-04-2017 11:16PM

Comhra wrote: »

I'm just quoting the reply I received from RTE. I thought people who had read the thread had realised it was the FM transmitter the sender meant and that LW was a typo. Maybe it's yourself who can't (or doesn't want to) distinguish the facts here.

Assumptions, so many assumptions.

https://twitter.com/2rnNMC/status/849190840668913664

Typo or not (it wasn't) you accepted it as the explanation. The LW TX was off today from 9.30am til 6.30pm.

I'd know the difference between an FM TX and a LW TX.

PS. Your rant was a tad OTT. Technical Information is normally restricted to words like "maintenance works" and "essential repairs". Getting into the nitty gritty of taking down TX sites is only of interest to broadcast engineers and anoraks.

Comhrá · 04-04-2017 11:26PM

STB. wrote: »

Assumptions, so many assumptions.

https://twitter.com/2rnNMC/status/849190840668913664

Typo or not (it wasn't) you accepted it as the explanation.

I'd know the difference between an FM TX and a LW TX.

PS. Your rant was a tad OTT. Technical Information is normally restricted to words like "maintenance works" and "essential repairs". Getting into the nitty gritty of taking down TX sites is only of interest to broadcast engineers and anoraks.

Check your facts and read post #3 and you'll see I mentioned the outage on FM.

Originally Posted by Karsini View Post
Is this due to the 252 outage?

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/desktopxhtml/169-4.html

What number did you call out of interest? 01 208 2259 usually gets you through to the tech people. But I agree, RTE can be difficult to deal with.

No, it's an FM outage in the Limerick area (89.4mhz) Went off at 10 am and still off as I type at 11am.

Where did I accept it was the LW tx that was down? If you want to have a go at me, try and at least get your facts right before posting.

STB. · 04-04-2017 11:59PM

Comhra wrote: »

Check your facts and read post #3 and you'll see I mentioned the outage on FM.

Oh I know your outage was on FM.

Comhra wrote: »

Where did I accept it was the LW tx that was down? If you want to have a go at me, try and at least get your facts right before posting.

When you said in response to the question posed by gordongekko.

Comhra wrote: »

Received an explanation for the outage eventually so no need to contact Newstalk.

gordongekko wrote: »

Are you going to share the reason with us?

with

Comhra wrote: »

It's in post #26:

There is ongoing work today on the LW transmitter,it started at 9 a.m and the information I have here tells me it will last for 9 hours, apologies for the inconvenience. Unfortunately it is not possible to make announcements re the break in service, we have asked that this be possible and have been told that it causes too much confusion.Suffice to say if you lose your reception there is an outage.

Please also note Aertel page 169 is available for service issues.

It is you who needs to read. It is you who needs to get your facts right "before you post". The reference to LW was not a typo.

LW TX at Summerhill was down today.

If you cant read your own posts then I cannot help you any further.

I hope your phone manner is not as bad as the dismissive nature of your posts.

The rudeness of RTE when contacted by phone

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