An insight into the Vodafone iPhone 4 Customer Experience!!!!

Author: Colin Shaw

Through the power of Twitter, we have managed to gain a first hand insight into the Vodafone Customer Experience. One of the people I follow, @Tive, tweeted about a blog post he had written documenting his experience with Vodafone when looking to switch over to them for the iPhone 4. I thought it was a great example of:

  • Using a non-traditional channel to interact customers
  • One to one customer service at its best
  • A customer service employee with all the required knowledge, as well as being refreshingly honest.

Steve kindly allowed me to repost the transcript below, you can read Steve’s original blog post on his great tumblr Tive’s Take:

My iPhone contract is up so I thought I’d upgrade to an iPhone 4. Speaking to O2, they confirmed that they cannot offer me the same deal as Vodafone and were willing to offer me nothing to stay. (The only difference between packages was the 500mb data limit I would be allowed vs 1GB from Vodafone. I regularly go over 500mb and do not want to have to buy bolt ons for the privilege when Vodafone can offer it inclusive in my tariff.) I decided to see what Vodafone had to say on the issue. Here is the transcript of my live webchat below. And this is the reason I switched.

You are about to be connected to a new connection sales adviser for Vodafone UK. Please note they do not have access to existing customer details and cannot process orders or upgrades. If you have a query of this nature please contact customer services.

You are now connected with Richard.

You: Richard

Richard: Hello, you’re chatting with Richard, one of Vodafone’s online sales specialists. May I take your name please?

You: Steve

Richard: Hi Steve

Richard: Welcome to Vodafone, what brings you to our web site today?

You: I’m looking at an iphone 4 plan and could do with some clarification. What does “includes 1GB wi-fi with BT Openzone.”

Richard: It looks confusing i know, i think its worded wrong, let me explain…

You: Does it mean I can donwload 1gb worth of data to my iphone over any wifi network including BT openzone?

Richard: you get 1GB of 3G internet, every month, any time any place, on top of that you get unlimited BT openzone wifi, which you would get in mc donnalds and airports etc.

Richard: and at home you can use the wifi with your home network etc as much as you like,.

You: thanks. so at home (on my own network) what is the fair usage limit?

You: is it 1gb?

Richard: there isnt one

Richard: you can use wifi as much as you want

You: are you sure?

Richard: the 1GB limit only applys when connecting through 3g/GPRS

You: great. thank you.

Richard: yes, we cannot charge you for your own home network, you already pay your home internet provider, it would be illegal for us to charge you.

Richard: Are you ordering today?

You: yes. i am leaving 02. they cannot offer 1GB on their plan at my price

Richard: Yes, they recently dropped to 500MB

You: will you buy my current 3GS from me?

Richard: I think we do, but i would advice you to ebay it instead.

You: will i get more from it on ebay?

Richard: they still fetch a great price

You: thank you. when are your next 32gb black iphone 4s due?

Richard: you would get more on ebay in my option yes

You: thank you. when are your next 32gb black iphone 4s due?

Richard: and we are getting the black in every day or so, so if you order now your guaranteed it within a week.

You: great. thank you. good bye

Richard: probably tomorrow or Wednesday.

Richard: one last thing…

You: yup?

Richard: I will stay with you in chat whilst you order to make sure it all goes smoothly and to answer any more questions you may have, i will also see to it you get a 7 day cooling off period, so if you change your mind you can cancel free of charge, and a free gift for applying today, how does that sound?

You: whats the gift?

Richard: a free mobile broadband modem stick with 150 hours preloaded onto it for free.

You: that plugs into my laptop?

Richard: completely free.

Richard: yeo

Richard: *yes.

You: great.

You: hang on.

Richard: speeds soon to be going from 7.2mbps to 14.3

You: do you think i need to unlock my iphone somehow to sell it on ebay?

Richard: no.

You: okay.

Richard: most people know how to jail break them anyway, if you get it jail broken, i think it reduces the value.

You: i am waiting for my PAC code from o2. do i need that to order?

Richard: You would need it if you hadnt spoken to me, but as you have, we have away around this that speeds everything up

Richard: We have a special email address we can give out which is for a member of our ports team, we give this to customers over webchat when they place orders with us, this allows the customer to email their pac code after you take out the contract, and still change your number.

You: great. so now what. do i order online

Richard: yes, make sure you click no to keeping your number though, or it wont let you continue with the order without the pac, il get the email address and info ready for you now, if you just pick the plan and phone you like and let me know when your at the main cart summary.

You: i’m at the basket. £40/mth 32gb black = £219 to pay

You: 18 mnths

Richard: great, enter this in the promo code box…

Richard: [xxxxxx]

Richard: all caps

Richard: one word

Richard: then click apply

Richard: has it worked?

You: yup

Richard: Great stuff, if you proceed through the order page il wait here for you

You: okay. can you just check how much you will offer me for my 3GS as I’m concerned about selling it on ebay

Richard: sure thing, il find out for you now….

Richard: ok…

Richard: £214

You: okay. so can i do that online?

Richard: in store

You: okay. so i have to do the process in store or can i order online now and just take my phone to the store for them cash in for me?

Richard: but ebay will be £260

Richard: you just take the phone to store after

Richard: its not cash

Richard: it comes off your bill

You: okay. let’s crack on then

You: hang on – so effectively i get £214 credit and i dont pay a bill till that is used up?

Richard: correcty

Richard: but if you sold on ebay for £260

You: ok. might have to do ebay as i need the cash to finiance this phone now.

Richard: you could then ring up and say, can i pay £260 into my voda account please

Richard: and it would work the same.

Richard: ebay will be easy, the apple badge does all the selling for you

You: just concerned about fraud.

You: false paypal payments….

Richard: its pretty secure really, i have never had trouble

Richard: and sold all my old iphones on there.

Richard: just withdraw the money before sending the phone out.

You: thanks. my wife is on vodafone. is there a way of free or reduced calls to her?

Richard: there is a way of free calls yes, but it requires you to take the free vodafone to vodafone add on for £4.99 a month extra

You: ok. not to worry.

Richard: but if you did use all your 900 minutes, then the calls are cheaper per minute to vodafone then other networks.

You: i’ve just confimed the order

Richard: Great stuff

Richard: heres how to keep your number….

Richard: If you email xxxxxx@vodafone.com and include your Full Name, your Address, your Date Of Birth, your Temporary (New) Vodafone Number, your PAC code and the Number you Would Like To Keep: Within 7 days, they will swap your number over for you.

You: great. is that it? what happens – when does the phone go live?

Richard: they will email you back after you email them telling you the time its live.

You: ok. so now i just need to wait for the phone to come into the store…

Richard: have you ordered it to store?

You: yes

Richard: even if the store has no stock we deliver your phone to the store for you.

You: great. so it shouldnt take too long?

Richard: not at all

You: great. am i done?

Richard: you will be contacted when it arrives for you

Richard: Yes, thats everything

Richard: Is there anything else I can do for you today?

You: will i collect the usb stick from the store too?

Richard: let me check….

Richard: will be in the delivery bag with the phone, in store.

You: Great. Thanks Richard. It’s been very helpful.

Richard: Great, thanks for you time steve it was nice talking to you, and enjoy the rest of your day.

Richard: Thank you for chatting with me today. Vodafone really values your feedback. Please click the “Close” button at top right to answer a few questions about your experience with me today. Have a really good day!

You: cheers. bye.

Please note, Beyond Philosophy is no way endorsing either telecoms advisor.

 

 

By COLIN SHAW | Published: JULY 29, 2010