Rumour about Customer Support

[#1]

Now the situation has been clarified it does make sense to utilise both CSC's to load balance the CS and TS service.
I have been a F9 and Plusnet customer for just over 10 years noe (signed up 17 July 1998). and always been satisfied with the service. Then to hear that there may be something in the pipeline to upset the apple cart. I just had to ask

[#2]

Quote from: chillypenguin

Next Mod meeting in Durban then?   Well if CSC has to be off shored to anywhere, then South Africa from my experience provides some of the best customer service. And Sheffield has little space left for expansion to CSC. But I can not help but think that this is a thin end of a wedge.

SA will not be a country that I would go to

Quote

Police said crime statistics from April 2007 to March 2008 show the number of murders dropped 4.7 percent to 18,487, compared with the previous year.

Crime Rates in SA
I have been to countries in the past, Nepal, and the present, Thailand, that have political unrest and travel warnings but I would not go to SA.

[#3]

Quote from: chillypenguin

Sheffield has little space left for expansion to CSC.

We are still (currently!) recruiting for CSC staff, and there is still a floor left that we can expand onto here in Sheffield.

Quote from: chillypenguin

But I can not help but think that this is a thin end of a wedge.

We'll be growing together, and getting closer as it happens. That's certainly been the trend since the integration started, and it's definitely what we're all aiming for.

Quote from: Devonports

[...] to hear that there may be something in the pipeline to upset the apple cart. I just had to ask

Understandable, glad to hear you're reassured and thanks.

[#4]

I refer to the Blog which is signed by Carol Axe.
This is typical of the dreadful monthly newsletters that PlusNet send out. The Blog is apologist, repetitive and unnecessarily verbose in communicating a simple business decision in reaction to a situation arising from a recent acquisition by BT which was lobbed into the PlusNet Brand. The rest of the Blog attempts to rationalise the irrational and explain the inexplicable. Acquisitions always require a force fit of sometimes diametrically opposite strategies and cultures.
Now, I could have used a single word of no more than two syllables to say that but the Mods would probably ban me for life!
I am not opposed to the use of foreign Call Centres. If anybody has bought from  Pixmania and spoken to their call centre in Romania, they will know how good the service is. They are patient, courteous and competent and the accent though discernable, is easier on the ear than many local ones. I am sure that PlusNet would not have chosen this course if it had grown organically and had not been influenced by acquisitions (both ways).
Now, a bigger risk that any PlusNet customer should fear is that BT absorbs all of its acquisitions into the parent megalith. I have managed to escape from the horrendous experience of dealing with BT's wait-for-hours Call Centres, Systems that don't work and Billing inaccuracies that would curl your toes. PlusNet does suffer from any of these issues and if that continues, I have confidence in their people at operational (management) level. I still hate the newsletters and other formal communications that emanate from their PR source.
R

[#5]

Quote from: itsme

Crime Rates in SA I have been to countries in the past, Nepal, and the present, Thailand, that have political unrest and travel warnings but I would not go to SA.

Didn't stop me going.
Had some great fun over there and I must admit, didn't have these types of worries.
In fairness, I feel more at risk at home than I did there.
We went deep see game fishing (unsuccessfully), dolphin watching (unintentionally), quad biking, the Durban July horse racing which was so much fun and so much go karting it might have been safer just to drink a pint of two-stroke.
One amusing thing is that it was hotter in their winter than it was in our summer, though I hear there may have been one or two days when that reversed. The amusing part was seeing the locals in their woolly jumpers whilst we walk around in shorts and t-shirt.
Anyhow, all any of us can do is wait and see. I wont be waiting as I have no doubt this is in the best interest of the customer anyway.

[#6]

Hi Wheel_Nut,
Many of you will be aware of my history.  I worked briefly for Tiscali before being ousted due to outsourcing of their call centre workers to Bangalore.  Not an experience that I remember with a great deal of fondness.
What's important to bear in mind here is that we're not getting rid of the Sheffield call centre.  That will always remain here.  Let's also consider that Madasafish, whilst based in Durban, has won awards for its Customer Service.  You don't get those easily!
What we're doing is working together as a team.  The call centre in Durban is better at doing some things and we're better at others over in Sheffield.  Given the resource that we have out there, it makes perfect sense for them to help us out with some of the work that we do, to ensure that our customer get good ticket responses and response times along with a decent call waiting time.  We've been pretty busy recently since the summer holidays have come to an end and having some workflows helped out on by our colleagues in South Africa isn't a bad thing

[#7]

Quote from: itsme

SA will not be a country that I would go to Crime Rates in SA I have been to countries in the past, Nepal, and the present, Thailand, that have political unrest and travel warnings but I would not go to SA.

What is of concern - is that now people overseas - in a country with high crime rates and poverty - may have access to sensitive customer data.
I would hope that anything to do with PN' customers financial  details is not dealt with outside the UK.
I'm sure the local company tries to recruit reliable staff - but this is a worry.

[#8]

I wouldn't personally associate Durban with the whole South African viewpoint on crime.
As has been mentioned, we've had a bunch of staff out there and I don't believe a single one of them has had a single problem with anything other than BAs inability to deliver luggage!

[#9]

Hi James,
In my diatribe, I may have missed saying that I have no concern about how you are deploying the resources in your current portfolio. There is nothing in this news which would prevent me from (re-)joining PlusNet as soon as you announce BBYW Pro Lite.
I have just signed up another referral account for a friend who is currently with Tiscali.
/Thinks..... do I get a referral bounty for recommending myself? Hmmmmm.........

[#10]

Quote from: Mal08

What is of concern - is that now people overseas - in a country with high crime rates and poverty - may have access to sensitive customer data. I would hope that anything to do with PN' customers financial  details is not dealt with outside the UK.

Some may know that I used to work for PlusNet.  At no point could I ever access card details (for example) of any customer.  Even many people in finance could not access this information.  Stuff like that is very much on a "need to know" basis.  Sure, I could update the details, but they were displayed to me as *********
All MAAF customers are now integrated into Workplace and use parts of the PlusNet infrasturcture, so I therefore assume that the access the SA have to customer details is the same as in the Sheffield CSC - but this is closely monitored and, as I say, on a "need to know" basis only.  There's no "download all customer data" button!!  And I'm fairly sure they're very hot on information security - more so since the PlusNet integration as I know PlusNet are extremely strict on information security these days.

[#11]

I think the most important thing here is that we need to "suck it and see" before we go making any assumptions.  I am happy with the service i receive from PlusNet and on the odd occasion I need to contact the CSC, I am treated well and receive decent support most of the time.  The only thing that I complain about is being spoken to like someone who doesn't know what they're talking about (understandable when you work in a support environment) - but this can be easily sorted when I clarify with the CSC that actually I do know what I'm on about!  To me, it makes sense to move some of the "routine" operation to SA.  In theory that should free up the Sheffield based support centre to deliver what they do best - good support.
I will personally re-evaluate if i end up needing support and dont get the support that I think i deserve.  If Plusnet fail to deliver for me then at that point I will think more about to whom my business goes.

[#12]

Quote from: adiewoo

What there are non-Yorkshire people looking after me? Right that's it I'm off.....

Hehe.. I worked for PlusNet for a time and I'm from Devon.  I know they also employ people from *shudder* Derbyshire....!!!

[#13]

And I'm from London/Herts.
Liam's raised a really good point here.  Myself and Mand have the highest billing visibility in the CSC.  And we can't see card details.  Not to mention that every "tab" than we look at on Workplace is monitored.  There's always a trial of anything that I've had a look at.

[#14]

Quote from: Jameseh

There's always a trial of anything that I've had a look at.

So you've been taken to court over it?

[#15]

Disgraceful!
I meant, of course, trail.