Three Talk To Forum feedback

Dav

Following on from this thread, I've started this to hear any and all Feedback on the Three Talk To Forum.

Some ground rules:

1) Evidence - if you're making a claim please provide me with Evidence of it. It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that I am on my own in the office since Darragh's moved on and I just don't have time to go trawling through a forum looking for details.

2) Zero Tolerance on Abuse - I will simply ignore any post that contains any personal abuse of the Three Reps. They are people working in an office doing a job and are not here to be abused - just like any other member of Boards.ie.

3) Scope - This thread is for issues with the forum, not Three the company. I can guarantee you that I will pass on any and all suggestions I get from you, but that may be beyond the scope of what we're trying to do here.

OK, thanks for your time folks, your helping us with these things is a real help.

Jaykay70

Extended 'Opening Hours' would be helpful but the reps are always courteous and tolerant of behaviour that is bordering on abusive.

Zimmerframe

I'll start by saying I think Patrick and Fiona are doing a great job, very helpful too.

I'll also say, that I believe "boards.ie" IS Three's Irish support system, and although you have stated

Dav wrote: »

I honestly think that 11-4, 3 days a week is pretty reasonable

I disagree totally, and believe having a "Three" issue on a Friday morning and having to wait until Tuesday for a rep to attempt a reply is bordering on farcical. It should be increased to a minimum of 5 days 9-5.

In a nutshell, Three's presence on boards is not just desirable, it's essential. It just needs extending and ideally with a "tech" added to the team.

billy the squid

I do believe how the company treats its customers should be taken into consideration. That is just my opinion, and I will leave it at that.

aoshea83

I started this thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056337124

in feedback not so long ago, got nowhere

Lardy

First off, i think Both Patrick and Fiona are doing an impossible job. Personally, i found them both to be very helpful and responded to my own queries in a timely and polite manner.

However,
I do think the opening times need to be extended. As has already been said, 4 days with no online support is a long time.
I have also noticed that queries that have a quick and easy solution are often answered no problem, but, harder queries are very often ignored, leading to pages and pages of mindless drivel.
PMing your private details is fine, but the Three reps NEVER follow through by posting the resolution back on the thread. This leads to more repetitive threads, asking the same questions over and over. However, the OP could also post the resolution back on thread if they wish.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Kensington

1)
I think they do need to extend their operating hours
Fiona has gotten back to me previously "out of hours" which is great but at the same time, if you have a query or problem on a Thursday evening, it could well be the following Tuesday before it is addressed. They should operate a Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm at least I think.

2)
Another thing I think would be useful (and I think I saw someone else mention it previously) is a ticketing style system, similar to the "Site Development" section for boards.
For example:
[Open] for a fresh thread
[In Progress] for a thread awaiting a resolution
[Unresolved] for a thread over a week old
[Fixed] for a thread which has been resolved to the satisfaction of the OP.

I think not only will this give a decent indication of how effective the forum is at solving issues at a glance by any boardsie, it would give the "Talk To" operators incentive to resolve issues quickly to have plenty of green tags within their forum

3)
I think Three should always come back to a thread with a summary of anything they did in the case of a taken-to-PM situation, where that resolution might prove useful to other customers. Don't just direct the user to PM and the thread is then left unresponded to - should anyone do a search for a similar issue, if the thread results indicates a fix or information useful to the customer then that could save a needless support case for Three.

4)
Finally, I think a "Talk To" session with various higher-ups among Three should be done. These have proven quite popular with Three's competitors and would allow customers communicate their concerns with those directly involved with making the decisions across the various departments.
No disrespect meant toward Patrick or Fiona who I feel do a good job, but I think it would allow the various section heads of Three to see directly the problems that may exist across the various departments and work directly with the customer to resolve them. It also works wonders for PR and customer loyalty if a customer feels they are being actively listened to by people with the direct power to change things.


Apologies for the length of this post, didn't notice myself rambling on so much......

Chris P. Bacon

To be honest i dont think any of the reps are doing a good job,they use the same response to every question.I feel the reason a lot of people get angry is because of them and the lack of progress in getting peoples issues resolved,its a pretty thankless job what they are doing but it looks to me that they are out of there depth.

Feidhlim

very useful having them - not a bad word to say

Corsendonk

Captain Morgan wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Don't!! I was with them on two separate occasions, first when they came to Ireland and then 3 years later thinking their service might have improved. Worst decision I ever made. I spent most of my time talking to someone in India who was trained to be polite and courteous to extreme but who couldn't give me an answer to my query why mid stream in every call the phone dropped the call. It went on for months then they were shocked when I didn't renew my contract. :eek:

Second time round it took 4 weeks before I got my phone because the courier they dispatch the phone with rang me when he was 10 mins away from my home two days after the planned delivery time expecting me to be there. So then it goes back to depot, The courier and 3 blamed each other for days on whose fault it was and all I gathered from it was that 3 Indian customer service had no way to feedback to the courier in Ireland any complaints.

Obviously the boards Three Talk forum is a token attempt to mend the damage their India customer services has done over the years. It should be 7 days a week with a bigger team if they hope to ever entice customers like me back.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

MrTrebus

this is my own sorry 3 story.
maybe now someof you will understand where I am coming from.
you can see the lack of response from 3 and what had to actually be done to get this resolved !!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056101528

The Left Hand Of God

I think three needs to get it's act and network together and by default the forum would work much better with a LOT less complaints. Speaking on behalf of a colleagues experience with three and their coverage.

Also pretty stupid using a third party for a forum if you really want to know. How much is vBulletin?

Orion

I only came across this thread because my current Meteor contract is up and I'm looking at options for upgrading/switching. Reading the Talk To Three forum is actually putting me off that company. IMO a forum such as this should be a support forum. But as far as I can see the most prolific poster is Patrick and he is pure sales. I've never relied on boards.ie for support with any company but sticking a sales drone into what should be a support forum is a no-no imo.

And then I see Dav say "I honestly think that 11-4, 3 days a week is pretty reasonable". Seriously? They are a service provider. 9-5, 7 days a week should be the absolute minimum if they want to be taken seriously. 15 hours a week is rubbish. Don't delude yourself that they are doing customers a favour by being here in the first place! But then again - see above. Sending a sales guy to a support arena and restricting that to 15 hours a week shows their mentality and exactly how much they care about their customers.

I'm not feeling the contract porting love right now.

angel01

Take what is posted on the 3 forum with a pinch of salt. There are lots of happy people who don't post on there but are very happy with the service.

I am very happy with the plans and the service 3 provide. On the aspect of the forum, Patrick and Fiona do a thankless task, they provide a service with politeness, respect and they do a great job. They often have to cope with what could be described as abusive posts and that to me, needs stamping out straightaway.

It would be nice if the opening hours were extended as I prefer to use boards, rather than ringing 1913 :eek: but on the whole, the forum works well.

I do think what Kensington suggested with the colours would work really well!

angel01

Orion wrote: »

I only came across this thread because my current Meteor contract is up and I'm looking at options for upgrading/switching. Reading the Talk To Three forum is actually putting me off that company. IMO a forum such as this should be a support forum. But as far as I can see the most prolific poster is Patrick and he is pure sales. I've never relied on boards.ie for support with any company but sticking a sales drone into what should be a support forum is a no-no imo.

And then I see Dav say "I honestly think that 11-4, 3 days a week is pretty reasonable". Seriously? They are a service provider. 9-5, 7 days a week should be the absolute minimum if they want to be taken seriously. 15 hours a week is rubbish. Don't delude yourself that they are doing customers a favour by being here in the first place! But then again - see above. Sending a sales guy to a support arena and restricting that to 15 hours a week shows their mentality and exactly how much they care about their customers.

I'm not feeling the contract porting love right now.

Where are you getting the idea they are sales? It is a useful feature and to me they are doing me a favour as I can get answers quicker and easier on here.

Noone is forcing you to move, take a look at Vodafone forum on here, that has as much bashing as 3 do ...If you are going to be influenced by a forum, that says it all...

Gordon

Orion wrote: »

And then I see Dav say "I honestly think that 11-4, 3 days a week is pretty reasonable". Seriously?

How much money does it cost 3 to have 2 employees work these shifts? Would these be same employees that could be on phones/email in regular 'BAU' world? How can their business justify taking people away from that, and onto a relatively untested, new platform immediately? First thing to do is test the system and then start off small, and as long as the staff aren't handling aggressive objections and fighting ranty fires, and actually being given the space to solve problems and answer genuine queries - the company will soon see that it actually makes monetary, customer and PR sense to put more man hours into it.

tl;dr stop moaning, they have the cojones to actually use boards in this way, lets see how it pans out.

Orion wrote: »

I can see the most prolific poster is Patrick and he is pure sales. I've never relied on boards.ie for support with any company but sticking a sales drone into what should be a support forum is a no-no imo.

Charming language :rolleyes:, it's extremely petty and disrespectful to take pot shots like this at people that are reading what you're saying, and won't/can't reply to you personally to defend themselves, because they are working in a professional capacity. And the glaring hypocrisy in your comment about 'never relied on boards for support with any company' just completely nullifies your argument about having a full time employee on boards.

Orion

Gordon wrote: »

And the glaring hypocrisy in your comment about 'never relied on boards for support with any company' just completely nullifies your argument about having a full time employee on boards.

I said I never have not never would because there is no company doing it currently that I have dealing with. If I needed support from a company that was using boards in this way then I would use it over calling a helpline. There is no hypocrisy in that.

Gordon

I've never relied on boards.ie for support with any company

The owner of 3 sees that, and imagines that you are a voice of reason, and he says to himself "hmm, boards isn't worthy of putting 2 FTE onto, maybe just 1". Maybe in future you should be clearer about what you mean instead of expecting people to extrapolate your historic experiences and showing hypocritical logic.

Orion

Conversely maybe you could stop accusing people of hypocrisy by reading words that aren't there.

Orion

angel01 wrote: »

Take what is posted on the 3 forum with a pinch of salt. There are lots of happy people who don't post on there but are very happy with the service.

I would never base a decision purely on a support forum. By its very nature most people will have a problem. It's just one factor to consider is all.

Gordon

Orion wrote: »

Conversely maybe you could stop accusing people of hypocrisy by reading words that aren't there.

I'm reading what you have written, cheers.

angel01

Orion wrote: »

I would never base a decision purely on a support forum. By its very nature most people will have a problem. It's just one factor to consider is all.

People rarely post when everything is going perfectly. People tend to always just post when there is something wrong.

I tend to disagree with most of the stuff that is posted on the three forum and I think what would be good is if they started posting the resolution on the original thread but of course that would be time consuming for just two people to do.

Cabaal

From a personal viewpoint I have to say I pity the Three Reps, they are as others have already states doing an impossible job.

Ok companys make mistakes and people will be unhappy but there are a number of users who wouldn't even been happy if they were given the sun the moon and the stars. Some also get abusive with the reps which is totally uncalled for!

Whilst others may disagree Orion is correct in saying a support problem will more often then not be full of issues and complaints, its not going to be full of praise for a company.

Thats not how support lines and forums work.

Cabaal

From a personal viewpoint I have to say I pity the Three Reps, they are as others have already states doing an impossible job.

Ok companys make mistakes and people will be unhappy but there are a number of users who wouldn't even been happy if they were given the sun the moon and the stars. Some also get abusive with the reps which is totally uncalled for!

Whilst others may disagree Orion is correct in saying a support problem will more often then not be full of issues and complaints, its not going to be full of praise for a company.

Thats not how support lines and forums work.

Aren't Three's customer care services that you can get in contact with via phone call 24/7?

Toto Wolfcastle

I haven't had a problem with Three, but someone I know had to call them about a minor issue. Having witnessed the phone call and the fact that the woman on the phone had absolutely no idea what he was saying despite his neutral accent, I would use the Three forum on Boards before I would call them.

I think there's a real opportunity here for the forum on Boards to become almost the primary source for people with issues with the service given that the phone service seems to be so utterly woeful. (More users for Boards too!) I understand that they need to make sure it's worth their while but I don't think that Monday to Friday is unreasonable.

TheZohanS

I switched my network provider over to Three a few months ago, have to say the service has been excellent so I haven't had the need to contact Customer Care or their Talkto about any issues. However what I do see on their forum is a few frustrated customers that take their frustration out on the boards reps and that's not fair.

As Dav pointed out the Three Reps. are around 3 days each week and for a limited time during these days, maybe a "sticky" should be made with their opening hours in the thread title. At least that way users will know what days are best to contact the Reps.

Additionally it might be handy if the Reps. decided amongst themselves who is going to take on which particular thread/problem, I have seen a couple of cases where users have ended up dealing with more than one Rep. on an issue and that means repeating PM's and twice the work for Three and posters.

So if a Rep. could change the thread title to incorporate their name it would be handy.

For example:

I want to get phone insurance with Three. (Three: Patrick)

Now the user and the Three Rep. know who is dealing with the problem and can mark the thread closed after it's been dealt with by possible reporting the thread and asking a Mod to close it(I'm not sure if reps. have mod powers or not).

Also if something could be done about posters thread hijacking, a one thread one problem/poster approach should be taken unless it's a general inquiry like a new priceplan etc. I've seen a few cases where a poster makes a thread about a problem and then a few posters jump in with similar or not so similar problems just because they see a bit of activity on a thread. This needs to be stopped IMO as it can end up being one giant clusterfeck and some posters might fall through the crack and they come on moaning that their problem wasn't dealt with.

The End.

Gordon

TheZohan wrote: »

Also if something could be done about posters thread hijacking, a one thread one problem/poster approach should be taken unless it's a general inquiry like a new priceplan etc. I've seen a few cases where a poster makes a thread about a problem and then a few posters jump in with similar or not so similar problems just because they see a bit of activity on a thread. This needs to be stopped IMO as it can end up being one giant clusterfeck and some posters might fall through the crack and they come on moaning that their problem wasn't dealt with.

The End.

Good point about the 121 type forum, it would make their internal tracking and reporting easier by far. Like the prison forum or sig forum where only the thread starter and three reps reply. Would be a shame to lose crowdsource helping though.

Chris P. Bacon

TheZohan wrote: »

As Dav pointed out the Three Reps. are around 3 days each week and for a limited time during these days, maybe a "sticky" should be made with their opening hours in the thread title. At least that way users will know what days are best to contact the Reps.

They already have a sticky for that.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056076658