[Trix]

Ok Ive just had quite a horrendous experience trying to cancel my new contract with 3 (as they sent me a faulty handset)

Its taken me 3 days, 15-20 plus phone calls, being cut off several times, being passed from department to department because the person I had reached couldn’t help me, and then finally being told that they couldn’t cancel my contact because the contract wasn’t actually with 3???

Apparently I had mysteriously – from the 3 website – brought my phone from a 3rd party dealer in Kentish Town, and the contract would have to be cancelled with them. The only problem being, the number they gave me to call had an automated service giving me 5 options, 4 of which caused the line to go dead, and the fifth took me back to the off shore 3 call centre, where they would tell me again that they could not cancel the contract and would give me the original telephone number that I had just called (maddening!)

Even the boys at the 3 shop had washed their hands of me, saying that as the phone had been brought online, there was nothing they could do. They could only help if I had brought the handset in the shop, as the shops and the rest of 3 were two separate companies?

I have never ever had such a stressful experience, and poor customer service from any other company, and have realised that maybe it is better to pay a little more, and get a better service

So in your opinion, who is the best network for providing quick and efficient customer service and why?

[Ben]

First off, very sorry to hear about your experience. How infuriating. Do you have any tips for anyone else who purchases via the Three website and then tries to cancel only to be told they purchased through a third party?


So in your opinion, who is the best network for providing quick and efficient customer service and why?

Ok, well, strictly on customer service, T-Mobile seem to be quite highly thought of in the eyes of their customers that I've encountered. They also have their new priceplan Flext coming out which seems to be excellent value. I've never experienced them personally. Virgin, being a T-Mobile virtual network, are rated excellently for customer service so they might be worth a look.

Orange CS has always been fine for me, provided you don't ask anything special of them. They've been good to me more times than they've been bad, but they're stingy.

Vodafone has also been good to me, very good infact, though Vodafone does seem more prone to cockups, thus rendering acceptable CS as somewhat of a requirement.

I've heard plenty of bad things about O2 and, now including your experience, Three.

[3GScottishUser]

Nothing surprises me about 3 ..... been there ... done it..... bought the tee-shirt.

It's not funny really.

I had to call Vodafone CS tonight because I could not send SMS. The CSA was really good and she suggested resetting my account and that required me to switch off the phone for 15 minutes and was reassuring as she asked that if the solution did not work I call them back on 191 (free) ASAP. I did exactly as was asked and - problem solved. Brilliant service!

[solo12002]

I use Virgin and have to admit I love their CS staff, I have always found them to be most helpful anytime I needed them.I hate their bites site no useful information there

I use o2 for work and have to say to date I have only had to phone them twice, however I hate this press 1 press 2 etc and its off putting.

Three I use solely for pay as you go, I did have a contract with them and found the mobile dint work, the only reason why I am currently with them is because I got a dam cheap N70 on E bay and Im hoping it can be unlocked at some time. Three CS and suppport is CRAP, their home screen at times looks like a porn site, and limit on the sites you can visit.

Orange Ive not used since the days of buy a £50 top up and call charges fall by half.

Vodafone Ive not used for some time, odd time Ive used a PAYG sim card to use there 3G network and funny enought my NHS Trust is switching from them to o2 next month.

While T-Mobile have the new plans Ben spoke about, Ive found you are tied into 18 month contract, it currently looks like you cant get a 3G mobile with it and they have started to charge for voicemail,the other thing is I dont know of anyone whos on the network for personnal use.Even some of the online price plans from O2 and Vodafone beat them downside you have to buy your own mobile which most of us posters on here tend to do, plus side you can cancel after 30 days, the o2 ones gives you free voice mail cheper call charges and ITS which is cheaper rates for roaming. also worth looking at vodafones offers for a sim only.

if I was asked form a contract point of view who I would go with it would have to be either o2 or vodafone, due to the price plans, services offered on their 3G and support.

[Hands0n]

Sorry I'm a bit late to the party :p but I was away for a while .... but this can't go without a few words from moi :D

First up, I suppose the big thing to consider is what you as an individual want out of Customer Service - I know what I want and expect, and I have traditionally found that the response can vary from excellent, fully meeting expectation and need, to being totally inept and inadequate.

If I go in the order that I have used CS over the past few years .....

Orange: Quite good really, empathetic and responsive. Quite importantly they seem to have some flexibility and licence to make adjustments and repair situations on their own volition. Very little evidence of their CS operators slavishly operating to a script. They appear to be well trained and versed in their roles, with good back up from their 2nd line support. Overall I have only had resonably good experiences with this team.

3: Dire, utterly dire. Fixed responses quite obviously limited to a script. Zero empathy with the Customer's plight. No flexibility of approach, if "the computer says no" then that's it, you're stuffed. No apparent licence to make decisions based on the Customer's needs and wishes. Poorly trained in the subject, lack of knowledge of product and service, quite often giving out incorrect information such as phone numbers (Trix already found that out). Apparent reluctance to allow the customer to speak with Retentions for cancellation purposes. Poor quality comms, frequent call cut offs require the Customer to call back and start all over again from scratch indicating that they are not making good and proper use of their [iirc] Peoplesoft CRM system (surely the whole point of having it in the first place!). 3's CS ruin what could otherwise be a reasonable Customer experience of the organisation and its product by simply not "being there" when the Customer most needs it to be; that is, when things go wrong.

Vodafone: Par excellent, and as Ben says - that is necessary as things can and do go wrong with their stuff. But the acid test is in how efficiently their CS can put things right, and for my money that is about 100% of the time - surely one cannot ask more of a CS function. Example; I hate football, but for the past two months I've been billed £5 for their Premier coverage on Live! I called their CS in Feb, they credited me the £5. The March bill had another £5 and it turned out that the subscription had rolled forward another month before I had the opportunity to cancel it via the handset - so Voda's CS credited me the £5 for March, checked their system to make sure it was indeed cancelled and thats it, job done. So, in my time of need they responded correctly and appropriately to get the Customer satisfied.

O2: A confusing array of support numbers to call. Bought handset from O2 Online which means that there is a dedicated 0870 (!!) number to call that is different from that which is published on their papers sent with the handset. You have to call the wrong 0870 (!!) number first, pay O2 for the privilege of being told you are on the wrong number and then call the correct one that they give you in their annoucement. Now, they already know you're on the wrong 0870 (!!) number because their computer knows which mobile number you are calling from - so why can't it automatically put you through to their Online CS with a smiley friently "Please wait while we connect you"? Okay, strike one to O2 - that is all as plainly silly as any Monty Python sketch. It put my back up before I'd even got to a selection menu, poor start. Getting through to the right 0870 (!!) number I then get the chance to choose an option - get this right or you'll be making a fresh call to that 0870 (!!) number. The CS operators (now that we've actually got through to one) seem to be fairly efficient and flexible in their approach to problem solving. They have a reasonable 2nd line support line to refer to - all the while keeping you holding on to this chargeable 0870 (!!) number - and the info they get back solved our issues and problems. Dealing with them was straightforward and pleasant, the problems being resolved to the Customer's satisfaction.

So, in summary - I think that Vodafone's CS is probably the best of the bunch that I have had to deal with. I have not had any personal dealings with T-Mobile or any of the MVNOs from a CS point of view.

I'd follow Vodafone with Orange. Then would come O2 but I really detest having to pay for CS calls. Finally, if I really had to vote for them would come 3's CS - and I'd rather be sitting at home pressing rusty needles into my eyes than endure their rendition of Customer Services.

[3GScottishUser]

Heres my 2p worth (based on personal experience).

3 UK - Horrific. Indian call centre is hard to communicate with and operators I have spoken to have told me things that are not accurate or helpfiul. Connections drop and they dont you back most times (unless you happen to be connected to retentions). Glasgow is better but hard to get access to. Overall 3's customer service is a disgace and one of the reasons so many have dumped this shower.

02 - I have had very good service from them. My last request for a 3G SIM Card was mis-understood initially but once clarified they did go out of their way to both call me back and satisfy my requirements. I am impressed as I am a low spender on 02 (back up phone) but that did not figure in terms of their attention.

Orange - I finished my last contact in Q1 2005 and had some great service from the well informed and efficient staff at Orange. I recall being called back with solutions when they could not help instantly. I moved on for price reasons but recall fast and efficient customer service from Orange and would have no hesitation returning.

Vodafone - Wow.... They have to be the benchmark for excellence for customer service. They make you feel special and wanted as a customer. They listen and try to solve issues and call you back if they cant solve problems instantly. Better still when they solve a problem they call you and ask if their solution has been sucessful and to check you are satisfied. The type of customer service commitment Vodafone deliver is well worth a litle extra on the rental especially if you want honest advice when things go wrong. I lost my phone for a few days and called Vodafone. They blocked the number and suggested a contract replacement at £250. When I told them it was too expensive they suggested getting a 3G PAYG handset and they could supply a free replacement SIM to continue my contract. I have yet to experience better customer consideration and it'll be hard to leave Vodafone after that experience. Happily I found my handset!!

T-Mobile - Can't comment, never used them!!

[miffed]

I have Accounts with everyone Orange, T-mobile , Vodafone and O2

In order of satifaction (starting from Best)

O2 - I can phone o2 CS safe in the knowledge that I will be put through to someone helpful and they WILL solve my problem , can't really ask for more than that !

T-mobile - Again , friendly , quick , helpful - and they seem to get the job done

Orange - used to be my favourite , but now , all of a sudden a call to Orange involves a hell of a lot of waiting around to be put through to someone who sounds like they don't want to talk to me ( Brings back memories of Three :( )

Vodafone - Sorry to be crude , but In my experience Vodafone's CS has been absolute crap ! They put me on the wrong tarriff originally , which put me out of pocket to the tune of £56 per month - (fair enough , these things happen ) but there is no reason why this should have taken nearly 6 months to correct !
And to add insult to injury , when making the 100+ calls to CS to correct the matter I had to endure
- Reps answering the phone reading a script , explaining that their system was down , and they could only deal with general enquirys ( every day for about 2 weeks , although I was assured this was just "bad luck" with my cll timing and that the system was only ever down for a couple of hours at a time

- Reps (on four different occasions) seeming to understand , sympathise , admit liability , and informing me they were "putting it right" while I was actually on the phone - then , when the next bill came through , finding nothing had been changed , then , when I rang CS again and quoted the Reps Full name they denied having any employee of that name ( 4 times !!)

- A particalur rep (welsh guy ) who found the whole thing very funny and sniggered all the way through the call, then hung up when I asked to speak to his superior

- Then coming on here to here you lot saying how great Vodafone CS is !! :mad: :( :)

I guess it's just me they don't like :(