I am an employee of Orange (as so many before me) and I do feel that we have failed to make our position as front-line CSAs clear. I will try to post the answers to all of your questions as clearly as possible (and as I have a degree in English (useless hence working in this industry) I should be able to help)
There are a few major issues that have been mentioned so far. I am not going to attempt to resolve any of your actual broadband issues in this thread, simply because this is not my reason for posting.
Before I get to the Q&A session, a little background... I'm currently on the Firmware Escalations Team, which was basically started when Orange (Wanadoo) found that the Livebox just gave in when unplugged during a firmware update. Not you guys' fault really- we probably should have told you, but tbh at the contact centre I work we have no (NOT ONE JOT) of access to up-to-date information, no access to the servers (can't help with those email issues apart from making you a new profile) and no (NO) line of direct contact to anyone above call cantre manager status. Call centre managers work for the outsourced company, not for Orange. My team leader, although absolutely sterling in every way can't help you any more than I can either. Anyway, that was a bit of an aside.
One of the things mentioned in a previous thread was "why can't we be put straight through to the second line teams who can get the problems resolved immediately?"
That's what I want to address in this thread.
Basically, each of the second line teams has about 15-30 agents per call centre each. That's compared to at least 150 agents per callcentre on a daily basis. That basically means that to put you straight through we'd have to find another 100+ specially trained and highly experienced agents per callcentre, per team.
Out of the 150+ first line agents, there's maybe 15 at most who really don't care about you 100% of the time. Trust me, we do get rid of them.
Unfortunately the last 7 months or so we have been drastically understaffed. This means that we haven't been able to sack the bad agents.
The other problem this creates is that the call queues are stupendous. This means that agents who are normally patient, helpful and knowledgeable become pressured and, well, ratty. It never used to be that way, when I first started on tech there was about 25+ mins of availability between calls. Various equipment issues, the fact we haven't been taking on new staff and the massive growth of our customer base since Orange took over means that things have been getting progressively worse.
However! Things have taken a bit of an upward turn of late. We've been taking on lots of new staff with improved training procedures.
Another aspect of this problem, the fact that you guys (understandably) don't like speaking to inexperienced staff... Well, I've been here a while and I know my tech very, very well. There are quite a few of us, but we've all been promoted off the front line because frankly we wouldn't have hung around if we weren't. Firstly Orange need the knowledgeable staff to run academys for new agents, join higher teams such as escalations, faults and FET, and various other things, as well as possible promotions within our own outsourced companies.
All in all, I was once a newbie myself, and in all of the newbies we've recently taken on I've seen the same qualities I displayed myself when I first started working in tech support a long long time ago. They ask questions when they have problems or can't find the answer on knowledge base, and they usually get the problem resolved (within their remit anyway).
Things are going to get better, and hopefully your customer experience will dramatically improve. It will if I've got anything to do with it anyway.
When I had my recent problems I found the staff in the UK generally helpful and was pleased with the service.
The problems I found were the calls which routed to what sounded like a call centre in India. Now I don't have a problem in general with speaking to someone out with the UK I found the staff there (although pleasant) knew absolutely nothing! They only seemed to be able to help if you have no connection at all. Obviously they were reading scripts and did not have the slightest clue what to do with my problem.
I work in the same line of work and I do completley understand where you are coming from however this does not really help the customer in anyway.
The problem lies with your management and completely poor setup you have there.
I say this becuase even if you provided the best customer service around you would not be able to solve the real problem queries or manage the customers expectations in an efficent and honest manner.
If you have no support and can not contact the administration teams how can you be expected to do a good job with no internal communication?
How can you manage customers if the only thing you can say is I have requested it but there is nothing else I can do ?
The simple answer is you can not. If i was a shareholder in your company i would be appaulled at the lack of support and structure provided by the management team. I dont mean team leaders I mean board directors.
I would seriously request they spend a couple of days in the employees shoes to understand the poor structure they expect you to work in.
My current situation is that I have been without a connection since the end of September. All deadlines and targets have been missed and at present the customer care team have no idea when I will get a MAC code. All they can do is simply put though more requests whcih does not relsove my issue.
really poor, really dissapointed and at the end of the day the customer suffers. I hope the company really starts to lose significant business going forward.
Agree I have nothing against the guys in India as a person. the problem seems to be that they have little knowledge on the subject and at times a language barrier does exist as I can't understand them and they can't understand me. Not really their fault. But it does make matters worse when i am already pis$$ed of with the situation.
I find the UK guys much easier to talk to and more up to scratch on tech knowledge.
But maybe you can answer why having phoned 5 times i am getting nowhere with even the basics of a line test. Each time I am assured one will be done and to phone back. When i phone back it has not been done so I can't move on to the next stage. Am i just being fobbed off - it feels that way.
Last time it two weeks to get a line test and then over four weeks to get my broadband back up. It was working for two weeks and is now down again. How do I get it esculated. I should not have to send recorded delivery complaint letters and complaints to Ofcom again just to get things moving surely.
I am an employee of Orange (as so many before me) and I do feel that we have failed to make our position as front-line CSAs clear. I will try to post the answers to all of your questions as clearly as possible (and as I have a degree in English (useless hence working in this industry) I should be able to help)
Hi O-Zone, thank you for your input and frankness, and please do not be offended and take my comments personally, but the second sentence of your paragraph sums up most of the ills suffered by customers when contacting Orange C/S, tech. support
" (and as I have a degree in English (useless hence working in this industry) "
If you wanted your car, washing machine, central heating boiler or whatever fixed would you look to someone with a degree in English or someone with skills relevent to the task in hand?
I am a retired motor engineer, just like thousands of Joe public, with a computer, who has picked up / aquired knowlege over time.
I / we do not profess, in any way or form to be computer / IT experts, and welcome advice to helps with our problems.
Yet when I call C/S with a problem, in most cases I am presented with someone who can read from a script,( O level english!!) but should the answer not be written down, is totaly unable to go further with the problem. Ie they have no technical knowlege whatsoever and are totaly unable to think through the problem!
What is worse is that they "experts according to Orange" have less knowlege of Oranges systems, than me a mere novice.
The fact that you have a degree in English shows that you have the ability to absorb knowlege, apply yourself, a desire to learn etc.
If Orange would only put such as yourself through an intensive IT course and employ more IT literate staff things would look up.
There have been Orange C/S experts who have admitted to not owning a computer nor have an internet connection
Good luck in your job, keep posting, it will be appreciated, though may not seem so sometimes.
Like Elhana you may get some flack, but in 99.9% of cases the spleens are vented at Orange not at you personally.
P.s. feel free to correct my grammar, I'm forever willing to learn.
I appreciate O-Zone's post.. (please feel free to continue.. but try to limit it to one thread.. you currently have Three identical!) seems some conscientious people do work in customer support after all!
Sounds like we dont need Tech help but engineers to go in to the exchange and sort out the mess you call LLU. I think everyone posting on this site knows that this is the problem so why dont Orange own up and tell everyone what's going on. I've actually left Orange now but even that was one balls up after another, I'm now just waiting to be activated with my new ISP.
This is all ok to explain but it makes no difference what so ever to us whats fighting with Orange on daily basis and spending are time and money and getting pure lies thrown back at us. They no the score so why dont they sort it. if you cant provide a reliable service then you should stick to your mobile phone side of things and leave broadband to the companys who can do it proper. Ive no sympathy for any Orange employee what so ever. Im getting out like the others and going to a proper broadband provider what provides good service and support.
I have called the Orange so called 'technical helpline' about a dozen times over the past couple of weeks to try and get some problems sorted out. 9/10 times I have spoken to people with an extremely poor grast of English and a very strong accent. All they do is to work through their script, seemingly unable to think for themselves and, unless the problem is solvable by their script they cannot help. Therefore there is no 'real' technical support available from Orange, apart from perhaps paying premium rates for phone calls.
I'm pretty sure even with my limited knowledge I know more about the livebox than 90% of the people masquerading in the customer support centre, who just seem to play an endless game of pass the customer (usually giving you the previous number youve just rung), they obviously dont even know who you should be calling themselves unless its a cynical money making scheme!
Also notice they are not allowed to suggest fixes by email responses as it is not company policy, you have to ring the call centre.
Oh they can suggest fixes by email, it's just because of the medium, with the more complicated stuff where things can crop up or sidetrack you then it's often easier to do it over the phone where you can catch and deal with those things immediately rather than in a new email 12 hours down the line when only half the original info could be followed.
dont know about you guys but it sounds like Orange have got someone to post on behalf of Orange. the reason i know this simple i work for Orange also and im a regular tech agent. he waffles on about good and bad agents simple fact is all agents get the same training which is none at all. they get training in how to find customers accounts but when it comes to the actual tech stuff theres no training 8 months i worked for Orange and iv yet to touch a livebox, as for the speed touch iv only seen pictures. so how does anything ever get fixed u might wonder well its the sam principle as when u were a child i mean how many times did u need to pee on the toilet seat before lifting it up. when i started id get calls with the same problem eventualy after trying different things on about 30 calls you find the answer.8 months later im slowly getting there. yet theres stacks off stuff i dont know about. oh and firmware escalations there the guys we need to convince if u need something replaceing and half the time they dont have a clue so it can be difficult
dont know about you guys but it sounds like Orange have got someone to post on behalf of Orange. the reason i know this simple i work for Orange also and im a regular tech agent. he waffles on about good and bad agents simple fact is all agents get the same training which is none at all. they get training in how to find customers accounts but when it comes to the actual tech stuff theres no training 8 months i worked for Orange and iv yet to touch a livebox, as for the speed touch iv only seen pictures. so how does anything ever get fixed u might wonder well its the sam principle as when u were a child i mean how many times did u need to pee on the toilet seat before lifting it up. when i started id get calls with the same problem eventualy after trying different things on about 30 calls you find the answer.8 months later im slowly getting there. yet theres stacks off stuff i dont know about. oh and firmware escalations there the guys we need to convince if u need something replaceing and half the time they dont have a clue so it can be difficult
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