Vote for the best and worse customer service you have received!

[The_Lhc]

Duol:Also Vodafone: Think it's a great network but in store customer service is a shambles. What doesn't help is that the online store is a seperate business from the physical shops.

Yes, the stores are franchises, usually.

So when you order something online with them and it goes worng the shops don't want anything to do with you.

That's probably because there really isn't anything they can do to help you.

 

[Anonymous]

recently had a phone problem - the competency and ongoing availability of support without any wait or endless phone ringing staggered me - WELL DONE TO - O2

 

[laserman16]

the_lhc:Duol:Also Vodafone: Think it's a great network but in store customer service is a shambles. What doesn't help is that the online store is a seperate business from the physical shops. Yes, the stores are franchises, usually. So when you order something online with them and it goes worng the shops don't want anything to do with you. That's probably because there really isn't anything they can do to help you.

Not so with O2, shops seem only to willing to help even if the product/service was purchased online.

 

[The_Lhc]

makemindasony:
This thread is pointless...sounds like a scene from One flew over the cuckoo's Nest, no consistence in the responses...??

Why would there be? It's people's individual experiences, why should they be consistent?

If people think customer service is bad then they should do the job themselves and see how long before they go potty

Oh right, so because you don't like the job that means you should be rude and unhelpful to your customers? Nice.

 

[Anonymous]

the_lhc:Duol:Also Vodafone: Think it's a great network but in store customer service is a shambles. What doesn't help is that the online store is a seperate business from the physical shops.

Yes, the stores are franchises, usually.

So when you order something online with them and it goes worng the shops don't want anything to do with you.

That's probably because there really isn't anything they can do to help you.

They did help me in the end. First I had to go to the phone booth in their shop call customer services for the online shop which then told me to... go to the very shop I was in and ask to have it fixed. The guy at the counter then denied that what I was telling him was true. He proceded to call customer support which by the sounds of it gave him a right bollocking and in the end they begrugingly sent my phone in for repairs. And he was rude from the minute I asked him to fix the phone, the only thing he encouraged me to do was upgrade my contract instead, which I wasnt interested in because they have already had enough of my money.

 

[Anonymous]

Best - Amazon, Tesco, the local guy who fitted our new LNB and satellite cables last week!

Worst - there's no-one worth lambasting really within the last couple of years

...I generally find customer service is pretty good for the most part and can't remember having too many issues.

 

[Clare Newsome]

pejwright:

Worst service - Lloyds TSB, Santander, Halifax, basically all the banks that I've had any recent experience of. My problems with a couple of Hifi/AV retailers in the past 12 months pale into insignificance compared to having to deal with banks. We bail them out, they provide a dreadful service and rip us off, then have the cheek to pay themselves massive bonuses.

I've had ongoing issues with Santander this year - all down to their incompetence - that have actually reduced me to tears (of rage/frustration; not the girly kind

).

And with friends/colleagues having similar horrors with Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and others, there seems no alternative. Maddening

 

[Anonymous]

Theres a shop near me (non hifi) where the son of the owner works. He is the rudest, arrogant saleman ever. I've actually seen people standing with £2k plus in cash in their hands, only to turn around and walk out!!! The rest of the staff, who are great, call him " the Sales Prevention Officer"

Best lately was Amazon, worst was Sky sales dept (engineers have been fine)

 

[professorhat]

Clare Newsome:I've had ongoing issues with Santander this year - all down to their incompetence - that have actually reduced me to tears (of rage/frustration; not the girly kind

).

And with friends/colleagues having similar horrors with Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and others, there seems no alternative. Maddening

Virgin One - been with them for about 9 years now and have never had an issue they haven't dealt with efficiently and without complaint (and that includes having my Visa card cloned twice). Also, I don't think it's ever taken them more than 3 rings before I've spoken to someone - clearly important for an internet bank.

 

[Anonymous]

Best,;Richer sounds,Belfast,Amazon Worst,Talk Talk

 

[Anonymous]

The Best

Spendor Amazing reponse to queries and also a suspect bolt on a speakr drive unit. Dealt with in a very professional way. A pleasure.

Good

Sevenoaks Hifi (Peterborough store although now gone, Lincoln store still there). They know how to treat customers and how to ensure repeat custom by caring about the small stuff.

John Lewis It's almost a cliche now but their service is excellent. When they screw up (and they have, big time), they dealt with it very well and gave a set of vouchers to a non-trivial quantity.

The Chord Company The cable producers. Replaced all phono plugs on my CSP free of charge, well outside warranty. Not sure if they thought it belonged to the dealer, Classic Hifi

Classic Hifi Sorted my cable out for me and may have be instrumental in getting the job done for free. Not purchased from him nor was the cable in warranty.

Bad

Orange Trying to sort out broadband issues is a nightmare. I know they have scripts but some common sense goes a long way.

O2 They introduced me to the concept of passing a customer around between colleagues because they couldn't be bothered to deal with it. Ingenious. Never actually got dealt with so I had to go higher.

Southern Electric / nPower Neither could cope with a house move. Stunning incompetance. They sent a huge settlement bill which was entirely, massively wrong. They stated that it was based on the meter reading they took. They must have broken into the house then. Despite the fact that they couldn't have got into our property to read the meter, they didn't believe us! Stunning arrogance.

 

[laserman16]

Good. Hotpoint,Phoned up for a service call on the Fridge -Freezer, They gave me a date and 5 hour time slot,confirmation email followed, txt message day before as a reminder, txt message on the morning of the appointment cutting time slot down to 2 hours.Engineer arrived in advised 2 hour time slot and sorted the problem. Brilliant.

Bad. BT, they are never wrong according to them, thank god i'm away from them

. Also Southern Electric, supposed to have phoned or sent a text to my Daughter just before they arrive twice now so someone could be there to sort a meter problem out. No chance, so now waiting for a third appointment.

 

[Anonymous]

Interesting thread.

Good:

Amazon and multiple sellers in Amazon Marketplace including Hughes Direct from whom I purchased a plasma telly. Delivered with a week, within a 30 minute slot.

Richer Sounds are always a pleasure to visit.

B&Q have been pretty good recently, correcting an almight farkhup with a kitchen we recently had fitted. Redesigned it, took it out, reinstalled it properly.

NatWest Bank - brilliant.

DHL - I was out, so went ot the warehouse but the item hadn't returned to the warehouse (I went too soon). Chap behind the desk offered to drop it off on his way home - and he did. Outstanding service.

Bad:

Virgin Media. Outsourced telephone help to India by the sound of it so you end up speaking to someone who doesn't speak particularly good English and doesn't really understand what you are trying to say. Makes for a very frustrating, and lengthy, conversation.

Orange. Same telephone helpline outsourcing and then fob you off with trite solution but actaully do nothing about it. Useless in my experience.

Carphonewarehouse took over a month to repair my telephone and then replaced the handset with a new one. The new one was broken but couldn't simply be replaced. It too had to sent back for repair and took another yet 3 weeks. They told me I could 'track my repair' on their website - no I couldn't. Bah.

 

[Anonymous]

BEST:

Samsung, I have had an american fridge freezer for 4 years and the fridge packed up, 3 years out of warranty, engineer out 3 days later fixed free of charge.

Frank Harvey HI-FI, all the boys there are amazing, and really give the best deals they can, and are always happy to help even after I spent money with them, I called them, and they treated me like a new customer wanting to spend 10,000.

WORST:

Virgin media, even when I wanted to join with a full pack they never called back to take the money, and when someone called back 1 week later the price went up by 20.00 per month of what I was quoted.

and to all the COLD CALL call centres that try sell me stuff when I am sitting at home having dinner, or playing with my kids.

GET A REAL JOB

 

[Anonymous]

from what i have read i'm one that did not have that bad of a exsperience with comet.. they tried to say it was out of there returns period but after telling them is took 5 weeks to deliver the TV they happily refunded me money..because the PSU blew in case yer interested..

 

[Alantiggger]

Best : Virgin Media ... always so helpful and never a bad word.

Worst : Sony , I had difficulty with my camera and they were soooo slow to help grrr.

 

[Tonya]

Please bear in mind this is from Norway!

BEST: Has to be Archos.
I bought an AV700 media player several years ago on a trip to the UK.
The screen failed on it way outside of warranty.
I emailed Archos in France and they replied within minutes and after explaining the situation plus I had no paperwork either, they said they would get back to me later.
One hour went by when I got a phone call from a national courrier service asking me when it would be convenient to collect my player that was to be shipped back to France.
Was away for about a week when the courrier returned with my player.
New screen and battery fitted and software upgraded, yet all my stuff was still on the drive.
Impressive stuff.

Had a PSB subwoofer amp blow (my own fault, or rather it was Bruce Willis in Die Hard 4), called the importers who shipped me a replacement board the same day.

Ordered some electronics from a small Chinese firm on eBay and it was delivered in less than 24 hours from HK by DHL.

Also had an issue with a battery on an old Nokia Communicator phone.
Actually called them in Finland and they arranged for a new fully charged battery waiting for me at my local dealer.

I also hate to say this but whenever I fly RyanAir and I do frequently, I just find them fast and efficient.
a no frills service to get you comfortably from A to B.
It just does what it says on the tin . . . .

WORST: Ford.
Several years ago I had a Ford scorpio that started to rust just before the "rust warranty" ran out.
They repaired it but charged me 450 pounds for a new petrol tank as the old one was rusty and they had the cheek to claim that the tank isn't an integral part of the car.
I won in the end but only after legal action.

 

[markyd]

Best - for me has to be HP Business. I have been dealing with them for workstations and servers for the last 6-7 years and they never cease to amaze me with their excellent after sales support, warranty and slick professionalism.

I dont have any experience of their performance on domestic products, but on a professional level they show that it is possible to consistently offer the highest level of customer service in the IT sector. It is the only company IT company I can genuinely say I dont mind having to contact.

Honourable mention - John Lewis, Amazon, B+W, First Direct

Worst? - Too many to mention! I tend to erase them from my memory... BUT I will say BT, FedEX and Superfi have got my back up recently