Customer service failings

[#1]

Following a complaint I had some time ago with PN relating to several issues, I would like to make a few points that other forum members might be interested in, as I feel I have calmed down enough to be somewhat more objective.
1. Do not assume that the call centre advisers know all the solutions that are available to resolve faults or issues.There are other options available to those not in the call centre which are rarely offered upfront. In my own case it was only at the very tail end of the dispute that I was offered a fixed speed of 2mb on my very rural line with the result that longstanding variable slow speeds, dropouts and constant calls to the centre to have the line reset became unnecessary. This order was placed by one of the complaints advisers and when I asked why the advisers in the call centre had not offered it I was told that they would not know it was even possible. Food for thought. Don't get me wrong I am grateful to have what I now have. It is all I need, and is reliable. It's just a shame that it took so long to achieve it.
2. At the first hint of things going wrong please, please start logging times and names when you ring the call centre. In the event that you have an issue with a call the complaints dept will not routinely try to trace the call. Similarly it is possible that they will not find it. In my own case several attempts were made to trace the call but initially this was not done. It only happened after things escalated and I became a right royal pain. To this day the call has not been traced and I have been left with the suspicion that people in PN do not believe it actually happened. Indeed I was told by their CEO that he was confident the call did not exist. If only I had kept records.
3. Be very, very persistent. I guess PN are like most commercial companies when it comes to complaints. They will do the least they think they can get away with to keep the complainant happy. Do not assume that they will be any different to other telecoms providers in this regard because of their publicised focus on customer service.
4. I am still with PN despite all of the above. They are providing what I want, and I am doubtful that any other provider would be better. Having said that I continue to pay over the odds because I refuse to enter into a contract with them. Also their complaints handling team were unfailingly polite, rang when they said they would, and in at least one instance tried their best to help. There are companies out there who would simply have told me to take my business elsewhere. I can be very difficult, and unbelievably persistent.
5. To summarise I do actually think that PN deliver a good service at not a great price, believe it or not. They do not however reach the levels of customer service leaders such as Amex and I guess that should not be expected based on the prices they now charge. However, I do think that there are lessons to be learned from my experience. I have certainly learned from it I hope they do as well. Complaints are basically a feedback process, and, as someone much cleverer than me once said there is no point in feedback if it does not result in a change in behaviour.
6. If you have read this to the end well done. I am not nearly as pompous as I sound - honest.

[#2]

Nice balanced feedback and fingers crossed you have a good stable (if a little slow !) line now.

[#3]

Paul,
Welcome to the forums.
Read to the end - well balanced and certainly not pompous!
I spent 35 years in IT / applications support and after a resolution for a protracted issue was found it was not uncommon for those affected to ask "why did you not think of that first?".
It is somewhat unfortunate that resolution of issues in complex IT systems / networks is a process of elimination of the obvious / common / probable causes, until all that is left is the improbable.  Fixed speed services though technically available is not a current product offer nor one which has been generally sold for a while.  Virtually "everywhere" will work on "up to" product offers, which is why the call desk is unlikely to be aware of such a possibility.  Your final solution is the kind a highly experienced engineer is going to find - I have this toolset (the infrastructure), sod the marketing rules, how can I make it work for this customer?  That is what I believe is the PN difference.
As for the rest of your comments, yes the CMS experience could be better - personally I ask for a CMS "touch" on every call, no matter how trivial.
I hope that you'll enjoy your stable service and will continue to contribute to the forums.
Good luck,
Kevin

[#4]

Hi paulwalker6789,
Thank you for taking the time to post your feedback and I'll be sure to pass this on. Part of our job on the Digital Care Team is to take on feedback and push the feedback to the relevant departments to help better the customer experience. We hope to see you around some more in the Forums now that you're staying with us for a while yet