I've just filled in a form about BT customer service...here are the highlights of my sad, sad story:
Donna and the BT social media team were great - she found the problem, organised an Openreach engineer (a third visit from an engineer since Jan) who then managed to find the problem and fix it. He has made recommendations regarding the replacement of a cable.
The technical support based overseas however have been another story. I'm sure it's not their fault as individuals and I do feel for them, especially as they are unfailingly polite in difficult circumstances.
However it just seems that no one knows what is going on, who's doing what or what to suggest if it isn't in the script.
I do find it insulting that BT don't care enough to ensure (like the very fabulous First Direct do) that ALL their customer service is UK based for a UK based product. This would be a HUGE marketing plus and provide jobs here, where they are needed. I can't believe no one has the PR expertise to see this - it's a total no-brainer.
All the 'overseas' people can do (though they are very polite) is uselessly ask if your socket has two screws in the middle (I have been asked this question too many times to count)
Then, when their basic checks reveal nothing and their remote fixes don't work, they put you through to the 'escalation' team, which is probably the poor weary chap sat next to them with a degree in astrophysics, who asks you again to confirm your identity (REALLY? Do you think I haven't done this already to get put through to you?) Then you're asked again if your socket has two screws in the middle.
One actually asked me to unscrew the socket and use the tester socket. I'm not kidding. Then he suggested I buy ethernet cables and use them to connect all the laptops & computers in the house to my 'wireless' hub and BT would reimburse the cost of the cables. I'm still not kidding and it's a little tricky to do for iPods and phones.
Occasionally, they have tried my patience very sorely. When I told one customer service woman that it was nothing to do with the screws in the socket, she paused then said: So if you could just look at your socket...
We have had several outages and then this latest fault where we would lose any bandwidth in the evening. I knew what was happening - we're at the end of the exchange and at peak times the state of the line meant there was nothing left by the time it got to us. Would anyone 'overseas' listen? No, of course not, after all, I am just a customer, so if I could just check the screws in the socket...
Anyway, I got fed up so I, like I said, tweeted @BTcare. They sent me the link to the Twitter form and within hours Donna called me. She was going to take it over and I wouldn't have to deal with anyone else. Great!
The next day, CS overseas called and when I explained about Donna, they suggested she was a crank call, even though she knew my home phone number AND what she was talking about. I tweeted this to @BTcare who assured me (although I knew) it wasn't a crank call.
Donna called again made some adjustments to the line and organised an engineer visit. Now THIS is what customer service should be. I work from home as a PR and social media manager - I need to be online all day.
Today the engineer came and was very thorough and now my speed is double what it was - though it's still only a whopping 4MB.
I'm STILL waiting for BT Infinity, which has been delayed three times. There's a box there, it just needs to be connected up and it's much closer to us, though if that cable I talked about isn't replaced the engineer warned it would impact Infinity speeds considerably.
So, @BTCare team and especially Donna, are great. Fantastic. Bring your CS back to the UK, BT, and you'll be a company that deserves to have the word 'British' in its name.
