Sep 12 2008
O2’s Response (Part One?)
Following on from the stupid and pointless problems I had with the O2 Experience Store – more specifically its sister store at the top of Grafton Street and O2’s customer service department – I am giving time to their response yesterday, which I hope is the first reply before a further more considered follow up.
Firstly, I don’t want to seem petty. The root of my problem is simply a missing power cable for a Mac, so why am I blowing it all out of proportion, you might ask. Had I received decent customer service and had someone in O2 actually tried to help me sort out my problem when I first went to them, this entire fiasco wouldn’t even be a footnote on my blog. As it is, I had to resort to raised voices, almost an hour of standing around and waiting in-store and dealing with a ridiculous number of different people (gradually working my way up the chain of command) before gaining any satisfaction from O2.
Furthermore, just to illustrate the timeline and how this has escalated, it is now eleven days since I first went looking for my missing cable and only yesterday did I get a proper level of customer service from the company in the form of two telephone calls.
Yesterday morning, Thursday 11th, I received a phone call from O2’s Customer Service operative, John (his name may have been Patrick and I apologise for the vagueness but I was in work and dealing with some other things at the same time as his phone call). John apologised for not getting back to me sooner, but he had just received my email that morning (I sent it on Monday 8th). He apologised for the issues I encountered and assured me that one of the managers from the stores on Grafton Street would be in contact with me during the day. He was very pleasant and seemed genuinely apologetic and regretful for the experience I had. I thanked him and continued working.
Later in the day, Garreth, the actual manager from the O2 Store (50 Grafton Street) rang me. This is the same man I dealt with last at the O2 Store after working my way through two of his staff members and one faux-manager (Shane). He was very cheery and asked me about my day and if I was busy in work, etc. The small talk was pointless, but I understand he was trying to be contrite, so I played along.
He asked if Mactivate rang me back to sort out my issue last week. I pointed out that I did not get a return call from Mactivate but had to chase them up myself in order to get the power cable. He knew this already. So too, he knew that I had arranged a courier to collect the cable from Mactivate in Blanchardstown. He said that I should not have had to incur this cost (a wonderful exercise in stating the obvious) and that he would reimburse me for the cost of the courier, if I brought a receipt in to him. He also said he would come to some other arrangement regarding compensation for the hassle. I thanked him and accepted his offer to pay for the courier.
I then asked him if I would receive any further response regarding the other issues I mentioned in my email. He was unaware of the extent of my email and asked me to elaborate. I regaled him with my experience at his store with his staff and of their attitude and their reluctance to help me. He was unaware of these parts of my complaint, which bothered me because it was the bad attitudes and lack of customer service that annoyed me far more than the simple cost of a courier (as I write this I receive a fax from the courier firm we use with a copy invoice for €25.89). He said he would request the email and either come back to me on my other concerns. Again I thank him and now await a phone call or email with a satisfactory explanation for the apalling service.
Thus far, O2’s response has not been thorough and has taken far too long to resolve. I am happy that I received some satisfaction in the form of a genuine apology and an offer to pay for the courier. I am happy that they do realise the error in their ways. I appreciate they haven’t resorted to pointing the finger of blame at Mactivate, though I suspect the initial problem of a missing power cable did originate with them. Now I await a proper reply from O2, which might give some explanation as to how their staff could be so rude to me (and to other customers). I would also like to know why I had to get so angry, loud and stubborn before I could get any resolution. I am a generally calm individual and try to avoid conflict, but because of something as stupid as a missing power cord, I have been dragged into this ongoing debacle. And I have no intention of resting until I get a satisfactory follow up.
Previous Post: O2, Oh Dear
Notes: Thank you to all the commenters on my previous post. It’s nice to see that people don’t think I’m being overly sensitive and do realise that I do have a genuine complaint. Thank you too to Damien for highlighting my issue.
Had this been three ireland
1. They would not have contacted you at all, ever never no !!!
2. You would then ring them to be faced with a babbling script monkey in Bombay who would read a script about SMS settings at you .
3. They would have accused you of losing the cable
4. They would threaten your credit rating for daring to question them .
Vodafone are as bad. I went into their store in Mahon Point S/C in Cork with the wife recently to get a spare battery and they just ignored both of us completely for a good five minutes, not a word or a nod of the head to indicate they’d be with us shorty or even acknowledge our existance. Then one of them answered the phone in preference to dealing with us. It’s an incredibly ignorant way to run a retail business.
adam
Ah, customer service.
I know all the lines as I’ve used a few of them myself over time, but they’re all bullshit.
Anything except “Sorry we made a mistake, how can I make it right?” is rubbish.
You weren’t wrong or over sensitive.
The customer is not always right, but you were here.
@JohnK 😆 @4.
@Adam I’ll save my rant at Vodafone for another day. I’m a Vodafone customer for 8 years and they cut me off without warning a few months ago for being late on one bill payment (I forgot). Why am I not on Direct Debit? Because when I was a few years back, they took double each month and had no record of it. Argh! *breathe*
@Maxi Thank you. I’d hate to come across as one of those unreasonable customers. But in this situation my blood boiled.
I’m actually an O2 customer because Vodafone are so bad. 🙂
adam
Darren,
Nice one. And with the Mulley-nator rowing in as well. And to think that only a year ago you didn’t know your blog from your elbow.
😉
One thing I would say in very small defence of the staff in O2 Grafton st (the one nearer the green) is that the store is awful and must be unpleasant to work in. It’s poky, badly laid out and they have to run up and down a stairs outside to get anything and it is ALWAYS packed. I was in there last week to pick up a replacement charger and the tension was palpable among the customers and the staff. One customer was having an issue that would have been resolved by a “we’ll get a courier to bring it to you on Tues.” but the guy obviously didn’t think to say that or hadn’t the authority. I felt sorry for both parties.
Hey! Sorry to hear about your 02 fiasco… good to know you are getting them back (in a way) by blogging about their shittiness!One for the consumer, YEAH!!! (Be gods I sound like Eddie Hobbs. Whatever happened to him by the way?)
Em I was just looking back at old posts and comments (internet access is sporadic at best these days- boarding school, ya see! ) and you asked do I blog. No I don’t…I was thinking about setting up one for le craic but it seems quite scary and time consuming! And I don’t have much of the stuff at the moment what with ye old leaving cert! So basically I’m happy enough leaching off you and other bloggers’ creative talent!!!
@Daragh Yeah, that was a nice surprise. Fingers crossed I’ll get a final update from them today.
@Roseanne It is a damn awkward store alright. The lack of a single counter makes it tough to know who to go to. But even still, when a customer approaches you, there’s a polite way to respond and then there’s the O2 way.
@Pauric I’m glad we’re here for your vicarious enjoyment. Thank you for the comments – they are very much appreciated.
Not entirely unrelated, a lot of very unhappy people since O2 decided to restructure their upgrade policies, to the detriment of customers. They’ll be losing me if they don’t change them back anyway, and I’d imagine I won’t be the only one.
Upgrading with O2 (Pay Monthly)
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055376702
Upgrade gone
http://forums.o2online.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=1465
adam
It’s a power cable for christ’s sake