Customer service?

On the 4th of May, I received a letter from one of my Internet Service Providers, that a deposit of € 500 that they had taken from me a couple of years was to be returned to me. They gave several alternatives for me to get my money back.

The first was to fill up a form and post it back to them. The second was to visit a web page and fill in the details. (I tried this but the page was so complicated that I did not get past filling in my name and address!) The third, and simplest, was to ring a Customer Care phone number provided in the letter.

I obviously chose the third alternative.

On Friday the 7th of May, in the afternoon, I rang the number. The girl who answered did not know the existence of such a service at this number. Then she said her computer was down. She took down the required details and then told me that she would send me a text message.

I waited, and I waited.

On Monday the 24th of May, I rang again. The immediate response of the lady who answered the phone was that he computer was down. I told her that it did not matter that the computer was down but I wanted to get an answer as to why something the Customer Care person had promised was not acted upon. With great reluctance, when I told her that it was me to get some money back, she took down all the details and said she would ring me back.

Guess whether I got a call back?

On Wednesday the 26th of May, I rang again. I spoke to a gentleman who spoke excellent English. I posed my problem and when he looked at the computer, which was obviously working, he did note that my call and notes of the 7th of May were in front of him, but he could provide me with no answer as to why nothing had happened in the intervening 20 days.

I asked him some basic questions as, if I did not pay a due to their company, what would be the action? I asked him whether his company would pay the penal interest for not paying my dues on time. I also told him that the letter I had received was most interesting that there was not even a name or signature attached to the letter. I told him if anyone received such a letter purporting to be from my company without a name and signature, it would probably be thrown in the dustbin!

He was most apologetic. As a gesture, within his powers, for the trouble I had been put too, cancelled my last bill, gave me an ad hoc credit of € 50 and then said he would follow the matter through his supervisor.

I also told him that his Customer Care Division of his company had recently gone on strike to get substantial service benefits. I asked what should the Customers who they harassed by the inefficiency of their Customer Care Division should do? He told me that he was not one who had gone on strike, but acknowledged that the handling of my situation was certainly not correct.

Let us wait and see what happens before I reveal the name of this service provider! Stay tuned!