15-03-2014, 11:34 AM
(This post was last modified: 15-03-2014, 11:36 AM by camallison.)
Blimey, Col ...... that's 4 hankies I have saturated now. 
You are not alone, as you know, with the big companies failing to communicate (even internally). In a similar situation, this time with Tesco phones and broadband, my disabled sister who is housebound, lost her phone and broadband connection. It took 4 weeks for the solution - I had pointed out from the start to visiting Openreach chaps that a local building site appeared to have dug up and backfilled a pavement just where I would imagine the phone cables to be. Since her contract was with Tesco, all communication (via my laptop with a 3G dongle) was with them. To cut a long story short, as I usually do when things get ridiculous, the Tesco Comms CEO got a polite email from me with the full saga outlined. I added that she was disabled and living in sheltered accommodation, giving her blue badge number. Within 12 hours, there was a swarm of Openreach vans and workers plus a visit from the Tesco Comms local engineer and the fault was located and fixed. During the time she wasn't connected, I loaned her a 3G dongle for her laptop, with a Tesco SIM in it, and she used her own mobile (again with a Tesco SIM) to make calls to her carers when needed.
The Tesco Comms CEO added £100 credit to her dongle SIM and 2 lots of £35 credit to her phone SIM to ensure she was kept connected. In a later email, he apologised profusely and added that there was no excuse for the poor service she had received from them and BT.
Now, why couldn't either company, PLUS Virgin Media just sort things and keep the customer informed? I suspect they all rely too much on "compartmented" thinking ....... "I have sent an email to department x, so my bit is done". They all need to overhaul their customer service and fault rectification systems, but I doubt anything will happen there.
Rant over, but happy to hear that you have at least received an explanation Col, and some sign of a solution eventually. I would still send an email to their CEO once it is all over though, just to let him see how badly they have treated you.
Colin
You are not alone, as you know, with the big companies failing to communicate (even internally). In a similar situation, this time with Tesco phones and broadband, my disabled sister who is housebound, lost her phone and broadband connection. It took 4 weeks for the solution - I had pointed out from the start to visiting Openreach chaps that a local building site appeared to have dug up and backfilled a pavement just where I would imagine the phone cables to be. Since her contract was with Tesco, all communication (via my laptop with a 3G dongle) was with them. To cut a long story short, as I usually do when things get ridiculous, the Tesco Comms CEO got a polite email from me with the full saga outlined. I added that she was disabled and living in sheltered accommodation, giving her blue badge number. Within 12 hours, there was a swarm of Openreach vans and workers plus a visit from the Tesco Comms local engineer and the fault was located and fixed. During the time she wasn't connected, I loaned her a 3G dongle for her laptop, with a Tesco SIM in it, and she used her own mobile (again with a Tesco SIM) to make calls to her carers when needed.
The Tesco Comms CEO added £100 credit to her dongle SIM and 2 lots of £35 credit to her phone SIM to ensure she was kept connected. In a later email, he apologised profusely and added that there was no excuse for the poor service she had received from them and BT.
Now, why couldn't either company, PLUS Virgin Media just sort things and keep the customer informed? I suspect they all rely too much on "compartmented" thinking ....... "I have sent an email to department x, so my bit is done". They all need to overhaul their customer service and fault rectification systems, but I doubt anything will happen there.
Rant over, but happy to hear that you have at least received an explanation Col, and some sign of a solution eventually. I would still send an email to their CEO once it is all over though, just to let him see how badly they have treated you.
Colin
