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

stuba

Might seem like a stupid question but can you purchase an item more than once off of Grabone?

PeteK*

Mightycraic wrote: »

Do you think it's reasonable that their customer service staff do not know whether their buses will stop at a request stop without computer assistance?

Of course not, but I doubt they're going by printouts to get their information.
In the end though, your question should have been answered correctly.

stuba wrote: »

Might seem like a stupid question but can you purchase an item more than once off of Grabone?

I know a guy who buys a few at at time for restaurants he likes.

athtrasna

Be careful with Time Magazine subscriptions. Have had one for years and it was on auto renew. Cancelled it online several weeks before the auto renewal date, as directed on the notice I got, yet they still took the money. Emailed them and they blamed me first, after an exchange they finally conceded it was their system at fault but it will still take 30 DAYS to get a refund :mad:

Africanfarmer

Has anyone here had any experiences of doing business with Turkish companies?
I recently got ripped off by a Turkish Company that took payment for goods and failed to deliver.
People should be aware.....

silvercrown

Best:
ASOS- polite emails that show the person had actually took the time to think about what they're writing rather than just the standard 'I apologize for the inconvenience'. Also, they give voucher codes even after they give you a full refund/ exchange a faulty item.

Worst:
Holland & Barrett
Slow, impolite. took one month to send an item that was missing

Update:
Bus Eireann!! buses always arrive late even when there's hardly any traffic and the routes are mostly on motorways

Lostman1990

I am sitting here in my kitchen now listening to my parents discuss a letter which they received from Eircom this morning. They left Eircom 4 weeks ago to try out the service of another land-line provider. The bill was been paid in the normal manner and up to this date half the bill was paid. The balance is less than three figures. This morning they had the privilege of receiving a letter from the "Head of Credit Risk" threatening legal action and recommending "prudence" to pay this sum. My parents were customers of Eircom nearly as many years as the sum left on the bill. My dad, who was extremely upset by this, rang them to register his feelings. It seems he has "an attitude" and because the process is automated, they treat ex-customers like this. Well done Eircom, what a fantastic experience...

I must add that the customer service rep on the phone stated that this was an automated letter. If a bill is 7 days overdue, a letter threatening disconnection is automatically sent out to the customer. As my parents account was disconnected, the process led this way. This is clearly wrong. My parents have said to me that if they ever had residuals on a previous bill, this was just added to the next bill. They never received any reminder of any sort from Eircom in all their years as customers. Why would the customer service rep try to justify it in this way when it is clearly a wrong statement?

Michael D Not Higgins

Lostman1990 wrote: »

I am sitting here in my kitchen now listening to my parents discuss a letter which they received from Eircom this morning. They left Eircom 4 weeks ago to try out the service of another land-line provider. The bill was been paid in the normal manner and up to this date half the bill was paid. The balance is less than three figures. This morning they had the privilege of receiving a letter from the "Head of Credit Risk" threatening legal action and recommending "prudence" to pay this sum. My parents were customers of Eircom nearly as many years as the sum left on the bill. My dad, who was extremely upset by this, rang them to register his feelings. It seems he has "an attitude" and because the process is automated, they treat ex-customers like this. Well done Eircom, what a fantastic experience...

I must add that the customer service rep on the phone stated that this was an automated letter. If a bill is 7 days overdue, a letter threatening disconnection is automatically sent out to the customer. As my parents account was disconnected, the process led this way. This is clearly wrong. My parents have said to me that if they ever had residuals on a previous bill, this was just added to the next bill. They never received any reminder of any sort from Eircom in all their years as customers. Why would the customer service rep try to justify it in this way when it is clearly a wrong statement?

Your complaint is a little unclear. Do your parents actually have an outstanding debt with Eircom? If yes, what's the issue with an automated letter asking for payment of the balance? If the sum was around 40 or 50 euro do you really think someone from the 'Head of Credit Risk' sat down to personally type up a letter for your parents?

The residual sum carrying over to the next month is fine when a minimum payment has been met. It's likely the automated letter only kicks in when no payment is made. Hence the difference between their experience as customers and now as former customers.

Did the person on the phone say your father had 'an attitude'? It's important to understand exactly what was said and in what context. If this is the crux of the complaint, then complain and ask for them to review the recording of that call.

Lostman1990

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

Your complaint is a little unclear. Do your parents actually have an outstanding debt with Eircom? If yes, what's the issue with an automated letter asking for payment of the balance? If the sum was around 40 or 50 euro do you really think someone from the 'Head of Credit Risk' sat down to personally type up a letter for your parents?

Yes, there was an outstanding debt with Eircom. This was never in dispute. The main issue was the manner in which the letter was written. It "hereby gave notice"...threatened of "an Action of Law to be commenced"..."deemed it prudent"...I think you get the gist. It was serious escalation to take without a reminder ever been sent. I the space of just over three weeks from the last bill date.
Let's refrain from the condescending remarks about whether I know if the "Head of Credit Risk" personally sat down to type this. Of course, i don't think that. That is clear from my initial post about "automated letters". But just because he/she didn't personally type it doesn't mean that it wasn't sent by him/her. It is clearly signed by the person.

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

The residual sum carrying over to the next month is fine when a minimum payment has been met. It's likely the automated letter only kicks in when no payment is made. Hence the difference between their experience as customers and now as former customers.

The issue in regards to this is that the customer service rep attempted to justify what happened due to a set automated response. There was no statement from her regarding "no payment been made". Again, the issue was the escalation of this to threatening legal letters from the "Head of Credit Risk" within such a short time frame. And in this time-frame, the bill was been continued to be paid in the exact same way as it was over the previous 30 or more years.

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

Did the person on the phone say your father had 'an attitude'? It's important to understand exactly what was said and in what context. If this is the crux of the complaint, then complain and ask for them to review the recording of that call.

Yes, the person on the phone did say my dad had "an attitude". He was extremely upset and angry and this probably came across. He has never received a letter of this sort in his life. He was been fobbed off with this "automated letter" nonsense. He asked whether there was any human involvement in the process. He was angry(to be expected) and couldn't believe what was happening. When told that it was no need to have "an attitude", he responded by saying it was not an attitude and that he was "extremely upset and angry" about the episode. This was secondary though. The letter was a downright disgrace. My parents are actually of the belief that it came to this because they cancelled their account. It may just be their perception but it is a terrible perception for any company to have live- long customers believe.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Good

They left Eircom, paid only half the bill due, had a history of not clearing current bills, so they got the standardised letter threatening the only action open to the company in pursuit of an unpaid debt against a former customer.
I really don't see why you are being so harsh towards eircom. If the amount is trivial then just pay it

ABajaninCork

Was in my local Dunnes on Friday. They had some Haagen Dazs on special offer in one of the top freezers, along with some pizzas. So I decided to buy some ice-cream.

To my surprise, the ice-cream was soft, freezer felt warm, and there was an awful smell coming from it. Clearly, the food inside had started to defrost, and was going off in the heat. Tried to find a manager to point this out, but saw no-one. So I fetched a supervisor. She agreed that the freezer was broken and would call someone to strip it out and fix it.

I was in there Saturday and today. The freezer has been fixed, I think last night as I checked the freezer on Saturday, and it was still warm. But the food is still in there for sale. And it is still smelly...

I guess there's no point in complaining to Head Office as they are useless. And I don't have proof.

The_Conductor

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Was in my local Dunnes on Friday. They had some Haagen Dazs on special offer in one of the top freezers, along with some pizzas. So I decided to buy some ice-cream.

To my surprise, the ice-cream was soft, freezer felt warm, and there was an awful smell coming from it. Clearly, the food inside had started to defrost, and was going off in the heat. Tried to find a manager to point this out, but saw no-one. So I fetched a supervisor. She agreed that the freezer was broken and would call someone to strip it out and fix it.

I was in there Saturday and today. The freezer has been fixed, I think last night as I checked the freezer on Saturday, and it was still warm. But the food is still in there for sale. And it is still smelly...

I guess there's no point in complaining to Head Office as they are useless. And I don't have proof.

Report it to the FSAI- I do it whenever I find freezers not working, to ensure the food isn't simply refrozen and sold on to unsuspecting customers.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

ABajaninCork

They're crap, I agree. And the staff in my local at Ballyvolane are the most miserable, unhelpful bunch I've ever seen. But it still beats Tesco's!

ABajaninCork

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Was in my local Dunnes on Friday. They had some Haagen Dazs on special offer in one of the top freezers, along with some pizzas. So I decided to buy some ice-cream.

To my surprise, the ice-cream was soft, freezer felt warm, and there was an awful smell coming from it. Clearly, the food inside had started to defrost, and was going off in the heat. Tried to find a manager to point this out, but saw no-one. So I fetched a supervisor. She agreed that the freezer was broken and would call someone to strip it out and fix it.

I was in there Saturday and today. The freezer has been fixed, I think last night as I checked the freezer on Saturday, and it was still warm. But the food is still in there for sale. And it is still smelly...

I guess there's no point in complaining to Head Office as they are useless. And I don't have proof.

The_Conductor wrote: »

Report it to the FSAI- I do it whenever I find freezers not working, to ensure the food isn't simply refrozen and sold on to unsuspecting customers.

Well - I took The Conductor's advice and reported it to the FSAI via mail last night. They were pretty prompt and got back to me this morning. But - they're not allowed to tell me what, if any action was taken. But I did see one of the freezers (not the one I reported) had been taken out of service. So I guess something happened. I'll be keeping a close eye from now on!

The_Conductor

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Well - I took The Conductor's advice and reported it to the FSAI via mail last night. They were pretty prompt and got back to me this morning. But - they're not allowed to tell me what, if any action was taken. But I did see one of the freezers (not the one I reported) had been taken out of service. So I guess something happened. I'll be keeping a close eye from now on!

They publish lists of all enforcement or prohibition orders. If you pop on their website- you can see the list there- it'll give you an idea of what they've done. Its published retrospectively on a monthly basis- so it may be a few weeks for your report to feature. And no, I don't work for them.......

SeantheMan

Eircom - they tried to charge me for months on end for bills when I wasn't even living there. I eventually sorted it by going all the way up the chain to the head of a department through the National Consumer Agency


Good - Bolands, the biscuit crowd. I sent an email, just to inform them that I was disappointed how they changed Jersey Creams. I know that sounds ridiculous, I've never written to another company about anything of the sort...but you see I loved Jersey Creams for years and years.
They wrote back to tell me a French company had taken them over or something, and so the recipe and biscuit were slightly changed or something...but to make up for my disappointment...they sent out a HUGE box of other biscuits.
(Unfortunately the other box was full of ones I never eat...like Lemon Puffs and what not.....but was a nice gesture all the same)

Tayto - They were always good for sending out vouchers etc when you'd contact them about getting bags of flavourless crisps.

bobwilliams

SeantheMan wrote: »

Eircom - they tried to charge me for months on end for bills when I wasn't even living there. I eventually sorted it by going all the way up the chain to the head of a department through the National Consumer Agency


Good - Bolands, the biscuit crowd. I sent an email, just to inform them that I was disappointed how they changed Jersey Creams. I know that sounds ridiculous, I've never written to another company about anything of the sort...



Tayto - They were always good for sending out vouchers etc when you'd contact them about getting bags of flavourless crisps.

you're rumbled,now you're going to say you rang Tayto yeah?

SeantheMan

No, I told you my Dad did.
He used to send back the packets to them if there were no flavour at all.

I've always been a King man

Kalimah

Excellent. Parking at Dublin airport. I booked twice in error today. Sent them an email. 10 minutes later all was sorted. Thank you Sinead!

washiskin

Kalimah wrote: »

Excellent. Parking at Dublin airport. I booked twice in error today. Sent them an email. 10 minutes later all was sorted. Thank you Sinead!

Have to second this ^^^

Lost a receipt for parking in T2 a month ago - sorted within 24 hours of contacting them.

Lostman1990

Alejandra Defeated Spine wrote: »

They left Eircom, paid only half the bill due, had a history of not clearing current bills, so they got the standardised letter threatening the only action open to the company in pursuit of an unpaid debt against a former customer.
I really don't see why you are being so harsh towards eircom. If the amount is trivial then just pay it

That is a bit of a straw man argument. Payment of the bill was never an issue. Customer relationship management of Eircom was the issue. An escalation, due to a residual on a bill, to a legal letter from "Head of Credit Risk" to customers of over 30 years is a pathetic way to manage customers. Customer relations run using automated letters will lead in the long-run to problems for a company. Simply stating, we have a legal right to do a, b, or, c simply doesn't cut it. All from a company who fail to meet its debts. My parents were and still are a very low credit risk for this company. A customer relationship management system that fails to see this will cost the company...

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Good

Lostman1990 wrote: »

That is a bit of a straw man argument. Payment of the bill was never an issue. Customer relationship management of Eircom was the issue. An escalation, due to a residual on a bill, to a legal letter from "Head of Credit Risk" to customers of over 30 years is a pathetic way to manage customers. Customer relations run using automated letters will lead in the long-run to problems for a company. Simply stating, we have a legal right to do a, b, or, c simply doesn't cut it. All from a company who fail to meet its debts. My parents were and still are a very low credit risk for this company. A customer relationship management system that fails to see this will cost the company...

You seem blinkered to the basic points - payment of the bill is the issue. Your parents have not paid it. They are no longer customers of long or good standing as they left Eircom. They are certainly a credit risk as the company has no means to pursue except the one they took and you stated that your parents habitually did not clear accounts by the due dates when they were Eircom customers. Customer relations do not come in to it as they are no longer customers. Right now they are people who left them without paying what was owed. We'll see how their new supplier reacts after a few bills have issued without payment in full.

PeteK*

Lostman1990 wrote: »

My parents were and still are a very low credit risk for this company.

I'm sure there are many more and it all adds up.

ThisRegard

The_Conductor wrote: »

They publish lists of all enforcement or prohibition orders. If you pop on their website- you can see the list there- it'll give you an idea of what they've done. Its published retrospectively on a monthly basis- so it may be a few weeks for your report to feature. And no, I don't work for them.......

The poster most likely won't see anything in those reports unless a prosecution or enforcement order results from it. The FSAI make recommendations and instructions on a daily basis and faulty fridges or freezers are common enough for them to deal with.

Thomas7806

Would not recommend this crowd to my worst enemy. They're rude and arrogant. Zero skills in customer services. Don't be fooled by groupon deals either especially the air con service and re-gas which is advertised on groupon for €70 down to €30. When you get there they just say your air con isn't working or "it's seized", top it up with gas and wave you on your onward journey. groupon claimed no responsibility. Lesson learnt!
Anyone else have similar experience??

karlyk1

Eh..... wrong forum.:rolleyes:

witnessmenow

Moved from BA

coylemj

Thomas7806 wrote: »

Would not recommend this crowd to my worst enemy. They're rude and arrogant. Zero skills in customer services. Don't be fooled by groupon deals either especially the air con service and re-gas which is advertised on groupon for €70 down to €30. When you get there they just say your air con isn't working or "it's seized", top it up with gas and wave you on your onward journey. groupon claimed no responsibility. Lesson learnt!
Anyone else have similar experience??

Did you seriously think there was any money left for that guy to anything useful to your car by the time you paid Groupon the €30 and they took their slice of the action? It sounds like you got away lightly, I suspect that most people would end up being upsold to a heap of expensive and probably unnecessary work which is exactly what happens when they fall for the 'cut-price' services being offered by a certain chain of tyres shops.

How Groupon is able to convince people that these offers constitute a 'deal' is beyond me.

kristian12

I have to say Sky were brilliant today, i called to say i needed to reduce my bills for a while. They reduced my bill by nearly half for the next 6 mnths without reducing my package. Very impressed with the way it was handled as well.

bobwilliams

best customer service I've ever experienced is 'Brabantia',I've had 2 issues with them on a bin that was about 6 years old and a washing line.
The stuff they sell is a bit dear but well worth it and with customer service like I experienced I will buy there stuff again for sure.

Both faulty parts were shipped to me asap with no charge or no rigmarole at all.