Wednesday, June 14, 2006

27 degrees and rising

Apparently, for every degree over 27 celsius, the number of incidents of violence doubles. It's not quite the same, and I certainly didn't attack anyone, but I was extremely hacked off with O2 (the mobile phone company) yesterday. After three years of decent service, I asked them for a PAC yesterday - not sure of, and not particularly bothered by what it stands for ;-) - in order to take my mobile number with me now that I'm transferring to Orange. Well, looks like the Call Centre people are under instructions to keep business through the hard sell. First of all, the guy wouldn't accept that I wanted to change firm. Secondly, he wouldn't accept that I wanted an older phone (a Nokia 8622 which is the upgraded version of my old and now fading phone) on the grounds that it was an older mobile. That may be Sunshine, but it's a *new* older phone and works just like my last one, save that it has a camera. He then started going on about how I should wait for the next new model coming out in a few months, though he couldn't give me a date. No, I said, I want to change now. He also asked about the deal I would be getting (roughly the same as the one I'm on now). He said I could have 750mins of talktime per month for £30. I said I'm deaf and can't use a mobile to speak on. He says he'll give me 750 texts per month for the same - I currently pay £25 for 600. I said I don't need the extra texts, if anything , I want to waste less money. I may have misheard but he then offered me the same deal for £5 less. (a) That's insulting as he was treating me like a gullible idiot a few seconds before and because I wasn't having any of it, he was now attempting to get on my good side; and (b) he wasn't grasping the whole "I want a phone; you don't stock it; therefore I'm leaving" angle. Lots of too-ing ang fro-ing, the long and short of it being that I had to spend 35mins on this phone call, mainly on hold as he sought advice at his end on ways to make me stay *while I was sat in the sweltering heat of my office*, with him treating me like a wally for not wanting a brand new, top of the line phone with gadgets and flashing lights that I didn't want. All to get that code number so I could happily leave. Note: no address on their website or way of contacting them to leave an O2 contract so you have to put up with this crap.

Quite frankly, I'll never use O2 again. They suck.

Rant off. :-)

2 comments:

Jase said...

I used that tactic a few years ago on Orange to get a free upgrade. It worked as they wanted to keep me.
I then tried it again earlier this year and the conversation went something like this:

Jase: I'd like a PAC number as I want to transfer my number to O2.
Orange: Would you stay if we offered you a new deal and a new phone?
J: That depends on the deal? I would like the new Sony phone.
O: Just let me check your account details to see what we can do for you.
[much checking of details occurs]
O: Erm, it looks like you don't use all your free minutes or texts each month.
J: That's right, I am a light user.
O: We have no deals that would be suitable for you at the moment. I'll just get you that PAC number sir!
J: [under breath]Shit!

Clearly Orange has decided that I am a shit customer and I can bugger off elsewhere with my light usage!

For reference I didn't use the PAC number as I was bluffing to get a better phone! Ho Hum!

All our extended family and most of our friends are on Orange so it works out cheaper to stay with them!

GF said...

I think we all know that so far I've been the master of the old getting new deals blags off of mobile companies.

I have tarted myself between Vodafone and Orange and back again about 3 times now. Each time upping the handset and also inreasing my minutes or texts or both to nice new level.

I forget what PAC stands for now, but since James said he didn't care then I'm not gonna stress about it.

And yeah, o2 are shit - always have been even when they were Cellnet and then BT Cellnet.... :)

Orange are excellent, but as Jase said you do need to be a heavy user to keep the scam up. I manage that.