Hi, first of all I would just like to say that many people at Orange and Orange broadband keep a watch of this site.
I read a lot of posts here and people blame Orange for the fact their connection has gone and wanadoo and freeserve were great. This is great news as Wanadoo is Orange now and it was only a name change by France telecom execs. The staff at Wanadoo (now Orange) are still outsourced with 2 call centres. 1 called Garlands and 1 called Ventura.
This is where it changes. If you pay for your broadband you pay an 0845 number where they cant help and tell you to call 0906 tech support number.
If your on free broadband you get to call 550 from your mobile phone and choose 1 for mobile or 2 for broadband. It doesnt make a difference which one you pick it goes to convergence.
Convergence was set up before june taking wanadoo calls to get a jist of things to come and see the issues the call centres faced. Initially their was just 30 of us taking very few calls. Now their is 300 of us with another 16 coming out of training soon. We need more in the region of 1000 operators in Convergence as the calls in the queue waiting to get through is at least 120 at any one time.
This is where i tell you all the bad things about the free broadband.
1) When you call the 550 number if we are extremely you are patched into the old wanadoo call centres who just advise you to call 0845 number. Very helpful of them. Even after constant complaints they still advise customers to call this number.
2) The amount of error codes on our system has gone from 2 at the beginning to approx 30 errors which could stop you getting broadband at all, or no talk service. Or if you broadband has stopped working and we need to do a line test and we get an error. We may need to get this fixed first before even submitting a line test.
3) The people in Convergence get on average £3500 per year more that their wanadoo counterparts. Meaning who do you think actually cares about the job.
4) convergence operators have a little known item called ASAT. this is a program that sends texts out to mobile customers asking what they thought. This doesnt go to cuckoo land. It is fed back everytime. This also helps us maybe get up to a 3K bonus each year. Wanaddo call centres dont have any system. They can say what they like. AND if they dont want to put notes on your account they can never be traced in reality. Also if they want to call you a WA*KER they may as well as their calls arent monitored as ours our
4) We really do care, however the problems we have is that when we come accross an error we have to escalate it to one team who escalate it to another. We recently sent people to the wanadoo call centres to see what they do about these errors, guess what they fill out spreadsheets and pass on well. So when someone says this will be fixed within 5 days dont hold your breath. We are told there is no timescale on these errors. If you get through to convergence we will at least keep your details and text you each week after seeing if its fixed. If you call the old wanadoo of pay £14.99-27-99 for you broadband you are told to call back for an update(even though they no these errors are not fixed for up to 9 months ive seen before!!)
5) We mainly all care in convergence. We will help set up apple macs with liveboxes if we can. And a lot of us will configure our netgear and belkin routers if we need to. (thinking about those ASAT scores!!)= money to us in bonus
6)we want things to change. we are fighting for our own teams to sort out the errors but Orange exec wont let us. We think the outsourced call centres are worried about there jobs.
If what I am saying is right let me know. If you want any advice let me know also. I wont check out your account but I may give you some advice on what to say or do
_________________ WE WANT TO HELP! BUT THE SYSTEMS PREVENT US
iF YOU SIGN UP WITH THE FREE CALLS TO ROANGE MOBILE AS WELL THROUGH THE LIVEBOX WATCH OUT. THERE IS NO FIX FOR THIS AND THIS ISNT BEING ADDED TO CUSTOMERS ACCOUNTS AS IT SHOULD. WE HAVE TO WAIT TIL YOU HAVE YOUR BILL AND JUST KEEP REFUNDING. NOT THE BEST SCENARIO AS WE CHARGE YOU AND IT TAKES 1 MONTH TO GET BACK INTO YOUR BANK ACCONT. ALSO IF YOU CANCEL YOUR DIRECT DEBIT THE SYSTEM AFTER A SHORTWHILE CANCELS YOUR BROADBAND!!!
HAPPY DAYS!!!
_________________ WE WANT TO HELP! BUT THE SYSTEMS PREVENT US
The staff at Wanadoo (now Orange) are still outsourced with 2 call centres. 1 called Garlands and 1 called Ventura.
You forgot india.
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3) The people in Convergence get on average £3500 per year more that their wanadoo counterparts. Meaning who do you think actually cares about the job.
Just being paid more doesn't automatically mean you care more. Although those without that sort of bonus scheme are less inclined to care as much.
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They can say what they like. AND if they dont want to put notes on your account they can never be traced in reality. Also if they want to call you a WA*KER they may as well as their calls arent monitored as ours our
Not true, sure it's not a simple process to track people down but it can be done and agents are caught for what they say and do on calls. Calls are monitored, of course not always as thats not practical, and they are examined and accessed on a constant basis.
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We recently sent people to the wanadoo call centres to see what they do about these errors, guess what they fill out spreadsheets and pass on well.
Same as you then, they usually get passed on further up the chain until it gets to the team that can sort it out.
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So when someone says this will be fixed within 5 days dont hold your breath. We are told there is no timescale on these errors. If you get through to convergence we will at least keep your details and text you each week after seeing if its fixed. If you call the old wanadoo of pay £14.99-27-99 for you broadband you are told to call back for an update(even though they no these errors are not fixed for up to 9 months ive seen before!!)
Well the rest simply don't have the facility to text customers to let them know of updates, it's not as if they'd turn down the opportunity to use that sort of system. There's also a heavy pressure for them to take calls rather than make calls.
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5) We mainly all care in convergence. We will help set up apple macs with liveboxes if we can. And a lot of us will configure our netgear and belkin routers if we need to. (thinking about those ASAT scores!!)= money to us in bonus
Been and done all that, and without any sort of bonus. All in all it depends who you get through to and how familiar they are with technology in general. The ones who know more are usually willing to help and give advice when they can when it's something thats not "officially" supported.
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6)we want things to change. we are fighting for our own teams to sort out the errors but Orange exec wont let us. We think the outsourced call centres are worried about there jobs.
Although you make out convergence is the answer to everything nothing's ever that cut and dry. I've seen equally bad notes and things being done by all sides so nobody can claim innocence.
Joined: 12 Jun 2006Posts: 907Location: Weston-super-Mare, UK
convergence wrote:
2) The amount of error codes on our system has gone from 2 at the beginning to approx 30 errors which could stop you getting broadband at all, or no talk service. Or if you broadband has stopped working and we need to do a line test and we get an error. We may need to get this fixed first before even submitting a line test.
Is it possible to give a list of these errors so that we can check them if we get a problem?
I've had a couple of issues in the past which have been sorted out within a reasonable time.
At present I'm on the Max system with good speeds.
It's a "them vs us" thing, happens all the time when you get different departments, companys or centers doing the same work. There's a degree of competition which often develops into we're better than them attitude as you over emphasize (right spelling?) your sides strengths and the other sides weaknesses.
Either way I'm not really going to comment on the convergence team themselves as I don't know how they operate in comparison.
Joined: 12 Jun 2006Posts: 907Location: Weston-super-Mare, UK
stevelondon wrote:
Lol now Orange employees are contradicting each other on an open forum "charming"
Elhana provides an excellent service to this message board and I do not think that these comments are called for. People saying thank you is a lot better.
Joined: 13 Aug 2006Posts: 1689Location: Marylebone Central London
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Elhana provides an excellent service to this message board and I do not think that these comments are called for. People saying thank you is a lot better.
What? and yes im sure Elhana does which i have said months ago but this forum is for OrangeProblems which are in abundance not staff problems we all know about them. I was not having a go at anyone in particular and i do not thank anyone for seeing their disagreements on a forum.
If you have a problem with my post PM me please
_________________ ex Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange Blog
Lol now Orange employees are contradicting each other on an open forum "charming"
Elhana provides an excellent service to this message board and I do not think that these comments are called for. People saying thank you is a lot better.
I think the poster was expressing an opinion which after all is one reason for this forum. Having read the posts from both convergence and Elanha I was somewhat confused but did not realise at that point they may both work for Orange. stevelondon appears to confirm that but I stand corrected if this is wrong.
The 'them vs us' thing between differing departments within Orange confirms why the level of service to its customers is so low. What I did not realise from reading the posts of convergence and elanha was just how bad things are at Orange and to confirm that openly to the outside world through this forum is not very comforting to Orange customers. Best to keep the internal politics internal and if Orange realise that these exist then they need to sort it out. Orange, dispite all its differing departments, needs to start working as one for the benefit of its customers as opposed to the egos of those within.
The 'them vs us' thing between differing departments within Orange confirms why the level of service to its customers is so low. What I did not realise from reading the posts of convergence and elanha was just how bad things are at Orange and to confirm that openly to the outside world through this forum is not very comforting to Orange customers. Best to keep the internal politics internal and if Orange realise that these exist then they need to sort it out.
I never really meant it quite as strongly as that more like a general feeling and friendly rivallry. I wouldn't really say it would be upto the level to be classed as internal politics.
I never really meant it quite as strongly as that more like a general feeling and friendly rivallry. I wouldn't really say it would be upto the level to be classed as internal politics.
Oh come on, when a company has operational practices that encourages and fosters internal rivallry, whether that be friendly or not, you can bet your bottom dollar that it will be at the expense of the customer. I think the original poster and your reply paints a very clear picture.
Having had an ongoing talk problem for nearly 3 months with no resolve and to be told by CS that they can do nothing or tell me nothing because another department refuses to keep them informed is internal politics in my book.
Joined: 13 Aug 2006Posts: 1689Location: Marylebone Central London
I think enough has been said on this subject the responses was interesting, its obvious all is not good at Orange service or staff wise, ive seen several staff post on different forums probably because they are angry and frustrated and want people to know that a lot of it isnt their fault but what i have realised is that these people post then usually dont come back to the thread to respond, but Elhana does take time to help people on here regularly how many other Orange agents do that? none lol.
Thanks for your responses Keith Elhana and tvman
_________________ ex Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange Blog
I'm all for more of the same if it provides an insight into how things are handled - thanks elhana and convergence!
I agree.
When a company has ongoing internal problems at the expense of their customers it is enevitable that those customers will want to voice their concerns and opinions through forums such as this. Shying away from such discussions because it may be uncomfortable to some is paramount to burying ones head in the sand. Open discussion will provide a better understanding.
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