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View Full Version : Lies and Bureaucracy - Terrible Customer Service


L3XII
20-03-2009, 07:14 PM
I recently moved home. On Monday I rang People Telecom to explore having my service relocated. I say explore because I shopped around and got estimated time frames from other providers, on how long it would take to connect.

I was told by most providers that it would take under a week if there was already a line to the house that was ADSL capable (there was). Universally I was told the only hold up, and the only reason it takes more than a few hours is how long the third-party infrastructure providers (Telstra) take to provision the speed codes for the line.

When I spoke to someone from People Telecom they told me that they usually say 10 days, but that it has been a very long time since it has actually taken 10 days, and that as long as Telstra enabled the speed codes on the line by the end of the week, then I could have my ADSL by the end of the week. I was told repeatedly that the only hold up would be Telstra. I was told that because I was keeping the same number, and was in the same location, that as soon as the codes came through my account would "just work". No permission changes needed, no account detail changes needed, it would "just work".

I was told that as soon as I saw the green ADSL light come on, my ADSL would be working. I was told that if it was not, that I could ring technical support "24 hours a day, 7 days a week" and they would be able to help.

The green ADSL light has been on for hours now. But my ADSL is not working.

I rang technical support and was basically told tough luck. Ring back on Monday, this is a customer support issue, not a technical issue. I persisted and insisted on talking to a supervisor.

The supervisor confirmed that Telstra has completed their work. Confirmed that People Telecom's database has been updated with the new codes.

But he still told me he couldn't do anything because my account had been disabled, and I would have to wait until Monday for someone from the provisioning the department to re-enable my account and set new permissions... (Remember the part where there was meant to be no permission changes?)

He insisted that there is not a single person who can re-enable my account working until Monday. Working in IT my self (on very high end systems), I find that incredibly hard to believe.

I signed up for another 24 month contract based on what I was told by customer service. Based on the promise that "24 hours a day, 7 days a week" I could ring up to get the process finalised, as soon as the green ADSL light came on.

In other words I was lied to, and that lie lead me to sign a 24 month contract.

Ignoring how disgusting I find the lies, I find it absolutely ludicrous that sheer bureaucracy is preventing what should be a simple, simple change to People Telecom's systems by People Telecom's staff.

All the external tasks are done... all that needs to be done is for someone at People Telecom to re-enable an account that should never have been disabled, but they can't do it because they are running around bouncing off bureaucratic red tape.

L3XII
23-03-2009, 06:10 PM
And so the mediocre service continues.

I waited all weekend, looking at the ADSL light on my modem taunting me by saying it was connected, but the status light blinking, reminding me that People Telecom's servers were still rejecting me.

I waited all weekend, and run customer 'service' today at around 11am.

At first I was told my order had been completed, and that everything was done. I told the customer service rep that I had been told the same thing on Friday, but that it isn't. She put me on hold and went to look in to it further, returning to say (paraphrased) "Oh sorry, I misread. The line has been connected, but your account is still waiting activation."

I said I knew this already, and that I was ringing to ask what the hold up was.

I was told by the customer rep that she would do everything she could to try get the issue resolved, but that it might take up to 5 more business days! I reminded her that the hold up is on People Telecom's end and that there must, therefore, be something People Telecom can do to resolve the issue, and that I found it ludicrous that it might take up to 5 days for People Telecom to update People Telecom's own systems!

I am paying $110 a month for a service I can not use. People Telecom seems to have no problem rubbing it in that it their standard policy that the service could be disrupted for up to 2 weeks... yet they still charge for the full month. If you don't sign up for another 24 months, they also charge you over $200 extra for the privilege of paying a full months fee to access only half a months service.

I reminded the customer rep of all this, and she said she understood and would look in to the issue with urgency and give me a call back. I have received no call, and my service is still not connected.

I understand ISPs in Australia have it hard, doing new connections and transfers, because they are at the mercy of the Telstra monopoly to get the line connected and configured... but in this case Telstra has responded in a very reasonable timeframe, and done everything they need to do. In this case it is the ISP - People Telecom - dragging their feet.

Seriously, how hard can it be for People Telecom to up date People Telecom's records?

I run a website that receives up to 6 million hits a day, and has thousands of account holders. My team is required to respond to all customer problems within hours. If we took weeks, or even days to respond to issues we would be fired.

Having a very strong technical background, I don't believe for a second that the task People Telecom has to perform is overly complex. In fact I am quite certain it is trivial, and that it is only taking this long due to under staffing or plain laziness and bad service.

The People Telecom transfer service in summary:

- You can either pay a $200+ fee for the transfer, or you can sign up for an additional 24-month contract.
- You will be without internet for at least half a month, but you will be expected to pay a full months fee any way.
- You will likely be either lied to, or shrugged off when you try to get help. Or both.

PT_Albert
24-03-2009, 12:08 AM
Hello L3XII,

I do apologise for the run around.. I'm not sure why your technical query was not handled on the first go. If your issue is currently still present can you please message me your details and I'll look into what has happened and have a resolution for you

Thanks
Albert