Your best and worst customer service experiences [rant & praise]

scamed_by_dvb

scamed_by_dvb wrote: »

Beware of dvbconsole (dvbconsole.com) also known as irishmodchips (irishmodchips.com) both of them are the same store run by the same person. This merchant is <snip>

He claims to sell wode jukebox wasabi DX supercard DSone DStwo and different accessories for Nintendo wii psp ds playstation etc.

Everything seems in stock on the website and he is prompt to respond by email to enquires before buying. After purchase there is no longer communication or delivery (although he claims "we can make sure our products hit your doorstep in 1 day" when shipping to Ireland or UK since he ships from Derry).

Over the course of 2 weeks I contacted him more than 10 times politely requesting delivery schedule and got no answer. When I asked to cancel my order and refund the money not only did not respond but also cancelled my access to the account in his store where you can see your order status. Again no response therefore I had to cancel my visa card since its details are unfortunately in dubious hands. Although his website seems respectable it is not a legit merchant.

I have <snip> close to £100 and had to cancel my visa card with al the consequent hassle.

I am weghing the possibility of filing a money claim order with the HMCS and I am looking for advice to what extent this will help me recover my money.

I am reporting his behavior in this forum so nobody else falls for this <snip> Particularly people in the UK or Ireland

XavierCrow wrote: »

Interestingly enough, I've had the same problem with dvbconsole over the supercard dstwoi. I emailed him once about the dstwo (before it was released) and he replied, explaining that it would be sometime in april before the cards are supposed to be released and sent out. Good so far.

Only... it's now almost july and I have no dstwoi card and no email response at all, despite sending two emails recently and my account info has disappeared too, just like your's.

Maybe there's been some sort've major problem with his servers or he's dead or something, but the lack of info is pretty bad. I'd be interested to see if anyone can successfully order ANYTHING from the site right now or even get an email.

Good luck getting your money back. For the moment I'm gonna wait to see if something happens. I bought my card with a 3V voucher, so I can't lose any more... may as well hope for the best.

EDIT: Sorry, I thought I had purchased a PS2 from them a couple of years back, but it was actually from modchipsireland.

XavierCrow,
I realize I am not the only one. I am afraid that we are not getting our money back. The person behind dvbconsole or irishmodchip has already spent our money. It is a very telling pattern. Ask repeatedly for your shipment and get your account deleted. I sent him several emails through his page and also directly to his hotmail account with no reply. I tell you he is not dead or isolated, has access to internet and is reading emails just check his entries in several forums. I would definitely advise anybody not to order anything unless they want to lose their money as has happened to me.

the_syco

scamed_by_dvb wrote: »

The person behind dvbconsole or irishmodchip has already spent our money.

Not your problem. Get your credit card to do a charge back, citing goods not received.

Miriam Seal

In my opinion a lot of retailers have forgotten we are in a recession and are still treating customers pretty shabbily. Ordered 2000.00 worth of appliances from Ikea last week, to be given delivery date 6th July. Rang yesterday morning to confirm they were coming, told date only provisional could be another few weeks after 6th. Asked for some to go get firm dates, and 2 days and 15 calls later I am still waiting for call back. Can't survive that long without appliances with two kids. Takeout only goes so far. Powercity almost as bad, cannot get through to shop , have to leave your no and rely on them calling you back, what a joke, waiting all day for call that never came.

DublinWriter

Miriam Seal wrote: »

In my opinion a lot of retailers have forgotten we are in a recession and are still treating customers pretty shabbily. Ordered 2000.00 worth of appliances from Ikea last week, to be given delivery date 6th July. Rang yesterday morning to confirm they were coming, told date only provisional could be another few weeks after 6th. Asked for some to go get firm dates, and 2 days and 15 calls later I am still waiting for call back.

Ikea subcontract their delivery service to a local Irish company.

MrPirate

I've been having problems with them too- and I've been with them for years! I have become so aggravated it's not funny anymore. I am often late paying the bill by about a 2 days or so, but - I get the text that I am going to be shut off in 48 hours AFTER the shut off, and the bill has been paid. I put my phone accidentally in the washing machine. Fine - had no phone for two months. But ordered one from China - great company - great customer service I have to say. I paid my bill, and I called them to tell them I had paid it DIRECT to Bank of IRELAND using THEIR Bill stub - guess what - they had it down that I hadn't paid it, canceled my number and everythign. I have animals up for sale, and such - and basically I've been calling every day - getting aggravated, and probably lost a fortune in sales. What gets me - is that the phoneworked- I paid the bill, and boom - it did not work. Then my contract not up till August, and I had paid for July and August, and was told that my number was cancelled altogether and I would have to go and get a new prepaid sim card - and it and I would have to top up - even though I was at this stage paid up July and August. On top of it all - Voice Mail is gone . I refuse to renew the contract, I did not buy the new phone from them. I am posting it all over FACEBOOK about the problems, which is not being fixed, despite several calls! I have it under Caprine Scene. They are totally screwed - which is the best one to go with now?

norrie rugger

norrie rugger wrote: »

Smyth's are currently completely ignoring me, in relation to a Playstation 3 issue.

norrie rugger wrote: »

My reply from Smyth's has arrived

dudara wrote: »

They have to offer a replacement, refund or repair. A refurbished unit is not a proper replacement in my eyes.

norrie rugger wrote: »

There are so many things wrong, with their reply, that I honestly do not know where to begin.
I am going to have to get someone more knowledgable, about things such as this, to take a look at it

dudara wrote: »

Start with the National Consumer Agency - see consumerconnect.ie for contact details

norrie rugger wrote: »

They just got back to me and bluntly said "take them to the small claims court"
He agreed that I am correct in expecting reasonable life cycle and their "warranty" is not above that. It will be up to the court registrar (or judge) to determine if my expection is actually reasonable

I have applied to the Small Claims Court, in relation to the above.
awaiting the response, from them, to the SCC registrar.

Finger crossed, as they have been giving more people than just me, the run around

grind gremlin

My WORST EVER customer service experience happened in Impulse Tattoo's in Maynooth. The piercer pierced my tongue at a 45 degree angle. When I got a second opinion by a reputable piercer he was horrified. He advised I should remove the piercing immediately and also photographed it.
I returned to the original piercer who refused to entrtain my complaint and stated that it is impossible to pierce any tonge straight. It took a few mins of arguing with her for her to begrudgingly refund half the cost to me. This is the state my tongue was in

tongue 004.jpg

eightyfish

I was trying to get the internet working for an elderly gentleman. Vodafone giving him the runaround. I called them many times and was told different information each time as described in this thread. HORRIBLE customer service. So annoyed. So much time wasted.

dogeyknees

Right, my 2 cents

Bad:
Axa: I will never entertain a quote from them again. They are a shower of useless gits who charge way too much just because of my gender. 12 years no claims and im still penalised. The missus who only has her full licence 4 years and already has more points and had a crash gets a much better quote.

Time Naas: Went once, never again. Bouncers were ignorant considering the place was empty.

Lillies: Went once, never again. Im 33, dress well, don't get drunk and im made feel like a piece of **** at the door by the goons. Only reason i went in was because my mate was celebrating his engagement. Never again.

Lough Rinn: Went to a wedding there and took 30 mins to check in, didn't get my room key 'til 10pm that night and had to go back to get my bag which was left in the lobby by itself even though i was told it was up in the room. No discount offered the next day or even an apology. Mailed their customer services and eventually got a response weeks later offering a discount if i came back. If im paying big bucks o stay somewhere, i expect it to be worth it.

Bloomfield House Hotel (mullingar): Terrible service & awful food. I gave it the benefit and thought i was unlucky until a mate recently booked to stay for 2 nights and left after 1.

Peploes: Again its not cheap so i expect good service. Booked and took the missus and had a 3 course within 30 mins as everything was rushed and we were made feel awkward so we could leave and they could fill the seats again.

Harvey Norman: I kitted out my house and needed a lot of furniture and electrical. They had a 'Sale' on so i gave them a visit but im not sure what their definition of Sale is. I had gotten prices from other retailers and they were way off including their 'discount' plus i found the sales guy condescending & obnoxious.

PC World: For some reason i have gone there more than once and every time i wished i didn't. Staff don't seem interested and do their best to avoid customers.

Halfords: same as above, seem to do anything possible to avoid interacting with customers. Don't bother going anymore, would rather go to the local motor factors.

Vortex in Dunshaughlin: Worst of the worst. Was at a 21st out there 12 years ago - we had rented a bus and my mate got on and then realised his jacket was inside. He got off to get it and because we had accounted for him before he got off, we thought everyone was onboard and left. Bouncers wouldn't let him in to get his jacket and when he went back after he realised the bus had gone, they wouldn't let him in to call a taxi. He started walking to Dunboyne to get to a phonebox but was killed by a car on route. I will never forgive those bouncers for not letting him call a taxi.

Good:
Marriot in Johnstown: Excellent staff and couldn't make you feel more welcome. I have gone back quite a few times and even sent the parents who also loved it.

Sheen Falls Lodge: Same as above, staff are unbelievable and really go out of their way to look after you.

Dublin Bus (well one driver, American guy): Fell asleep on the bus out to Sandyford Hall and ended up in Cornelscourt at the last stop. Driver woke me, asked me where i was living (Stepaside at the time), turned the bus and drove me all the way to my doorstep.

DID Electrical: Kitted out my house from them and the service was brilliant and saved a lot with their advice. Had a vac that was out of warranty but had died in warranty - just never bought it back until i was talking to the sales guy and he said he would see what he could do, he took it back and gave me credit to get another. Similar experience with a dishwasher - out of warranty and broke (my fault) they got it fixed for nothing.

B&Q: Professional and knowledgeable staff with excellent customer service. Bought a full kitchen and had some spare presses and parts that were lying around for months. Took them back to see if i could get something and got
a full refund, no questions asked. Likewise any problems i had with goods have always been resolved straight away.

AIB: Have banked with them since i was 13 and always done well for me. Really helped me to sort myself out when i got a bad paycut.

Genius: Good after sales service - ripped a new pair of jeans the first night i wore them and got a full refund because 'obviously they were defective'

Barretts/Maynooth Shower Services: Excellent staff, really well informed and are not trying to sell the most expensive shower - just what suits your needs.

Joaillerie du centre (Antwerp): Cannot praise this place enough. Spent weeks looking around Ireland & NI for an engagement ring for the missus (i would always try and buy Irish) and although a lot of the places were really nice (Boodles especially) the prices were quite high. Went over to Antwerp after emailing this place and others with what i was looking for and my price range. They were unbelievably professional, everything was shown and explained and they never once went outside my budget - wouldn't even show something that wasn't within my price range, unlike some Irish places which seemed to want to shame you into spending well outside what i was willing to spend. Missus picked our her diamond and then the ring and it was ready the next day plus it came in 300 euro under budget. She absolutely adores the ring and when we had it valued its turns out its worth nearly double what we paid. Will definitely be going back for our wedding rings.

ejmaztec

eightyfish wrote: »

I was trying to get the internet working for an elderly gentleman. Vodafone giving him the runaround. I called them many times and was told different information each time as described in this thread. HORRIBLE customer service. So annoyed. So much time wasted.

+1000000000000

Without a doubt, and taking into consideration every rotten business that I've ever dealt with, Vodafone Home Broadband is definitely number one on my list.

I never asked for them, and was forced into their hell-like realm when BT transferred my line to them at the beginning of the year.

If you're a masochist, sign up with them, and you'll never be disappointed.

Toto Wolfcastle

ejmaztec wrote: »

+1000000000000

Without a doubt, and taking into consideration every rotten business that I've ever dealt with, Vodafone Home Broadband is definitely number one on my list.

I never asked for them, and was forced into their hell-like realm when BT transferred my line to them at the beginning of the year.

If you're a masochist, sign up with them, and you'll never be disappointed.

This. Seriously lacking in the helpfulness department. None of them seemed to have a clue what was going on. Well, apart from a couple of helpful people.

The internet came back yesterday and then we got a phone call last night (after pleading 2 days ago for an update) saying that they are still trying to work on it and that we should call back on Monday. They still think it's down. :rolleyes:

cullen5998

grind gremlin wrote: »

My WORST EVER customer service experience happened in Impulse Tattoo's in Maynooth. The piercer pierced my tongue at a 45 degree angle. When I got a second opinion by a reputable piercer he was horrified. He advised I should remove the piercing immediately and also photographed it.
I returned to the original piercer who refused to entrtain my complaint and stated that it is impossible to pierce any tonge straight. It took a few mins of arguing with her for her to begrudgingly refund half the cost to me. This is the state my tongue was in

tongue 004.jpg

Thats nasty

vpporter

I today had the worst customer service I ever experienced in my life with the above company. I work in custmer service but today was the pits and culumation of it all!!! It is a long story and I won't go into it but if you ever consider buying a product (Sheds were OK because subed out to a third party!!) from this company don't make the same mistake I made i.e. pay in full before the product is erected!! After over €2K spent I have play equipment in my garden that was erected by Coole Garden Products which is defective with the company owner unwilling to answer phones and when he does, gives empty promises. Today (after 4 weeks) he finally said to me he had better things to do than worry about a swing that doesn't work (amoung other defects) and would come out to me when good and ready (then hung up)!! Never mind my childrens safety or the fact that I have paid in full but this came fromthe company owner. Please believe me I never complain and this is my first on line complaint but please consider elsewhere or to save money go direct to supplier at http://www.outdoor-toys-europe.com/jungle-gym-climbing-frames/index.html?gclid=CIC57Kj2iaMCFQxBlAodjl_gdw . They provide the same goods as Coole Garden Products (Jungle Gym - Climbing Frame, Slide and Swing) but cost alot less and they ship for good rates to your home. You can then have equipment erected by a carpenter for less than what Coole Garden products charge (nearly €400 for my set).

dudara

vpporter wrote: »

I today had the worst customer service I ever experienced in my life with the above company. I work in custmer service but today was the pits and culumation of it all!!! It is a long story and I won't go into it but if you ever consider buying a product (Sheds were OK because subed out to a third party!!) from this company don't make the same mistake I made i.e. pay in full before the product is erected!! After over €2K spent I have play equipment in my garden that was erected by Coole Garden Products which is defective with the company owner unwilling to answer phones and when he does, gives empty promises. Today (after 4 weeks) he finally said to me he had better things to do than worry about a swing that doesn't work (amoung other defects) and would come out to me when good and ready (then hung up)!! Never mind my childrens safety or the fact that I have paid in full but this came fromthe company owner. Please believe me I never complain and this is my first on line complaint but please consider elsewhere or to save money go direct to supplier at http://www.outdoor-toys-europe.com/jungle-gym-climbing-frames/index.html?gclid=CIC57Kj2iaMCFQxBlAodjl_gdw . They provide the same goods as Coole Garden Products (Jungle Gym - Climbing Frame, Slide and Swing) but cost alot less and they ship for good rates to your home. You can then have equipment erected by a carpenter for less than what Coole Garden products charge (nearly €400 for my set).

Give the owner a written period of notice in which to remedy the issue. Inform him that if the issue is not resolved in that timeframe, that you will be lodging a case in the Small Claims Court.

biggerO

I have no doubt that dvbconsole is scam. Charged my credit card in Febuary and still has not delivered. Gave excuses, now does not answer any email contact. Their website looks good but has NO contact phone number, no addresss, the website is hosted with Godaddy.com and has not admin contact details and uses proxy contacts. ALL perfect scam material. Beware do not deal with dvbconsole = scam.

deandean

BEST: Getting my car serviced at Joe Duffy, Finglas. The very pleasant meet 'n greet lady brought me an Irish Times, then supplied a real Cappucino about every 12 minutes. After about 90 minutes I was fairly buzzing! Car came back vacuumed and washed, as well as serviced!

WORST: RYANAIR which has left me standing at the altar (i.e. the check-in desk) twice. Even when they are wrong, the customer is treated with contempt. Ryanair staff and the policies they implement are the worst in the Western World IMO. The duty of care to a customer has long been abandoned. I have taken my business elsewhare.

SOCOM

This story happened several years ago, myself and the OH were queing in a really busy tescos after spending about 15 euro on goods including a kilo of grapes, anyway the pig faced cow at the till demanded 23 euro!! I had the guts of 22 euro on me , I said I would have to give something back, just like that the pig faced cow started laughing at us in front of a packed checkout, I nearly died, anyway just as we were leaving I looked at the reciept and saw they charged me 8 euro for a kilo of grapes!
We went straight to customer service where they refunded the money and gave us our shopping for free! The CS manager said the checkout girl should have spotted this, out of the corner of my eye I could see pig face looking over and sensing what was happening was turning quite red, the CS manager asked me which girl was it, with that and as piggy was staring over I promptly shouted THATS HER!!! TILL 6!!!!!
I know mean thing to do, but she deserved it, she was a rude Cnut !!
Turned out the price of grapes which is set centrally was at fault, also every tesco would have been overcharging on their grapes, makes you wonder!!

Barr

WORST: Dell helpline .

After three hours I was told I would need a different department.:mad:

Dues Bellator

rave ;-yes yes i know ntl/upc rave !! i am still in shock, i was having trouble with my wireless modem , so i took a deep breath and rang 1908 .it was answered almost straight away, told her my problem , she said an engineer would be out tomorrow before 12. 11.30 a engineer calls with an N rated wireless modem.he also moved my modem upstairs for me no problem at all.
everything works fine and dandy.....


compare this to 3 mths ago i was waiting an hour on the phone ,only to be told "have you switched it off and on sir zzzzzzz" then had to wait 8 days for an engineer.
they must be hearing our groans.

DublinWriter

deandean wrote: »

BEST: Getting my car serviced at Joe Duffy, Finglas. The very pleasant meet 'n greet lady brought me an Irish Times, then supplied a real Cappucino about every 12 minutes. After about 90 minutes I was fairly buzzing! Car came back vacuumed and washed, as well as serviced!

...and you paid how much for the actual service?

Clue - it's a bit like flying Aer Lingus business-class to Heathrow - that little bottle of Champagne, the in-flight cooked-breakfast and 'free' Irish Times actually cost you over €200.

...and who said the Celtic-Tiger was dead?

Corruptedmorals

SOCOM wrote: »

This story happened several years ago, myself and the OH were queing in a really busy tescos after spending about 15 euro on goods including a kilo of grapes, anyway the pig faced cow at the till demanded 23 euro!! I had the guts of 22 euro on me , I said I would have to give something back, just like that the pig faced cow started laughing at us in front of a packed checkout, I nearly died, anyway just as we were leaving I looked at the reciept and saw they charged me 8 euro for a kilo of grapes!
We went straight to customer service where they refunded the money and gave us our shopping for free! The CS manager said the checkout girl should have spotted this, out of the corner of my eye I could see pig face looking over and sensing what was happening was turning quite red, the CS manager asked me which girl was it, with that and as piggy was staring over I promptly shouted THATS HER!!! TILL 6!!!!!
I know mean thing to do, but she deserved it, she was a rude Cnut !!
Turned out the price of grapes which is set centrally was at fault, also every tesco would have been overcharging on their grapes, makes you wonder!!

Clearly she should not have laughed at you and should have checked the price of the grapes where you got them from or got someone else to verify it once you queried it or queried why it was much more than expected. However it is easy to miss something like that when you're scanning stuff for hours a day. She is not at fault for 'demanding' the money, that's what it scanned at..that's the subtotal. She didn't personally set the grapes price. Though if it was sorted out at the till she you wouldn't have gotten anything free.

Zapp Brannigan

Eircom

Rang them last monday to upgrade to the Advanced NGB package because I know the regular 30gig cap wasn't enough for me.

The lady I ended up speaking to on the phone seemed to have no idea what I was asking for. All she kept telling me is that my line is only capable of 5mb speed. I told her that's fine, but she insisted it has to be higher to get the advanced package.

After minutes of trying to explain the speed isn't the issue, I eventually just gave up and ordered the upgrade online.

Infuriating.

vpporter

Thanks for that, I have looked into it since your post and that is exactly what I am going to do. Cheers.

SOCOM

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

Clearly she should not have laughed at you and should have checked the price of the grapes where you got them from or got someone else to verify it once you queried it or queried why it was much more than expected. However it is easy to miss something like that when you're scanning stuff for hours a day. She is not at fault for 'demanding' the money, that's what it scanned at..that's the subtotal. She didn't personally set the grapes price. Though if it was sorted out at the till she you wouldn't have gotten anything free.

We did query the price as the sticker on the grape stall said 1.89 per 500 gram bag, hence the free shopping also when I asked about how the price was almost doubled the CS manager explained that Tesco HQ electronically adjust prices and therefore it is up to the floor manager (her) to make sure the displayed prices match the till price, remember you don't weigh it yourself the checkout staff do that, it still does not explain how they made the mistake and more than doubled a 500 gram bag of grapes, she said human error, so every tesco in the country was overcharging for grapes that day, would you notice if you just spent €100 on shopping?? She did mention that it happens on a regular basis so check your reciepts!!!

looksee

I sent an email to Social Welfare late morning today with a query. I got a reply with the info I was looking for at 3pm. I reckon that's pretty good service.

Dues Bellator

looksee wrote: »

I sent an email to Social Welfare late morning today with a query. I got a reply with the info I was looking for at 3pm. I reckon that's pretty good service.

i reckon you were signing off or something like that, i was 2 days trying to get them on the phone ,then when i did finally get an answer ,they hung up.

looksee

almanu wrote: »

i reckon you were signing off or something like that, i was 2 days trying to get them on the phone ,then when i did finally get an answer ,they hung up.

No, In was asking if I had a particular entitlement, and it turned out I had.

caprilicious

My very good customer service of recent is from the passport office.
I mailed them Sunday evening & had a reply Monday mid morning about the status of an application.

With the backlog they have in applications I thought I'd have to wait a few days for a reply so fair play

natterjack

Am I the only one to be hacked off by 02 sneaky small print in this months bill. Imagine sending out a notice during holidays in very small light print. They say "if it's ok with me" they will not be sending me a bill anymore. Well it's not ok with me and 02 should give us a choice instead of dropping the service unless I opt in.

I can get details on line. Hold on not everone is on line

I like getting a bill so that I can check. What about

They are trying to get us not to look at our bills

Stinks of saving more money and nothing in it for me.

Didn't 02 get an award for customer service. They should be hauled over coals by Comreg....maybe they are on holidays

natterjack

Am I the only one to be hacked off by 02 sneaky small print in this months bill. Imagine sending out a notice during holidays in very small light print. They say "if it's ok with me" they will not be sending me a bill anymore. Well it's not ok with me and 02 should give us a choice instead of dropping the service unless I opt in.

I can get details on line. Hold on not everyone is on line

I like getting a bill so that I can check. What about

They are trying to get us not to look at our bills

Stinks of saving more money and nothing in it for me.

Didn't 02 get an award for customer service. They should be hauled over coals by Comreg....maybe they are on holidays