UPC customer service: still NTL after all these years

Rebelheart

I had the misfortune to have to ring UTC up earlier tonight, first time since 2006. Got out my account number, keyed it in, went through all the relevant options and finally, at 2.16, I got to where I wanted, namely to speak with a real live human being.

Praise the Lord. Well, not really. The geniuses in UTC then, then, gave me a message saying that nobody was available to take my call and to ring back again between a different time.

Would it be beyond the collective intelligence of UPC's management to tell us that there was nobody available to talk to at the outset of the call???

Bleedin' space cadets.


/rant over.

The tax man

2.16am?

Times of the call centre are on their website.

dub45

The tax man wrote: »

2.16am?

Times of the call centre are on their website.

Yes but it doesn't follow that everyone will check a website before they ring a company?

I agree with the general sentiments, not just in relation to UPC, many companies seem to allow people to go through various stages of a process on a web site and then eventually you come across something like "service not available at the moment" or something like that. Ticketmaster used to be notorious for it for example although I haven't tried them recently.

Freddie59

dub45 wrote: »

Yes but it doesn't follow that everyone will check a website before they ring a company?

I agree with the general sentiments, not just in relation to UPC, many companies seem to allow people to go through various stages of a process on a web site and then eventually you come across something like "service not available at the moment" or something like that. Ticketmaster used to be notorious for it for example although I haven't tried them recently.

I would tend to agree. but 2.16am.......................?

FloatingVoter

Unless you're operating under the belief that UPC Ireland has call centres in Bangalore, ringing them at 2.16 AM in the morning is a joke. How would you like it if their sales people rang you at that hour ? :rolleyes:

Rebelheart

The tax man wrote: »

2.16am?

Times of the call centre are on their website.

At 2 minutes and 16 seconds into the phonecall they told me there's nobody there.

As another poster said, it's not as if most people will be checking their website before calling. It's basic cop-on to say at the outset of the call that there is nobody there to talk to and they'll be back at a specific time. Saying it at the end of the call, when the customer has put in all the account details and gone through the process of pressing the relevant buttons, is both dim and inconsiderate on the part of UPC.

FloatingVoter

Rebelheart wrote: »

At 2 minutes and 16 seconds into the phonecall they told me there's nobody there.

.

Apologies, I took you up wrong. That said, it would be a simple matter for them to rectify. They're not very good at simple.

Karmafaerie

As with every call center, UPC try to monitor trends of calls.
I've worked with a call center IVR before, so I know this.
It's a way of them tracking outages during non office hours.

Stupid but the only way for them to monitor faults when they're not there.

The tax man

dub45 wrote: »

Yes but it doesn't follow that everyone will check a website before they ring a company?

Yes and also on the back of the bill. No need to bring up the ebilling issue,that's on another thread.:)

The info is available if you look for it. Simple.

dub45

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Unless you're operating under the belief that UPC Ireland has call centres in Bangalore, ringing them at 2.16 AM in the morning is a joke. How would you like it if their sales people rang you at that hour ? :rolleyes:

And what exactly is wrong with ringing any major company at 2.16? Is the caller going to waken the csrs?

It should be very simple - if you ring at a time they are open you get to do your business if you ring when they are closed you should get an appropriate message with hours of opening and perhaps the opportunity to leave your details for a call back.

JonB

Yeah I haven't had the best customer support of UPC. But last time I had a problem I have to say they where brilliant. I hope this wasn't a once off event and it is signs that they are improving. They even rang me a week later to check if my problem has being sorted. Normally when they say they will ring back they never do!.

Unregistered.

Rebelheart wrote: »

At 2 minutes and 16 seconds...

That's quite good for anywhere tbh.

dub45

Unregistered. wrote: »

That's quite good for anywhere tbh.

Isn't that a sad reflection of how many companies waste peoples' time?

Unregistered.

dub45 wrote: »

And what exactly is wrong with ringing any major company at 2.16? Is the caller going to waken the csrs?

It should be very simple - if you ring at a time they are open you get to do your business if you ring when they are closed you should get an appropriate message with hours of opening and perhaps the opportunity to leave your details for a call back.

The problem is that if there is one number for multiple departments, (e.g for UPC: sales, accounts, phone, bband, tv etc), with each on having different operating hours. I know this is the case for UPC.

dub45

The tax man wrote: »

Yes and also on the back of the bill. No need to bring up the ebilling issue,that's on another thread.:)

The info is available if you look for it. Simple.

Given the rarity of UPC paper bills even before the ebilling issue I doubt if the average customer is going to be carrying one with them on the off chance they might need to call them:rolleyes:

dub45

Unregistered. wrote: »

The problem is that if there is one number for multiple departments, (e.g for UPC: sales, accounts, phone, bband, tv etc), with each on having different operating hours. I know this is the case for UPC.

Ok so you press the appropriate digit for the department you want - they are either open so you get to do your business - or they are not and you get an appropriate message with their opening hours and the opportunity to leave a message if you want. Hardly rocket science?

Unregistered.

dub45 wrote: »

Ok so you press the appropriate digit for the department you want - they are either open so you get to do your business - or they are not and you get an appropriate message with their opening hours and the opportunity to leave a message if you want. Hardly rocket science?

That was not the OP's issue though. If, say, you select the phone dept. but your query is actually to do with your phone bill, you will be put through to accounts, which may be closed. On the other hand, if you selected the right department in the first instance, you will obviously be told by a machine that they are closed.

dub45

Unregistered. wrote: »

That was not the OP's issue though. If, say, you select the phone dept. but your query is actually to do with your phone bill, you will be put through to accounts, which may be closed. On the other hand, if you selected the right department in the first instance, you will obviously be told by a machine that they are closed.

I think the more or less agreed point is (irrespective of UPC's peculiarities:)) is that in general companies should be more thoughtful towards customers when their business is closed whether on the net or via switchboard messaging.

(And even where companies are open the range of options given by the automated voice can be very confusing plus the myriad of layers you have to go through to get to a human can sometimes be quite absurd) also I find it ridiculous that in cases where as part of the getting in process that you go to the bother of keying in your account number only to be asked for it all over again when you finally encounter a human.

hightower1

I never found any issue calling their center, sure every major company with a cal center has an IVR system asking for details and giving different options. I'd find it odd to call one now and NOT get directed to an IVR.

Their open till 2200hrs which is later than I would ever consider calling any company tbh so if I did get the notion to call after that I certainly would bother to pick up the bill (notice I dont "carry it around" as was mentioned, funnily enough seems like most folk call call centers about their home services from .... their home :rolleyes:) and check what time their open til or at very least check their website, its late at night .... its just common sense.

If they leave me get through 2 mins (not a lifetime lets be honest) of a call to say their closed and use it for reporting purposes when they get in in the morning thats way better than simply stopping the call dead and doing nothing, at least when I call in the morning if there was an area fault they will have known about it and cut a fix time in half.

But then again, some folks are never happy and think they have some holy crusade against UPC (nothing better to do with their time / energy) ??? Apparently its attitudes like theirs that caused the recession dont ya know lmao!

The tax man

dub45 wrote: »

Given the rarity of UPC paper bills even before the ebilling issue I doubt if the average customer is going to be carrying one with them on the off chance they might need to call them:rolleyes:

On the off chance? People don't ring call centres on a whim when out walking the dog late at night.

The OP had a problem with a product in their home,the majority of calls made to the call centre will be from the customers home,same place the bill is sent to.

The OP said they got their account number out. The majority of people,if they don't know it off hand,will go straight for a bill or statement for it.

I made a point that the hours are available in the two places that most companies make this information available. You can't disagree with that simple fact.

I won't bother inserting a sarcastic smiley because that's your smiley.;)

Unregistered.

dub45 wrote: »

I find it ridiculous that in cases where as part of the getting in process that you go to the bother of keying in your account number only to be asked for it all over again when you finally encounter a human.

The tax man wrote: »

The OP said they got their account number out. The majority of people,if they don't know it off hand,will go straight for a bill or statement for it.

I have never had to enter the account number when I've had to ring them about upgrades or technical support. A telephone number and name will suffice.

dub45

Unregistered. wrote: »

I have never had to enter the account number when I've had to ring them about upgrades or technical support. A telephone number and name will suffice.

This point wasn't in relation to UPC.

Unregistered.

dub45 wrote: »

This point wasn't in relation to UPC.

Excuse me, yes it was. If you listen to the machine (1908), "Please enter your 8-digit account number now... If you don't have it to hand, or if you don't not have an account with us, please press the hash key" and you are asked for you telephone number. The cheek of you.

dub45

Unregistered. wrote: »

Excuse me, yes it was. If you listen to the machine (1908), "Please enter your 8-digit account number now... If you don't have it to hand, or if you don't not have an account with us, please press the hash key" and you are asked for you telephone number. The cheek of you.

I was actually thinking of 02 in relation to that post. (In fact its the phone number they ask you to key in and then ask you for it again usually when the call is answered)

Saadyst

I never understood the point of the system to get to the IVR menus; even if I input my customer number, the rep on the other end still asks for it, as well as my address and phone number anyway.

Quite cumbersome.