02 - aaaaarrrrrhhhhhhhh

The mobile network that I am on is O2 and I have been with them since 2000. All that time, I have been a “Select” customer which has had the benefit of calling the customer service on a free number 0800 0321 1402 and get through fairly quickly to a representative.

Today, I received two letters from O2 today and I said to myself that can’t be a good sign and how right was I.

First letter was normal bill.

Second letter was from Helen Care (I bet there is no such person and I am very tempted to call their switchboard and ask for her) Select Marketing Manager for O2. The letter starts ”Your 12 month Select membership is now coming to an end and we hope you’ve enjoyed the benefits it brought with it, including money off accessories and a dedicated customer service number”

What?? What 12 month Select membership is she on about?? My twelve month contract was renewed in the beginning of 2005.

The letter continues:

“To continue with Select membership you need to meet both of the following two criteria

· Your average bill for each phone must be over £40*

· You need to be up to date with payments

Unfortunately you currently don’t meet one of these criteria however we’d love you to be a member again as soon as you’re eligible.”

This section really, really rubs me the wrong way. Never EVER has these criteria been mentioned – trust me, I am a sado and actually read the terms and condition before I sign. My average bill has never ever been £40 so why did this issue come up now. Normally my bills are around £25-£27 (incl VAT) mark with the odd one higher when I have been abroad.

Then this Helen Care mentioning love as in “we’d love you to be a member again” which means when I spend more money with them. These marketing people think that their customers are stupid and they don’t seem to understand why nobody has any respect for their “profession”. This comment is so damn insulting and superficial. Love is something I feel towards my boyfriend, family and animals especially cats. Love is NOT something I feel towards a business relation. I would go as far as loyalty but certainly not love.

The letter continues:

“Your new customer service number is 08702 410202 and we’re on hand to help if you have any questions about your O2 account. Why not save it to your phone now?”

Right, from calling the customer service being free, I now have to pay “up to 5 pence” if I call from a a landline or if I would call from my mobile then I would have to pay 10 pence. O2 will pocket a few pence and make money when I call their customer service. It will be in their interest keep me on hold and take their time answering the questions.

The letter finishes of with:

We hope to be welcoming you back to elect soon but until then, thank you for your loyalty to O2 and enjoy your mobile.

Best regards,

Helen Cane

Select Marketing Manager

*Based on you average spend over 6 months excluding VAT.

In this letter no dates were mentioned when my Select membership should end.

Time to talk to the Customer Service. I could call the 0800 number from mine landline or I can call free from my mobile. I decided to call from my mobile just take a bit extra network usages. After 8 minutes, a representative answered. I was calm and collect and my objectives were to:

1. Find out the date with my Select membership will end.
2. Find out when my 12 month contract will end and I am then free change network provider.
3. When this new minimum spend were introduced.
4. Spend as much time on the phone as I could. I am sure that they have a time limit of how long to spend on each customer and the can see the queue getting too long.
5. Tell them about how dissatisfied I am as a customer (as long as I possible could).

The answers were:

1. No conclusive answer. After a fairy long wait I was told the date should be in the letter. I said that no date were in the letter and read out the letter to him. I continue to press him for a date. The best answer he could eventually say was when the bill arrives with the 0870 number I would then be on the lower tier. I told him how ridicules it was of O2 and their marking department of sending out letter and specified what date applied.
2. 3 February 2006 – trust me, I will leaving O2 then
3. He could not / would not answer this
4. In total, I was on the phone for 28 minutes and that felt like I achieved my objective.
5. I was told that the letter’s intention was not to offend their customer which I calmly argued that I had been offended.
   

The guy I was speaking to was, I have to say, good = not stroppy, rude and obnoxious as many call centre staff are when being a challenged.

Customer relationship is mainly one-way street here in the UK. Company dictates the customer but when the customer challenges the company – that is simply not on. It doesn’t matter what industry you are dealing with. Electricity, telephone, banks, airlines, credit card, and insurance companies – the list is endless. Nobody don’t really listen to the customers and we are the one with money to spend in their business.