Feedback on The People's Operator (TPO)

eadred

I am not sure

peter_percent

I tried to change my email address on my account but the cursor would not enter the box, I filled in a contact form, they were very busy and promised an answer within 48 hours, many mails and over 220 hours later I got a reply saying the system would not accept an email change, !! who keeps an email address for life?, the solution offered was to sign up again, the only way to sign up is to order a sim and get it activated, this would have no relevance tot the sim I have at the moment so what is the use?
This is the slowest reply I have ever had and the only company I have come across that will not let you change your email address on your profile

grumbler

peter_percent wrote: »

...who keeps an email address for life?,

Far more people than you can imagine. I am one of them.

Can you not have two addresses for some time?

the solution offered was to sign up again, the only way to sign up is to order a sim and get it activated, this would have no relevance tot the sim I have at the moment so what is the use?

Theoretically you can port the number to the new sim, but you have to do this in two steps, via another network.

ses6jwg

Never have I experienced such awful service from any company in my entire life.

My girlfriend and I had contracts end so decided to shop around for a good deal. We noticed TPO had a good deal at £12.95 per month so took the plunge for ber (currently with O2).

Now I have had sim only deals before with Virgin and been happy with them. No issues porting in or out.

TPO. Firstly the SIM took 5 working days to arrive. They insist on taking a payment up front. No idea why.

Inserted sim into phone and went online to activate. Waited 24 hours. Phone will only receive texts won't make calls browse net or send texts. Used in 3 different phones same issue. Tried calling them. Gave up after 40 minutes. 72 hour response time on the website.

Tried calling tonight. Number is out of service and won't dial. Left with a useless sim and £13 down. Haven't even started porting yet!

I went with 3, ordered my SIM last Wednesday and everything has been set up and ported. No issues whatsoever.

Do not go with them, avoid like the plague. Hope they go bust.

POPPYOSCAR

Our daughter is with them and has had no issues unlike when she was with ee.




She is very happy with their service so far.

chrisw

Nope, no problems here. It says 72 hour response to emails but in my experience it's usually about 10 minutes.

Rickymob

I concur with ses6jwg !

I also tried them on a SIM only deal. Absolutely appalling Customer Service - I have sat on the phone three times now for over 25 mins and then was told they couldn't port my old number across as "their system was down" !!!!

I activated the SIM on 18/03/2016 and have already instructed them to cancel, and deleted the direct debit with my bank.

The phone worked fine for the 1st week, but over the last few days, the phone signal works for about only an hour at a time, and then keeps shutting down with a message telling me "invalid SIM" or "SIM Failure". When I turn the phone off and back on the signal sometimes comes back, but more often than not it doesn't! If I leave it for a few hours and try again in a different location, sometimes it will work, other times it won't - The last three days have been a nightmare!
BE WARNED AND USE AT YOUR PERIL

eDicky

Rickymob wrote: »

the phone signal works for about only an hour at a time, and then keeps shutting down with a message telling me "invalid SIM" or "SIM Failure". When I turn the phone off and back on the signal sometimes comes back, but more often than not it doesn't! If I leave it for a few hours and try again in a different location, sometimes it will work, other times it won't -

How do you know it's not a problem with your handset? Or bad contact in the SIM slot? Have you tried reinserting the TPO SIM or using a different SIM in your phone?

chrisw

Rickymob wrote: »

I also tried them on a SIM only deal. Absolutely appalling Customer Service - I have sat on the phone three times now for over 25 mins and then was told they couldn't port my old number across as "their system was down" !!!!

I had the same thing on the same date but it just meant that the porting went through a day late - no real biggie.

I agree about phoning customer service but I found emailing, including regarding the porting issues, got a quick response so I wouldn't bother phoning.

As above, your issues do sound more of a phone issue than a network issue.

Once you get it going it seems fine but at least you're not tied in too long if there are issues.

printedinuk

I would like to warn everybody regarding The Peoples Operator (TPO) in view of serious concerns which have become apparent to me after recently becoming a customer.

TPO is a MVNO which operates on the EE network but is currently in the process of migrating to Three. One of its key claims is that 10% of a customer’s bill goes to a charity of their choosing. TPO appears to operate on a “minimum overheads” basis, in order to pass on savings to customers in the form of competitive rates. It should be noted, however, that there are a number of other mobile operators offering similar tariffs.

I decided to try TPO, attracted by a 4G promotion tariff (no longer available). Within a month, I was so disappointed by their customer service that I dug a little deeper on the internet (in forums) and on their own website in an attempt to get some answers and learn of other people’s experiences. As a result of this research, I lost all faith in TPO and immediately ported my number out to another network and cancelled my service. I’m still in the process of trying to reclaim credit on my account as well as my £50 international roaming deposit.

Given that I have often benefited from reading other people’s experiences in these forums, I felt compelled to share my own. However, rather than focus on my own individual case, I would instead like to focus on the underlying problems which my case exposes; it is this that makes the problems far more likely to occur in future.

Misleading claims regarding charity contributions

“The only mobile phone network provider that gives 10% of your monthly spend to the cause you love”

https://www.thepeoplesoperator.com/ [accessed 22/04/16].

To me, it is extremely misleading to make this claim, given that they state the following, hidden in the FAQ:

“TPO will provide payment directly to your chosen cause on a quarterly basis for causes that have more than £50 owing to them.”

https://help.thepeoplesoperator.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207653585-How-does-the-cause-I-support-receive-my-donation- [accessed 22/04/16].

A closer look at the terms and conditions shows:

“If you nominate a good cause which has not at the time been nominated by at least four other subscribers, then the full Charges (including all of the Relevant Charges) will belong to and be retained by us unless and until at any point that good cause has been nominated by at least four other subscribers (in addition to you), in which case 10% (less the VAT element) of the Relevant Charges arising as from then will be held by us on trust for that good cause.”

https://www.thepeoplesoperator.com/Terms-And-Conditions [accessed 22/04/16].

Others have already done the maths on this one (in other forums) but it should be quite clear that there is a rather large loophole here, for TPO to keep (for themselves) any of this “causes” fund directed to charities which fail to attract a set number of customers nominating it. More importantly, in my opinion, there is no mechanism to monitor the destination of such “causes” funds. Based on this £50/quarter threshold and given the lack of statistics about support for individual charities, it is quite conceivable that TPO could keep all money destined for charities (if none of them have sufficient nominees) for themselves and not be [technically] in breach of their statement, above. I am not saying they are (how would I know either way?!), I’m saying that they could be and we would be none the wiser. I have read on some forums where people have defended TPO, arguing that they have been loss-making for a number of years; if this is the case, maybe they should rethink their 10% claim and instead focus on being a mobile phone operator first and foremost, without making people believe they are contributing to charities which they may well not be.

To put this in the context of the individual, rather than as a policy – how do I know if my 10% has gone to my nominated charity (or any charity, for that matter)? I would argue that is impossible for me to know, given the information available.

Unclear, missing and/or contradictory terms & conditions

A major problem is a significant lack of clarity and consistency in the way TPO defines its terms of service and/or operating procedures. There are examples of unclear, missing or contradictory documents, often covering key issues. Here are a few...

Lack of user-initiated cancellation clause in terms and conditions

I was shocked to discover that the terms and conditions did not seem to detail any mechanism for a customer to end their contract; how can a consumer be bound to terms (and quite an important one!) which are not explicitly covered in or referenced by the agreement they consented to?

The only reference to user-initiated cancellation seems to be in the FAQ section but this was far from clear as to the effective cancellation period when using a PAC code (30 days or as soon as the number ported out?). In addition, and, more worryingly, the reference to “30 days” was made to the point at which your request was actioned by TPO, not the point at which you gave the notice.

https://help.thepeoplesoperator.com/hc/en-gb/articles/205980722-How-do-I-cancel-my-contract- [accessed 22-04-16]

I am not a consumer rights expert (or amateur!) but this is the first time I have ever heard of a notice period beginning from when the servicing company gets round to dealing with the notice, rather than the date that they reasonably become aware of the notice. The nightmare scenario, of course, is that a cancellation request gets lost, due entirely to TPO’s lacking procedures (see roaming and/or customer services for example of how this may happen) and TPO then adds the lost time on to the 30 day notice period (the experience of “loss” happened to me but I am no further forward in establishing if this will affect the 30 day period as TPO are yet to process my cancellation).

International Roaming

TPO’s literature explains that as a new customer who wants international roaming I should be expected to email in my last 3 bank statements and then await contact from a TPO agent to pay a £50 deposit (refundable after 6 months or if the account is closed). I duly emailed in my bank statements and received an automated email in response which advised me that the case had been automatically closed, as they believed that this matter related to roaming. The email then went on to ask me to send in my bank statements (which I had already done and explained in the email) and that I should call in to TPO if I felt this was in error. I then called in to TPO and after approximately half an hour on hold I was connected to someone who took payment. It seems that TPO have set an automatic rule (in dealing with customer service tickets) that any ticket which contains the word “roaming” will be closed automatically and a standard response emailed back. Incidentally, this also held up my subsequent cancellation requests as I had made an additional request, in my email, for them to refund my international roaming deposit, which resulted in the ticket being closed automatically.

Besides being a very crude and inaccurate method of customer service (they don’t bother to check whether statements are actually attached), if their guidance (in their FAQ section) actually reflected the correct process, they might get less generic enquiries.

Lack of notification regarding change of price plans/packages

I have read stories of people complaining how TPO changed their call or bundle/package rates/deals without informing customers directly.

http://kenstechtips.com/index.php/peoples-operator-review [accessed 22/04/16]

TPO’s argument seems to be that they advertise all their rates on their website and it’s up to the customer to keep up to date with any changes. That is reflected in their terms and conditions:-

“We may change the Services, the Charges in the Price List (including introducing new Charges), the Fair Use Policy, or the terms of this agreement at any time. We will publish any changes on our website.

If we believe you will be caused significant disadvantage by any change or if we intend to increase our Charges we will notify you of that change at least 15 days before it takes effect. We may do this by publishing the change on our website, by advertising in the press, by giving you written notice by message or by email, or by any means that we consider is reasonable. If we do not believe our changes will disadvantage you we may include this change without notifying you.”

https://www.thepeoplesoperator.com/Terms-And-Conditions [accessed 22/04/16].

Are TPO seriously expecting customers to check the website, twice a month, to check that TPO haven’t changed their prices? Isn’t there an inherent responsibility for the company to keep the customer directly informed of any changes in the relationship, e.g., via email?

Surely this approach could potentially result in customers being caught out by unexpected charges? That seems to be exactly what happened in a number of cases, when TPO changed a bundle from a 6GB allowance to a 1GB allowance and failed to warn customers directly; customers were allowed to incur charges well above credit limits they believed were in place, thinking the data usage was part of their package.

http://kenstechtips.com/index.php/peoples-operator-review [accessed 22/04/16]

Obviously I have not been able to verify any of these stories but instead can give you a direct example of my own experience, in my short time as a TPO customer. Two weeks after signing up with TPO on a monthly tariff, I became aware of an impending change in an EU cap on European roaming charges (EU-wide changes, nothing to do with TPO itself). I checked the TPO website to see if their roaming prices had been updated to reflect this, to instead discover that the normal UK “out of bundle” prices had been significantly increased since I joined up (less than 2 weeks ago!). In addition, there was now a mysterious 4p/min charge to receive calls in the UK. I tried to contact a TPO agent via a chat session to check I had read this correctly but they said such a charge did not apply. I then tried to point out the page on their website which showed this charge but the agent claimed the link I sent him did not work (I checked and double-checked the link – it worked perfectly) and did not offer to help further. If there is so much confusion about what is stated on their website, and yet they point to the website as the primary accurate source of what a customer will be charged, how on earth is a customer supposed to be able to understand what they are likely to be charged, from month to month?

See https://www.thepeoplesoperator.com/PAYM_Rates [accessed 22/04/16] for the web page in question.

Incidentally, since this happened, I notice that a new “Discount” price bracket has been introduced as opposed to an “Official” price bracket – I assure you that this was not there when I checked initially! Even so, what exactly is the rationale for two price brackets (the web page states that “All our Pay Monthly customers are being charged the discount rates”) if it’s impossible for anybody to be charged on one of them? What happens if they pull these “Discount” prices at some future point and default to the “Official” prices; given that customers wouldn’t know without deliberately visiting the website to check, at least once a month, is this not setting customers up for unexpected charges by creating a false tariff (which applies to nobody) which they can refer to in future?

Extremely poor customer service

Customer service seems to be a complaint of many people with reports of agents being outright “rude” to customers, in some cases.

http://kenstechtips.com/index.php/peoples-operator-review [accessed 22/04/16]

Again, I cannot possibly verify any of the reports I have read about but I can certainly talk about my own direct experience. I certainly have not experienced a rude agent, I have experienced a very poor level of customer service. If submitted tickets are read within a reasonable timeframe (which seems to be a matter of debate), agents often don’t read the tickets properly (or perhaps they do but choose to ignore the content?) and so you end up having to re-iterate the request over and over (which takes days) when the information was clearly there, the whole time.

The online experience is not much better. For example, when I pointed out an error in the invoice (from the online account area) which meant that I had been billed for a month of service prior to joining TPO (rather than the current month, when I actually joined TPO), the agent simply replied that it was a known fault in the billing dates. That’s great but that error is shown on a legal document which outlines what services I am being billed for and requests payment from me for it; the onus is surely on them to correct the error as soon as possible and provide accurate billing information in the meantime by other means, at their expense? I would have thought that a company which wants to keep costs down might invest heavily in a fully functional web interface so that almost anything can be achieved by the consumer, easily, rather than having to raise archaic tickets and spend hours on hold, for basic tasks (e.g., number ports, international roaming…).

I do not know whether the customer service framework is suffering from a lack of investment, whether the agents’ attitude is simply reflective of the true corporate philosophy of the company or whether it is a combination of the two. Either way, it is fair to say that I have no confidence in the system or in the way in which my queries were processed (yes, I’m still waiting for my money to be refunded to me…). Interestingly, it is often the case that self-service through an online account is better for the company (saves them valuable contact time) and for the consumer (often faster, if not instantaneous). Unfortunately, my experience was that any research I did online was useless as TPO agents seemed to operate on a completely different workflow which bore no resemblance to what was outlined in the FAQ. When I did try and show them what the website said (by pasting a direct link into the chat window), the customer service agents suddenly became internet illiterate, unable to even enter a simple web address – from their own company’s website - in their browser. The ticket system seemed to me to be used as a means of distancing customers rather than a cheaper way of handling queries (whatever the pros and cons of the system itself).

Why I haven’t approached TPO?

If I was to approach TPO directly with these concerns, I have no confidence that I would be listened to (based on my own experiences); indeed, I fear my own case might even suffer as a result. This post is therefore not a customer services complaint (yes, I must declare that I have an outstanding complaint with them but no, I do not expect this post to help, especially given that it is effectively anonymous and that I am raising questions about their basic business processes) but as a warning to others.

Before you engage with this company, be aware of the problems above; these are not problems with individual customer service agents or individual accounts but concerns about the fundamental ways this company does business.