The chronicles of a customer: Volume 6 (How many Vodafone employees does it take to answer a customer query?)
I’m going to keep this blog short as I have learned from experience that any time spent complaining about mobile operators is time NOT well spent since it falls on totally deaf ears!!! But I do have a burning question I would love an answer to, and that is, “How many Vodafone employees does it take to answer a customer query?”
Well let’s see. I realised on Saturday night that I could not make or receive calls on my iPhone, nor could I send or receive texts. Why I wondered?
The answer according to Vodafone tech support, after one hour of playing around with the iPhone, and restoring it to factory settings, is, “We have no clue”.
The answer according to staff at the Vodafone store on Oxford Street is, “Many people are having this problem right now, one of the masts are clearly down”. Why I was not informed about this before spending one hour on the phone? Well apparently “The Vodafone systems are not up to date and we often know something is wrong because customers come in to the store and complain”. Aha … Since my phone miraculously worked in the store I asked if there was a reason for that “No”, but a change of sim card was going to solve the problem. The minute I came home, despite my brand new sim card, the phone stopped working again.
Back to Vodafone phone support “All ten masts are working perfectly – we have no clue why the phone is not working, and why the store would say our systems are not up to date”. Their solution to me trying to access my voice mail from a land line is to send me a pin number, yes you have guessed it, to my phone. The irony of solving people’s broken
phone problems with a text was completely lost on Vodafone tech support, and the interest of feeding this problem back to the organisation was 0%!
Back to the Vodafone store to see why the change of sim card did not work, where a slightly annoyed employee tells me this is a widespread problem, “And I really have to wait”. All of a sudden the phone works again, but I’m still ensured there is no booster in the store.
At this point all I want to know is, do I keep my phone, or do I buy a new one? But the answer is apparently to wait.
This morning the phone is still not working, so off to Vodafone store on Marylebone High street I go. Qu’elle surprise the phone works again, and I’m informed that the stores do indeed have boosters. I’m the second customer today that has been in the store with the same problem, and the new theory is that, “Vodafone is testing the 4G service for the Olympics and that is having an effect on 3G signals”. For how long? No one apparently knows, nor do they know if using a different smart phone would make a difference… and oh yeah, it could still be my phone.
So the answer to, “How many Vodafone employees it take to answer a customer query?” is clearly, it makes no difference as each and one of them will give you a different answer.
But like most things broken in an organisation, it should not be blamed on the foot soldiers but on the management of the organisation. So here is what I recommend Vodafone does find a consistent answer to.
- Where is the feedback loop from the stores to Vodafone tech support? One thinks they may be able to learn something from the people on the ground.
- Where is the internal communication? If in fact this is caused by 4G being tested, why has this not been communicated to everyone at Vodafone to ensure proper customer support.
- Where is the proactivity? If testing of anything is to take place that may affect my service, where is my e-mail informing me of that fact so I can avoid spending hours trying to find an answer, and so I can plan ahead?
- Where is the logical thinking? How can the only solution to receiving information in any way related, or caused by, a broken phone be by text, I mean really?
- Where is the internal training of staff? If I, the least technical person in the world, can figure out from two trips to the store that they may have a booster – how come this is not common knowledge.
- Where is the consistency? I think this point is self explanatory to anyone reading this blog.
- Where is the reliable information? I still have no clue what to do. What I do know I can’t do however, is make a phone call or text.
- But more than anything I would like to know where my three hours spent on the phone to Vodafone, and in their stores, are and can I please get them back?
Thank God I’m off to Amsterdam with Jonathan MacDonald this evening to deliver on a project, finally someone who actually understand mobile to give me a straight answer!!!!
P.S I should have known I would not be able to keep this short – it’s a Mobile operator story after all
Previously published chronicles of a customer
The chronicles of a customer: Volume 1 (companies saving the best deals for new customers)
The chronicles of a customer: Volume 2 (companies ensuring life is admin hell!)
The chronicles of a customer: Volume 3 (don’t accuse a customer of lying)
The chronicles of a customer: Volume 4 (we are people, yes even on-line)
The chronicles of a customer: Volume 5 (A reward is not a favour!)

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