More On Opal's Bad Customer Service
Remember Pipex became Opal and then cut me off because my accounts were two months in arrears. They said they told me via email that I needed to update from card payments to Direct Debit, but, err, they didn't.
In fact, while looking to check they didn't email I found a few emails they did send.
Notice I've highlighted the "no disruption to your services". Yeah, right, unless you count stopping my service as being a disruption.
The link you can see in the email above points to a PDF file about billing. In there it says:
Right. But you cancelled my connection and then - when I rang to find out why - said it's because you don't accept recurring card payments. #fail.
Another email I found from them was received on the Sunday evening about an hour before I was cut off and when they were closed for business anyway, so, even if I had have happened to receive the email, I would have been powerless to act.
To get to this "unviewed message" involves logging in/registering for this new service using the form below:
I can't get past it. I have no idea what any of it means. So, I called their customer services team to find out how to get in (I need to print out the invoices for my accounts before I leave them). They said they had no idea either and that the site wasn't working properly anyway and that I should email customerservices@opal.co.uk to get the details. But, err, aren't you they!?
I then asked for my MAC key, as I'm getting out while I can. She gave me another number to call. #fail.
After being on hold the cancellation hotline for way longer than is acceptable I entered my number in their automated call back service. That was over two hours ago. Either their cancellations team are very busy or they're not overly keen to talk to you. Funny that.
On your recommendation I plan on moving to Zen. Although the following migration notes from their website fill me with fear:
- The broadband migration process does depend on the co-operation of your existing ISP. In the event that a migration cannot take place, you will need to arrange for your existing ISP to cease (cancel) your broadband service so that we can arrange for a new connection to be configured on your line
- Although a successful migration should result in much less downtime than a 'cease and re-provide', unfortunately we cannot provide any guarantees as to how successful the migration process will be or how long your broadband service will be out of operation during the migration
Maybe I'm just better off where I am. Like I said. If it ain't broke, don't fix it?
Update: 3 hours later their automated call-back service calls back. I tell the man I want my MAC code and he says he'll transfer me to that department; at which point I go back in to the queueing system and back to where I was three hours ago. After a couple of minutes the music stops, phone rings and then I get a "Please leave a message and we'll call you back" message. My message wasn't polite.
7/11 Comments Read - Add | Fri 20 Aug 2010 | Tweet This | Open »
Looking For a Lotus COM APIs Guru
It's probably a long-shot but I said I'd try and help out a customer of mine by trying to find a guru. Over to them:
We're looking for a Domino 'internals' expert/guru who can help us diagnose a fault occurring in our application which interfaces with Domino using the COM object APIs.
Our application runs a VBScript module using WScript.exe which essentially runs some Domino agents and reports the results of those agents back to our application. We regard each run of the VBScript module as a 'request', and it works fine whilst the loading is low. Unfortunately our application can generate hundreds of these 'requests' per minute during peak times, and after a period of peak runtime the Domino server often crashes.
Typically we end up with a "WScript.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows" error prompt. Our application tends to fail after this point with further "requests" failing. Quitting the Domino server typically results in a hang, followed by an automatic fault-shutdown-recovery and NSD output.
We have asked Lotus support for help with this, but after they examined the NSDs, they concluded that the fault was within WScript.exe (which we already knew) and said that they could not help any further. We suspect some kind of leak within the Domino COM side of things, but lack the technical knowledge to prove this.
So, we're looking for someone with extensive knowledge of Domino internals, ability to understand NSD logs, understand COM object access, being able to investigate threads, handles, pools etc.
If you know of anybody who can help (paid consultancy of course) then please comment here or let me know and I'll put you both in touch. Ta.
11/21 Comments Read - Add | Thu 19 Aug 2010 | Tweet This | Open »
Feed My Hunger For iPad Apps!
Less than a week after wondering how long I'd last without an iPad and I now own one. On Sunday we drove in to town, had some lunch then went to our local "Apple store". Much better to get an instant fix than ordering online and waiting for the delivery.
I spent the rest of the day teasing myself by leaving the box unopened for as long as I could. This turned out to be a mistake, as, while I waited, my internet connection got turned off. By the time I'd excitedly sat down to play with the iPad late Sunday afternoon it turned out to be as much use as the proverbial chocolate tea pot. An brand new iPad with no internet connection is no fun at all.
It wasn't until the next night I got a chance to play proper and install some apps - which is when the brilliance of the iPad/app-store combination really comes to light. Since then I've installed the usual suspects - Flipboard, iBooks, Adobe Ideas, BBC News, some games (that burger-making one) and a handful of kids drawing apps. Enough to turn it in to something useful. Already I can see where it fits in to my life - somewhere between my laptop and my phone. Surprisingly, Karen has warmed to it too. Not half as much as the kids though, who you have wrestle it from.
What I want now is recommendations for useful apps and fun games. They don't have to be productivity apps. Anything you think is a must-have. Feed me!
19/26 Comments Read - Add | Wed 18 Aug 2010 | Tweet This | Open »
How Not To Impress New Customers
For about 10 years now I've used (and recommended friends use) Pipex broadband. Over that time I've had only a handful of problems and always been happy. So happy that for the last couple of years I've been paying over the odds (50 pounds a month) for "business broadband" (20:1 contention).
Despite knowingly paying too much, I'm still happy, as, when it comes to my internet connection, it's a definite case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". You can't put a price on reliability when it comes to something as essential your internet connection.
I had a nasty reminder of how much I rely on that internet connection this weekend.
Pipex have been bought out by TalkTalk and are now known as Opal. Despite lots of emails reassuring me nothing would change I found myself without internet on Sunday afternoon. After trying all the logical things I called their 24hr tech-support number to find out my account was "on hold" for "billing reasons", but I couldn't find out why or do anything about it until 9am the next day.
Roll on Monday morning and I call Opal to find out that, unlike Pipex, they don't accept recurring card payments. Just Direct Debits. So my account hadn't been paid for two months and they'd gone on to disconnected me. When I asked "At what point were you going to tell me about this change in payment policy before you go and cut me off?!" the weary, but polite, phone-bod told me their "credit control" department claimed to have told all customers of this. Although he told me he sided with the hundreds of annoyed customers he'd since dealt with.
Anyway, I then paid up to date and had my account re-opened within the hour.
So, dear TalkTalk, if you're going to take over companies here are a couple of tips on how to keep their existing customers:
- Even if you did send an email (I'm sure you didn't!) this is something that should have been explained in a letter in the post!
- If you are going to disconnect me, please do it when your offices are open. Better still send me some advance notification. I am paying for business broadband. That should tell you something about how important the connection is to me.
- If you realise you've made a mistake and disconnected lots of customers without any warning, why not reconnect them all, explain what happened and then contact them like you should have done in the first place.
TalkTalk/Opal are now on their first written warning from me. If there's any whiff of an issue in the near future then I'm off elsewhere!
I can no longer recommend "Pipex". Can anybody in the UK recommend the most reliable broadband provider? Not bothered about price or speed. I just want reliability.
21/30 Comments Read - Add | Tue 17 Aug 2010 | Tweet This | Open »
Half Price iPads - Limited Stock!
Got this email from my dad last night. If you want a cheap iPad, you'd better act fast!
Jake i see on your site that your thinking of getting an ipad?
a friend has 10 iPads going for half price- its first come first serve
He has already sold one (pic is attached.)let me know if you want one
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I don't think I've laughed that much at an email from dad for a long time. What made it even funnier was that I believed it at first, as you would (well, I had just come in and had had a couple of pints).
BTW: That's not my dad in the picture. In case you're wondering.
6/6 Comments Read - Add | Fri 13 Aug 2010 | Tweet This | Open »
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