South Africa call centre ??
Whenever I used to call technical support (some time ago), I liked the idea that I was speaking to someone in the UK. It felt more secure. But today the call went through to South Africa. Is this just because its a Bank Holiday in UK? I don't like the idea of my personal data being dealt with outside of the UK, where there are different data protection laws in place. When was I consulted about this change to the service? 
And I only picked up the phone because the "help assistant" would not let me raise a question! (does it not work on Safari?). And why can't I send an email?
And I only picked up the phone because the "help assistant" would not let me raise a question! (does it not work on Safari?). And why can't I send an email?
did you see last nights watchdog.
sky kept them waiting to speak to human for over 2 hours
sky kept them waiting to speak to human for over 2 hours
AFAIK Plusnet's major competitor (not BT) appears to have an all UK Customer support (and no 18 month contracts either).
Before I moved to PN, my first question was "Is PN support wholly UK based"
Obviously my second question should have been "Do you plan to change this?"
In these times of economic hardship, it seems foolish to fund the workforce of distant countries,
when we've got plenty of workers on the dole.
I would have thought that a Sheffield based company wouldn't need to have this spelled out to them....
Before I moved to PN, my first question was "Is PN support wholly UK based"
Obviously my second question should have been "Do you plan to change this?"
In these times of economic hardship, it seems foolish to fund the workforce of distant countries,
when we've got plenty of workers on the dole.
I would have thought that a Sheffield based company wouldn't need to have this spelled out to them....
OK, so I've read the blog about the durban CSC. While any morally-vacant business-head can see the commercial advantages of off-shoring the human cost and effort of customer service, I would like to know this: What personal data protection laws/regs to PN believe they are bound by wrt this off-shoring scheme? What type of personal/Security data is exchanged with them (SA)? I mean - do they know our passwords? Can they access our emails? Do they have our Names, Addresses, Phone numbers and bank account details? Are they able to track and analyse our online behaviour? Do they have any arrangements with any third party marketing/advertising companies who might be interested in our data? I'm sounding paranoid - but my point is that you Plusnet have kept us completely in the dark over this, and the natural suspicion is that you have failed to do due diligence / corporate governance. Please confirm.
Did Plusnet or any other reliable authority do an information risk assessment on the Durban CSC to understand whether in-fact they can be trusted with our data? What safeguards and regular compliance checks are in place to assure us as the customer that the Durban service partner will comply with the data protection measures required? Go on - somebody impress me with a half decent answer... I had this battle with Lloyds Bank (Banga-bloody-lore branch), and I'm thoroughly p*ssed off with it. The only way to get a company to take it seriously is for everybody to care about their data and threaten to change supplier. Then suppliers will realise that UK customer support is "reassuringly expensive, but a must-have feature of doing UK business".
Did Plusnet or any other reliable authority do an information risk assessment on the Durban CSC to understand whether in-fact they can be trusted with our data? What safeguards and regular compliance checks are in place to assure us as the customer that the Durban service partner will comply with the data protection measures required? Go on - somebody impress me with a half decent answer... I had this battle with Lloyds Bank (Banga-bloody-lore branch), and I'm thoroughly p*ssed off with it. The only way to get a company to take it seriously is for everybody to care about their data and threaten to change supplier. Then suppliers will realise that UK customer support is "reassuringly expensive, but a must-have feature of doing UK business".
Quote from: itsme Also most of the examples that you have given I would suggest that you have freely given this information to third parties without ensuring that data protection is in place. For example how mant times have you written your address and telephone number on a piece of paper to give to someone? As for the bank details everytime you write a cheque your are circulating your account and sort numbers to who knows.
Well sometimes you have limited control and have to make a judgement, especially on the internet where most of our requests go through untrusted services. But in general, no I don't freely give out personal information, unless there's demonstrable need, and I have some level of trust. I don't put "my address and telephone number on a piece of paper" and give it freely to any person who asks. When I write a cheque to someone I'm not circulating my account details to "who knows" - I'm giving it to someone I trust who simply wants my money, not the information and will pay it into their bank in whom they trust. You are not offering a suitable analogy here - you forget the data aggregation factor. The person I give a cheque to does not operate a database where they can analyse the data and potential behaviour of hundreds of thousands of people, categorising and classifying those people by perceived behaviours and attributes whether accurate or not and selling that analysis to a marketing/advertising company who may target those individuals accurately or not. But an ISP and their international service partners can. It may be part of their extended business model - about which we are told nothing. Now I'm NOT suggesting this is what Plusnet/Durban actually do, but I have concerns about the protection of our data and require clarification.
I thank Plusnet for their response to my questions, but it is vague: I still do not know what information about a Plusnet subscriber can be accessed by Durban and for what reason. I am starting to wonder whether in fact they simply don't know. Logging data access (aka accounting) is good. And I would *hope* that the logs actually get checked (audited) and any misuse detected and acted upon.
I really don't want to drag this debate out with unfounded concerns and FUD, so again, please tell us WHAT data, WHERE/WHO does it go to and WHY so we can rest easy.
If Durban can handle any accounts questions, they can copy all personal details onto a piece of paper to sell on to someone in the pub the same day.
That's a good reason to only contact PN via the 0114 number - it's apparently a Sheffield only number plus it's cheaper for me in daylight hours.
Of course, this implies that the Sheffield based staff are incorruptible - but then they are (currently) quite a bit further from the poverty line than a third world country.
That's a good reason to only contact PN via the 0114 number - it's apparently a Sheffield only number plus it's cheaper for me in daylight hours.
Of course, this implies that the Sheffield based staff are incorruptible - but then they are (currently) quite a bit further from the poverty line than a third world country.
