[SuperFlyTmobileGuy]

A quick guide I knocked up to benefit customers and employees.....


Where possible, please try to be sober and not be on any kind of drug when you call.

Also please refrain from eating anything while talking to us on the phone. The sound of you chewing in our ears is revolting.

If English is not your first language, please have someone with you who speaks it very well. Do not try to wing it with basic 'pidgin' English. Trying to explain terms and conditions to someone who doesn't speak our language is damn near impossible.

Live with the fact that some policies and conditions cannot be lifted, bent or overlooked, even in exceptional cases, certainly not by frontline staff, supervisors or even the MD of Tmobile himself.

If you want to speak to a supervisor, manager or whatever, Tmobile have a policy for them to call you back within 2 hours. This is not a fob-off, this is one of our policies.

If you think the person you are speaking to won't make a record of your call, ask them to make some kind of change to your account. For example, ask them to add a feature (such as a text bundle) but then change your mind. You won't be charged anything for it and by making a change to your account, an unremoveable note is place on your account identifying the person you're speaking to.

When you call up and we ask you for your number, we mean the number your enquiry is about.

If you don't have a Tmobile number, please do not give us your Vodafone, o2, Orange or 3 number. We do not have access to their records and in the 18 months I've been with the company, I'm still mystified as to why people still do this.

You can only upgrade to a new phone in the last month of your contract. Regardless of what you tell us other networks have supposedly offered you, there are NO exceptions to this.

If you have constantly paid your bills late and spend little over your line rental each month, please do not be surprised if at upgrade you're not able to get the latest all-singing all-dancing phone for free.

If you cancel your contract mid-term for whatever reason, there is a 99.99999% likelihood that you will have to pay an early termination fee which will be equal to the remaining line rental of the contract.

We don't keep copies of text messages you've sent or received.

We don't keep a record of numbers which have text or phoned you.

[Ben]

Thanks, there's some interesting information in there.

On the last two - I would imagine that T-Mobile does log information relating to text messages and numbers. I believe that they may even be required to by law. However, this information is apparently not available to staff, front line at least.

On the subject of the first three points, unfortunately these are just things that a call centre operative has to learn to deal with. Of course customers should be courteous, and it's in their best interests to be if they want to receive an operatives full attention, but on language issues in particular sometimes it falls on the member of staff to cater to the customers requirements.

It's nice to see a few references to strong policies in there. Policies are important, and should always be enforced. Customers may be peeved that they can't speak to that supervisor right away, but they will appreciate a definitive structure providing T-Mobile keeps their end of the bargain.

[miffed]

Where possible, please try to be sober and not be on any kind of drug when you call.

Have you ever called a Telco's CS ??? if you didn't feel the need for drink and drugs at the start of the call you certainly will do after hearing the entire hold music CD 5+ times !!



Also please refrain from eating anything while talking to us on the phone. The sound of you chewing in our ears is revolting.

Simple soloution here - DON'T KEEP US ON THE LINE LONG ENOUGH TO GET HUNGRY





If English is not your first language, please have someone with you who speaks it very well. Do not try to wing it with basic 'pidgin' English. Trying to explain terms and conditions to someone who doesn't speak our language is damn near impossible.

Please excuse that one - but to be fair , when you phone a UK networks CS line , the last thing you expect to hear is another Englishman / woman !



Live with the fact that some policies and conditions cannot be lifted, bent or overlooked, even in exceptional cases, certainly not by frontline staff, supervisors or even the MD of Tmobile himself.



"Lifes not so rigid anymore" eh :confused: ....sounds like it is to me !

[SuperFlyTmobileGuy]

Have you ever called a Telco's CS ??? if you didn't feel the need for drink and drugs at the start of the call you certainly will do after hearing the entire hold music CD 5+ times !!



Simple soloution here - DON'T KEEP US ON THE LINE LONG ENOUGH TO GET HUNGRY

Are either of those the fault of the customer service agents?



Please excuse that one - but to be fair , when you phone a UK networks CS line , the last thing you expect to hear is another Englishman / woman !

Well I'm sorry I'm not English (which you so obviously want when you speak to us) but I'm Welsh and Tmobile only have UK callcenters.


"Lifes not so rigid anymore" eh :confused: ....sounds like it is to me !

So you expect Tmobile as a company to bend its policies just to suit you?

[Hands0n]

If I may inject my own personal opinions into this interesting topic.

Let me state at the outset that I have, to date, found the T-Mobile CS staff friendly, knowledgeable and helpful, even if they cannot actually help me!! That goes a long way, believe me.

It is always amusing how the (mis)use of the English language can cause so many problems. Often the actual phrase used will either contribute to or prevent the misunderstanding in the first place.

For example;


When you call up and we ask you for your number, we mean the number your enquiry is about.

Why not, then, ask for precisely the information that you require - "Please tell me the mobile phone number your enquiry is about". Job done :) The onus is then on the Customer understanding that plain English question. To the contrary, asking "What is your number?" is likely to produce a highly variable result - I'd offer my National Insurance number maybe :D Or I might take great offence and proclaim "I am a person, not a number......"

I did a stint as an Approved Driving Instructor, between careers :eek:, and the necessity to speak in plain, clear, concise and understandable English became abundantly apparent very quickly. For example, telling a trainee to "At the roundabout go straight across....." could very well prove life-threatening. As could "Watch your speed" or any number of commonplace expressions. Clearer examples would be "At the roundabout take the second exit, going straight ahead" and "Check your speed now".

In situations of stress (such as calling a CS team with a problem, or learning to drive a car) the 'victim' often will react literally to a prompt. It is incumbent, then, upon the person in charge of the situation to communicate clearly and effectively, limiting all chance of ambiguity in the exchange.

As a CS Black Belt (Customer Grade) I have encountered the extremes of excellent and most dire. I have to say that, for the greater part, the UK-based centres are easier to communicate with. The off-shore CS operations are generally shambolic and ineffective, to be entirely polite.

I also find that the attitude of the CS operator has a great bearing on the resulting experience (for both). One who is having a bad day often gives it out over the phone and the experience becomes stressful for both parties. In such circumstances I usually clear down and call back, hoping to speak with someone having a better day.

I wonder if it is entirely heretical :D to suggest that Call Centres have a policy of taking off the desk those who are having a bad day and giving them duties that are not Customer-facing for the rest of their shift. As a friend of mine is inclined to state in such circumstances "Who gave you permission to put your s*** into my day?" - and of course, I know that particular door swings both ways.

[SuperFlyTmobileGuy]

Why not, then, ask for precisely the information that you require - "Please tell me the mobile phone number your enquiry is about". Job done :)

I hear ya :D

My exact opening is "Welcome to Tmobile, my name is xxxx, can I take the number you're enquiring about please" but still the message fails to get across on times...

[getti]

I have had great CS from T-Mobile 99% of the time. Always able to help with any questions and are polite. Just came off the phone from thhem about changing my billing date as my bill needs paying on the 18th every month but i dont get paid until the 25th of thge month.

Was onl hold for about 2 minutes and it was all sorted for me. New billing date 26th of the month. I pay the day i get paid anyway but it was that (If you pay late dont expect the latest best upgrade deals) that got me worried so i thought i better change the billing date.

The only time i had bad service was when i got a call from the finance team about my account. My bill was 2 days overdue and i got a call from someone and it went like this


T-Mob: Can i speak to Mr Carter please?

Me: Speaking

T-Mob: I am calling from T-Mobile financial department about your outstanding balance on your account of £51.34

Me: Oh yes, i emailed you 3 weeks ago explaning that i get paid on the 25th of every month and said i was going to pay on my card on the 25th when my wages clear, and said i did ask if it was possible to change my billing date by a few days

T-Mob: So you wont be making payment today?

Me: No i have said though that my money clears on Wednesday so i will pay over the phone then

T-Mob: Ok i have noted that you will pay wednesday......

Then he just hung up on me. Nothing about me asking about changing my billing date, just when they will get their money and hang up.


That really made me mad how he was just rude by wanting payment and hanging up. They have been back in my good books though by someone in CS adding the free weekend and evening calls promotion by mistake when i should not have been getting it lol.

Talking about CS (this time on 3).... at work we have a good laugh at the email team because it is so predictable. I email them a simple question on the My3 site and even put i dont have access to my phone yet so please can it be sorted with out me calling them.

I can say word for word here what happens to that.


2-3 days later you get a phone call from 3CS..... if you dont answer you get this message (word for word! check if you like)

Hello this is 'xxxxxx' calling from 3 customer services in regards to an email we have received from a Mr Daniel Carter.

Please contact 3 customer services by calling 333 from your handset or 08707-330-333 from a landline.

Thank you, goodbye


When in work i had a voicemail come through from 3 and i spoke to the staff in store and said 'i bet this is what they say'. I then checked the voicemail and it was word for word what i just said. Had us laughing all day!

Back on topic about T-Mobile CS... apart from that 1 call the CS have been great and i have praised them on many occasions

[miffed]

Oh , I agree 100% T-mobile CS is excellent , always found them helpful and freindly - and pretty much always solved any problems immedietely

Best CS of any network at the moment in my opinion