BT Helpdesk!!!

[paulm]

Having been fed up with my broadband speed which was 256k for many years which I suffered after being told that was as fast as I could get by the BT helpdesk, they finally sent and engineer about 6 months ago. He ripped out the wiring in my house and put in new sockets and when he left I was getting 3.8Mb... so much for the BT Helpdesk.

About 2 months ago I noticed the speed had dropped to 2.8Mb so just left it until last week and called the bt helpdesk. I was told its been re-set and the speed would be back up to normal within 72hrs.... it dropped to 1.8Mb.

Today I phoned the BT helpdesk again and said what had happened and he said that it was some work that had been carried out 6 days ago causing the slowness... UMmmm... anyway he said it would come back up in 24hrs. I said I wasn't leaving until it had come back up so he said... wait let me check and 10 mins later said the repairs had been finished and it would now come back up. Instantly it came back to 3.4Mb

I hate it that they can just fob us off and let it be the next persons problem when it doesn't work. He said he'd sent me an email so I gave him my address and he said anything else... I said no but I wanted to wait until the email had arrived. He then said after a few minutes he needed to re-send it what was my address again and then tried getting off the call again. I made him wait and after a few minutes said, whats your email again and I told him again... each time phonetically. He said he had to go to some other place to send it because his wasn't working but hey presto within 10 secs it was there.

Anyway, I can now post as fast as a speeding bullet.

 

[Grump]

I have worked on help desks they are not interested in the customer one iota.
When I started we had 4 clients and all was good, we learned their systems and were able to give good customer service with 100% positive feedback.
When I left I was literally suicidal with over 45 clients no further training, so only knew the original 4 systems, and only allowed a maximum of 6 minutes to close a call.
Feedback was down to 40% positive. With no mention that is 60% negative.
I know how those poor buggers feel at the stress end of your call.
I had a drink on Friday with two of the lads I worked with, they are still there and suicidal, they now have more than 70 clients and are expected to close 100 calls per hour.
If they reach 120 they start to earn a bonus that gives them 30 seconds, I couldn't type your name in that time let alone deal with your query.
Bloody glad I am out of that situation init?
Edit:
We started as a team of 6 as they dropped out with stress related illnesses the remainder were expected to pick up their calls, they are now a team of 4, they never replaced me and there is always one off through sickness.

 

[paulm]

I have worked on help desks they are not interested in the customer one iota.
When I started we had 4 clients and all was good, we learned their systems and were able to give good customer service with 100% positive feedback.
When I left I was literally suicidal with over 45 clients no further training, so only knew the original 4 systems, and only allowed a maximum of 6 minutes to close a call.
Feedback was down to 40% positive. With no mention that is 60% negative.
I know how those poor buggers feel at the stress end of your call.
I had a drink on Friday with two of the lads I worked with, they are still there and suicidal, they now have more than 70 clients and are expected to close 100 calls per hour.
If they reach 120 they start to earn a bonus that gives them 30 seconds, I couldn't type your name in that time let alone deal with your query.
Bloody glad I am out of that situation init?
Edit:
We started as a team of 6 as they dropped out with stress related illnesses the remainder were expected to pick up their calls, they are now a team of 4, they never replaced me and there is always one off through sickness.

That is absolutely ridiculous Brian, how do these companies get away with it? A least my persistence paid off as I now don't have time to make a coffee between posts.

 

[Grump]

One of the poor sods had only just returned to work after having 10 weeks off, shut himself in his room and lived in a very dark place.
It took a visit from the police to get him out of his room and 8 weeks of therapy to get him back to work.
He gets no sick pay or other benefits and is now up to his eyes in debt for which he needs further counseling and debt management.
He has nowhere to go, he started this job from school and is now a 22 year old wreck of a man. So sad to see, so I did the sensible thing got him so drunk he stopped talking.
That is their only topic of conversation, everything turned back to that place and work, they know nothing else.
There but for the grace of god go I, I saw it coming and made my escape.
They cover 24 x 7 x 365 so some of the shifts are ridiculous hours basic 44 hour week for £14,000 per year plus unreachable bonus.
They were giggling because they were told there will be no annual rise but when the minimum wage goes up they will get the statutory increase.

 

[Jimjam66]

I wouldn't do help desk work for all the tea in China. No wonder they're useless - most of them must be suicidal ...

 

[Grump]

Oh mate, I shudder every time I think about it, only one thing counts and nothing else matters STATISTICS, they might as well hold a whip to your back it is that driven.
That's how you're made to feel BIGGER, BETTER, FASTER MORE.

 

[Kardav]

We'll done for getting out Brian, I think we're all guilty of giving help desks a bit of stick over the years!

 

[paulm]

I sympathise with call centre people having worked in the same location as one but its our only portal into the company so I can see both sides. The people at fault here are management who kowtow to shareholders. At least with Bristish call centres I can understand what they're saying, I have terrible trouble with Charlie Singh understanding what he says despite having worked in India for a while.

With regards to my broadband, at the same time they booked an engineer to look at my line and monitor it with a phone call to me today to let me know whats happening. I had a call at 08:00 to tell me he is going to phone me today between 12 and 2. The speed has dropped again so he'd better be good.

 

[Grump]

I never ever thought I would end up in that roll but when the company set up the system there was some job satisfaction.
We started as in house helpdesk for our own engineers and they wanted experienced people to man the phones and help our lads out when in difficulty.
We had a vast library of our clients systems and remote access so it was a real benefit to the client as much as our boys in the field.
I was killing myself on the road being one of only 28 engineers in the country that could do this work, now there are over 500.
When offered the position I was glad of only travelling a mile or so to work everyday and in a nice warm office with free tea and coffee on tap, oh what bliss.
They soon realised how good this system was and started to take on more clients, with such impressive figures they were winning contracts left right and center until it ballooned out of proportion.
After 4 months I had to get out or top myself and I didn't much fancy the second option.
Desperation made me walk away.
I hope they do sort you OK paul good luck.

 

[Neil]

BT are a bloody nuisance now. Davina, my other half is a very successful distributor for the Utility Warehouse and is involved with switching her customers from the likes of BT, Virgin, Orange, you name them, any phone mobile, internet provider, but BT take the biscuit in being obstructive. They will charge you £120 if they have an appointment with you and for whatever reason when they turn up there is no one in, but if they fail to turn up they will only pay you £10. Their service is crap, their products are now crap, but I have some sympathy in that as a state owned entity they were able to overcharge and ploughed that money back into research at BT Martlesham Heath which did assist us in being one of the world leaders in telecommunications but thats all a thing of the past, one down side of capitalism I suppose but thats another debate. Best of luck with BT Paul, if you survive without a visit to the cardio centre well done.

 

[paulm]

BT are a bloody nuisance now. Davina, my other half is a very successful distributor for the Utility Warehouse and is involved with switching her customers from the likes of BT, Virgin, Orange, you name them, any phone mobile, internet provider, but BT take the biscuit in being obstructive. They will charge you £120 if they have an appointment with you and for whatever reason when they turn up there is no one in, but if they fail to turn up they will only pay you £10. Their service is crap, their products are now crap, but I have some sympathy in that as a state owned entity they were able to overcharge and ploughed that money back into research at BT Martlesham Heath which did assist us in being one of the world leaders in telecommunications but thats all a thing of the past, one down side of capitalism I suppose but thats another debate. Best of luck with BT Paul, if you survive without a visit to the cardio centre well done.

I've just this second put the phone down to them Neil after a call back by and engineer arranged when I spoke to them the other day.

one thing that is annoying is that every sentence starts with Mr Middleton.... but thats minor

the conversation went something like (without the mr Middletons)

BT guarantee your minimum Mb is 1Mb
but thats ridiculous
your line has a maximum of 2.5Mb
So why am I getting 2.8Mb now and was getting 3.8?
Bt Guarantee you miniumum of 512Kb
WHAT? you said a minute ago 1MB. Are you and engineer?
yes
could you tell me what route the data is taking
No, I can only tell you what is on the screen
are you an engineer?
no
can I speak to an engineer
one moment......5mins
I'm sorry about my collegue she is new
OK, so I explained again
you are getting 4Mb on the line at the moment and there are a few errors, I'll report them and the speed should go up in 24hrs.
I know that changes to the throttle can be made immediately
can you restart the router
OK... (thinks why)
I've made some changes but they won't take effect for 24hrs
I'll get an engineer to call you back on Friday
an engineer or a help desk person
I'll raise it to level 2.
ok
Bye
Bye.

 

[Neil]

Really?
"I've made some changes but they won't take effect for 24 hrs"?
Strapped a paracetamol to the exchange? Perhaps its still steam driven their end and they need to develop a head of steam? They have made the change or they haven't, why does it take 24 hours to kick in? Its not exactly if its a broken leg that takes six weeks to mend?

Book the cardio centre now if I were you Paul.

 

[paulm]

Really?
"I've made some changes but they won't take effect for 24 hrs"?
Strapped a paracetamol to the exchange? Perhaps its still steam driven their end and they need to develop a head of steam? They have made the change or they haven't, why does it take 24 hours to kick in? Its not exactly if its a broken leg that takes six weeks to mend?

Book the cardio centre now if I were you Paul.

I would Neil but Jill says that I haven't got a heart.... Bum.