[Primetime] Service with a snarl

dub45

Kensington wrote: »

So let's imagine a scenario that you ring up to say your TV isn't working - UPC magically know where you live, that you just happen to have digital TV service from them, your digital viewing card number for that box causing you problems and the packages/channels you're supposed to receive?

I really don't see what the issue about having to type in an account number is tbh. If it helps to cut down on call holding and call duration times, go for it. It takes long enough to get through to them, if that can cut down on the time then I don't see what the issue is.

Can't the CSR simply ask the person their name and address? Most people dont memorise their UPC account number. At least the ones I know anyways.

How does keying in an account number shorten the queue? Even recently when I keyed in a phone number for them the first question I was asked was to repeat the phone number!!!!

Magnet: Rory

dub45 wrote: »

Can't the CSR simply ask the person their name and address? Most people dont memorise their UPC account number. At least the ones I know anyways.

How does keying in an account number shorten the queue? Even recently when I keyed in a phone number for them the first question I was asked was to repeat the phone number!!!!

Ok fair enuf a lot of the companies have not exactly perfected the art on this but there does need to be some level of security.....otherwise anyone could change the account details of anyone in their neighbourhood......not that this happens but for everyones sake it is better to be safe than sorry.

dub45

Rorser wrote: »

Ok fair enuf a lot of the companies have not exactly perfected the art on this but there does need to be some level of security.....otherwise anyone could change the account details of anyone in their neighbourhood......not that this happens but for everyones sake it is better to be safe than sorry.

Where is the security in accepting a phone no? Why is security required to report a fault? Surely most calls are not about making changes to an account? AFAIK dont they ask you for a password if you want to make a change to the account? At least they used to do this.

Surely it should be about making it easy to contact the company and to provide good customer service when you do? Security should not be an issue until it is actually required.

Magnet: Rory

dub45 wrote: »

Where is the security in accepting a phone no? Why is security required to report a fault? Surely most calls are not about making changes to an account? AFAIK dont they ask you for a password if you want to make a change to the account? At least they used to do this.

Surely it should be about making it easy to contact the company and to provide good customer service when you do? Security should not be an issue until it is actually required.

Ok, fair point on the fault, but it really is easier for everyone (including the company involved) to just get that info upfront so that the CS person can just have all the information ready......ive been on the other end of the phone and i can tell you customers prefer it if you have all their details ready and they know that they can make any changes they wish without going off again and getting passwords etc......it would be like opening your front door and finding that you need a key to open up the sitting room.

I still believe that we are straying off the real issue of companies believing its acceptable to dramatically understaff and undertrain call centres.

dub45

Rorser wrote: »

Ok, fair point on the fault, but it really is easier for everyone (including the company involved) to just get that info upfront so that the CS person can just have all the information ready......ive been on the other end of the phone and i can tell you customers prefer it if you have all their details ready and they know that they can make any changes they wish without going off again and getting passwords etc......it would be like opening your front door and finding that you need a key to open up the sitting room.

I still believe that we are straying off the real issue of companies believing its acceptable to dramatically understaff and undertrain call centres.

No I think that simple accessiblity is an important issue for many people. A simple call to UPC to report a fault should not require a person to enter an account number or a telephone number. And there is nothing more fundamental to customer service than being easily able to report a fault. Television during the day can be very important to an old person and they can find keying additonal stuff very intimidating.

Again you quote the company making it easier for themselves but we are all agreed that in fact all this so called making it easier for themselves actually does not result in better customer service.

And I can never understand o2 requiring you to key in your mobile no when surely they can pick that up automatically when you call them?

Magnet: Rory

dub45 wrote: »

No I think that simple accessiblity is an important issue for many people. A simple call to UPC to report a fault should not require a person to enter an account number or a telephone number. And there is nothing more fundamental to customer service than being easily able to report a fault. Television during the day can be very important to an old person and they can find keying additonal stuff very intimidating.

Again you quote the company making it easier for themselves but we are all agreed that in fact all this so called making it easier for themselves actually does not result in better customer service.

And I can never understand o2 requiring you to key in your mobile no when surely they can pick that up automatically when you call them?

Alright..well we are not going to agree here (i do think you have a point though, i just pity the person who has to go into the finance department with that point [and we all know thats the issue here]) but i really dont think the automated services are the problem.....companies cutting the big corners and not answering the phone is the problem.

devnull

Kensington wrote: »

So they can book/log the fault? So they could tell if it's just you with the fault or is it a local outage? So they can see what equipment is in your house, if the fault was a problem restricted to you? So they can troubleshoot over the phone?

I don't know what kind of CRM/CMS that UPC use, however most that I have used through the years allow you to search by First Name, Surname, Telephone Number, Email address, Telephone number and customer number. The trouble with searching by name is that there can be more than one person with the same name. So in large companies with many tens of thousands of customers it's not really that helpful.

The customer number is useful as it allows you to pinpoint the exact account far quicker than any search. You straight away know the account to look up without having to look through search results that match the criteria you have specified from other fields. Searching by address can be hit and miss, as customers may have moved and not let you know, or the formatting of the address may be different in the system to what you have been given. Believe me it happens, a lot!

However I don't like the NTL approach myself, as it does indeed "Give out" to you if you don't have the customer number present and it can be very irritating. Yes it's helpful to have a custoner number if you know it, but I believe that NTL take this too far and place too much focus on it, it's not as important as they seem to try and make it, unless they have a crap customer database that it's awkward to search on with anything other than a customer number!

Rorser wrote: »

Ok fair enuf a lot of the companies have not exactly perfected the art on this but there does need to be some level of security.....otherwise anyone could change the account details of anyone in their neighbourhood......not that this happens but for everyones sake it is better to be safe than sorry.

Data verification is very important. In companies I've worked in, I've always stressed to staff that this is one of the most important aspects of calls. However there are companies out there who have no idea what the Data Protection Act is. It's common for security reasons to ask the customer three to four questions to confirm they are who they say they are before people will discuss account details.

These questions normally are normally three or four out of
- The registered telephone number
- Name on the Account
- Full Address
- Email Address
- Customer Number
- Last six digits of bank account number
- Last eight digits of debit/credit card

Not only is it to cover the security of the customers account, but if some changes are made to the customers account and it is the fault of the company, it could end up going to court and a large fine by the data commissioner

dub45

devnull wrote: »

..........................

|I don't know what kind of CRM/CMS that UPC use, however most that I have used through the years allow you to search by First Name, Surname, Telephone Number, Email address, Telephone number and customer number. The trouble with searching by name is that there can be more than one person with the same name. So in large companies with many tens of thousands of customers it's not really that helpful.

Yes but surely a search by name and street is not that difficult? For example Murphy and James St is hardly likely to overpower the csr with vast swathes of information?

And not that I am a luddite or anything but in the days before all these computer 'assisted' schemes the customer service was never as bad as it is now. And these systems are supposedly to 'help' the customer whereas in reality the system's priority is not to the customer at all.

I would be surprised if a significant number of calls to UPC is not about outages etc. Would it be that difficult to provide an easy way for people to make such a report?

devnull wrote: »

..........................
However I don't like the NTL approach myself, as it does indeed "Give out" to you if you don't have the customer number present and it can be very irritating. Yes it's helpful to have a custoner number if you know it, but I believe that NTL take this too far and place too much focus on it, it's not as important as they seem to try and make it, unless they have a crap customer database that it's awkward to search on with anything other than a customer number!

Not alone does the robot give out to you but the system will not allow you access to a 'human' unless you either put in the account number or a telephone number. When I rang them recently I genuinely didn't know which telephone number they had for the acccount. I have been with them through all of their incarations going back to the '70's and in recent years I had to change my number when I moved over to Smart so it could have been any number! And dont forget that with the increase in paperless billing it can be increasingly difficult to easily find out your bloody account number!!!

devnull wrote: »

..........................

Data verification is very important. In companies I've worked in, I've always stressed to staff that this is one of the most important aspects of calls. However there are companies out there who have no idea what the Data Protection Act is. It's common for security reasons to ask the customer three to four questions to confirm they are who they say they are before people will discuss account details.

These questions normally are normally three or four out of

- The registered telephone number
- Name on the Account
- Full Address
- Email Address
- Customer Number
- Last six digits of bank account number
- Last eight digits of debit/credit card

Not only is it to cover the security of the customers account, but if some changes are made to the customers account and it is the fault of the company, it could end up going to court and a large fine by the data commissioner

It is laughable when you think of it to talk of security and a customer's account if a bank account number and the number of a credit card are routinely availabe to all csrs? Surely such information should be restricted to an accounts department?

Magnet: Rory

dub45 wrote: »

I would be surprised if a significant number of calls to UPC is not about outages etc. Would it be that difficult to provide an easy way for people to make such a report?

Most calls are not about outages, in fact i would say very few are....most ISP's have very few outages. Most calls are for upgrading, sales, reporting a problem and looking for help, looking for bill info, looking for all sorts.

And ive said this before and ill say it again..the problem is not automated telephone systems....its incompetent CSR's messing up bills etc. and or not returning calls and companies putting far too few CSR's to keep up with demand.

Are we ever going to get back to that?

dub45

dub45 wrote: »

And I can never understand o2 requiring you to key in your mobile no when surely they can pick that up automatically when you call them?

90% of the time if I'm ringing o2 about a problem/information about my mobile I do it off a land line. So I'm sure it's set up like this to save time and also some people might have speech problems or weird accents when calling out the numbers to the tech support person.

Is it that much of a problem though? Have to say I don't think I've ever been longer than 1-2 minutes on the phone with o2 support.

Magnet: Rory

Rojomcdojo wrote: »

90% of the time if I'm ringing o2 about a problem/information about my mobile I do it off a land line. So I'm sure it's set up like this to save time and also some people might have speech problems or weird accents when calling out the numbers to the tech support person.

Is it that much of a problem though? Have to say I don't think I've ever been longer than 1-2 minutes on the phone with o2 support.

Indeed, im a huge fan, have been on hold for a few mins but only once or twice...

dub45

Rorser wrote: »

Most calls are not about outages, in fact i would say very few are....most ISP's have very few outages. Most calls are for upgrading, sales, reporting a problem and looking for help, looking for bill info, looking for all sorts.

And ive said this before and ill say it again..the problem is not automated telephone systems....its incompetent CSR's messing up bills etc. and or not returning calls and companies putting far too few CSR's to keep up with demand.

Are we ever going to get back to that?

Sorry I was thinking in terms of the UPC tv service rather than bb but given the ongoing reports of poor bb speeds they must get a lot of calls about that type or thing too.

There is no doubt about UPC not having sufficient CSRS well at least for a long period in the recent past. Didn't one guy on here post that he stayed on the phone for 12 hours at one stage and didn't Sponge Bob lead a personal campain about them closing down an entire call centre lock stock and barrell.

dub45

Rorser wrote: »

Indeed, im a huge fan, have been on hold for a few mins but only once or twice...

In general I agree - the times I had to contact them I found the staff were very helpful (but then there was the time when they did a double deduction on my laser card ................and they are in permanent breach of the notice requirements of the direct debit system!!!)

MHP

dub45 wrote: »

It is absurd that you have to key in an account number or a telephone number (associated with the account) before you can actually speak to someone.

With the UPC phone service your account number is registered to your phone so, when you dial 1908, the robot voice reads your account number to you and asks if you want to continue.

Sponge Bob

human still optional though

drunkmonkey

Called Dell Irish Business Sales today, Failed to get through 3 times had to deal with India every time, I demanded they put me through to someone in ireland as they were the only ones capable of answering my question, I eventualy gave up and sent the sister into pc world for a HP:mad::mad:

Kensington

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Called Dell Irish Business Sales today, Failed to get through 3 times had to deal with India every time, I demanded they put me through to someone in ireland as they were the only ones capable of answering my question, I eventualy gave up and sent the sister into pc world for a HP:mad::mad:

If you think Dell are bad, then you better start praying big time that your HP doesn't go faulty! :eek::eek:

dub45 wrote:

How does keying in an account number shorten the queue? Even recently when I keyed in a phone number for them the first question I was asked was to repeat the phone number!!!!

Well UPC don't seem to have fully grasped or implemented the system if that's the case. An excellent example of where a company HAS implemented this well though, is Vodafone. If you've ever rung Vodafone you have to type in your Vodafone mobile number before you get through to an agent - but when the agent answers, you're greeted "Good afternoon/evening Mr. Kensington" and all your account details are pulled up in front of the agent before they answer your call.

devnull

dub45 wrote: »

It is laughable when you think of it to talk of security and a customer's account if a bank account number and the number of a credit card are routinely availabe to all csrs? Surely such information should be restricted to an accounts department?

They're only asking for the last eight digits, not the full number, which they probbably won't be able to see anyway. In most customer management softwares I've seen, normally the front line guys who are not accounts department related, will normally see either the last four and first four digits of a card, or the last eight, with the rest being replaced by X's or something similar. Same with bank accounts. So there is no issue with security.

Kensington wrote: »

Well UPC don't seem to have fully grasped or implemented the system if that's the case. An excellent example of where a company HAS implemented this well though, is Vodafone. If you've ever rung Vodafone you have to type in your Vodafone mobile number before you get through to an agent - but when the agent answers, you're greeted "Good afternoon/evening Mr. Kensington" and all your account details are pulled up in front of the agent before they answer your call.

Thats almost certainly a violation of the data protection act if that is how it works. No security at all. Anyone can call the Vodafone helpline and put someone else's mobile number, and if what you are saying is correct, they could potentially access and find out the details on the account?

Kensington

devnull wrote: »

Thats almost certainly a violation of the data protection act if that is how it works. No security at all. Anyone can call the Vodafone helpline and put someone else's mobile number, and if what you are saying is correct, they could potentially access and find out the details on the account?

I strongly doubt a vodafone CS rep will begin giving out details related to an account over the phone, regardless of whether it is the account holder calling or not, so not really an issue...

MunsterCycling

You must answer security questions for the CSA before they will go into any details of the acc. with Vodafone

MC