VirginMedia - your experiences

[nidave]

You're not scripted, are you? Can you deviate from it and use your own knowledge of the software to give better support?

If the answer to any of these is yes then I salute you.

There is no way we could be scripted - it would not work.
Our support dept is not pig - usually 12 staff unless its tax year end then we hire another 15-20 temps.
I train all out new staff and the temp staff over Tax year end and the only things we get them to do is
1. Introduce themselves and don't be afraid of giving your full name when asked.
2. Ask their name and try to use it al least once
2. Thank them for calling.

I try to encourage people to be themselves and help as much as they can and if they spot something not related to the current call that could generate a new call to sort it out there and then.

Scripting can be OK in cetian situations as long as there is some freedom to deviate from that. If they are forced down a script it just causes unhappiness with the agent and the customer.

[Nini]

Scripting can be OK in cetian situations as long as there is some freedom to deviate from that. If they are forced down a script it just causes unhappiness with the agent and the customer.

That's the issue some of us have had with TS at VM, it's very much to the script and no real deviation at all. If your problem isn't on the list then you're as good as fucked.

[Steve in Pudsey]

There are a lot of people in the IT industry who think they know it all and wont take the experience of the Tech people into account - Yes the issue might not be as simple but 99.999999999% of the time it is a problem we have had before and know the most common causes and need to rule them out.

If the people at Virgin actually had some experience *to* take into account, it would be a start

I have no problem with going through the basics, but I usually open such a call by stating the problem and listing what I've done to troubleshoot it so far. So when I've already stated that rebooting the modem hasn't cured it, being asked to do it again just because its on the script tends to piss you off a little, as does being talked through pinging key press by key press when I've already stated that I can/can't ping particular hosts.

[Nini]

Doing this again, sorry, but I have exactly the same grievances Steve has. If you tell them you've done the troubleshooting they expect already they still tell you to do them like you never did. They don't listen and it's a nice way to waste a few quid being told things you know already with no resolution.

[fusionlad]

I used to work in ONdigital's 'technical' department, and would always listen carefully to problems the customer had experienced and I guess I'd automatically judge their level of understanding and experience by the way they describe their problem to me.

We had a free reign to deal with the problem how we saw fit, but if the customer said they had done something to resolve the issue, I usually took their word for it. However it was easy to spot the ones that were trying to get a replacement STB for the sake of it, because there was no logic in what they were saying.

Quite often though, I'd have calls that were about 25 minutes long, while the customer crawled on their hands and knees behing their TV trying to un-plug and plug back in mains and scart leads.

We used to have to tell the customer - and talk them through usually - how they go about recording from the STB and such like. Really, we shouldn't have been supporting that, but half the population of the UK didn't seem to have a clue or know where to start.

I would say 50% of the calls received was due to crap software on the boxes, 25% aerial issues, and another 25% 'public' incompetence.

[Sput]

That software was bloody awful. I recall a rumour in the final days of ITV Digital that there was going to be a magical new release that fixed all the issues. Obviously it went belly-up after that. Were you about at that point? I'd love to know what the support people were being asked to do to try and retain customers.

[fusionlad]

That software was bloody awful. I recall a rumour in the final days of ITV Digital that there was going to be a magical new release that fixed all the issues. Obviously it went belly-up after that. Were you about at that point? I'd love to know what the support people were being asked to do to try and retain customers.

The rumour may have been true, I was due to travel to HQ in Battersea to help with software testing which was to halt the massive piracy issue.

I was there until the bitter end. Not a nice time. We used to have widescreen TVs at the end of most of the pods so as we could simulate problems the customers were having. There was one particular day the guys were watching News 24 trying to find out what was going on, with high level meetings going on at HQ. There was a Breaking News strap on Sky News on my day off saying that 2 call centres were closing.

Retentions were giving out free months subscriptions left right and centre, telling the customers they would sort themselves out.

The department I was in lasted a bit longer. The day the channels went off, they opened the calls to Technical at 8am, and we immediately had about 320 calls in the queue. We kind of looked at eachother, shrugged our shoulders and began to speak to the customers. One of the things I mentioned to customers was the rumour that the BBC were interested in launching a freeview type service. Not such bad advice.

Then a few days later when no one was really phoning in unless they'd been in another country for a few weeks wondering where their channels were, we we were ordered to log off and go downstairs. There the administrators basically told us to take our belongings and go home. We looked back and waved to the canteen staff, before heading to Wetherspoons to console ourselves.

The company had so much potential, but had some fatal flaws.

[Sput]

The company had so much potential, but had some fatal flaws.

Not least their tendency to spend all their money on football that no-one thought was worth subscribing to their services for

[fusionlad]

The company had so much potential, but had some fatal flaws.

Not least their tendency to spend all their money on football that no-one thought was worth subscribing to their services for

Exactly. They already had Sky Sports which was attracting loads of footie fans, especially as it normally worked out cheaper than watching Sky Sports with Sky.

[Gavin Scott]

Finally got round to setting up my direct debit mandate again last month when the penny dropped that I was paying £5.00 for paying by debit card.

Get home to a letter today saying they note I "cancelled" the mandate, and am now in arrears of £55.00 with 5 days to pay before disconnection. I, incidentally, did no such thing.

I forgot to charge my cordless house phone so ended up calling their 0845 number from my mobile (ouch) and spent the better part of an hour ping-ponging between collections and disconnections. Gave them the full gamut of my *drama* (adding in the ignominy I felt at paying 20p per minute to resolve their mistake), and told them I was on a knife edge of asking them to take all their boxes away so I could take Sky up on their offer of a free install.

I had a raft of charges removed from the account; a grace period until the end of the month to pay the bill - so as not to fall off my budget, and an upgrade to the XL telly package.

No V+ box - but to be reasonable, it transpires the cancelled mandate came about because the Halifax refused payment despite me having monies in there. By the end of the hour of to and fro we both knew that it wasn't their fault.

All in all I do like the team of customer service staff there. Even when they're being firm about collection of monies, they are really courteous, and dare I say empathetic.

Happy to sign up for another 12 months (the only stipulation of the deal). The rates won't change thereafter, either. I've been with them 6 or 7 years so its no trouble to keep going.

Well done Virgin.

[Stuart*]

No V+ box...

Grabbing a freebie through negotiation isn't your forte then, Gav?

...it transpires the cancelled mandate came about because the Halifax refused payment despite me having monies in there. By the end of the hour of to and fro we both knew that it wasn't their fault.

So Halifax aren't paying compo for the embarassment they caused you? Go for £50 from them at least!