[whatleydude]

06:04 - Our hero awakes to discover the screen on his N95 is flickering...

06:15 - N95 screen goes dead

06:20 - 1st Call to VF CS

"Hi there..." The Dude explains the problem...
"Not a problem Mr Whatley, you are a highly valued customer, call back after 8am to speak to the right dept and we will get a replacement handset out to you first thing tomorrow..."
"Perfect, thank you very very much. VF CS are the best."

All good....

...or so we thought!

08:34 - 2nd Call to VF CS

"Hello there!" The Dude recounts the previous conversation...
"I'm dreadully sorry sir but we do not have any N95s in stock. We can either send you an envelope for you to send the phone back in for repair or you can take into a VF store who will send it off for you..

(after much to-ing and fro-ing)

"...Err, No. Thank you. I'd much rather wait until you have some in stock. The repair process takes weeks. I need a phone asap/

Our hero ponders his predicament some more... what if he calls again?

08:57 - 3rd Call to VF CS

"Good morning!" El Duderino once again explains the situation he has found himself in...
"I'm sorry Mr Whatley, we are unable to offer you a replacement handset as the N95 is not covered by our exchange policy..
"Pardon?!"
"I'm sorry Mr Whatley, we are unable to offer you a replacement handset as the N95 is not covered by our exchange policy..
"That's not good enough, that's completely different to everything else I've been told so far and I do need a phone sooner rather than later.
"Sorry Sir, you were misinformed. Your nearest store is in Slough..."
"Well, I am deeply disappointed with the level of service I have received today. Good bye."

Surely this cannot be the end for our hero?! Surely he must be united with his phone soon?!

09:24 - 4th Call to VF CS

"Hello there, would you be able to put me through to your store in Slough please?"
"Of course Mr Whatley, just looking that up for you now. While I'm looking Sir, is there anything else I can assist you with today?"
"Ah yes, now that you mention it... How would I go about escalating a customer complaint? I'm slightly perturbed about the level of customer service I've received from you.. well.. not from You personally, but from the previous agents I've spoken with.."
"Well.. er.. yes. Of course sir, I am very sorry to hear that.. would you mind telling me the problem? I'll make a note and make sure it gets passed to the relevant managers...

...the Dude does so, with gusto... ending with..

"...and of course I understand that none of this is your fault. I'm not screaming and shouting and I'm not a nasty customer. I'm just a nice man, who is a true evangelist of Vodafone, and ultimately VF's CS, who needs a phone for his personal and professional life."
"Well I'll make sure that gets passed on Sir.. and if you hold the line for a second.. I'll just speak to my manager..."

Holdeth the Dude.

"...Hello there Mr Whatley, we can get a replacement N95 out to you tomorrow.. is that ok with you Sir?"


There's not much else I can say really is there?

[midlands_lad]

Hi Whatleydude,

I'm sorry to read about your experiences with our Customer Care Team this morning.

Did you know that you can help us to help you?

You can help us in feeding this information back to the advisors that you spoke to this morning. Simply drop us an email via www.vodafone.co.uk/contact us with your account details and the usual details to get you through security checks. Please also put FIT135 into the main body of the email so it's routed through myself or a colleague.

Midlands_lad
Vodafone UK

[whatleydude]

Woah - thanks dude, if you really want me to email I can... but to be honest, I'm now happy with the level of service.
The 4th and final person I spoke to restored my faith in the VF CS team and also promised to pass my feedback on..

Thanks for the follow up :)

[midlands_lad]

No Problem,

It's entirely up to yourself whether you email us or not. Vodafone do look into all feedback.

Glad it's all sorted for you now though.

Midlands_lad
Vodafone UK

[Ben]

I'd email, whatleydude - that's unacceptable, and whoever told you the gumph about the exchange policy needs retraining. I also don't understand the stock issue... it's really not on, is it?

Do you have Vodafone insurance, btw? Or were you simply trading on your status as a valued customer?

[whatleydude]

@midlands_lad - I have just emailed the entire post with the code you gave in the main body and a brief foreword. Please let me know it is received ok...

@Ben - I know mate. I know. I do have insurance and I actually raised this with the 3rd CS agent...

"If you can't send me out one because the phone is faulty, is it worth me claiming on my insurance?"
The response went something along the lines of:
"Your insurance only covers damage Mr Whatley, not faulty parts..."
"But we're yet to establish whether it is faulty or damaged....?!"
"Well you'd have to send your phone back anyway for damage verification so it wouldn't be any quicker."

Thing is, in the past, whenever I've had any problems with any handset, VF have couriered one out to me to exchange on the next working day.
I do spend a hideous amount of money on my phone every month (hence the first CS agent telling me I was a 'high value customer' I'd imagine) so I have now come to expect this level of service.
CS agent number four actually explained to me the reasons behind the exchange policy which kinda made sense.. however, no one informed me of this when I purchased the N95 and it seems that this policy only came in when they realised how many N95s were being sent back for exchange..

[midlands_lad]

@midlands_lad - I have just emailed the entire post with the code you gave in the main body and a brief foreword. Please let me know it is received ok...

Hi Whatleydude.

I'll have a look into this email for you later today.

Regards

Midlands_lad
Vodafone UK

[midlands_lad]

Hi Whatleydude.

I've looked into our emails this morning and see that we've not received yours.

Is there any chance you could send it again for us.

Thanks again.

midland_lad
Vodafone UK

[whatleydude]

I will try again.

Failing that email me at whatleydude at yahoo dot co dot uk and i'll send you a copy directly.

Also - if you can anything about the 2GBmicroSD card that I left in the model I've just sent back then that'd be awesome..

:(

[Hands0n]

As a matter of policy always, always , always follow up any aggrieved phone call with a write up to the company. Even if it does not seem to help your specific case, if sufficient people write the firm will get the drift that something is not quite right.

That said - your experience with Vodafone is as much surprising as it is unacceptable for someone who is paying close on £5 per month for insurance on the handset. If they want to avoid fraud (someone nicked it, it fell in the toilet, out of my shirt pocket into the river etc ....) there needs to be some balance here. No company can afford illwill generated by poor handling of calls - excellence is the first and foremosts priority.

For sure no one can get it right 100% of the time, and that is when constructive feedback, even if it is in relation to a negative experience, is vital. For the companies that listen it is key information to show that the CS is working, or not.

Vodafone, along with a few other UK firms, are very protective of their brand and go the distance to make sure that the Customer is treated right. Other firms don't seem to care a jot about the brand. These latter will always suffer in the longer term.

I expect Vodafone to be a strong and longstanding brand for a very long time indeed.

[whatleydude]

Just blogged the above here:

http://whatleydude.vox.com

:)