Post Office Landline - Don't Go There

CharliePapa

Having been offered a derisory and insulting 'goodwill' gesture after 3 weeks of hell trying to sort my mother's new line with the PO, I am posting a review of their appalling service to help others decide who to use. My mother has Alzheimers and having assured me they would be able to keep the number she has had for 15 years they gave her a different number (apparently TalkTalk who she was leaving 'quarantined' the number for 14 days because they didn't want to lose her business after having frightened her into renewing her contract a year previously). I couldn't contact my mother and the PO couldn't even identify they had given her a different number. When my mum eventually called me and the number came up on caller ID I realised what had happened and called the PO yet again to sort it out - they were clueless so I asked for a supervisor and they said they were busy. I insisted on holding until they were available and after half an hour of repeating this same message they said they were disconnecting the call and put the phone down. At this point I emailed their Chief Exec, Paula Vennells and also went on Twitter about it. I got a quick response and some action but they continued to mess up when the old number eventually became available and they then gave her a third number. I've had Plusnet at home for 3 years and they are great, no problems and worth every penny. Unfortunately they don't do landline only and I thought the PO would be a name my mum would recognise and trust. How wrong I was, just don't do it!

Heinz

What a strange and sorry state of affairs - particularly as Talk Talk now provides the network infrastructure for the Post Office.

Buzby

And further proof (if any is needed) that virtual providers whether fixed or mobile do not provide consumer choice. PlusNet is BT in a cheaper suit, but N your situation, sticking with BT and it's familiarity would have been a better option, especially as their 'vulnerable customer' services are better than most.

Bryan_Rendall

Is the abovementioned change to Talk Talk providing the infrastructure for Post Office anything to do with their now atrocious service?

Before I switched to Post Office, I "tested" their customer service / fault reporting line and was pleasantly surprised to find a straight through connection to a human being, without any automated menu systems. This was a major plus point in switching to them.

I had cause to call them again yesterday, and oh dear, what an utter mess, mainly of people who haven't got a clue.

The issue is that I have found I cannot make calls to mobiles in a particular country - Greenland - I can call mobiles in Finland, New Zealand, the USA and any other country I care to try, but calls to mobiles in Greenland return a "number unobtainable" tone. Using my mobile to call the exact same numbers goes through without out problem, but it would obviously be cheaper if I could call from the landline rather than the mobile.

In reporting this issue to Post Office, once you get through the now extensive menu structure, reveals that the operatives are not very knowledgeable at all. One operative, reading the script from his screen announced that it was because I was using a cordless phone and not a corded phone. After 5 minutes of telling him that there was nothing wrong with the phone or the actual line to the exchange, I reluctantly said I would go and test it from the corded phone. As expected, it made absolutely no difference. It then took over an hour of my time to get the original operative back on the line to tell him that his theory was flawed.

He then said he would need to send an "engineer" to check the line, and when would I be in to make an appointment. The operative appeared completely oblivious to the fact that the line works perfectly well, to all countries other than Greenland. The buttons on the phone needed to dial Greenland (00 299) obviously work, as they were used to call Post Office to report the issue (the 9 being used to be pressed repeatedly to bypass the menu system whilst trying to chase up the original operative who failed to call back when he said he would....)

So now, some poor Openreach technician will be sent to either here, or the exchange, to look for a fault that doesn't exist, except for somewhere in the brain cells of a Post Office computer somewhere, that has decided that calls to Greenlandic mobiles should not be allowed.

Are there any phone companies left out there that are not staffed by complete Muppets? Post Office used to be, but have succumbed to the irresistible draw of staffing their call centres with automated menus and script readers.

Bryan_Rendall

Apparantly not....

After more than a week, Post Office have still not managed to unblock Greenland, and are still thinking they will be able to solve the problem by sending a van to my house to look at my phone and wiring.... :rotfl:

Meanwhile, the call centre actors don't seem to be able to understand from their scripts that everywhere else in the world works fine on the phone, and that therefore, the hardware this side of the exchange is OK!