# Prime Time Investigates "Service with a Snarl"



## Brendan Burgess (13 Dec 2008)

Prime Time on Monday next will be presented by Conor Pope of the Irish Times who has written a good [broken link removed]in today's paper.

NTL features in the article so I hope that they feature on the TV programme. I can't believe the claim of the MD that they have improved. 

Brendan


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## budapest (13 Dec 2008)

Poor customer service is an easy thing to complain about but IMO, comparatively, Ireland is quite good in this respect.  The basic concept doesn't even really exist in Hungary or certain other parts of Europe.


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## Padraigb (13 Dec 2008)

While the article that Brendan links doesn't say anything truly surprising, I liked this bit:


> SUPERQUINN IS ONE company in Ireland that has been associated with good customer service. "It seems to me that the most important element is to take the long-term approach. I think that has slipped a little as accountants have taken over," says Fergal Quinn, the former owner of the supermarket chain.



As a Superquinn shopper, I must commend his masterly understatement.


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## Ancutza (13 Dec 2008)

Customer service, or the lack of it, has to be seen to be believed in Romania!! It's one of my pet rants! 

They're fine to me as I'm a foreigner but how they address each other in shops is mind-boggling. I'm forever hammering home to my staff that if I hear them being rude to a customer that they'll be leaving so quick their feet won't touch the floor!

Service in Ireland is streets ahead IMO.


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## SlurrySlump (13 Dec 2008)

My top three worst for customer service.

1. NTL. www.upc.ie
2. Mercer www.mercer.ie
3. First Active [broken link removed]


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## extopia (13 Dec 2008)

Ancutza said:


> Service in Ireland is streets ahead IMO.



Streets ahead of Romania is faint praise indeed. 

There's good and bad here. NTL is legendary for its lousy service. And don't get me started on eircom. Then there was the government department (I can't remember which) with the answering machine message "To serve you better, we only answer the phone on Mondays and Thursdays" (or words to that effect).


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## budapest (13 Dec 2008)

Ulster Bank Mortgages are also pretty terrible to deal with but I think it is/was primarily an under-staffing problem.  In my experience though, most companies in Ireland are relatively hassle-free to deal with.  Nothing wrong with demanding even higher standards though.


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## Towger (13 Dec 2008)

budapest said:


> Ulster Bank Mortgages are also pretty terrible to deal with but I think it is/was primarily an under-staffing problem.


 
How can they be under staffed when the mortage section has had almost nothing to do for the best part of a year 

BTW. I have sent written complaints to their Ulster HQ and Dublin HQ and years later I am still waiting for a reply!


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## Sherman (13 Dec 2008)

extopia said:


> Streets ahead of Romania is faint praise indeed.
> 
> There's good and bad here. NTL is legendary for its lousy service. And don't get me started on eircom. Then there was the government department (I can't remember which) with the answering machine message "To serve you better, we only answer the phone on Mondays and Thursdays" (or words to that effect).


 
The common thread being there that all three examples are current or former government entities...


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## Towger (13 Dec 2008)

Sherman said:


> The common thread being there that all three examples are current or former government entities...


 
Don't mention what, you will get Complainer upset again


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## Joe1234 (14 Dec 2008)

Apparently when you ring the revenue office in Dundalk, after 4pm you get a message stating that the office is closed and the opening hours are 9.30 to 5.00.  I heard it was because when the time changed in October the clock on the phone system was not adjusted, so it automatically puts on the naswe service.  This was the situation about 3 weeks ago.  Don't know if it has been changed since.


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## parsi (14 Dec 2008)

Sherman said:


> The common thread being there that all three examples are current or former government entities...



When was NTL a governemnt entity ?


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## j26 (14 Dec 2008)

extopia said:


> ...Then there was the government department (I can't remember which) with the answering machine message "To serve you better, we only answer the phone on Mondays and Thursdays" (or words to that effect).


While it's efficacy was debatable, that was intended to allow civil servants to get work done rather than have to spend all day on the phone fielding queries from the public.
There seems to be a move to call centres, which has removed the need for it.

Our office did it for a while, and while I thought it was a bit silly, it did allow us to process more casework, and ultimately serve the customer by getting the work done, rather than chasing our tails.  However, the information centre set up after that little experiment works much better for us.


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## Black Sheep (14 Dec 2008)

Perhaps a little less use of the phone and a little more use of the head might leave our call centres less frantic. I prefer to do as much research as possible before ringing a call centre as you can get a variety of answers to the same question.
Maybe I'm just a sceptic but like to see the written word


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## podgerodge (14 Dec 2008)

parsi said:


> When was NTL a governemnt entity ?



probably referring to the fact that NTL purchased Cablelink.  Cablelink had been owned by Telecom Eireann and RTE.


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## parsi (15 Dec 2008)

Aha !

But the former government part of that is so diluted as to be non-existent - all of Chorus is under that umbrella too and they were fully private and God-awful to deal with.


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## ubiquitous (15 Dec 2008)

"Service with a Snarl" - Does that include TV licence inspectors?


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## bond-007 (15 Dec 2008)

Ah you mean jumped up postmen that think they are Elliot Ness as they trawl thru peoples bins looking for their "evidence"?


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## Elainee40 (15 Dec 2008)

what about the mobile company "3", there customer care is awful and i hate ringing them


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## kcb (15 Dec 2008)

Ulster Bank are awful
Imagine are the pits aswell


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## theresa1 (15 Dec 2008)

It's all about Sales -companies couldnt care less how bad their service is. They will pretend they do but really it's not a priority and infact due to present climate things are only going to get worse.


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## raindog (15 Dec 2008)

going out on a limb here but i have dealt with ntl for a couple of years now and i do think they have improved, in honesty they couldn't have got worse though


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## extopia (15 Dec 2008)

bond-007 said:


> Ah you mean jumped up postmen that think they are Elliot Ness as they trawl thru peoples bins looking for their "evidence"?



Has anyone actually met a TV license inspector? Do these guys really exist?


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## bond-007 (15 Dec 2008)

extopia said:


> Has anyone actually met a TV license inspector? Do these guys really exist?


I have. My description is apt.


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## extopia (15 Dec 2008)

Watching the programme now... 15 mins in, pretty boring, a lot of minute detail, still no company spokesman...


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## IrishGunner (15 Dec 2008)

Elainee40 said:


> what about the mobile company "3", there customer care is awful and i hate ringing them



After just experiencing their so called customer service they are in my opinion the worst ever I have dealt with


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## csirl (16 Dec 2008)

bond-007 said:


> I have. My description is apt.


 

If you have a license, you'll probably never see one. No point in calling to addresses where they know the occupants have a license.


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## Dreamerb (16 Dec 2008)

csirl said:


> If you have a license, you'll probably never see one. No point in calling to addresses where they know the occupants have a license.


But if your systems are terrible, as they are, you may not be able to arrive at the simple conclusion that 1 = 1.

I got a threatening letter sometime this year, addressed to "The Occupant", telling me to get a licence or risk a fine when the TV licence inspector calls round. (I had irritatedly returned to sender the renewal form they keep sending the previous owners of the house, with the terse message that they don't live there and we have a licence). Since the threatening letter didn't offer any "contact us" details, I put it together with my TV licence - registered to me at the same address - and waited for the inspector to call.

I'm still waiting. But I've since received, at the appropriate time, my own renewal form for the licence I hold at that same address, and renewed it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they send the heavy squad sometime soon...


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## NHG (16 Dec 2008)

What drives me crazy is the automated answering system with Revenue, Eircom and ESB - its nearly impossible to get as far as human customer service...


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## oldtimer (16 Dec 2008)

I thought the programme was quite boring, repeating the same type of complaints from companies the dogs in the street know about. Thought would diversify to other types of customer service. For example, as stated by Slurryslump on this thread already, First Active. What dreadful customer service - they have mastered the art of fogging off.


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## bond-007 (16 Dec 2008)

csirl said:


> If you have a license, you'll probably never see one. No point in calling to addresses where they know the occupants have a license.


But, even where you have a licence they often have different versions of your name and address and they call because the address on the licence does not tally with their records. I know loads of people who have had visits who have current licences.


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## ubiquitous (16 Dec 2008)

bond-007 said:


> But, even where you have a licence they often have different versions of your name and address and they call because the address on the licence does not tally with their records. I know loads of people who have had visits who have current licences.



We moved house some years ago. The house we left was unoccupied for some time subsequently. They sent letters to that address with our name on it, ie "former ubiquitous residence", Street, Town etc. The demands and threats kept being redirected to us, at our new address, despite several calls to An Post


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## Pique318 (16 Dec 2008)

NHG said:


> What drives me crazy is the automated answering system with Revenue, Eircom and ESB - its nearly impossible to get as far as human customer service...



The way to speak to a human via those automated services is either press the hash key (under the 9) or if that doesn't work, always choose the option to pay a bill. They'll always answer those lines ! Then go through your query with them and if they can't help, they'll transfer you to someone who can help !


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## DeeFox (16 Dec 2008)

I watched the second half of the Prime Time special but felt the quality of the content was diluted by the awful "style" of the programme.  It was a bit like X Factor where that contestants strike a variety of poses at the camera.  Someone on the production crew must have given an instruction that all those giving their stories to 'look sad with a touch of indignation' whilst the camera cirles you.  And where did they find the lady who narrated the responses from the companies?  Does anyone in Ireland speak like that?!


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## bond-007 (16 Dec 2008)

It has been alleged that if you swear at the auto answering menu thing that eircom have it will transfer the call automatically to an agent.


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## LennyBriscoe (16 Dec 2008)

DeeFox said:


> I watched the second half of the Prime Time special but felt the quality of the content was diluted by the awful "style" of the programme. It was a bit like X Factor where that contestants strike a variety of poses at the camera. Someone on the production crew must have given an instruction that all those giving their stories to 'look sad with a touch of indignation' whilst the camera cirles you. And where did they find the lady who narrated the responses from the companies? Does anyone in Ireland speak like that?!


 
Maybe you should ring RTEs customer services to complain?? !!


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## Flax (16 Dec 2008)

IMO every call centre is terrible.

I've worked in a few back in my student days and no one gives a damn about the job nor customers. They'll say anything to get you off the phone, even if it means lying to you.


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## bond-007 (16 Dec 2008)

I would concur with that. Lying was a routine part of the job.


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## Padraigb (16 Dec 2008)

I think we should bear in mind what "customer service" really is, especially as seen by the accountants who guide decision-making in large firms. It is a cost.

A corporation will incur a cost only if it contributes in some way to making profit. Customer service can contribute to profits in two ways:
1. It might solve problems that could otherwise lead to expensive legal actions.
2. It can create a positive view of the firm, thus retaining and perhaps expanding the customer base.
Anything beyond that is a waste of resources.

As long as the great mass of consumers implicitly tolerate bad customer service by continuing to deal with the firms that give it, then we cannot expect the standards to improve.


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## jhegarty (16 Dec 2008)

bond-007 said:


> It has been alleged that if you swear at the auto answering menu thing that eircom have it will transfer the call automatically to an agent.




Any random words (not a real option) will transfer you to an operator on most ivrs.

On a voice system just start shouting nonsense into it , for a number system just mash your keypad


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## sam h (16 Dec 2008)

I thought the overall programme was terrible....a very bad production.

They "highlighted" some companies with just one persons complaint - surely if the company is bad enough to be splashed over national TV, there should be several compaints to back up what they are saying.


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## TreeTiger (16 Dec 2008)

I agree sam_h, I had spoken to one of the researchers about an experience I had, and from the discussion on the phone I was expecting a lot more from this Prime Time "special".  

The pace of it was far too slow and I felt it would have carried more weight if it had given several examples per company rather than just the one.  Also, the "simulations" being interspersed with real interviewees just kept irritating me.


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## Graham_07 (17 Dec 2008)

The program was badly thought out and presented. I enjoy PTI but this was plain boring. We all know what phone company customer service is like. I reckon the average day on AAM produces more  detail on such matters than that entire program did. I had the (mistaken) impression that the program might be about "face to face service" as in shops etc. the gum chewing "are ya alroi" brigade that we encounter in our daily purchases. I don't think that the program will have any positive effect on the service in the businesses portrayed or serve as an incentive for others to up their service.


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## Aldini98 (5 Jan 2009)

SlurrySlump said:


> My top three worst for customer service.
> 
> 1. NTL. www.upc.ie
> 2. Mercer www.mercer.ie
> 3. First Active [broken link removed]


 
Have had no dealing with Mercer so I wont comment.

The other two a joke. NTL are completely and utterly useless as everyone knows. First Active are hilarious. We went to them and applied for a mortgage, completed all the forms, provided bank statements, p60s etc and we heard ...... wait for it ..... nothing. To this day we have'nt heard from them. Unreal !


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