o2 Customer Service takes a nose dive.......

[Anonymous]

I've been a customer with o2 for 7 years. In those years all I've expected as a customer is  a reasonable tariff, reliable coverage and good customer service. Whilst the former two are still present, the latter has somewhat fallen off a cliff. I received a call from o2 in September with regards to an upgrade. Nevertheless, I have since decided to change my plan to a month by month sim only contract. The upgrade adviser told me that I needed to call the usual 202 number. In doing so, I sat on hold for 45 minutes before giving up. I've done this on 3 occasions in the hope to speak to someone outside of peak periods. Unfortunately a lack of time and frustration has left me with nothing else but resentment to the o2 franchise.

 Clearly the new short-term focus of management puts their cost cutting strategy ahead of income retention or sales growth. Sadly enough the long term damage to the o2 franchise won't matter once exco depart with their.........

Onwards and upwards....

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Its best to try and ring early morning or early evening.

You could try Live chat or e mail as an alternative or pop into an O2 Shop.

http://www.o2.co.uk/mobile/contactus

https://www.o2.co.uk/apps/help/help

[jonsie]

Unfortunately many large companies have to cut costs these days and invariably many front line staff have been or are being cut to maximise profits/cut losses. O2 are outsourcing some calls and webchat and customers are having to queue longer to speak to someone. It's becoming the norm nowadays.

As said, try calling early morning/mid afternoon when hopefully queing time is shorter or instore.

[perksie]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 Clearly the new short-term focus of management puts their cost cutting strategy ahead of income retention or sales growth.

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Strange you should say that when they have 23 million customers and are signing up at the rate of 200,000 every quarter.

Agreed the phones are very busy right now.

[Anonymous]

Nosedive...  I have to agree with you - I've been with O2 since the first iPhones came out (ok I know there has been a change of owner!) and as my iPhone is due to come out of contract on 26/10/2013 I thought I'd see what my options were -  BIG BIG BIG mistake. The first person on live chat who I asked this question of replied immediately - 'I'll arrange a PAC for you' and then had to be really pushed to explain about SIM only options and P&G etc etc....  and then had enough and disconnected!   Several phone calls at all times of morning, afternoon and evening most were met with the 'we are too busy call back' attendant and then disconnected. The others rang for up to 45 minutes before I hung up. Yesterday I spent 1hr and 15 mins on 3 live chats (one after the other as various staff members disconnected) and FINALLY got a PAC.   So I think the total of 8 days, 15+ calls (I hate to think how long I was holding on for was) and 3 livechats shows how far this company have fallen.  

I also have to say the english of the staff members was terrifyingly bad with lots of emoticons being used to try and make me feel bad for them???

Sadly going into a store is not an option owing to their distance and my working hours!

So come Monday I'm off to find a company that will give me what I want - a good service at a reasonable price - from a little web surfing O2 are way too expensive

[Bambino]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been a customer with o2 for 7 years. In those years all I've expected as a customer is  a reasonable tariff, reliable coverage and good customer service. Whilst the former two are still present, the latter has somewhat fallen off a cliff. I received a call from o2 in September with regards to an upgrade. Nevertheless, I have since decided to change my plan to a month by month sim only contract. The upgrade adviser told me that I needed to call the usual 202 number. In doing so, I sat on hold for 45 minutes before giving up. I've done this on 3 occasions in the hope to speak to someone outside of peak periods. Unfortunately a lack of time and frustration has left me with nothing else but resentment to the o2 franchise.

 Clearly the new short-term focus of management puts their cost cutting strategy ahead of income retention or sales growth. Sadly enough the long term damage to the o2 franchise won't matter once exco depart with their.........

Onwards and upwards....

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Once your current contract expires it becomes a one month rolling contract, so unless you are looking to upgrade your phone, you don't need to do anything or call Customer Services.

[jonsie]

It's a very poor experience you have had and we are hearing terrible things about people trying to upgrade lately. The truth is that O2 don't feel the need to reward loyalty any more and there are much better deals to be had when shopping around. 

Just do a bit of research amongst friends to see what coverage other networks give you in your home and normal travelling circles. Inside your home is where the reception is going to be unknown without physically trying a simcard or checking a family member's or friend's reception on other networks.

Good luck with whatever path you choose.

[Anonymous]

I have to agree my experience has been terrible not only that but reading the forums on here I'm very concerned that our personal data isn't as secure as it should be. The ICO needs to take a close look at O2

[jonsie]

It really shouldn't matter where customer service is based as long as the advisers are sufficiently trained and give correct information. As we have seen, with O2 webchat this is far from the case. Even simple queries have sometimes resulted in total misinformation.

However, that said, sometimes they are able to resolve problems quickly if you have no phone access. I do think that call centres and customer services should be UK based but any form of customer service beats the alternative of only online support.