Virgin least complained about provider in Q2 2011

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Hugh

And what line of business are you in, Tim?

I'm in the bed trade, why?

Because I don't believe you fairly comparing the complexity of the business model and the number of customers that major companies deal with, with that of a smal business. For instance, how many customers a day come into your place of business, and what is your annual turnover?

In any model, the more customers you have accessing a service, the more staff you have (all of whom have good days and bad days), the more interconnected and complex services you have, the more likely you are to have someone who's is unhappy with your service (and I reference your "Victor Meldrew" comment).

It's easy for someone with a simple business model/limited product range/low customer throughput to give personal service, but when a company has millions of customers, tens of thousands of staff, and multiple interconnected services/products to sell and support (and I am talking about any large company, not just VM), the odds of having some who is not happy with the service they have received rises at least arithmetically, if not geometrically.

That is not to say large companies should not try to give the best customer service possible, but you cannot please all of people all of the time.

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Because I don't believe you fairly comparing the complexity of the business model and the number of customers that major companies deal with, with that of a smal business. For instance, how many customers a day come into your place of business, and what is your annual turnover?

In any model, the more customers you have accessing a service, the more staff you have (all of whom have good days and bad days), the more interconnected and complex services you have, the more likely you are to have someone who's is unhappy with your service (and I reference your "Victor Meldrew" comment).

It's easy for someone with a simple business model/limited product range/low customer throughput to give personal service, but when a company has millions of customers, tens of thousands of staff, and multiple interconnected services/products to sell and support (and I am talking about any large company, not just VM), the odds of having some who is not happy with the service they have received rises at least arithmetically, if not geometrically.

That is not to say large companies should not try to give the best customer service possible, but you cannot please all of people all of the time.

I'm afraid you are very wrong.

To start with, any staff who deal with customers should not bring problems to work. And therefore personal issues should NEVER have any bearing on the way they deal with customers.

Staff who can't do the above quite simply shouldn't be employed in positions dealing with the public.

If a company (whatever size) employs the right people, and trains them properly, then this alone should eliminate most complaints.

Worst of all is when staff are actually trained to lie to customers, as I have come across a few times with VM.

To be honest I am disgusted that there are two members of VM staff in this forum who instead of passing on customers concerns, actually try and make excuses, and even deny that there is a problem. Well as I have said many times, there is a serious problem with VM's customer service.

You have to remember that VM aren't retailers, they provide a service. And this is a service that should run trouble free on a day to day basis. And I have to say that it usually does, and is in fact very reliable. Even when there are faults that cause disruption in the service, then I accept that as with all technology, this can happen occasionally. And although it can be very annoying (especially when trying to run businesses that rely on communications and IT), it isn't really grounds for a complaint as long as the problem is sorted quickly. With retailers they are relying on products manufactured by third parties, and therefore they are more likely to have complaints.

Complaints usually start out as problems. It's the way that these problems are dealt with that decides if it becomes a complaint. And this is where VM fall flat on their face as far as customer service goes.

The best single way to improve VM's customer service would be to bring the call centres back to the UK. Oh, and stop training staff to lie.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

but they are actually told to lie to customers about what they can and can't do.

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

and stop training staff to lie.

Care to post the evidence that they have done that because if you cannot then i feel you should no longer be trusted with anything you post on this forum. For you to come on this forum and make a profound statement like that has to be backed up with evidence . ???

Come on post the evidence that they HAVE done what you posted or are you just RANTING

BTW i am staff and i have never been told to lie to a customer EVER and i NEVER do

[adzii_nufc]

Originally Posted by Sirius

Care to post the evidence that they have done that because if you cannot then i feel you should no longer be trusted with anything you post on this forum. For you to come on this forum and make a profound statement like that has to be backed up with evidence . ???

Come on post the evidence that they HAVE done what you posted or are you just RANTING

BTW i am staff and i have never been told to lie to a customer EVER and i NEVER do

The evidence never comes Just like Santa each year...

Another how long is a piece of string argument..

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by adzii_nufc

The evidence never comes Just like Santa each year...

But Santa comes to my house because i am a good boy

Originally Posted by Sirius

But Santa comes to my house because i am a good boy

To be fair, since you (allegedly) have been on the VM "Introduction to lying to customers" and "Advanced lying to the public", how could Santa tell when he asks if you've been naughty or nice?

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Hugh

To be fair, since you (allegedly) have been on the VM "Introduction to lying to customers" and "Advanced lying to the public", how could Santa tell when he asks if you've been naughty or nice?

This is a photo of him at my house last christmas

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Sirius

Care to post the evidence that they have done that because if you cannot then i feel you should no longer be trusted with anything you post on this forum. For you to come on this forum and make a profound statement like that has to be backed up with evidence . ???

Come on post the evidence that they HAVE done what you posted or are you just RANTING

BTW i am staff and i have never been told to lie to a customer EVER and i NEVER do

How on earth can anyone give evidence of things that are said on the telephone???

I'm not someone who just rants, and has a grudge about VM. In fact in other threads I have defended VM against someone who was ranting.

I have been lied to by staff in your overseas call centres on many occasions. A prime ewxample is when I have repeatedly been told that it isn't possible to transfer the call to someone in a UK call centre. Then when I speak to their supervisor, they actually transfer the call.

Then there was the lie that my business phone lines and internet would only be down for a few hours when we moved. But they were down for a few days. And the divert to mobiles during the down time that I was promised would work, didn't work at all. I was in fact told later that there was no way that it ever would have worked.

So before you start ranting at people [Mod Edit], I suggest that your company gets it's own house in order.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

How on earth can anyone give evidence of things that are said on the telephone???

I'm not someone who just rants, and has a grudge about VM. In fact in other threads I have defended VM against someone who was ranting.

I have been lied to by staff in your overseas call centres on many occasions. A prime example is when I have repeatedly been told that it isn't possible to transfer the call to someone in a UK call centre. Then when I speak to their supervisor, they actually transfer the call.

Then there was the lie that my business phone lines and internet would only be down for a few hours when we moved. But they were down for a few days. And the divert to mobiles during the down time that I was promised would work, didn't work at all. I was in fact told later that there was no way that it ever would have worked.

So before you start ranting at people and giving them [Mod Edit], I suggest that your company gets it's own house in order.

You stated that they had been told to lie, you did not say it was your opinion. You stated that they are told to lie, If you are so certain they are told this you must have the evidence ???

so i say again prove it or state you are saying it as a opinion

for instance i could say that you told your staff to only sell the most expensive bed they could not matter if its the better one or i could say that in my opinion your staff only sell the most expensive bed even if its not the best. See the difference one needs proof because its stated as fact the other is an opium and not fact.

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Sirius

You stated that they had been told to lie, you did not say it was your opinion. You stated that they are told to lie, If you are so certain they are told this you must have the evidence ???

so i say again prove it or state you are saying it as a opinion

for instance i could say that you told your staff to only sell the most expensive bed they could not matter if its the better one or i could say that in my opinion your staff only sell the most expensive bed even if its not the best. See the difference one needs proof because its stated as fact the other is an opium and not fact.

Don't talk rubbish. I know it's a lie when on numerous occasions I have been told something that simply isn't true. If someone doesn't know something then they should either check, or they should find out. If they make a statement that isn't true, then that is a lie. When I have been told the same thing by at least 10 people, then it isn't just my opinion, they must have been told to make that statement by someone. And as they are trained to work for Virgin, then it is their responsibility.

It's just the same as with most call centres (not all, and not VM), if you ask to speak to a manager or supervisor, they are trained to say that there is noone available, and that they will arrange a call back, which is often a lie. It's just the way that many big companies work unfortunately.

The difference is between you and me is that I have had many dealings with VM/NTL over 20 years. Yet you have never had any dealings with me or any of my businesses. So why are you taking this personally??? I haven't said anything personal against you, yet you make personally insulting comments, [Mod Edit].

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

they are trained to say that there is noone available, and that they will arrange a call back, which is often a lie. It's just the way that many big companies work unfortunately.

And have you seen the training manual or process list that shows this? Can you provide a link?

Or are you basing that 'fact' on your personal experience on the other end of the phone?

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

So why are you taking this personally??? I haven't said anything personal against you, yet you make personally insulting comments, and [Mod Edit].

You said members of staff of VM lie, I am a member of staff so you have said i lie. you don't know me, You don't know which part of VM i work for but you still say we all lie.

I prefer to read facts from posters not posts claiming something is fact when they DONT have the evidence to back up there statement.

[Angua]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

Don't talk rubbish. I know it's a lie when on numerous occasions I have been told something that simply isn't true. If someone doesn't know something then they should either check, or they should find out. If they make a statement that isn't true, then that is a lie. When I have been told the same thing by at least 10 people, then it isn't just my opinion, they must have been told to make that statement by someone. And as they are trained to work for Virgin, then it is their responsibility.

It's just the same as with most call centres (not all, and not VM), if you ask to speak to a manager or supervisor, they are trained to say that there is noone available, and that they will arrange a call back, which is often a lie. It's just the way that many big companies work unfortunately.

The difference is between you and me is that I have had many dealings with VM/NTL over 20 years. Yet you have never had any dealings with me or any of my businesses. So why are you taking this personally??? I haven't said anything personal against you, yet you make personally insulting comments, and leave a negative reputation against me.

The difficulty is that information given may be true at the time. Only hindsight and more up to date facts will change this.

Someone is not deliberately lying if what they say is the truth as they know it at the time.