Your best and worst customer service experiences [rant & praise]

As someone who had to change many details with Irish Companies in the past six months, I was able to do all via their websites or email without a hitch.

Instead, they reinvest their massive profits into sponsorships for Sport etc. for Sportswashing essentially

They are a grimey company, there’s no two ways about it

Worst: Virgin Media

Their broadband support was appalling before, but I'm in the process of trying to transfer my mobile account to them and the incompetence is just staggering.

Put in the new SIM and immediately get two texts.

The first is a link to set up internet APN settings - it opens a page listing various handsets, clicking on any of them just brings up an endlessly loading window. There's no link to just view the correct settings. Have to google separately to find the correct APN settings.

The second is to port my number. The link supplied is wrong, it just redirects to the main VM mobile sales page which mentions nothing about porting. Google again to find the correct URL for porting.

Fill in all my details, get a text a few minutes later saying there's a problem because I've chosen the wrong current provider (spoiler: I haven't). This text comes from a random 089 number and includes a shortened bit.ly link that could be going anywhere, which I'm obviously not going to click on. Check the link on PC to confirm it's legit, and try porting again making sure details are correct, get the same text again.

Ring 1908 as advised to try porting that way and start wading through automated menus. First, have to enter mobile number with prefix so type it in exactly as on the welcome letter (including the 353 prefix). Get a recording saying the number isn't recognised, I should talk to customer service ... by calling 1908 again, which requires a number before you can talk to anyone.

Try again omitting the 353 prefix and number is accepted. Then told that the current wait time is over 20 minutes.

Filling in the cooling off cancellation form now, figure that's a bullet dodged.

Worst: Revenue

Sent me a letter about a change in status which included a note to "notify this office immediately" with any queries.

First the phone number provided at the top of the letter is no longer in use.

Then the new number was answered with a solid three minutes of recordings about all the other ways I can contact Revenue for various things (bizarrely all in different voices)

Then finally got through to a hold queue of over 15 minutes.

Vodafone. I was leaving them for broadband having been out of contract since 2015 !!!!!. They sent me a "we are so sorry to hear you intend to leave us" message and proceeded to tell me why I should stay, will do you a great deal on fibre etc etc. Could you please contact us on the following number.........so rang the supplied number and yes you guessed it......."this number is no longer in service".

Says it all really, a pathetic company.

I know Eir take a lot of flack but I reported a fault on our phoneline on Saturday and a technician arrived at the house at 9.15 Sunday morning. The fault was an extension box in the house which he replaced. He called at 5pm just to check all was still fine. Excellent service.

My local has two different types of wheelie ones. The blue ones are ok but they have grey ones with a fixed handle that either take the calf off you or you trip over it

Oh 48Mobile, and as a result Three.…....

Changed to 48Mobile a month ago. €12.99/month for unlimited everything on the network that has the best coverage for me. No brainer. Well, it is, as long as there are no issues. Which there weren't until today.

I set up the auto-renewal, but it failed. It failed at some point, but didn't tell me until I was on the road to work at 6.55am this morning. As a result, I had no data, calls or texts. So basically, I had nothing. The 48Mobile app or website doesn't work without it. No one to call. I couldnt buzz in the back gate at work because no credit to ring the number which opens it. According to Google, 9am chat support on BHs. No. Was closer to 10 before the facility was available. Before then, yet another chatbot that seems to think if it can't help me it's done a good job... and I couldn't log in online because it wasn't taking my standard password for everything. And to reset it, I meed access to email. And to access email on a new device, I need to authenticate it. On my phone...

Anyway, eventually get through to someone in Mumbai. To say useless is an understatement. Allegedly, they can't add data or credit. Allegedly. I worked for Three. They can. Anyway, they wouldn't. I told them, and this is honest, that I'm using a work desktop to chat with them, breaking the rules doing so, but I had no other option. The reply? You need to log in and top up.... so I explained my opening message again. The next suggestion was to use the gift top up service. Grand. Except I need to authorise the payment via my banking app.... so the next suggestion was to contact a friend or family to do it. Even though I can't do anytging on my phone. This suggestion was repeated a few times, and even assumed I was on work wifi (we don't have wifi and if i had wifi i would have been able to farking top up!!!), point blank refusing to try and help me basically. The end suggestions were to wait until I finish work and get home. At half 7 this evening....

So at lunch I popped down town and changed over to Three. Which I realise I'm now paying more for less, but I couldn't wait. Now I'm planning to move to Tesco mobile, even though I hate Tesco too, they're the only other crowd using 3 as the provider, as VF are just as useless and also only hire in Mumbai, and Eir have terrible coverage where I am (and also only hire in Mumbai for PAYG support).

So, 48Mobile. Great until you have a problem and then completely and utterly useless and unhelpful.

still left standing .

and still here

AVOID OPODO online hotel booker.

Got a great deal for a hotel for Friday and Saturday night in Liverpool. Arrived at the desk and told it was cancelled within 30 mins of the booking being made. That was four days previously. Rang OPODO, offered me refund plus four extra euro. Told her no, give me a hotel. Then elevated to next department for call back. Hong fecking Kong!. Cannot do anything, hotel should have notified you, they never told us blah blah. Turns out hotel did tell them, and OPODO does not pass on contact details to notify the guest anyway.

Long story short - Hotel sorted me out for Friday night, had to pay again, but a special deal, but was full for Saturday. Flew home instead. Big shout out to the Dixie Dean Hotel - Liverpool

The local Aldi had replaced a load of staffed tills with self service tills, unfortunately they seem to think this means you can get away with only having 1 member of staff in the checkout area. Did a big shop tonight and had to use the self service, the poor solitary assistant was trying to juggle handling all the exceptions the tills threw up and go out to empty the stupid machines outside. The self service couldn't handle us using 4 reusable bags for our shopping and kept throwing weight errors, the shopping couldn't fit in the tiny packing area, and it took about 5 times as long as usual between us being slow to scan and having to wait for the assistant constantly. If this is going to be a regular ocurrence I'll be swapping to Lidl.

That's interesting, in that one of the biggest complaints about my local Aldi is that they don't have any self service tills. I've often walked out after seeing the queues at the tills, especially if I'm just getting a few items .

On the other hand, my local supervalu has taken out all but 3 of their checkout lanes and replaced them with self-service tills. I wonder is a lot of this simply down to an inability to get staff

I boycotted my SuperValu except for emergencies when they got those bloody things in. Usually only one or two tills open while the rest of the staff are flutering around trying to sort out peoples problems with the squawking self service yokes.