What happened to O2's customer service!

[Anonymous]

So angry and disappointed had to share this and check its not just me feeling like this! So I am a gold customer and been with O2 for over 12 yrs and never had any problems as always been happy with the customer service they provided! But now... I call up to get my free upgrade and they can't offer me any great deals even when I told them of the better deals offered by 3rd party companies! This is not the usual service I received, and after all the network problems lately I thought they would realise they need to work at keeping customer loyalty! But this has just confirmed that I think its time to take my custom elsewhere as I received NO customer service!

[Anonymous]

I've just had the worst experience ever with customer service, contacted them on chat at beginning of the week as my partners phones screen is cracked. They said they would arrange a collection to have it took in and would send an email confirming this, not heard anything since. So went on chat tonight and the advisor was slow to get started, told me I had purchased another handset recently when I didn't and that I would have to call 202 to sort my problem out. To top it of he had very bad English and his typed chat sounded like Yoda last chat before I wrote "I'll call 202" was "Yes I said call O2 you have"

What has happened to customer service where you feel your being took seriously?

[Anonymous]

I agree, have found the same nearly everytime I've used the chat, don't think I've ever come away with my questions / queries resolved or any better off! It really is so disappointing, I always used to recommend O2 to everyone but recently they just seem to have become one of those service providers you switch from!

This is my first time posting on here, is there any O2 advisors who are members here that could provide any explanations regarding such a change in the level of service??? Or is it just somewhere for customers to discuss and share problems???

[jonsie]

Primarily, this is just customer to customer with very little input by anyone in authority at O2. There are a few staff members who post in a personal capacity but largely for technical issues rather than customer service enquiries.

In the early days of chat I found the service to be excellent but have long suspected that it is now outsourced to an overseas company. The use of the English language is odd to say the least and stock answers seem to be a cut & paste exercise.

I much prefer to use 202 to contact customer service, safe in the knowledge that it is UK based. I think as in any industry nowadays, O2 have been affected by cutbacks and probably too few advisers with too many calls. As in all call centres, advisers have targets to meet and I believe call quantity seems to override call quality in some cases.

Having said that, I have never yet had a bad experience talking to O2 and any issue I have had over the years has been sorted quickly and and to my satisfaction. There again, I have never upgraded as I just purchase a new phone sim free when needs arise.

I would suggest that it's much better speaking to customer service rather than use chat unless it's a simple query. Just my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jonsie, that is exactly what I did - called cust services as was not happy with the chat service, but compared with the service over the last 12 yrs was sadly disappointed and find it shocking that when asked wot the best upgrade deal they could offer me was worse than other companies, and they made no effort to offer me an alternative. They may as well have just told me to go move to the other company then!

[jonsie]

Yes it's a shame, they just don't seem to want to compete in the market and I find it a very blinkered business strategy. Perhaps they feel they don't need to but it seems to me just by reading through the forum, that they are losing more customers presently, than they have ever done. I await the quarterly figures with interest.

I know that people only tend to use the forum when they have problems or to to voice displeasure but I would be a little alarmed if I was in the upper echelons of O2.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

They may as well have just told me to go move to the other company then!

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And there is your next problem.

If and when you move to another provider, at your first upgrade you will probably find yourself in exactly the same position.

The moral is that there will always be somebody that is cheaper but rarely are they better.

There is enormous pressure on the finances of global corporations because the countries of the world that they operate in are experiencing financial difficulties all at the same time and that hasn't happened for a long, long time, perhaps even never before.

[Anonymous]

While I understand and appreciate everyone, whether customer or company are suffering from financial difficulty, everyone is struggling, big or small. But I also think that whilst I have ensured I've remained a loyal customer, a contributor to their profits and a voice of praise, I do expect a little bit of something back in return! But just to be told they couldn't offer me anything apart from explaining how 3rd parties bulk order handsets and O2 don't which is why they can offer better deals and therefore to match a deal they would still want a lot more money from me. I feel a little bit of compromise and give and take helps in majority of situations including business, but for the first time ended the call completely deflated and fed up!

Apologies for using this discussion topic to voice my experience and disappointment, I just wanted to view others opinions on this.

[adamtemp64]

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@jonsie wrote:

 I await the quarterly figures with interest.

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http://www.telefonica.com/en/shareholders_investors/html/financyreg/resultados2012.shtml page 58 and the mobile customer base grew 1%

[Anonymous]

I have been a customer of 02 for many years. I started off with PAYG and then decided to go Contract. I rang Customer Services to upgrade my phone and found them to be extremely helpful. Unfortunately the phone I got was faulty so I had to ring them to have it replaced. The person I spoke to gave me a good choice of other phones, and since I am a full-time carer for my mum, and depend on the phone for her to be able to contact me if I'm out, they sent me another phone BEFORE I returned the faulty phone. To me, this was more than helpful and each time I have called them, they have gone out of their way to help. I also find their Store staff very helpful as I took both phones to the shop and had them set up for me free of charge. I wasn't used to having a Smart Phone and again, the shop Guru went out of his way, not only to set the phones up for me, but to show me how everything worked. However, I do agree with those of you who have had problems using Live Chat. I used it twice before contacting Customer Services, as I didn't find it helpful at all.