Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

This is a rant 

Do you ever find yourself lamenting at how the state of "call centre culture" has been allowed to develop unfettered where nobody is accountable and the customer is treated with corporate contempt?

Well here's my little tale of woe that is yet to be rectified by our friends at O2.

As many of my friends on here will know Mrs Handheld and I have been using iPhones since just before the last Handheld Learning conference albeit via an alternative network provider than the one specified in the UK, i.e. O2. There were a number of very good reasons for this which are not relevant to this story but not least of which was, at the time, poor reception where we live.

On arrival of the spanking new 3G iPhone we thought it was the time to do the right thing and having picked up one each at the local Carphone Warehouse we decided after 15 years paying on average £175 per month to Orange, without incident, that we would switch to O2.

I called Orange the day we got the iPhones. They said they were sorry to lose our custom but the PAC (Port Authorisation Code) numbers were with us within 3 days.

On the day the PAC numbers arrived I called O2 to arrange the transfer so that we could get our gleaming new iPhones up and running. On authorising my phone their was no problem according to the very pleasant voice (Danielle) on the other end of the phone. The transfer of my number from Orange to O2 would happen on Friday.

However the lady at the end of the phone informed me that O2's security team had placed a "bar" on Mrs Handheld's account and the customer service representative said she would arrange for a member of their team to call me at 8:00 am to explain what the problem might be.

I waited for the call the next day, keen to resolve, whatever matter it might be. Living in a "leafy enclave between Deptford and Peckham" does occasionally have its challenges although I did a credit agency check and we came up peachy on all the main ones including Equifax whom O2 use. The call never came so I called O2 again. This time I spoke with another nice person (Joe) who said he was mystified about the problem as there was nothing on record about Mrs Handheld's account and so authorised the transfer.

All good.

So I thought...



Friday came and at 13:00 precisely I lost my service on Orange. I didn't get any service on O2.

I waited until the following morning until calling O2 to find out what was going on, after all we had already been billed for the first month. Now when you called my original number you simply got a continuous tone. If you called the "temporary number" it reported that the number was no longer working. In short no phone.

So it was Saturday morning (all of it) that I was sent from department to department whilst sitting on the end of an 0870 number to discover that after transferring my number that had been with Orange for 15 years (count them)  to O2 their security team had, in fact, put a bar on my number. After several lengthy conversations, I was "escalated" several times, it turned out that O2's customer prevention squad had actually barred my new account before the transfer. So O2 had effectively transferred my perfectly working number so they could cut me off immediately. At no point did they call me or make any attempt to contact me before this happened. It's odd also that they didn't flag this "problem" before invoicing me or taking my money at Carphone Warehouse   

Ok, so mistakes happen. Just lift the bar and we can all be friends.

Apparently not. O2's security team only work office hours so not at the weekend just the hours when I'm working so therefore quite inconvenient for me to spend yet more time on an 0870 number arguing the toss about their cavalier attitude to new customers. I'm then informed by a soothing voice who to be fair was trying to help (Melanie) that I must fax (not email!) copies of Mrs Handheld's and my:

passport
bank statement
utility bill

Once they received these on Monday morning they would be reviewed and we would be contacted within 24 hours, although I'm not sure on what number!

Whilst I received a scripted apology for the situation at no point did I receive an acceptance that I had been treated badly by O2. Clearly the customer service people are carefully trained to never admit company responsibility even when a customer is clearly treated appallingly.

So here I am, 2 3G iPhone's raring to go. The phone number I've had for as long as I can remember mobile phones transferred to the void and cut-off.

I'm also revisiting iPhone unlocking services (£29.99) given that this experience show's first-hand how bad monopolies are and why Apple's decision to use a single operator is a poor one for its loyal customers.

I'll update you on my progress when I get some.

Anybody else have an experience like this?

Hi Graham - doesn't sound like a nice start to the contract. If you don't want to pay 0871 number calls you can try 02 customer services on  0113 3069265.

This site http://www.saynoto0870.com/ is really useful for avoiding the cost of calling people who you are actually already paying for a service (don't get me started .

Good Luck!

Stu

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Well so far nothing from O2.

When I faxed over the 11 pages of requested documentation at the weekend (£1 per page to fax from Staples!) I did include a very polite letter requesting that they expedite the removal of the bar given the circumstances above. Also the last customer service person I spoke to on the Saturday did say that she would personally contact the O2 security people in an attempt to expedite matters. It's funny how when you're in the right and you've been royally messed about by an organisation that you still end up prostrating yourself just to get a little service yet so far it appears to have not done a jot of good.

I'll wait a little longer before publishing the letter and correspondence 

So currently I've still lost my original number (of over 15 years with Orange!) but am enjoying a Vodafone SIM (new number unfortunately) that is working in my 2G iPhone which will soon be finding it's way into a 3G one...