Meteor Mobile complaints procedure

carlossecchi

Hi lads,

I've a complaint lodged with Meteor since October last. I'm getting nowhere and it seems like I've hit deadlock with them. What's the next step?

The customer service I've recieved has been absolutely appalling along with the fact that they've held onto money, which they admit was wrong taken (€400), on me for over a month so I'm not giving up on this one.

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Tony

a_l_a_n

Initiate a small claims procedure. They'll pay up immediately I bet.

carlossecchi wrote: »

Hi lads,

I've a complaint lodged with Meteor since October last. I'm getting nowhere and it seems like I've hit deadlock with them. What's the next step?

The customer service I've recieved has been absolutely appalling along with the fact that they've held onto money, which they admit was wrong taken (€400), on me for over a month so I'm not giving up on this one.

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Tony

tatli_lokma

I have an ongoing issue with meteor regarding a faulty phone. Like you I was getting no where with customer service. Instead I put my complaint in writing, and recorded posted it to the Head of Customer Care, Michael Byrne advising that I expect action within 14 days or I would be initiating a claim in small claims. That was a week ago, within 1 day of them receiving the letter I got a call (last Thursday) from a more senior person in customer care. As yet, the issue is still ongoing, but only because when they rang I was in work and couldn't discuss it. I have asked them to call me on Monday after 6pm. I am hopeful that I will get some resolution, and it is at least encouraging that they rang so quickly when previously I had been ignored.

so my advice is put your complaint in writing and forward to head of customer care, recorded post, advising that you are giving them 14 days from the date of the letter for a resolution or you will be going to small claims court.

Tarakiwa

Have you tried making the complaint on their forum?? You can find the link to it on their homepage I think.

carlossecchi

Oh I've sent two complaints in writing to them already!! This is some story lads, you wouldn't believe it. I've put a summary on the Meteor forum. Check it out here :

http://forums.meteor.ie/index.php?showtopic=464

They are f**king USELESS!

eileen17

I'm also having problems with meteor. I bought a phone online and was "guaranteed" christmas delievery. Christmas eve got a call saying it would not be delievered.I had to go buy another phone as it was a xmas present.
Got the phone on the 29th and sent it back. "Guaranteed" refund within 5 working days.
Still no refund. When i ring i am met with some rude customer service members.
I want my refund I'm getting very tired of ringing meteor but this is what they are hoping for. They tell me they will get me a call back within 24-48 hours. This never happens.
Now i think I will just ring every day. Im really furious they were able to take our money striaght away but refuse to give it back" due to technical issues".
HELP

carlossecchi

Hi Eileen,

Go onto the meteor forum and post it there. They will then escalate the case. Don't know how much that will though because I haven't heard back yet.

An absolute disgrace of a company.

jimmycrackcorm

The OH has a similar problem with billing as a result of the mess when they changed over their billing system last October.

Comreg is the only way. People say that 3's customer service is crap but Meteors is much worse when it comes to trying to sort out money issues.

carlossecchi

Jimmy,

can you tell me how I go about raising this with Comreg? The website is not really giving me a direct contact.

Thanks,
Tony

eileen17

Meteor wont validate me to post online so i cant until then. Ya i cant wait to change at this stage now sick of them and there rude employees

carlossecchi

They usually validate within a few hours, well at least in my case.

Just wait till they do and then post it.

whippet

carlossecchi wrote: »

Oh I've sent two complaints in writing to them already!! This is some story lads, you wouldn't believe it. I've put a summary on the Meteor forum. Check it out here :

http://forums.meteor.ie/index.php?showtopic=464

They are f**king USELESS!

I'm a little confused by your issue here, probably down to the lack of puncutation in your post on meteor's forum.

Am I right in thinking that Meteor have refunded the monies that they took in error?

Is your beef with them now based on what compensation they are offering ?

If the answer to both of these is correct, your initial post here is totally misleading.

carlossecchi

"I'm a little confused by your issue here, probably down to the lack of puncutation in your post on meteor's forum."

Lack of punctuation? OK. Last time I checked posting to a mobile communications forum was not an grammatical exercise. However, I do apologise for any offense this may have caused you. By the way, Meteor should be spelt with a capital 'M'.

"Am I right in thinking that Meteor have refunded the monies that they took in error?"

Yes, you are correct in thinking this.

"Is your beef with them now based on what compensation they are offering ?"

To an extent, yes. But the main body of my complaint, which I believe is clear from the Meteor posting, is the way this whole affair has been handled.

I"f the answer to both of these is correct, your initial post here is totally misleading. "

My initial post was stating that they have held onto my money for well over a month AND shoddy customer service. Neither of these statements are factually incorrect.

The initial posting was made looking for information on their complaints procedure, not a posting looking for sympathy. I gave a very brief history of the case to date so people could see what my complaint was about in case this altered the direction I should take, i.e.; technical issue might be dealt with differently to a billing issue. I sent a link to the Meteor posting as one of the chaps above recommended sending a written complaint. The purpose of this was to show just how far I had gone in this complaint.

Thanks for your concern with my case though. Always nice to see.

whippet

carlossecchi wrote: »

Lack of punctuation? OK. Last time I checked posting to a mobile communications forum was not an grammatical exercise. However, I do apologise for any offense this may have caused you. By the way, Meteor should be spelt with a capital 'M'.

your post on meteor's website was more like a rant than a structured complaint, that is what I was pointing to. Anyway, that is a side issue.

As you have acknowleged an impartial netural point of view is always good, which I will give you.

Meteor made a mistake, which they have apologised for and rectified, albeit after 8 weeks. They have re-instated your funds and offered you a gesture of goodwill. It seems that you rejected this offer of goodwill and then decided at a later date that you then wanted to take them up on it.

Meteor then offered another goodwill gesture which you feel isn't acceptable.

At the moment, as far as I can make out, you actually have gone through the complaints procedure and have rejected their resolution. Legally Meteor have no further obligation to you and anything else you are offered is a bonus.

You might not like it but unfortunatly that is the reality, your only available course of action now is to either cancel your subscription (if you are out of contract) or wait until your contract is up and move your business else where.

carlossecchi

"your post on meteor's website was more like a rant than a structured complaint, that is what I was pointing to. Anyway, that is a side issue."

What's on the Meteor Website is not a complaint; it IS a rant. I've sent two written complaints to Meteor via snail mail.

"Meteor made a mistake, which they have apologised for and rectified, albeit after 8 weeks. They have re-instated your funds and offered you a gesture of goodwill. It seems that you rejected this offer of goodwill and then decided at a later date that you then wanted to take them up on it."

The offer was made and when I rejected it the manager stated, and I quote, that "the offer will be left on the table" if I decided to change my mind.

"Meteor then offered another goodwill gesture which you feel isn't acceptable."

I am questioning the decency of this practice. To offer something and state it remains on the table. Then, when accepted, the offer is withdrawn. This is not good customer service by any stretch of the imagination.

"At the moment, as far as I can make out, you actually have gone through the complaints procedure and have rejected their resolution. Legally Meteor have no further obligation to you and anything else you are offered is a bonus."

I'd question would they legally have an obligation to make sure that the funds taken without my permission are refunded are returned promptly; not 8 weeks down the line? It's the practice in general that I think is worth debating, be it legally or ethically.

As a side note, can Comreg get involved now and, if so, given Meteor's customer charter, would they be able to make a case on my behalf?

"You might not like it but unfortunatly that is the reality, your only available course of action now is to either cancel your subscription (if you are out of contract) or wait until your contract is up and move your business else where."

Still in contract, unfortunately I'm going to look at moviing ASAP anyway because I've lost faith completely in them as a company. I shudder when I think what will happen if I encounter further problems!

kildareash

I've had enough of Meteor...been a customer for a few years.
Moved house last year and there is no signal inside the house.
Been ringing bout once a month to complain ever since.

Anyway...final straw came yesterday when I got my bill.
They said there was €7.50 overdue from last month. Bill is paid by direct debit every month and there is always monies there to cover it.
I was credited money that should have been credited months ago.
Bill came to just over €70 this month...no issue there. Rang up to see what the f**k was going on in the accounts department...turns out I'm €40 odd in credit now!

They're still sorting out issues from when they changed their accounting system last year! CS agent said there'd been a few minor problems when changing systems. I don't call over charging hundreds of customers minor.

So my complaint is 3-fold:
1. Coverage in my area (carlow)
2. Accounts Dept cock ups
3. Lack of customer service

Spoke to a girl yesterday evening about getting out of my contract because I wouldn't treat a dog on the street they way they treat their customers.
Initially I was told I had no hope because no network can "guarantee coverage indoors."
After spending nearly an hour on the phone, the "technical dept" told her they had no plans to upgrade the coverage in my area. On that basis she said I would most likely get released from contract, but she had to check with somebody else today.
She was supposed to ring me back after 6pm this eve.
At 7.30pm I rang back customer service, but the person I spoke to yesterday didn't even put her name on the account. Apparently cancellation dept close at 8pm and the line was busy when CS tried to transfer the call.
CS person was supposedly sending an email to call me back, but surprise surprise no call back!
I will be ringing them at 8am in the morning and by 8.05am I better be out of contract or there will be hell to pay.

CS told me to send a written letter to complaints dept, but I will be emailing any telecom complaints body I can find.

foggy_lad

i am also having problems with meteor customer care over coverage issues as well as other issues which they say are only happening with my account. The 3g coverage in carlow is not working and when phone locks onto 3g it shows full signal but cant send mms or access wap or web. They have stopped sending reminder messages about free message offers running out. They are charging for the wap homepage on prepay even though they insist on their forums that it is free but customer care on the phone insist it is not free!

Issues have been ongoing for several months and they have only started dealing with them since i made a formal complaint a month ago but they are still dragging their feet!

Customer care used to be good but sadly it seems they have gone to pot like their 3g service in carlow!

kildareash

I got released from the contract on Sat morn.
True to form, I didn't receive a callback on Friday evening. Rang up Sat and demanded that i be released.

For the first time ever, I took a call in my living room and didn't have to move or repeat myself. Bliss!

Anyway, foggy my advice to you would be to get out.

metca

Switching my call plan from one to another since 30 July !!! Webscripting for Dummies is the best book for xmass to them.

bunnybaby7000

can I just say that I was a meteor customer for apox 5 years..

I left them last year because of the APPALLING customer service, I had to phone them every month for 6 months to be reimbursed money.. this took between 20 - 40 minutes listening to snow patrol very sketchy crackly noise on a loop - then being put through to an ALWAYS incompetent person and finally a superviser to get the problem sorted out!

I am still trying to just pay off my last bill of €20 just to get rid of them from my life.. i am finding this so bloody hard still!!

Rant over but just to put it out there....

METEOR HAVE THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED!!!!

i am an easy going person but this has caused me a lot of stress and blood boiling frustration!!

cardol

kildareash wrote: »

I've had enough of Meteor...been a customer for a few years.
Moved house last year and there is no signal inside the house.
Been ringing bout once a month to complain ever since.

Anyway...final straw came yesterday when I got my bill.
They said there was €7.50 overdue from last month. Bill is paid by direct debit every month and there is always monies there to cover it.
I was credited money that should have been credited months ago.
Bill came to just over €70 this month...no issue there. Rang up to see what the f**k was going on in the accounts department...turns out I'm €40 odd in credit now!

They're still sorting out issues from when they changed their accounting system last year! CS agent said there'd been a few minor problems when changing systems. I don't call over charging hundreds of customers minor.

So my complaint is 3-fold:
1. Coverage in my area (carlow)
2. Accounts Dept cock ups
3. Lack of customer service

I'm with Meteor for about 2 years and also noticed mistakes in my last two bills. I pay by Direct Debit too, and my second last bill was undervalued by €14, so they took €14 extra for my last bill to make up the difference. I noticed what was going on, but said nothing to them, but I agree, they are making mistakes lately.

cardol

I'm generally happy with Meteor, but 2 weeks ago I went to England (Thursday) for 7 days. I bought a UK SIM card when I got there and put it in my spare phone.
Within minutes of landing and switching on my Irish phone, I got texts saying “To access the internet or email for your first data or roaming session please visit http://ww.roamingalerts.com to accept data roaming charges”, then got another text saying “Hi, use T-Mobile, other per min network rates 47c to call in EU, 18c to receive. TXTs 13c MMS 30c Data 99c per MB. Info freecall 1905. E’gency Services 112”, and a third "Hi, freetext @Europe@ to 50104 to avail of incredibly cheap rates when roaming in the EU. It’s only 25c p/m to make calls, free to receive & 10c to send a text”.
I expected some of (mot all!!) these and deleted them, but they kept coming for the next 5 days. I was getting 10 to 12 texts a day and on the third day I decided to save them to show Meteor when I got back. Sometimes, I was getting 3 or 4 in a 10 minutes space. Then I turned off my phone and just checked it once a day incase anyone at home was trying to contact me, and Meteor texts were all that was flooding in. On the Sunday, in addition to all the texts, I started getting text notifications but no texts! They were coming in day and night if I left the phone on. Which I did as we were all amazed at this. It was endless.
On the Monday, I went to the weblink they were sending me in the hope of stopping the texts there, and got to a page telling me "Hi, you're continuing to data roam. Happy browsing". There was no option to opt out or stop the texts coming in. And btw, I tried uploading a pic to FB to see if it worked and got a connection error message! Within minutes of getting to the webpage, another text was coming in!
On Monday evening, I had dialled 1905 (thinking Irish SIM to Irish CS) but number was not recognised. So I dialled 1747 which is biled as free outside Ireland. Again, number not recognised. So I had no choice but to ring +35314307085, where I languished in a queue for 8 minutes before someone spoke to me. She said she would turn off all alerts, but warned me I'd no longer get texts about their deals and promotions. I told her I could live with that. But that didn't stop the texts.
On Tuesday I texted Europe to 20104 and got the reply “Thank you. You will now receive great value roaming calls and texts”. But they still kept coming!
So I emailed them Tuesday evening, outlining all the problems, and they replied on Thuesday asking for my PIN and then someone would get back to me. That never happened.
Also on Tuesday I rang +35314307085 again waited for 11 minutes before I hung up. I rang back an hour later and got through after 7 minutes to David Noonan. He said some SIM cards can get up to 30 texts per day!! I told him I didn't want roaming, didn't want internet (I was using my mate's laptop all the time) and had even tried the internet to make sure it wasn't on and was happy with the no connection message I'd got. Eventually, he said he'd apply a €10 credit to my account as a gesture of goodwill, and to go onto my local Metoer shop when I got home and change my SIM as it might be faulty. He also said he couldn't stop the texts as they were sent automatically.
On the Thursday, when I was coming home, I turned my phone on in Luton airport to send texts to my friend about being collected from the airport. When I got home, I took a photo of my phone usage just in case, and was well within my limits set up in my BillPay plan. And I waited to see what trhe bill would be like.
I went into the local store and the assistant looked into my phone menus and changed a setting. She said the reason I couldn't get any internet access on my phone while in England was because it wasn't set up. I didn't really get that as I always have internet access here, but didn't question it. She was very irate because she said CS have no business sending us into the store to solve these issues as they (the store) have no access to the phonecalls we make to CS.
The bill came last Tuesday and was more than doubled. The €10 goodwill gesture had VAT applied bringing it down to €8.26. I rang CS and eventually got through to Paul who said the amount was due to roaming calls and internet. I explained I hadn't used the internet and the only calls I made was to their international number because of my problems with them! I also told them what the person in the store had done and said. Big sigh from him. After a long discussion, he said he'd have the Credit Team call me back after 5pm. They never did.
The next day, Wednesday, I called them and was told they couldn't even access my account as their database was down and someone would call me back the next day. It's now Friday and no-one has.

In conclusion, I'm now going to call my bank and cancel my Direct Debit to Meteor until this is resolved. I have no problem paying my usual amount of €25 and a little bit more to account for the texts sent while at Luton airport, but I believe I am correct in not alloeing Meteor to take money for roaming and internet that I didn't want or use.

Sorry for the long-winded rant, but I feel much better now! :rolleyes:

dub45

cardol wrote: »

I'm generally happy with Meteor, but 2 weeks ago I went to England (Thursday) for 7 days. I bought a UK SIM card when I got there and put it in my spare phone.
Within minutes of landing and switching on my Irish phone, I got texts saying “To access the internet or email for your first data or roaming session please visit [....................

In conclusion, I'm now going to call my bank and cancel my Direct Debit to Meteor until this is resolved. I have no problem paying my usual amount of €25 and a little bit more to account for the texts sent while at Luton airport, but I believe I am correct in not alloeing Meteor to take money for roaming and internet that I didn't want or use.

Sorry for the long-winded rant, but I feel much better now! :rolleyes:

Unfortunately due to a major flaw in the direct debit system it is possible for companies to reinstate direct debits even when they have been cancelled. (I am not saying that Meteor will do this) Always check your bank statements carefully.

cardol

dub45 wrote: »

Unfortunately due to a major flaw in the direct debit system it is possible for companies to reinstate direct debits even when they have been cancelled. (I am not saying that Meteor will do this) Always check your bank statements carefully.

Thanks for the heads-up dub45, I'll watch my bank statements.
The DD has been cancelled today and Meteor have been informed via email. I have also called into the store and given them €30 (€5 more than my monthly plan even tho' I was well below all my limits) so now I'm just waiting to see if CS get back to me.... :rolleyes:

Lillydee

Hi,

I've had an issue with Meteor since February,(a very simple one to solve at that!). I've rang, written letters and have lost count of the amount of e-mails I've sent. They just fob you off in their politest telephone etiquette of course. Every time I email/ring/write to them I deal with someone new who has absolutely no interest in solving my issue if it involves any sort of thinking/extra work on their part. (Just pass the buck and get the customer off your back seems to be their policy!) The customer service is the worst I've ever come across in my life! I've went to com reg twice and at least they can put pressure on them to listen to you and try to resolve the issue. But I'm still waiting for a resolution. I've given up and had enough. I've never been so glad to leave a company in my life and would advice anyone to stand well clear, there are many better service providers out there!

A very happy O2 customer :-)

dmaccc

carlossecchi wrote: »

Oh I've sent two complaints in writing to them already!! This is some story lads, you wouldn't believe it. I've put a summary on the Meteor forum. Check it out here :

http://forums.meteor.ie/index.php?showtopic=464

They are f**king USELESS!

tried to check your link out but it was not available?
i have had a problem with them i got an up grade htc desire and i have been trying to sort out a replacement phone and i have been past from billy to jack for 4 weeks i have now written twice to customer services and have listed all calls and brief jest of calls to them as i got nowhere after speaking to a supervisor who was supposed to call me back 3 times but never bothered they are a bunch of useless f's I have sent them a letter now saying that the can have their phone bank and i am cancelling my direct debt I have been with them 8 years and have always paid my bills on time they just dont give a f**k

cardol

I sent off a letter via registered post on Tuesday to Michael Byrne (Head of Customer Care) and am now waiting for a response...I expect to hear from them when they realise the Direct Debit is cancelled...:rolleyes:

The pursuit of money is a great motivator!

tallus

Called them myself this evening to pay an overdue bill which I had missed payment on, and despite my express instructions to take a set amount, the stupid ****ing bint took around 25Euro more than I owed them which has now left me short of cash.
I am fit to be tied, and that's putting it mildly.
I'm calling the regulator tomorrow. What a shower of inept idiots.

cardol

tallus wrote: »

Called them myself this evening to pay an overdue bill which I had missed payment on, and despite my express instructions to take a set amount, the stupid ****ing bint took around 25Euro more than I owed them which has now left me short of cash.
I am fit to be tied, and that's putting it mildly.
I'm calling the regulator tomorrow. What a shower of inept idiots.

@tallus How do you contact the regulator? I'd love to know.

foggy_lad

Meteor have been having some issues lately with their computers as a prepay account I have was switched from any network texts over to free meteor calls and texts without my consent.

I emailed them with all the relevant details including my number and account pin so they could access my account, I also asked for a complaint reference which I stated I was told by comreg to ask for.

All was sorted out within 48 hours:)

A couple of months agp they also made a mess of the same number which I had ported from O2. I was supposed to be on their double your top-up forever offer but this had not been applied to my account. In the emails about this I was called a liar and a fraudster by one person and the next person just made some lame excuse about the account not being included in the promotion but that it was being sorted out.

IMHO these glitches in computer systems that so many mobile operators have could easily be orchestrated to get people off the beneficial promotions they were promised when joining/porting.(I wore my trusty metal pasta strainer when typing this:D)

foggy_lad

cardol wrote: »

@tallus How do you contact the regulator? I'd love to know.

Comreg.ie is where you will find all you need about the regulator but before they will get involved you must first make a "Formal Complaint" to your operator by letter or email and ask for a reference number for the complaint. Then give them ten working days to fix the issues and if they don't you can then ask comreg to get involved.