Case Closed

I'm pleased beyond words to report that my phone is back up and working! Woohoohoo!

[Note: Unlike my first three entries on this topic, this entry includes a second-hand account since I wasn't at home when the repair was done.]

A service crew from BayanTel arrived on the morning of May 9 (Wed) and in hardly no time at all discovered that one of the PLDT phone cables leading into our house's cable conduit was disconnected. Apparently, that happened by accident when the first crew came to install the DSL line. All they had to do today was reconnect that wire to our conduit and our phone service was restored -- all without affecting the DSL service too.

When I think of how easily the problem was fixed, I can only shake my head and wonder why it had to take 11 days and be so emotionally upsetting for me to get someone out here and fix the darned thing.

I'm also wondering if it will be worth my while to write the head of customer service to tell her about my experience, and enclose links to the related entries on this blog so they can review their customer service setup in light of my experience.

Will they be upset to learn that this story played out in such a public forum? Will they appreciate getting the feedback and re-examine their processes? Or will they not care at all and consider it a waste of time to look into this, now that the case is closed?

It might be worth writing them just to find out what will happen. ;-)

The Saga Continues

Well, it's official. I'm now royally ticked off at SkyDSL.

I've had no dial tone now for 10 days, thanks to the shoddy installation work of the guys who came and laid cables for my new DSL subscription.

After 4 phone calls and 2 emails from me, they finally sent a SkyDSL technician to my house last Saturday. He agreed that they had messed up and that linemen will be asked to come and check the line, because they had tapped into our PLDT phone cables when they should have just installed new lines to start with.

I made a point of asking him if there's anything I need to do to make sure this happens and he said no since the trouble ticket is still open.

Well, it's been three days since that technician's visit, and nothing has happened. So I was once again forced to call them, which I did just now.

The customer service representative I talked to told me that my trouble ticket is already tagged as Closed on their system, and that according to the notes there, the customer was advised to have an electrician check the wiring.

Man, I lost my temper! I told her that I was the customer, and that the technician they sent didn't tell me any such thing. In fact the technician who came on Saturday even said that the line installers may come the next day to perform the repair.

The CSR tried once again to explain to me that they are only responsible for the DSL and that since the DSL is working fine, they have no problem to solve. She said a different group is in charge of phone-related problems, to which my reply to her was -- this doesn't help me since I don't have a BayanTel phone.

Bottomline, I have fallen through the large gaping crack that's in their customer service setup. SkyDSL subscribers with working DSL service but screwed-up non-BayanTel phone lines have no one to turn to. I am literally in no man's land.

Thoroughly exasperated, I told the CSR that if she can't help me, she should at least give me the name and number of someone I can call to get this fixed. She put me on hold for a moment to consult someone, then came back saying she would create a new trouble ticket, with "special instructions" indicating that the drop line should be checked and that a new cable should be installed. She assured me that the service crew would arrive tomorrow.

All throughout, my confidence in the customer service process has really been eroded.

If this still doesn't work out, I think I will be forced to cancel my SkyDSL within the 14-day grace period and get my full refund, because I don't want them to make a single cent from me if this is the service that I can expect from them in the future.

* * *

Stepping back from the situation a little, I think it's a real shame that the BayanTel customer service representatives are so focused on triage that they don't actually listen to what you're saying anymore.

Here I am, using their company's service for the first time, and yet they don't go out of their way to give me stellar customer support, when they should know full well that this is one of the areas where they can truly distinguish themselves from PLDT.

Heck, that's the reason why I didn't even bother applying for PLDT's DSL service even though I already have a PLDT phone line -- most of the online forums and blogs that I read during my search for a new ISP have raved about the great customer service at BayanTel as loudly as they complain about the poor customer service of PLDT.

If it were not for that feedback, I would have just applied for a PLDT MyDSL account straight away, especially since the installation fee would be cheaper. As it is, I shelled out an additional P1999 just to have this BayanTel line installed, so having them screw up the installation when I paid good money for them to do it just really gets my goat.

I'm a brand-new customer who still has the option to walk away with my money back. It's at this critical time that you really want to keep the customer happy. Why is that not obvious enough to them?

Updated: See also Case Closed.

Busted Phone Line: Update

The background story for this entry is here.

The gist: I lost the dial tone on one of my phone lines on Apr 28, when my DSL provider came to install cables for my new DSL subscription. DSL was up and running by Apr 29, but as of this entry, my phone service has not yet been restored.

* * *

My first two phone calls to the SkyDSL customer service hotline (411-2000) on the morning and the afternoon of April 29 were met with noncommittal responses ("we'll make a note of it, ma'am") from the customer service representatives. As a brand-new SkyDSL customer, though, I was willing to take their word at face value and wait for a resolution.

However, when days passed and there was no indication that the problem would be fixed, I called the CS hotline again around 1:00am on May 2.

This time, the customer service representative I spoke to (Darwin) understood me right away when I explained the situation, and agreed that it was likely the fault of the installation guys that my phone line no longer works.

He advised me to write a letter of complaint via email and address it to [csdip AT bayantel DOT com.ph], making sure to include an explanation of the work that the installation guys did. Half an hour later, I sent the email as instructed.

By close of business on May 3, I had not yet received a reply, so I forwarded a copy of the original email again to the same email address.

When no email reply came by 5.30pm on May 4, I called the hotline again to follow up. Although it was a bit frustrating, I explained the situation all over again to the CSR (her name was Arlene), including all the calls that I had made, as well as the email that I had sent to CSDIP two days earlier.

Arlene put me on hold and checked with the folks at CSDIP. After a few minutes, she came back on the line to tell me that she will be creating a trouble ticket for my problem, so that a technician can come to my house to troubleshoot. She gave me the trouble ticket number over the phone, so I can refer to it in future communications.

I tell ya... for the first time since this problem came up 6 days ago, I finally felt that someone was actually listening to me. I immediately felt better because at least there was hope that my problem would be fixed.

When I got home from work a few hours later, I did my routine e-mail check and found a reply from CSDIP.

They said the magic words as far as I'm concerned: "We apologize for the delayed response" and "Thank you very much for bearing with us." By golly, I really appreciated that too.

So while this story does not yet have a happy ending, I must say (from the point of view of a customer) that Arlene has helped to restore my confidence in BayanTel's customer service. The apologetic tone in the email from CSDIP's Marlo Austria coming a few hours later was icing on the cake.

Together, they helped move me from "disgruntled customer" to "patient customer".

Now all that needs to be done to make me a "happy customer" is to have someone actually show up at my house to restore my phone service.

* * *

See also: The Saga Continues