o2 Customer Service.

ButtersUK

Just a quick one. 

Don't know who is supposed to be running o2 mobile but it reminds me of the current tale of woe that has beset Post Office and Paula Vennells and her cohorts.

Suffice to say that I've had enough of their dreadful response when you contact them.  Whether or not you're happy to deal with Indian based customer support centres is, perhaps, up for debate ... but, speaking personally, I'm disappointed and will go elsewhere after many years with them. At least EE have decided to have fully UK based staff to speak to and, generally speaking, you can have clear, concise and reasoned conversations with them.

Peter999_2

I have never spoken to any customer service person for a mobile phone contract for years.      If you have that many problems, it's probably a good idea to sign up with someone like Smarty.   Very cheap and a 30 day rolling contract - if they !!!!!! you off you just dump and switch.

la531983

You are comparing the slight inconvenience of talking to an Indian call centre to that of a systematic cover up over decades within the Post Office?

Really?

ButtersUK

Thank you for those two replies.

Regarding the first, I can't see where I've said I experienced " that many problems" but it has been my experience over the years that conversations I've had with overseas call centres are almost always strained and somewhat awkward and I would much prefer to speak to a facility where the advisor and I have the ability to readily understand each other and the "asides" that are frequently made in relaxed and flowing conversation - but clearly I'm making a fuss and shouldn't have raised the topic. 

Smarty piggybacks off the Three network. I found their reception/coverage locally wasn't great plus their Bangalore call Centre was no better than the o2 one at the time I was with them so I wouldn't go back to relying on them if I had a query.  But I appreciate the suggestion which was made in good faith ... thank you.

Regarding the second reply - we know that the Post Office debacle has primarily come to light as a result of the TV programme, without that it might well still be covered up.  I have to wonder how many other major institutions are managed as badly without us really knowing.  I was being flippant in saying that o2 (albeit a fairly substantial organisation) might well be managed as badly as the PO judging by the impression received when looking at the experience of other review type sites and publicly aired opinion that I see ... I think we all know the PO scandal would very likely be in a class of its own and I shouldn't have used it as a comparison ... I was simply (but erroneously) meaning that I suspect lots of major companies aren't run with the good of the customer at heart (but it's silly of me to even think that they might be).  However I accept my comment was ill judged.

PHK

I don't see how you can compare poor customer service (in your opinion) with the systematic prosecution of innocent people which led to jail time and  suicides! 

ButtersUK

PHK said:

I don't see how you can compare poor customer service (in your opinion) with the systematic prosecution of innocent people which led to jail time and  suicides!

I've addressed that above. Why isn't that sufficient for you?  What are you hoping to gain by repeating the point?. Jumping on bandwagons isn't always entirely convincing and in this case you've nothing further to gain.

I think we've covered the point unless you want to keep the thing going a bit longer?

PHK

This is a public forum where members give their opinions. You have no right to decide what members can and cannot post. 

As for jumping on a bandwagon!

oldernonethewiser

Years ago had a terrible time with o2 customer service where they continually lied to me. 

Currently back with them despite myself as they offer the best solution for my needs. 

Three customer service were very helpful anytime I needed to speak to them. 

Lebara are, in my experience, laughably bad but cheap. 😉

Frozen_up_north

The MVNOs (Giffgaff, Smarty, 1p Mobile, etc.) tend to offer better deals than the four main networks if you want 30 day rolling PAYG style contracts. Call centre staff cost a lot of money, so "good customer service" comes at a price... Giffgaff are a Which? recommended supplier and while contact is sometimes a little long winded via email, they are owned by Telefonica (O2) and use the O2 network. We have one phone on Giffgaff and another on 1p Mobile, the latter currently include the Channel Islands and the IOM in their EU roaming, something of a rarety.

tinker411

PHK said:

I don't see how you can compare poor customer service (in your opinion) with the systematic prosecution of innocent people which led to jail time and  suicides! 

Quite, trotting out the Post Office (we all, well most of us, know what happened there) as a comparison to iffy customer service from a mobile provider was a bit of a double take moment to say the least.

That dramatic comparison aside, I have a feeling I know what the OP is after so I'll say this:

Customer service is easy to provide. Good customer service - not so much. General consensus would probably be that UK call centre = good, while 'overseas' call centre = bad. As someone who's been around the block and back again when it comes to mobile providers that's not necessarily the case.

For example, when I was on EE, they still had some overseas call centres alongside their UK ones - however the UK ones would routinely lie about stuff I knew for a fact they could do, while Indian staff wouldn't lie but would need encouragement to look through the system (the amount of times I had Indian staff say 'I didn't know that was there' was quite a bit) and then resolve my query. Stories I could tell you... So much so I'd never go back to EE direct, there's not enough money in the world.

Three - as long as it wasn't too technical I always found them helpful, particularly via Live Chat. The infamous DD issue comes to mind, and splitting the difference when it came to tariff changes was always positive.

O2 - have used them before on PAYG, and other than them constantly calling me Mr (my first name) rather than (my first name) or Mr (my surname) it wasn't the worst experience. Only thing they'd lie about was their coverage. 

Sometimes there's no logic in it - Vodafone, truly terrible. Talkmobile (fully owned and operated by Vodafone), surprisingly good. If it wasn't for Vodafone's shocking coverage here I'd be fine with Talkmobile.

Having said all that, I think (like most on here I'd imagine) that in general my preference is for smaller minimum terms. Currently have a 30 day sim on iD mobile (don't mention changing tariff), a 12 month sim on O2 (where it's remarkably easy to change tariff, haven't had to speak to PAYM customer service as yet though), and a PAYM 24 month contract/upgrade on iD (this started out as a 30 day sim too, but having gotten used to the customer service I took the plunge for a decent handset offer, and things are holding so far).

As this post has got rather long now I think I'll leave it there

ButtersUK

All the above responses acknowledged with good heart.Thank you.