This is one of those issues that I have heard other complain about, but assumed the people involved were simply not being firm or clear enough. Now I have experienced it first hand (well , second hand) I am absolutely shocked and amazed at the level of rudeness , unhelpfulness and general resilience of not one but 3 Three cancellations operators !
Wife has a contract that has expired and telephoned to terminate. the contract is identified ,details confirmed that it is due for termination, then I hear the wife say "No thank you , we no longer need the line" (as expected) ... Of course this was to be expected and I knew full well they would not take her first "No thank you" .... I sort of zoned out at this point.
15 minutes later I realise that the wife is still on the phone saying "No thank you , I just want to end the contract" - She switched to Speakerphone , and the guy was absolutely waffling, he would talk rubbish for about 20 seconds , then ask my wife to confirm why she called , then he would tell her she did not NEED to cancel , all she had to do was find a friend to transfer the contract to .... she then explained that she knew no one and just wanted to cancel - he then said "but I am explaining you do not need to cancel" - then the cycle would repeat, for some reason he kept asking if we were ringing from Carphone Warehouse. (?) I told her to hang up and try another rep.
So she tried a second time, different rep , exactly the same problem. At this point I tweeted @ThreeUKSupport , for , well , support.
Third time lucky she got through to a Rep who actually did his Job ! Of course she was still subject to the same retentions stuff , but at least she got there in the end.
I am absolutely amazed at this ! It is pretty clear that Reps #1 & #2 were not going to cancel the thing.
As regulars will be aware I a actually quite a big fan of Three's and we 3 active contracts in the house (well , 2 now ) Really not impressed by this though. I had no idea the situation was so bad !
Is this something OFCOM need to enforce ? If I am arrested on suspicion of a crime , as I understand it the Police have a limited time (48hrs ? ) to either charge me or release me , they have no right to imprison me any longer .... so how come when I take out an agreement with three , completely fulfill my part of the obligation without so much as a late payment , they feel they can keep me (or my wife , as it were) on the line for an unreasonable amount of time when attempted to close the agreement ? effectively refusing to release me ?
Perhaps just as the Police only have a reasonable amount of time to question a suspect , Mobile operators should be "nannied" into making sure they are able to fulfil simple obligations within a reasonable time (say , 10 minutes ? )
I understand they want to try and turn it into a retention, but this is ridiculous ! ....and has actually had the opposite effect WRT my remaining two contracts !
Had the second rep been forthcoming I wouldn't have been half as angry and would have put it down to a bad rep. but the fact that the second one did the same suggests to me this is actually procedure.
I ported a number out of Three recently and managed to get it done in the first call - was given all of the retentions stuff about the one plan and transferring the contract to somebody else, but once I pointed out that I couldn't since I wanted to transfer my number the rep seemed to relent and give me my PAC. Took around 25 minutes if I remember correctly - though for most of that time I was just zoned out and letting them ramble on.
I can quite believe it ! To give them their due Rep#3 was fine , and also I must add that I recently contacted CS to get my iPhone unlocked and the experience was excellent. I think thats half the reason I am so annoyed as it feels like Three have come so far ..... then suddenly a step back to the Bob fuller years !
I have long, ever since 2003, said that Three's CS are their Albatross around their otherwise splendid necks. The CS team really have a complete knack of snatching failure out of the hands of success. And I have been fortunate enough to have been able to relate that sentiment to senior managers at Three UK who have taken the time and trouble to actually listen to me, as well as others with strong opinions.
If there is one thing that rattles people more than anything else it is the unpleasantness that is the Three Retentions process. And I do believe, along with Miffed, that it is a process and not a few aberrant CS representatives. The patter is exactly the same, scripted, repetitive and wearing to the point of being upsetting and abusive.
Three Retentions have got to change this pattern of behaviour because it is intensely annoying, and has a damagingly negative effect. Miffed has already suggested that the experience has put the two remaining contracts in jeopardy. Is that really and truly Three's intent? Because if it is then it is a completely suicidal tendency that would land a mere mortal in the funny farm with one of those fashionable white jackets that fasten up at the back.
Seriously? Three's Retentions process is designed to offend and upset anyone who happens across it? By design? I really and truly do not think so.
But the big question is "Who exactly is it that is controlling Retentions?". If it really is the UK office then they are not doing sufficient to curtail that nasty practise of theirs. And if I were Dyson I would be mortified to realise that all of the UK staff's outstanding efforts are being trashed by this rabble of Retentions clerks.
There can be no one in Three UK who doesn't know this goes on. They've only got to surf the web forums, check out the grumble sites or spend half a morning on Twitter to see the constant stream of offended ex-customers who will, in all likelihood, never return to Three even if Hell itself freezes over.
What a crying shame that this persists. It could so easily be solved with the right management control put in place, within a week.
I am pretty sure that all the interactions were with non-uk call centres , and my guess is that its a simple case of wages, Getting enthusiasm out of any call centre operative is usually pretty difficult , yet all of a sudden there is this overwhelming enthusiasm not to carry out this simple procedure - I think it fair to assume that retaining a customer is very worth the Reps effort , and (curiously) I get the impression that they would rather you hung up on them, than terminted ? I wonder if somehow they are penalised for losses !
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I have to say , especially now a bit of time has passed , it is more disappointment than anger that I'm feeling over this.
My own thoughts are that they are in some way incentivised to retain customers. The speech patter, as described by anyone who goes through it, is far too similar for it to be random conversations. They all suggest you pass the phone on to a friend or relative, and there is the systematic grinding away through the looping script in an attempt to break the individual down into submission.
The thing is, any junior psychologist or sociologist will tell you that this behaviour is received very negatively. It is tantamount to a lack of respect to the individual calling in. And of course, in that respect it will guaranty to generate ill will towards Three.
This may very well be best business practise in the Indian continent, but it is very rude in the UK.
Three Cancellations , Shocking !
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