Customer Service Experiences: General thoughts

[Toby]

Hi guys,

I've posted a few recent discussion regarding your thoughts on certain types of customer service (here and here). 

Well, we thought it best to have a general discussion too, where you can comments on all forms of contact with O2; O2 Shops, on the phone, live chat, on social media and even in complaints.

- How do you prefer to contact O2 and why?

- How do you find conversation with O2 customer service in general?

- Have you had any problems when trying to contact O2?

- What parts work really well for you?

- What aspects would you improve or change?

Over to you all!

[cyrillicguy]

Judging by my experience,  it all very much depends what kind of issue a customer is hoping to get resolved. Looks like if there's anything even slightly "out of the box",  then you've got virtually zero chance of getting things sorted.  Lots of the staff seem to have very basical tech knowledge if at all,  and having a meaningful conversation with them on tech subjects is very often a struggle. 

The above seems to be more or less equally true for both Live Chat and the service over the phone. 

I can't recall myself trying to resort to help of the Social Media team,  but I  have watched other folks trying on the O2 Facebook page. The typical conversation there would be similar to that:

Day1

Customer: I've got the problem with... (describes the problem) 

Day2, or even 3

O2: is there anything we could help with? 

Now,  the O2 reps can't always guess the exact problem without getting some more detailed information,  true that,  but, in my opinion,  any customer service person worth his title,  would at least make an attempt to come up with a rough guess what could be wrong and how this can be solved. Waiting for a reply for a couple of days just to get the standard "we're sorry,  what can we do?" or "awww,  that's not good,  has it been sorted by now?" only adds to customer's frustration. 

I do understand that customers often are way too emotional about their issues and moan and groan instead of getting straight to the point,  but that's where the difference lies: customers are what they are - consumers,  where the Customer Service reps should be experienced professionals with knowledge about the company,  its services,  and tech in general. Having a knowledge and experience backed "gut feeling" of where the core of the problem could be should be one of their core skills topped by the actual will to help,  not just to tick the box.

That's me had my rant...  For now  

[Cleoriff]

I will kick this off then...

* If I contact O2 I prefer to speak to an advisor by dialling 202 direct. My typing is slow and I can't keep up with Live Chat. It is far easier to get them to understand using verbal communication (for me)

* My personal experience dealing with O2 CS, via the phone has been good  My issues have been dealt with efficiently and professionally These advisors were based in Scotland and Yorkshire.....I honestly think this was a bonus

* I have only had one live chat experience. I was not impressed

* On the forum we see many many complaints about Live Chat. I think training is a real issue here. Should be constant and ongoing

Finally I want to say openly here that I get every piece of advice I ever want from this forum and certain members. This advice is not only about technical issues, but issues relating to end of contacts and what to do next...sim swaps....4G travel abroad ...etc etc etc..

[jonsie]

To me, customer service is something I prefer by calling 202. I have yet to have a bad experience from them after being with O2 for getting on for 20 years since the days of Cellnet and BT Cellnet. Never once have I not had an issue resolved on first contact, no repeat calls for the same issue.

I think the longest I have had to wait on hold was 10 minutes so I haven't experienced the same problems others say they have getting through. I was on hold one time for 45 minutes but that was trying to sort out a business contract for a friend so whether that was normal for business I can't really comment.

I always use 202 unless I'm overseas. With a 7 hour time difference live chat is sometimes the only convenient point of contact. I've used it three times with varying degrees of success. Once an issue was resolved straight away, once I spent over an hour trying to make the adviser understand what the problem was (ended up calling the overseas number at an ungodly hour where I was) and the last time I used them defied description that would get past the moderation on here.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a fan of live chat to be honest, particularly if it's a complex problem, as I just haven't got the patience to wait whilst the advisor is investigating the issue, and then typing up a response. Unless it's a straightforward enquiry, the whole process is just too slow for me. 

I have phoned up customer services on a few occasions, and apart from the long wait to get connected to an advisor, I was generally happy with the service that I'd received, even if the advice wasn't always entirely correct. But people do make mistakes of course, the important thing is they're trying to help, and for account related issues I just think it's easier to explain your problem if you're able to talk to someone. If I happen to be in town, I do sometimes call in to an O2 shop for a bit of general advice, and if your problem is handset related, it's an easy matter to show them exactly what's happening with your phone (such as error messages etc).

But for most general enquiries and technical support, I think I'd probably post a help request on here. I'm sure there's a wealth of experience to draw upon, and you can usually take advantage of a bit of teamwork

[Toby]

Guys, these responses are fantastic. The amount of detail is incredibly helpful. Do keep it coming and I'll come back to ask some more questions soon.

[Anonymous]

Personally I tend to swap between shops and calling, live chat I find is a bit mixed results wise and I find it hard to explain things whilst typing.

However the shops often get me to call anyway which kinda defeats the point!

Generally I find them to be pretty good at listening, not always at understanding or helping (I appreciate there are rules and policies but there are definitely situations where these don't apply and there is a reluctance to deal with those).

I have also found on several occasions that I've been told things have been actioned when they clearly haven't.

I like the generally short wait times and relatively simple method of getting in contact via the phone but I feel some more technical training would help. I work with quite sophisticated technology every day as part of my job and I always feel a little patronised when dealing with the service team. I also get told things that are just plain wrong and then have no idea how to correct the customer service person!

Perhaps then a little more training on technical aspects and a little more freedom in problem resolution?

Just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

I find the customer service that I have received to be rather good, they are patient, explain everything to me in detail & in plain terms that I understand

[jonsie]

Not used live chat then.....

[Anonymous]

I stay well away from there after all the stories I've heard, I prefer to go into my local,store