23 Jun 2007

CUSTOMER SERVICE

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No internet ! catastrope, even the mouse couldn't help !



On wednesday morning Mr. Gattino wanted to make a phone call, but the phone was dead. As we have all together, phone line, internet connection and extra TV channels, the whole thing had broken down. He called the complaint service with his mobile and told them. As he was the only who complained they said they would repair it for monday ! Imagine me six days withoutInternet ! He went over to our neighbors and they had the same troubles. So the others called too and suddenly they promised to come the same afternoon. Mr. Gattino had checked in the street and down our street new houses are being built and an intelligent crane operator had cut a cable !


At 3.30 pm I called again. Now you probably know that you can't talk to a person anymore but you have to listen to a recorded voice. In Belgium they first ask you "for flemish push 1" "for french push 2" you choose your language and then hop we go :

Please type your telephone n° followed by a square (#)
For customer service push 1
For accounting department push 2
For log in problems push 3
For TV problems push 4
For telphone problems push 5
For technical service push 6
For commercial information push 7
etc.


After 5 min I finally choose technical problems, what else could I choose I had the problem with all three items ! Then a voice informed me that all the lines were busy but in 2 min I would get an answer. I listened to an awful music and wait. After again about 5 min suddenly somebody shouted in the phone "Technical service" I was so surprised to hear a real person that I jumped back.


I described our problems and the lady informed me that it would be repaired the next day afternoon ! I protested and told her that I needed internet absolutely that I am a at home working person and all my clients need to get in contact with me (you are my clients !) she told me a schedule is a schedule and there were nothing to do I should call customer service they did the schedules.


I called customer service, and had to go through the above described procedure again. No, I was told, all technicians were busy, nobody there and it would be done the next day afternoon. I told her that I would write a letter and ask for damages and made a scandal on the phone, but she became a robot and answered always the same.


The moment I banged the phone on the sofa, Mr. Gattino told me that Belgacom (that's their name) had just arrived for repairing. While I discussed on the phone and always got the answer the technician would come the next day, he was actually standing at our door ! That's cooperation ! But the poor man had thought that only a little cable in our house was cut and didn't expect that it was a cable in the street ! He started to dig then, because the guy who had cut the cable had closed the hole, he had thought it was an old unused cable ! Unused !! yes and the whole street was down !


As there was quite a deep hole to dig, he called another technician to help him and it took them 2 h until they finally found the damaged cable. Neighbors gathered around and also the future house owners and all complained about bad services. Mr. Gattino as a retired person was very busy for 2 h too.


Finally at 7.30 pm the cable was repaired and I had my internet back and Mr. Gattino his favorite TV channel !

8 comments:

  1. hello Gattina
    Heureusement tout fini bien! Internet again. C'est l'essentiel! Si un jour j'ai un problème avec internet, je serai très malheureuse! Et pourtant plein de gens ont des problèmes ici avec les différents opérateurs! Ma collègue de travail n'a plus internet depuis 3 mois! A sa place j'aurais déjà changé d'opérateur! Je n'aurais pas cette patience!
    Bonne journée et thabks to Mrs Gattino who was very busy with the repair in the street!

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  2. Gday Gattina, Dont you just hate the Phone calls when you have to listen to a robot. push numbers and wait and wait till you get a human voice, its the same here also.but once you get the human they are very helpfull,

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  3. I always push zero "0" when I get a robot....it'll take me [most always] to a real person. I know just what you mean about this automated 'crap'.....it sucks swamp water.

    Glad you got your cable back.

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  4. Cut pics of the cat sniffing at the mouse!

    What a nightmare you've both been trough - I would have gone nuts. I mean I could survive without TV and I only use mobile phone, but disconnected to the net is like being disconnected to the world!

    Glad you're back on track again and I wish you both a great mid summer weekend!

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  5. service here is more or less the same, too! i guess that's a universal thing.
    glad to know your cable was repaired real soon.

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  6. WOW! Same day service?! NEVER in America! Maybe same WEEK! Usually we wait at least 3 days -- for ANY service! Broken washing machine... broken refrigerator... broken internet! Doesn't matter what it is! 3 days! You are very lucky!

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  7. I'm glad Mr. Gattino went out and helped with the problem, giving all the advice the service men needed to dig the hole and fix the cable. Melli is right about not getting service in the US. Next time you get the robot on the phone, try pushing "0" and see if it helps get you to a person faster than wading through the push this for this and that for that... I HATE WAITING ON THE PHONE, just about as much as I hate being without phone and internet- though those two are split up in our house just in case this happens again to us.!! Good luck!! Oh - I wondered if you got a paid receipt for your $0 bill? How funny that was - I got one one time, went so far as threatening to send me to collection for a $0 balance due in full today!! Don't let them tell you that nobody is involved but the computer, because someone had to underline in read, and in US that's not allowed, its considered harrassesment and illegal to do red underline... how RUDE that computer was!!

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  8. Hi Gattina

    Here I am at Writer's Cramps...see, I always do as I'm told...lol!

    Trying to get any kind of service nowadays is like wishing for the moon...nearly impossible. However, I'm glad you're back up and running now...until some other idiot comes along and stuffs things up.

    Take care.

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