Customer care ... the Telenet way

Like most of you already know (or just read in the previous post), 2 months ago I found a new job and I was asked to prove if I had a broadband connection at home (which I do), enabling me to work from home and thus receiving a working-from-home allowance.

So, I contacted the e-helpdesk of Telenet, explaining them my problem and asked them for a duplicate of my contract (since I have been a Telenet customer for over 6 years now and I don't bloody remember where I did leave the original contract). Those who are paying attention are possibly wondering why I didn't prove my broadband connection just be providing my future (and nowadays, current) employer with an invoice ? Well, I'm not going to elaborate on this one, just let's say it wasn't possible.

After a couple of days, I didn't receive a copy yet and I rang the helpdesk (contact 2), explaining them the same thing and they told me my former e-request was being handled and I should receive the contract in my mailbox (being the black metal thing on the front wall of my house) within the next days. So, I waited for another week and nothing arrived.

A couple of days later, I called the helpdesk (contact 3) again and they asked me to be patient, what I was for another 4 days and then I rang the helpdesk (contact 4) again, did again my entire story and they agreed with me it was quite curious I hadn't arrived yet (since they surely did sent it to me) and they promised me to send it again. Another week passed by and nothing arrived, so I called them (contact 5) again and the friendly lady said she double-checked everything and it was indeed sent to my home address and it would arrive any time now.

Not entirely trusting, I decided to give them another 3 weeks (the time I was abroad) and then would call again. Coming back home from holiday on Wednesday, there was no mail from Telenet, so I rang again (contact 6) to ask if they had sent it to the correct address, which was the case and I then proceeded with asking if they could sent it by e-mail, which they would do. On Monday, I rang again and now, the lady at the helpdesk told me that indeed something had gone wrong and she would create a special dossier to make sure the situation was solved and she would ring me back in the afternoon. (Number of conversations with the helpdesk at that time : 7).

No one rang me that day, so I rang the helpdesk again the next day (contact 8) and had to tell my story all over again and she would have a look at the dossier. While waiting for the lady to return to the phone, the connection was lost and I had to call again, reaching another lady having just to tell my story again (call number 9) and she said the dossier was indeed created and I asked her again to sent the contract by mail or fax it, because I was becoming quite urgent. So, she added a addendum stating the urgency of the problem and said I would receive an e-mail within the next 2 days. 3 days passed and I didn't receive anything, so I called (contact 10) again, told the entire story again (I'm a patient guy, the lady at the desk understood my problem, added another priority to the dossier and didn't dare to make any more promises about when I would receive the contract).

So, I waited for another 3 days and called again (call 11) and was connected to the most- couldn’t-care-less-helpdesk person in the world, so I explained everything and asked them if they could set the contract by fax, which was according to him, technologically not possible (Telenet being a telecommunications company and such) , so I asked him if he could have a look at the status of the dossier, which he didn’t even bother to do, so I told him I would be obliged to cancel the contract, just because I needed a proof of a broadband connection and clearly Telenet couldn’t help me on which he responded, if that was my feeling, I should do it. (Please do fire the guy or give him a course in customer relations). So I contacted all my connections and friends to receive a copy of the contract, since Telenet was clearly not able to help me.

The next Monday, after my first day at the new job, I typed a very friendly e-mail explaining my problem and my hassle with the helpdesk and explained how it was easier to keep a customer nowadays than to find a new one, and the inability of the helpdesk to grasp this concept. Then, I looked up the e-mail addresses of the entire board of directors of Telenet (I’m not going to disclose where I found these addresses) and sent them my very friendly mail.

The next day nothing happened. Until around 8pm I received a mail from the CTO, expressing his regrets and that he would handle the problem the next day. So, the next day, I receive a phone call from the customer care department, saying that the contract was sent to my home address and to my private e-mail account, which was indeed the case.

A first, I didn’t think one of the directors would even blink an eye to solve such a trivial problem. I just wanted to vent my anger about the total absence of customer care of the helpdesk, but now, I mighty impressed by the signal Telenet is sending towards his customers.
(I'm not going to disclose the mails to protect their privacy and mailbox)

MORALE : It’s good to know someone in high places or in my case, at least, have the means to get their attention.