|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: Vomiting on Virgin
|
Robert Armin
All licens'd fool
# 182
|
Posted
I have just moved house, and am currently without a land line or internet connection at home. Both of these I used to get from Virgin, and they were due to reconnect me today.
On Friday I returned from work to find a letter saying an engineer would call round this morning; if I wasn't there to let them in I would be charged £103 for a missed call. After four lengthy phone calls I finally got through to someone. She was charming, and I felt guilty as I had lost all patience with the company (but kept reassuring her that she was being helpful). Now it's rescheduled for the end of the month, but she can only say "in the afternoon".
What is wrong with these companies? Don't they realise most of us are out of work, or we couldn't afford these luxuries? Do they think we all have stay-at-home wives who can open the door to tradespeople? Or do they expect me to give instructions to the servants? Why don't they pay engineers to come out at times when I am in? Is that so hard to understand?
--------------------
Keeping fit was an obsession with Fr Moity .... He did chin ups in the vestry, calisthenics in the pulpit, and had developed a series of Tai-Chi exercises to correspond with ritual movements of the Mass. The Antipope Robert Rankin
Posts: 8927 | From: In the pack | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
fletcher christian
Mutinous Seadog
# 13919
|
Posted
I'm particularly fond of the arrangements of tradesmen to arrive at some point between 8am and 6pm and you just know that it's going to be 5.45pm.
--------------------
'God is love insaturable, love impossible to describe'
Staretz Silouan
Posts: 5235 | From: a prefecture | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
|
Posted
I tell such people to ring my mobile half an hour ahead. That way, I can go home when they're going to be there. It takes me 15-20 minutes to drive from work.
The idea that they'll try to CHARGE you for a missed appointment is definitely the Hellworthy bit, though.
--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by fletcher christian:
I'm particularly fond of the arrangements of tradesmen to arrive at some point between 8am and 6pm and you just know that it's going to be 5.45pm.
Nope,it can be 7.30am. Especially when you work a late shift and would still be in bed at that time.
IANAL but it looks like they are treating your agreement to them turning up on a certain day as a contract, therefore they can charge you for being in breach of contract if the home is not avaailable for installation.
If that is true then you can charge them if they fail to turn up.
Are there any UK lawyers on the ship who can verify this?
--------------------
Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
|
Posted
Ah, right. I thought from the thread title this was about being sick on trains, or else a statement about modern art.
£103 for a missed call is outrageous and it’s particularly annoying being tied to the place for an unspecified length of time. I hope they turn up early so you can get it over with. (This is Hell, so fingers crossed they don't do the trick of shoving a note through your door while you’re there saying "sorry you were out" and go away without having rung the doorbell. I've twice had to chase the postman down the stairs, clutching the delivery note, but at least he doesn't charge for missed visits.)
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Evensong
Shipmate
# 14696
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Ah, right. I thought from the thread title this was about being sick on trains, or else a statement about modern art.
I thought it was about giving the Virgin Mary shit.
--------------------
a theological scrapbook
Posts: 9481 | From: Australia | Registered: Apr 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
|
Posted
I'm just relieved this thread wasn't in Ecclesiantics.
--------------------
Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
|
Posted
Reminded me of that night 34 yrs ago, ah happy days.
AtB, Pyx_e
--------------------
It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pre-cambrian
Shipmate
# 2055
|
Posted
Generally what you get from Virgin media is not bad, but their customer service is without doubt the worst I have ever experienced.
I can't think of any other company I've had to deal with that has NO contact telephone number on its website. And if you do happen on a phone number it is just an endless series of push button options at the end of which is likely to be a pre-recorded message with a suggestion of how to deal with your fault.
Even when they ask for feedback and you say that the customer service is crap they don't bother to respond - and that's when the reason for the poor feedback was because they hadn't responded to the e-mail alert of a fault in the first place.
--------------------
"We cannot leave the appointment of Bishops to the Holy Ghost, because no one is confident that the Holy Ghost would understand what makes a good Church of England bishop."
Posts: 2314 | From: Croydon | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Soror Magna
Shipmate
# 9881
|
Posted
And here I thought this thread was about Mary's morning sickness. Or performance art. OliviaG
--------------------
"You come with me to room 1013 over at the hospital, I'll show you America. Terminal, crazy and mean." -- Tony Kushner, "Angels in America"
Posts: 5430 | From: Caprica City | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
leo
Shipmate
# 1458
|
Posted
Virgin and the likes are what you get when you denationalise things. (And then the formerly nationalised firms like BT cut costs to compete and they become rubbish too.)
Virgin left me without internet, phone or telly for a week, once.
When i was teaching I could only have 'workmen' to call or parcels to be delivered during school holidays (minus those days when I was away on holiday). That severely limits one and if they don't turn up as arranged, it can be hell.
'Tradesmen' still assume that we all live in trad. nuclear families with the wife at home all day. If a new firm delivered stuff at weekends and after 5pm, I'd be seriously tempted to move to it.
--------------------
My Jewish-positive lectionary blog is at http://recognisingjewishrootsinthelectionary.wordpress.com/
My reviews at http://layreadersbookreviews.wordpress.com
Posts: 23198 | From: Bristol | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ricardus
Shipmate
# 8757
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Armin:
Why don't they pay engineers to come out at times when I am in? Is that so hard to understand?
Don't engineers have families too?
--------------------
Then the dog ran before, and coming as if he had brought the news, shewed his joy by his fawning and wagging his tail. -- Tobit 11:9 (Douai-Rheims)
Posts: 7247 | From: Liverpool, UK | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
|
Posted
We have virgin for our TV, phone and broadband. The service they provide is adequate - not particularly stellar, but does the job. But there customer service, when I have had to use it, is as bad as all of the others. IME, none of them are very good. I don't think we know how to do good customer service any more.
As for timing, yes it is a pain, but they should be able to specify at least morning or afternoon - ideally 3 or 4 slots in a day. And, most importantly, stick to it. The thing that most irritates me, and why we left one provider, is when them make an appointment, you take time off to greet them, and they don't turn up.
And some people would be happy to work evenings. It would be quite possible to provide evening engineer services, without disrupting families.
--------------------
Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
Welcome to the principal occupation of retirement - waiting in for tradesmen. I've just finished 5 weeks of being continually on hand in case today is a day suitable for gardening works. Moving seamlessly on, there is the dishwasher repair man, the annual gas appliance inspection, and - the Virgin engineer to upgrade the connection.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
passer
Indigo
# 13329
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Welcome to the principal occupation of retirement - waiting in for tradesmen. I've just finished 5 weeks of being continually on hand in case today is a day suitable for gardening works. Moving seamlessly on, there is the dishwasher repair man, the annual gas appliance inspection, and - the Virgin engineer to upgrade the connection.
^^
word
Posts: 1289 | From: Sheffield | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ricardus
Shipmate
# 8757
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
And some people would be happy to work evenings. It would be quite possible to provide evening engineer services, without disrupting families.
I suspect those people are already doing precisely that. What you want is for the overwhelming majority of engineers to spend the overwhelming majority of their time working unsociable hours.
This is the sort of thing that gives the Left a bad name. We're supposed to stand for good working conditions for the Labouring Classes, but as soon as those conditions start impinging on our own comfort, we squeal like capitalist pigs.
--------------------
Then the dog ran before, and coming as if he had brought the news, shewed his joy by his fawning and wagging his tail. -- Tobit 11:9 (Douai-Rheims)
Posts: 7247 | From: Liverpool, UK | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
|
Posted
Ricardus - you may be right, but I am not suggesting that the majority of engineers do this, just that evening appointments are an option.
And this is only because for some people, I think this would be a better working environment for them. If both parents are working, staggering hours MIGHT work in some cases.
It is not about just doing things for my comfort, it is about providing flexibility for everyone.
And I do realise that this is idealism, and companies like Virgin would just abuse their staff whatever.
--------------------
Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by OliviaG:
And here I thought this thread was about Mary's morning sickness. Or performance art. OliviaG
Surely it's about Baby Jesus getting motion sickness?
--------------------
Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ricardus:
Don't engineers have families too?
It's not a compulsory precondition of working as an engineer. The nation doesn't shut down in the evenings, anyway. What about people who work in pubs and restaurants, or operate public transport?
There is nothing wrong IMO with being a bit more flexible about the working hours, so that an engineer or delivery man might do a shift starting at 11 am and finishing at 7, or 7.30 am until 3.30, which would cover most people and still leave said operatives free time in the evenings.
I appreciate that with deliveries you can't always time these things exactly but they should be able to give some kind of estimate, and now that there are mobile phones they should be able to ring a customer to let them know they're on their way.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Jonathan Strange
Shipmate
# 11001
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
Generally what you get from Virgin media is not bad, but their customer service is without doubt the worst
Seconded. By the time I wanted to cancel, it took me two attempts because of the telephone reps who swung wildly from aggressive & argumentative to silent & sulking. They literally refused to process the cancellation by sitting in silence. They behaved like we were teenage sweethearts I was dumping them. Pathetic and infuriating.
--------------------
"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bears his teeth, winter meets its death,
When he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again"
Posts: 1327 | From: Wessex | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Zacchaeus
Shipmate
# 14454
|
Posted
We reported our landline not working through the virgin website.
They didn't arrive for their appintment a d when we complain,d we found out they had phond the landline to confirm the appointment!! Left a message which we couldn't access and when we hadn't confirmed they had cancelled the appointment.
Posts: 1905 | From: the back of beyond | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
|
Posted
I still can't get over the 103 pound penalty for missed calls. ![[Disappointed]](graemlins/disappointed.gif)
I take it that they have you by the short hairs. Otherwise, I'd go with the competition and inform Virgin that you'll consider rejoining when the pay you 103 pounds for an appointment that clears your calendar for a day.
--------------------
"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Beethoven
Ship's deaf genius
# 114
|
Posted
We had no landline for six months in a previous house, because - having checked what deals were available and deciding we could just about stomach paying for 12 months even though we wouldn't be there that long - the company concerned didn't quite understand how appointments worked.
I phoned, made an appointment for one of the days I was regularly at home. They texted me about 2 days before the agreed date to tell me they'd changed the day, and it was now a day that I was working. I phoned to say I couldn't do that day, the next available appointment on a day I could manage was some two weeks later. Same thing happened. Twice. In the end I said I was cancelling the order. They said they wouldn't be able to cancel the engineer since he was from a different company that they had a contract with. I pointed out that that wasn't my problem, and with three weeks' notice they really ought to be able to find a way to tell him not to come.
Three weeks later, I got a phone call while at work. The engineer, standing outside my house, wanting access to come in and install the line... ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Oh, and some three months later I got a refund of what they'd charged us for phone installation and broadband service.
Fortunately our most recent move was almost the opposite, with an engineer who turned up on schedule - and managed to solve the problem of me being locked in the house with a key that only worked from the outside to open the front door! ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
[ 09. May 2012, 11:59: Message edited by: Beethoven ]
--------------------
Who wants to be a rock anyway?
toujours gai!
Posts: 1309 | From: Here (and occasionally there) | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
molopata
The Ship's jack
# 9933
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
I can't think of any other company I've had to deal with that has NO contact telephone number on its website.
I can, quite a few in fact.
Read the fucking FAQ is what is expected.
--------------------
... The Respectable
Posts: 1718 | From: the abode of my w@ndering mind | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
leo
Shipmate
# 1458
|
Posted
I refuse to do business with any company that doesn't have a postal address, let alone a phone number.
Back to Virgin, I kept a careful log of things that went wrong and stored up these complaints. I posted the list (no good waiting for ever to get through to them on the phone) and I got an engineer round for free as well as a substantial refund.
--------------------
My Jewish-positive lectionary blog is at http://recognisingjewishrootsinthelectionary.wordpress.com/
My reviews at http://layreadersbookreviews.wordpress.com
Posts: 23198 | From: Bristol | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
Virgin left me without internet, phone or telly for a week, once.
You were lucky. It was three months for us.
And that wasn't the worst piece of "customer service" I got from from them. There was one time they missed three appointments in a row. Yes, that is three days off work for me. And I knew perfectly well that the problem they had to fix was in their little green box on the street corner, but they had to start by checking my equipment out.
One point about Virgin "Media" thought. They are not really one organisation. They are more a rebranding of all the different cable companies that were taken over by Telewest and NTL in the 90s, and the NTL part of that (and maybe the other) was itself a composite of different regional and local cable TV franchises. The original companies continued to exist for years, with different technical standards, different management styles and different customer databases, and I suspect that they might still persist. When I actually got hold of a local engineer, based tround the corner in Lewisham, they were always able to fix the problem. It was getting through the bureacracy in Swindon or Basingstoke or wherever they hang out that was the problem.
Though Virgin are nowhere near the worst customer service I have ever experienced. That goes, without a doubt, to Thames Water. May they go bankrupt tomorrow and be taken back into public ownership without compensationand may every sharehilder lose every penny they have ever invested in that corrupt pile of shite.
--------------------
Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Stoo
Mighty Pirate
# 254
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Armin:
On Friday I returned from work to find a letter saying an engineer would call round this morning; if I wasn't there to let them in I would be charged £103 for a missed call.
I don't know who your letter is from, but Virgin Media no longer charge for missed appointments. When they did, it was only for service-visits (not installations), and only to a maximum of £10.
--------------------
This space left blank
Posts: 5266 | From: the director of "Bikini Traffic School" | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
rhflan
Shipmate
# 17092
|
Posted
I never understand companies that want to charge YOU if you miss an appointment, but don't pay you a dime when THEY miss one.
--------------------
www.twitter.com/rhflan
Posts: 135 | Registered: May 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
leo
Shipmate
# 1458
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Welcome to the principal occupation of retirement - waiting in for tradesmen. I've just finished 5 weeks of being continually on hand in case today is a day suitable for gardening works. Moving seamlessly on, there is the dishwasher repair man, the annual gas appliance inspection, and - the Virgin engineer to upgrade the connection.
This is what I am also discovering as i get used to being retired.
--------------------
My Jewish-positive lectionary blog is at http://recognisingjewishrootsinthelectionary.wordpress.com/
My reviews at http://layreadersbookreviews.wordpress.com
Posts: 23198 | From: Bristol | Registered: Oct 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
What seems like a lifetime ago, I used to work in customer services for NTL before it was absorbed into the new Virgin Media. Knowing how things worked, I can see this from the other side. A number of my friends still work at the same office and call centre and tell me that very little was changed with the take-over.
I can't speak for installations. They were housed in a different building and had little to do with the rest of the company. The installers were contractors and generally annoyed everyone. However, as far as faults technicians went, things were done reasonably well.
Precise times couldn't be given because they went from job to job and there were too many variables. They couldn't tell for certain how long each job would take. Sometimes customers didn't answer the door or they'd solved the problem and not bothered cancelling the technician, so they'd be earlier than.expected. Sometimes a fault turned put to be more complicated than originally thought. With installations, often existing cables had been damaged or paved over, meaning jobs took longer than planned. It's difficult to give people exact times when there is so much possible variation. So four-hour time slots were allotted.
If you're booked in for a Monday morning then the time the guy reaches your house will depend on the other customers and jobss he has to see that morning, which isn't finalised until he gets in his van with his itinerary and drives off and could even change after that depending on customers.
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
pimple
Ship's Irruption
# 10635
|
Posted
You think Virgin's bad? You should try raising a query with EasyJet! If they don't understand the problem they'll give you the standard reply to one they do. After a while you have to laugh - this should be a game in the Circus.
e.g. Why do you keep asking me to state a destination airport when I have already done that?
Answer: It is best to arrive at least two hours before departure to allow time to get through...
--------------------
In other words, just because I made it all up, doesn't mean it isn't true (Reginald Hill)
Posts: 8018 | From: Wonderland | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amorya
Ship's tame galoot
# 2652
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
Generally what you get from Virgin media is not bad, but their customer service is without doubt the worst I have ever experienced.
I can't think of any other company I've had to deal with that has NO contact telephone number on its website. And if you do happen on a phone number it is just an endless series of push button options at the end of which is likely to be a pre-recorded message with a suggestion of how to deal with your fault.
Even when they ask for feedback and you say that the customer service is crap they don't bother to respond - and that's when the reason for the poor feedback was because they hadn't responded to the e-mail alert of a fault in the first place.
01256 752000, and ask for the complaints department.
Posts: 2383 | From: Coventry | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
I can't think of any other company I've had to deal with that has NO contact telephone number on its website.
That reminded me that their train website used to be just the same. Some of us wondered if they took the phone number off because they were getting so many complaints.
I wish I could remember who it was that had a short drop-down list of possible complaints, none of which fitted the issue I wanted to raise, so you couldn't actually send your query if it didn't fit the options.
It's a while ago now but I've a feeling it may have been an ISP provider who had recently taken over my existing ISP and now, if you wanted to query anything via the online system, insisted on some kind of security login for verification that you were a customer of theirs. "Your details were sent to you when you started your account with us". As I hadn't started an account with them I didn't have this information, so was unable to query anything, including even sending a request for the security details I would need to verify my request for security details.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
I've just visited Virgin's website and found a customer service telephone number within the space of two minutes. Granted, it isn't prominently placed, and the path to the number takes you past online help pages first, but it's definitely there.
As others have suggested, they do this to try to make sure that the people who call up are genuine callers and not time-wasters. This may seem like an unhelpful tactic but believe me, you begin to understand it when you're sitting in a call centre and 10-20% of the calls you take all day are from people who spend eight minutes screaming at you because their set-top box won't do anything, and it's all rubbish, and the company is crap, and they're demanding you send a technician immediately. Then, when they finally calm down and let you get a word in, and you ask them if they have the same problem when they press the buttons on the set-top-box itself (rather than the remote control), they tell you they didn't actually get off their fat behinds to check but just picked up the phone to scream. So they do it and it works fine, and it turns out the only problem is that the RC batteries had run down and they hadn't changed them. That's just one example but there were others: people trying to change the set-top box channel with their DVD player RC, people reporting a telephone line fault even though they were customers of a completely different company, and all sorts.
I worked in faults but every department got its own version of time-wasting callers like this who clogged up the call queue, making it difficult for people with real queries to get through. So some companies now organise their website so that, before you can get to the number to call them, you first get to online help pages that answer some of the common rubbish that doesn't really necessitate a phone call. It seems a pain in the behind if all you want is the phone number but there's a good reason for it.
Anyway, for Virgin's website, in the "existing customers" section of the homepage, click on "help and support". You then choose the type of service you want support for (telephone, cable, broadband, or whatever), and it brings up a list of online help options, as well as a link saying "Need to get in touch? Find out how to contact us." Click on that, choose the department you want from the list, and where it says "What's your query about?" just highlight any one of the options and it will bring up the text "Haven't found what you're looking for? Contact us." There you have the option of e-mailing or phoning, and the number you need is there.
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
|
Posted
Any more helpful posts like the last few, I'll change the thread title and send it to All Saints.
![[Devil]](graemlins/devil.gif)
--------------------
Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
One point about Virgin "Media" thought. They are not really one organisation. They are more a rebranding of all the different cable companies that were taken over by Telewest and NTL in the 90s, and the NTL part of that (and maybe the other) was itself a composite of different regional and local cable TV franchises. The original companies continued to exist for years, with different technical standards, different management styles and different customer databases...
Absolutely spot-on.
NTL was an amalgamation of companies, including the previous amalgamation of companies that had formed Cable and Wireless, all which essentially continued as before, even after their absorption, and that was fine because most of the original call centres still operated, dealing with the same customers as before.
Then they started consolidating all of these offices and call centres, which meant, suddenly, customer service people in Manchester found themselves juggling a multiplicity of different local procedures, databases, faults reporting systems, appointment time slots, and so forth. Even the services available varied by region of the country, which I suppose was a bit like when Lloyds Bank absorbed TSB, and customers could go to any branch of the new LLoyds-TSB but could find themselves limited in the services available to them depending on whether the origins of the branch and the origins of their account were the same. We also shouldn't discount the significance of a customer service workforce drawn almost entirely from one city and its suburbs suddenly dealing with people from all regions of the country for the first time. Many of the London customers were a shock to the system. It's just a different world.
This was the first I learnt that some parts of the country didn't have evening time slots for technicians. In the northwest, they always had 8-12, 12-4, and 4-8. This was years ago, though, and I would have thought it would be standardised by now but if people are still reporting no evening time slots, perhaps it hasn't. Or it could be that because evenings are the most popular time slots, they have already been fully booked when people here have asked for them.
I left the company just as the merger with Telewest was going through, then that joint company was subsequently taken over by Virgin, so unless things have all been regularised on one system, I suspect there's a fair degree of chaos.
[ 11. May 2012, 06:50: Message edited by: Michael Astley ]
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Jen.
Godless Liberal
# 3131
|
Posted
Well, I have 2 sides of this. I'm a VM workers wife and I can tell you - the attempts to standardise systems across the country have led to multiple weeks at home on my own while he goes off to try and check new, cohesive, systems work everywhere in the country. And vast amount of weekends lost to him working overnight to put fixes and changes and new interfaces in at times the customers won't be bothered. This is annoying for me but good for customers (and our bank account...)
The other side is that I'm (predictably) a VM customer. And the service could be better I think, but I think that about most big organisations. I once rang VM as I had no telly - I was good and checked the service status online first, said it was fine in my area. Rang the number (free from my landline) and listened to the service outages update carefully - still nothing about my area. I stayed on hold (note - the ability to chose your own on hold music doesn't make it better) for about 25 mins. When my call was finally answered I was told there was an outage in my area. I suggested to the gentleman that maybe that should be on the srvice outages messages and was told they were too busy, which is a shame. I like the idea of being able to check somewhere that says 'yeah - your area is a bit fucked right now - we know about it, thanks, we're trying to fix it' but it doesn't work unless these messages are kept up to date.
Still beats any form of service I got from Orange - 'what's that? you don't have internet? yes you do - my screen says so'. And nPower (no, you can't bill a Mr T. He Occupier just because the previous tenant fucked off without paying, and even if you could that's not us - we told you when we moved in and have a rent agreement to prove it), mind you, I think we've now had so many refunds/compensation amounts from nPower they've paid us back more than we ever paid them in bills.
Oh, and Northern Rail are real gems. I once received a reply from them which was so unconnected to the complaint I'd maid that it was surreal. But then I realised they'd just fired off the wrong standard response. I didn't bother to get back in touch, the email would just end up through the system again.
Virgin Trains were good - I was once on a slightly delayed train and the conductor walked through the whole train and gave out refund forms before anyone asked. I suspect it may have been his last day or something.
Good customer service isn't hard - it's respect for your clients time, energy and money. But as Michael says, clients sometimes don't have respect for big companies time, energy and money (like not cancelling engineer visits) and that messes things up further for everyone else.
jen
[ 11. May 2012, 07:21: Message edited by: Jenny Ann ]
--------------------
Was Jenny Ann, but fancied being more minimal.
Posts: 5318 | From: Manchester, England | Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Oscar the Grouch
Adopted Cascadian
# 1916
|
Posted
I've been a customer of Virgin for some years. Their customer service is not good, but nowhere near as bad as some of the alternatives. BT have really been the pits at times.
In a previous house, I contacted Virgin as I wanted to have cable TV and broadband. "We don't have your address as being able to be connected" came the reply. "Huh? But I'm standing at the window now and can see the cover in the pavement where the cable connection is ready to be made."
Then they sent someone out (or so they told me). A few days later, I got a phone call "Sorry, but you definitely CANNOt be connected"
Eventually, I got them to agree to send out an engineer at a time when i was available to meet him. We stood outside the house, looked at the junction point in the pavement, looked at one another and just laughed. His comments about the mental capabilities of some of his colleagues was very amusing.
--------------------
Faradiu, dundeibáwa weyu lárigi weyu
Posts: 3871 | From: Gamma Quadrant, just to the left of Galifrey | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Oscar the Grouch:
His comments about the mental capabilities of some of his colleagues was very amusing.
To be fair, pretty much every engineer I've ever had round was competent and efficient. And on many occasions the engineer and I have been of one mind about the company's grab-'em-off-the-street-and-park-'em-by-a-telephone call centre staff.
--------------------
Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
beatmenace
Shipmate
# 16955
|
Posted
Not had much of a problem with Virgin Media/Mobile - but the tech support has gone downhill since they were Telewest (Virgin bought them out) , who were particularly excellent.
--------------------
"I'm the village idiot , aspiring to great things." (The Icicle Works)
Posts: 297 | From: Whitley Bay | Registered: Feb 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jenny Ann:
The other side is that I'm (predictably) a VM customer. And the service could be better I think, but I think that about most big organisations. I once rang VM as I had no telly - I was good and checked the service status online first, said it was fine in my area. Rang the number (free from my landline) and listened to the service outages update carefully - still nothing about my area. I stayed on hold (note - the ability to chose your own on hold music doesn't make it better) for about 25 mins. When my call was finally answered I was told there was an outage in my area. I suggested to the gentleman that maybe that should be on the srvice outages messages and was told they were too busy, which is a shame. I like the idea of being able to check somewhere that says 'yeah - your area is a bit fucked right now - we know about it, thanks, we're trying to fix it' but it doesn't work unless these messages are kept up to date.
Oh! Your recounting this just reminded me of the nonsense that we got from Virgin and the reason we're not with them anymore. We moved house and checked with the Moves & Transfers department that the area we were moving to would be cabled. We were told yes, the account was transferred across, and an installation date was set. All good.
So we moved house, with all that this entails, and waited in on the day, only for nobody to turn up. When we phoned up to ask about it, we were told that the installation had been cancelled because our address was unserviceable. It just seems nobody had got round to telling us.
I wasn't too bothered about being told we could get the services when we actually couldn't because I understand how that can happen. At least when I worked there, the system that we in customer services had to rely on to check whether an address was serviceable only checked whether the postcode area had cable. It didn't take account of the fact that the distance between the access point at the property and the green box in the street or the nearest point of contact with laid cable could mean that the services at a particular address within that postcode could potentially be so poor that the regulators simply wouldn't allow a company to supply them to a customer and charge for them. It's very common for someone not to be able to get services that his next-door neighbour can, and I understand how it's well nigh impossible for the company to know for certain without doing a reccie, which would be impractical for every installation (asking customers to wait in for two separate days would not go down well).
The problem was that, having determined that we couldn't get the services, they just cancelled the installation appointment, closed the account, and didn't tell us anything.
[ 11. May 2012, 08:47: Message edited by: Michael Astley ]
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:
quote:
Originally posted by Oscar the Grouch:
His comments about the mental capabilities of some of his colleagues was very amusing.
To be fair, pretty much every engineer I've ever had round was competent and efficient. And on many occasions the engineer and I have been of one mind about the company's grab-'em-off-the-street-and-park-'em-by-a-telephone call centre staff.
I've got to say that's kind of true. When I started there, call centre culture was just making the transition from being the sort of job done by ladies of a certain age with plenty of life experience, who had seen their children off from the family home, and were bored at home alone all day because their husbands were still working, to being the sort of job done by people fresh out of school/college. I was one of the latter group.
Many of us who were expected to deal with these customer enquiries had no direct experience of things like financial commitments, billing cycles, booking time off work to wait in for workmen, what the boxes in the street did or the inner-workings of the systems, and the classroom-style training was inadequate. We had one half day out on the job with the technicians to see how what we did affected what they did and vice versa - but they were there to do their job and didn't consider themselves teachers, so it was "luck of the draw" whether we got one who would show us how these things worked. Mine was a good laugh but taught me nothing. Other people in my training group said their presence was tolerated at best, while others got shown everything in detail, including the inside of the green boxes, what went where, and how it affected customers' phone services.
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
GreyFace
Shipmate
# 4682
|
Posted
I was an early-ish adopter for Comcast cable internet, which became NTL and then Virgin Media. Their front line support at the time didn't have a clue - I can even remember once having to humour a script jockey who wouldn't refer me upwards until he'd tried to send Hayes AT codes to the cable modem.
Then I struck oil. I managed to acquire the secret number. People knew it was there, but it was the kind of thing that was spoken about in sentences that ended "...but then I'd have to kill you." It was the phone number of two guys in Wales, Swansea I think, who were actually the cable modem support team. Until you got that number you might as well have phoned the speaking clock when something went wrong.
Posts: 5748 | From: North East England | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pre-cambrian
Shipmate
# 2055
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Michael Astley:
I've just visited Virgin's website and found a customer service telephone number within the space of two minutes. Granted, it isn't prominently placed, and the path to the number takes you past online help pages first, but it's definitely there.
OK, Smartarse, where is it?
--------------------
"We cannot leave the appointment of Bishops to the Holy Ghost, because no one is confident that the Holy Ghost would understand what makes a good Church of England bishop."
Posts: 2314 | From: Croydon | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pre-cambrian
Shipmate
# 2055
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amorya:
quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
Generally what you get from Virgin media is not bad, but their customer service is without doubt the worst I have ever experienced.
I can't think of any other company I've had to deal with that has NO contact telephone number on its website. And if you do happen on a phone number it is just an endless series of push button options at the end of which is likely to be a pre-recorded message with a suggestion of how to deal with your fault.
Even when they ask for feedback and you say that the customer service is crap they don't bother to respond - and that's when the reason for the poor feedback was because they hadn't responded to the e-mail alert of a fault in the first place.
01256 752000, and ask for the complaints department.
And typically for Fucking Virgin fucking Media, that shuts at 5.30 pm. An hour before I, as a civil servant, leave the office. Is this the wonderful private sector that everyone says we would be so much better if we emulated?
--------------------
"We cannot leave the appointment of Bishops to the Holy Ghost, because no one is confident that the Holy Ghost would understand what makes a good Church of England bishop."
Posts: 2314 | From: Croydon | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
quote:
Originally posted by Michael Astley:
I've just visited Virgin's website and found a customer service telephone number within the space of two minutes. Granted, it isn't prominently placed, and the path to the number takes you past online help pages first, but it's definitely there.
OK, Smartarse, where is it?
What was unclear in my previous post?
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pre-cambrian:
quote:
Originally posted by Amorya:
01256 752000, and ask for the complaints department.
And typically for Fucking Virgin fucking Media, that shuts at 5.30 pm.
It isn't typical. I owe them no loyalty and I don't have their services anymore because of their inadequacies but lines closing at 5.30 p.m. isn't typical of them at all. It is only a handful of departments that keep normal office hours because their purpose isn't considered urgent enough to warrant coverage for 16 hours out of the day. Complaints is one of those departments. Most of the other customer service departments are open from 8 in the morning until midnight. Their UK call centres close at 10 p.m. but the lines remain open until midnight because of call centres elsewhere.
[ 14. May 2012, 18:17: Message edited by: Michael Astley ]
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gwai:
Says something that they close the complaints department much sooner than most of the other departments one might think.
I like the way you say they close departments like complaints and credit control sooner, as though opening til midnight is some sort of standard for office workers and leaving at 5.30 is somehow to be considered trying to get out of dealing with people. Those departments are primarily admin offices - not customer service call centres. They deal with some of their business on the phone, but also by e-mail, letter, and so forth, and some of it is working at a computer, involving no correspondence at all.
It would seem more accurate to think of collecting debts and processing complaints as things that can be done in normal office hours, (especially when customers aren't limited to phone calls as a way of submitting complaints), and it's the other stuff, such as changing customer's packages because they want to watch a film/sports event that night which is on a channel that they don't have, trying to fix services that aren't working, and other urgent stuff like this that necessitates longer opening hours for the call-centres. This is where you get people on the phone all day, dealing with one phone call after another.
That just seems reasonable to me. I'd be happy with that as a customer of a company, and wouldn't read any sinister meaning into it.
[ 14. May 2012, 19:08: Message edited by: Michael Astley ]
--------------------
If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gwai
Shipmate
# 11076
|
Posted
From what I've seen of job ads, office workers working various shifts is not particularly odd. You say that complaints is mostly not a department that deals with people? If so, I suspect that is why their complaints department is so frustratingly poor as testified by many elsewhere. It certainly should be overwhelmingly dealing with people, it seems to me! And perhaps you'd be happy to be the customer of such a company--if such a company were responding to your complaints properly. However, if this thread is evidence, Virgin isn't!
--------------------
A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea.
If they think they ha’ slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.
Posts: 11914 | From: Chicago | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view
