Monday 3 October 2011

Poor service

Customer service data over many years tells us that when we receive good service from a business, we tell 5 people on average. When we receive bad service, we tell 9 people.

So here I am telling my 9 readers about Tesco Mobile.  :-)

Pete has had a contract for a little under a year but around 2 months ago, his mobile phone stopped working.  Basically, people could barely hear him though he could hear them.

After sending the phone back THREE times and it being returned without being fixed, they now want him to send it back again.  He has refused and demanded a replacement... which they will not do.  Now I believe that they are breaking several consumer laws, but who do you complain to? The call centre staff are simply defensive and are unwilling to help.

The staff have cared little all through the process and one even refused to pass him to a manager when asked.  He has now cancelled his plan and will be going elsewhere.

As we know, Tesco is huge and is trying to take over the world.  I am sure that they couldn't give a damn about one small mobile contract.  However, I will avoid their shops and petrol stations for a while to dent their profits by a few pence!

4 comments:

  1. That's really poor of Tesco! They are trying to take over the world and it's wrong I've got about 5 tesco's within 5 miles - oh no a new one just opened so that makes it 6.

    There's a group on Facebook called "Boycott Tesco's" and I've joined. I try to avoid them where possible.

    A x

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  2. Had exactly the same experience with Virgin Mobile but Jim refused to accept their fourth attempt to get the phone back, escalated the call to a manager and they relented and sent a new one.

    As a customer service guy, I have to say that any company that refuses to escalate a call to a more senior level is one that ought not to be trading. Awful customer service there!

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  3. Tesco ought to be ashamed. They 'seem' to pride themselves on customer service and have seriously let Pete down.

    After seeing the phone 3 times, they should have replaced it, no questions asked.

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  4. Hi,

    Reading this, especially 'Tesco is trying to take over the world' reminds me of the terrible service I frequently got at the Tesco supermarket I went to, and I'm writing from Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The staff there were friendly enough most of the time, but they kept screwing up at the cashiers, frequently ignoring the discounted price of certain items and charging full price. Of course I would never realize this until I went over the receipt later, and it was always infuriatingly inconvenient getting back the difference.

    One time I finally got really mad over something else, enough to write in a complaint. Turns out there's no proper e-mail address on their website, just a little comment box. So I sent the e-mail to the UK office, since their website included an address. They replied but told me they can't forward my letter to the Malaysian side because they don't have the e-mail address either. That was just so stupid and unbelievable and hopeless. I couldn't believe it.

    Halim

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