Poor Customer Service

[Anonymous]

I've been trying for over 2 weeks to renew a contract and upgrade my phome.

Do O2 really think its ok to continually expect customers to wait in excess of 30 minutes to talk to someone?

I've had it - you've lost another long term customer.

Vodaphone and EE actually answer their calls.

[Anonymous]

You've missed the point - I want to talk to someone.

[Bambino]

I haven't missed the point at all. Trying to get through on a Saturday the day after an iPhone launch is always going to be difficult. This is a customer to customer forum. You were offered an alternative, and that's all anyone here can help you with. If you think that talking to someone is going to get you a better deal, you're mistaken. If you think that customer service from another network will be any better, you're also mistaken. They're all the same. If you want to leave, that's your choice.

[Anonymous]

Hey Bambino - calm down Dear.

Read my post - I've been trying for weeks.
Talking to someone has got me a better deal since the 80's when I first had a mobile.

Customer service appears to be better with Vodaphone and EE - I've lined up deals with both (that are better than those advertised).

Obviously it's my choice to leave - I stupidly thought O2 would care that their customers are disappointed with the level of service they're offering.

[Bambino]

@Anonymous I'm perfectly calm, and I'm definitely no dear. 

Let me give you a history lesson. The first mobile phone call wasn't made in this country until January 1985, so I sincerely doubt you were getting good deals by talking to anyone in the 80's. They didn't need to do deals then, and mobiles weren't in very wide use. It really wasn't until the early to mid-90's that mobiles became more prolific and affordable, and in those days, good customer service really did exist to a certain degree.

I notice you said that customer service 'appears' to be better with Vodafone and EE. That's because they're trying to win your business. Once they've got you, they'll be like all the rest.

O2's policy now is to treat new and old customers in the same way. On rare occassions they will do deals, but for the most part, they won't. That's why it was suggested you upgrade online. The deal you see there is most likely the deal that would be offered if you spoke to someone. It was suggested to save you time, and the frustration of waiting on hold at a very busy time. 

As this is a customer to customer forum, voicing your disappointment with O2 doesn't really get you very far here. O2 management don't monitor this site. If you're unhappy about the level of service you did or didn't receive, you can complain here: http://www.o2.co.uk/how-to-complain

As I said in an earlier post, good deals and customer service are useless if you don't get good coverage. Just make sure you do before you move. We always suggest trying a Pay & Go sim before committing to a long term contract.

[viridis]

Duped?
It's literally the busiest week in any mobile networks calendar!
And to save yourselves much needed time, I've just swung over the Voda forums and had a look.
Gasp, shock, horror... people can't get through.
Wanna know why?
Where's my order, my order is wrong, this is broken, that is not working, this sim needs swapping, I've changed my mind, I want a better deal as I've been with you for 200 years, my mate got this free, I want this unlocked, my data is not working, why is my Imessage not working, why can't I get online...etc etc 10 hrs + a day, all day.
You are one of many, many people trying to get through, trying to get issues resolved and trying to get a better deal.
The only way is through patience at this time of the year.

[Anonymous]

No it's not.

A very nice man in Carphone Warehouse offered me a very nice deal this afternoon.

A deal that's lower in cost than any they advertise.

All because I spoke to someone.

[viridis]

No,
All because someone was available.
What time did you call them?

[cyrillicguy]

Hmm...

This just strengthens the point I was making on a number of occasions in this very forum - none of the networks seem to have what can be called Customer Service.

IMO, of course.

There we have the iPhone launch, and everything seems to go breasts up. They are too busy you see.

And, as per previous posts, the situation with Vodafone (probably as well as with other networks) is about the same as with O2 in that aspect.

I'm struggling to understand though why myself, as a customer, I should accept it.

I mean, ok, there's nothing much I can do about it. There's no way I could 'teach them a lesson' - they are big and powerful companies, loosing my business wouldn't change their bottom line dramatically, I get it. 

What I do find quite strange is how some people, who are customers, like myself, respond - "Yeah, it's the iPhone launch, it's always busy during the iPhone launch, this is just the way it is."

Huh?

No sign of resentment of any kind, no criticism of the company, just the "get over it" kind of attitude. A kinda "if we are getting treated like crap and can't change it, we'll just learn to love it and gonna defend it" attitude.

Strange...

Obviously networks ARE aware of these iPhone launches, right? They PERFECTLY ARE aware when the busy-busy-busy times are coming, right? Could they do anything in order to mantain quality Customer Service experience even during the very busiest times?

Of course they could. If they wanted to. They just don't. 

And the fact that they don't is their way of saying "look, we don't care, we know that yous peasants are gonna come to us anyway, yous want us to take your money, so why give you good Customer Service?"

Again, whoever says that 'this is just the way the things are' is right anyway. I know that. Just don't want to pretend that I accept that, and therefore folks who rave and rant about inadequate customer service they get, have my full support.

Amen

[Cleoriff]

I always say it very much depends on personal experience @cyrillicguy. I can only be confident of that. I have never queued for hours on a phone waiting to get through to O2 customer services. My longest wait time has been 9 minutes. Is that lucky? I don't know. It's just a fact from my perspective.

I sympathise with people waiting a long time....and those being messed about not knowing from one day to the next whether their phone will arrive on day of dispatch.

What I don't accept is being ridiculed and abused by angry people who come here to have their say and then don't agree with advice given in good faith.

O2 may have a lot to answer to in terms of customer service. So do people who come here to rant, rave and resort to dirty tactics all aimed at other customers who give their time freely to help. That is all

[Anonymous]

Or maybe if folk had a better understanding of the UK mobile phone industry. ...........

We have 4 networks in one of the most competitive countries in the world. The networks have committed to invest £5bn over a 4 year period yet profits are a FRACTION of this.

Add to that the fact OFCOM have sharply increased the fees paid by operators for spectrum this week.

Add into the mix that customers want that shiny new handset for free (subsidised) which costs the networks, you can then see the business case for the UK is not great.

Telefonica are looking to get out of the UK by selling o2 to Three.

Deutsche Telekom and Orange are also looking to exit the UK by selling EE to BT.

And talk is that Vodafone are thinking of exiting the UK if they cannot achieve quadplay scale by acquiring either Virgin Media from Liberty Global or Sky.

So as the networks make naff all in the UK compared to the heavy investment costs, perhaps now you can see why there are fewer customer service agents and more automated self help systems in place and believe me when I say it will only get worse UNLESS we are prepared to pay much more for our services (which for the main we don't) to enable them to make a return.

Frustrating - yes. But do I care that networks don't make much money? No. Why? Because it means we get value.