Sony Ericsson / Sony : Symbian phones : dummy p800s (& a bit of a rant on bt... sorry)
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Guys, just bought a dummy p800 from ebay. Brand new. I'm not really really bothered, but what are the chances of transferring the flip from the dummy to my real one? Just wondering cos it's a helluva lot cheaper than buying a new flip, and they're very very similar (although not identical, sadly),
Also, would anyone like me to post my rant on BT, after working for them for 14 months? It's a long one....
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[ This Message was edited by: grex on 2004-02-07 04:30 ]
[ This Message was edited by: grex on 2004-02-07 05:44 ]
[ This Message was edited by: grex on 2004-02-09 19:53 ]
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Posted: 2004-02-07 05:12:00
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Oh go on, I love a good rant ...
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Posted: 2004-02-07 05:42:04
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you asked for it.. here goes (comments would be appreciated):
Hi guys, I've just finished working at BT, so I have a touch of insider knowledge here. I'm really doing this to vent some frustration, but I would appreciate any comments and additions to my rant you may have. Obviously some BT employees come here too, so I'd just like you guys to know I appreciate what you're going through.
One other thing, I would also like to say that this is a very under-used site. It would be good to see it used more, or maybe BT doesn't suck as much as we think? (Hah!)
A bit of background then (to fill you in on where I¡¦m at, so to speak):
I started working in BT November 2002, in the Inbound Sales Channel (isc), Dial House, Bothwell Street, Glasgow. Things looked positive at first; acceptable pay level, nice hours, four weeks training, and the prospect of a nice contract with the company after a short time (as I was led to believe). So, I¡¦ll list my top ten reasons why I left (there are more, but these are the biggies), and you can have a think about what I¡¦m saying. So, here goes¡K.
1. THE INTERNET INDICATOR-This is the biggest one for me. To explain, the internet indicator is something everyone in the isc [and to a lesser extent, other] departments must ask when a customer calls in. It goes along the lines of; ¡§we don¡¦t seem to have asked if you use the internet at home, do you?¡¨ Now, it makes little difference if you¡¦re caller has just told you that they¡¦re 90 years old, blind, and 75% deaf. YOU MUST ASK THIS. And it infuriates people. Infuriates them. It¡¦s an absolute shambles. The reasons behind it? Well apparently, when btclick was still around, certain depts. were punting it to absolute buggery. The other isps got wind of this, went all stroppy and reported BT to oftel for using their significant market share on the telephony side to generate sales for their fledgling ISP. The result of this? The birth of BTOpenworld(BTYahoo), and (largely) the demise of btclick.
2. Bonus-When I started at BT, I earned a reasonable bonus. Not great, I¡¦m not a sales guy, but it was nice to be appreciated in a monetary fashion. Some of the sales guys, well, they could earn up to (or over) one grand per month in bonus alone. And I was pleased for them. The bonus was based on points. When I started, you could, (theoretically at least) earn 650 points per call. When I left, the points achievable per call were 275. In my opinion, that¡¦s shocking. Bt are taking these guys livelihood away from them, overtime is strict and mostly inconvenient, and because of bts structuring of hours, even the full time guys only work 30.6 hours per week (paid per hour). The result? Demotivated, demoralized staff, and believe it or not, this will affect agents when they deal with customers, and the overall tone of the experience they have. Poor show, BT.
3. Fair trading & consent-Imagine this. You walk into Sainsbury¡¦s, pick up a 454g bag of potatoes. You take them to the checkout, and the checkout operator says; ¡§454g bags of potatoes are available from other supermarkets, do I have your permission to scan&pack and charge you for these potatoes¡¨. You would think the operator was off their bloody rocker! You would! Call up BT, and ask about their answering/internet/entertainment services. ¡§Answering/internet and associated products/entertainment services are available from other suppliers. Do I have your permission to discuss BT¡¦s?¡¨ Fantastic. Now, it doesn¡¦t matter if you¡¦ve already given your permission, it doesn¡¦t matter if it¡¦s the SOLE reason for your call. THEY STILL HAVE TO SAY THIS! Utterly, utterly ridiculous. Oftel (now Ofcom) seem to be the pimp to bts ho. utterly amazing, that in this day and age, people are frightened into saying this pish for fear of losing their job. BT, for your utter ineptitude and cowering to the regulator, I salute you.
4. Account numbers-Okay, you¡¦re going to call your bank to query your statement. What do you make sure you have with you? Your account number. You call your gas supplier. What do you make sure you have with you? Your account number. You call your electricity supplier. What do you make sure you have with you? Your account number. You call Bt. what do you make sure you have with you? Go on, three guesses. Your glass eye? Nope, try again. A small statue of free willy? Not quite.. Your payment card? NO. Look, how hard is it to have some sort of documentation, regarding the company you¡¦re calling, in front of you? (For those not paying attention, we¡¦re talking account numbers here) Don¡¦t give me the excuse you¡¦re moving today, you should have bloody well sorted all this out weeks ago. It absolutely ASTOUNDS me that people out there (sharing a brain cell with their entire community, perhaps) should think that It¡¦ll be fine to call up BT on the day, and ask for their line to be stopped. Just like that. They even get angry when you tell them it¡¦ll take seven days without said account number. ¡§Can¡¦t you see it in front of you?¡¨ my god that cracks me up. OF COURSE I CAN SEE IT IN FRONT OF ME, YOU STILL NEED TO QUOTE IT, DUMBASS. They can¡¦t quite accept the concept of giving NOTICE for the termination of accounts. Well, it IS only on every single bloody bill they receive, it must be hard for them.
5. Dialing code/postcode/bank account- People, as they do, call in. And we, as advisors have to validate the call by taking, at least, the customers FULL name (inc. first initial), house number AND postcode. Fine, in theory. Firstly, asking someone their FULL name will usually result in them saying ¡§Smith¡¨, for example. Okay, I¡¦m sure there are people out there called Smith Smith. But, for god¡¦s sakes, get a life. Is your first name REALLY such a BIG secret? Is it rumplestiltskin? Get a bloody life. Your FULL NAME means your FULL NAME. If it¡¦s RUMPLESTILTSIN UP DEE ARSE, fine. Just bloody tell; us what we¡¦re asking. This isn¡¦t rocket science, kids. Really infuriating.
Secondly, dialing codes (postcodes as well). How can anyone, in this day and age, not know what their dialing code is? Do they know NO-ONE outside their crappy area? Possibly? Have they been living on Mars, in a cave, in the dark wearing ear-muffs whilst sleeping? Maybe. Ore are they just utterly devoid of any though process involving intelligent thinking? Most probably. People in certain parts of the country (I mean Lancashire and Merseyside mostly) just seem to live in their own little scummy bubble and care not for the outside world. Perhaps someone should develop an additive for the water supply to root these people out. For their own protection, of course.
Lastly (on this topic), bank accounts. Tell me, how can people, in this day and age, not have a bloody bank account? I mean, HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? Do they not have a job? (Don¡¦t answer that) Do they not get their benefits paid into an account? I¡¦m sure it¡¦s entirely possible to live your life without an account; it¡¦s just difficult to see why you would want to.
6. The IVR platform within BT-How does this sound folks-Imagine a company that, before they could help you, would try and punt you any old shite before they¡¦d try and do the right thing. That company is Bt. Call 0800 800 150. That¡¦ll get you through to the ¡§customer service¡¨ (and I use the term loosely) channel. It¡¦ll ask you to enter your number. Sit tight, don¡¦t press anything. It¡¦ll say, if you don¡¦t have a number, select the following options. Again, sit tight. Eventually, you¡¦ll be put through to an advisor. The person you¡¦ll be speaking to, invariably, will be a SALES advisor. Good to know that BT likes to take advantage. Now, some of the people you¡¦ll speak to will be willing to help. Most will get the necessary info from you and try to punt you crap. It matters not what your problem is, just the fact you¡¦ve called in is enough. These people aren¡¦t bad people, it just so happens that they¡¦re so heavily targeted, they have to jump on anyone they can find to make a living, and otherwise they¡¦ll be on a performance improvement plan (PIP). BT really does care for their customers, don¡¦t they? You may get the distinct impression when you call 150 that you¡¦re wasting their time. If you don¡¦t take any services, you actually are. I¡¦m sure that gives you a nice warm feeling in your tummy. ƒº
7. India-Now, if I wanted to speak to an Indian, I¡¦d go to bloody India. Or a takeaway. And before you jump on the bloody racist bandwagon, I¡¦m quite happy to speak to a person of Indian origin. IN MY OWN COUNTRY. It REALLY annoys me, however, when BRITISH companies with BRITISH customers who are listed on the BRITISH stock markets decide to take the utter piss out of their customers and move some of their operations to India. It happened in the US, and there¡¦s already been a HUGE backlash by the US public. You¡¦d have though bt would have done their research on this one. The point is how you would like it, if you were having sever problems with, say, your internet service? And the only help you could get was charged at 50p per minute? And the person you were speaking to knew less English than your average two year old? And, and, and, there was such a significant time delay that the advisor would be answering your previous question whilst you were asking your current one? This is a reality. This is BTOpenworld/Yahoo/No chance if you have a problem.com. Thing is, based on current projections, BT won¡¦t have ANY call centre/helpdesk staff in the UK in fifteen years time. You think they¡¦re incompetent now? Just wait. Scary, huh? Write to your mp. (I¡¦m not singling out India, either; it could be China, Singapore, The Moon. The point remains valid.)
8. Customers. Now, a special mention must go to BT customers. Fair enough, some of you are stuck with BT, them being the universal supplier for the UK. That¡¦s fine. I understand. The rest of you, what the hell are you thinking? There are cheaper suppliers out there who provide a far, far better service than BT ever will. Ntl, for example are pish. But they¡¦re still better than BT! Good god, think about it.
BT currently has 17million customers. Assuming that only 1% have something severely wrong with them, that¡¦s STILL 170,000 people who suffer from nervous tics, tourettes and worse. AND THEY ALL CALL IN. REGULARLY. AND WE HAVE TO ASK THEM IF THEY USE THE BLOODY INTERNET. It¡¦s a vicious circle, it really is. Not only that, but they get angry with you when THEY don¡¦t understand. I feel sorry for them, I really do.
9. Contracts-The biggest evidence available for BT moving operations overseas. You see, BT will not employ the majority of its staff directly. Oh no. They use agencies. Why? Because they can¡¦t be assed with a decent HR department one would presume. I¡¦m not even going to go into how utterly, utterly incompetent the agencies are (that¡¦s pretty standard). What I would like to make clear is that for the majority of agency advisors, a contract with BT isn¡¦t going to happen. Sure, they may tell you it¡¦s because of your performance, your attendance, or even the restructuring of the company. The real reason is that, although you may have the best bonus in the company, and the immunity levels of superman, you ain¡¦t worth shit to BT. You¡¦re a COST. And the management are trying to eliminate costs. It don¡¦t take a genius to work out, your ass is grass boyo. As soon as the management thinks it¡¦s (politically) safe to shift some more jobs over to India, they will. It¡¦s an economic fact, I¡¦m afraid. What would the point be if they gave more staff contracts? It¡¦d just make it harder and more costly to get rid of them when operations were being shifted overseas. Look at faults, their overflow is already in India. How long before it¡¦s not just overflow? Think about it.
10. Sales vs. Service-Saving the best ¡¥til last here, guys. Have BT never wondered why all the big, decent companies have SALES departments AND SERVICE departments? Maybe it¡¦s because the two are separate entities? You know, if you wanna buy something, call sales. Help with something, call service. How simple is that? BT? Nah, they¡¦ll train their sales agents up to a sort of customer service purgatory. You know, so the sales agent (with VERY basic training on service issues) will try and help you, f**k it up, and cause more customer dissatisfaction. What a great business model! BT, can I recommend someone better for your management team-Helen Keller. For even someone deaf and blind can tell that your plan is not only illogical, it¡¦s also just plain stupid.
I have emailed something similar to the above to Ben Verwaayen. I don¡¦t really expect him to get off his big, fat, Dutch ass and do anything, but at least I feel better for getting the above off my chest. To be honest, I don¡¦t really care now anyway, but I still feel sorry for you guys working there.
Now, all this is not just a rant by a disenfranchised bitter ex-employee. Oh no, it's more than that. You see, many, many people feel the same. This company is rotten to its core, led by an underachieving director (Mr. Ben Verwaayen (Sir Christopher Bland doesn't do too much these days)). Feel free to contradict me, BT people if you think I'm wrong, but I'm not sure any of you guys like working there.
Thanks for reading, I appreciate your patience.
Feedback, anyone? (or experiences)
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[ This Message was edited by: grex on 2004-02-07 05:18 ]
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Posted: 2004-02-07 05:55:49
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Well, well well; BT has certainly come in for a good thumping, and with good reason. I am inclinded to agree with grex on most of the points, which he raised.
BT is a monolith, a monolith, which doens't seem to have the capacity to recognise intrinsic British values. The British public does not appeciate being force fed tripe from sales staff eager to unload unnecessary products upon people nor does it appreciated British jobs being handed to foriegners.
I am not racist at all and I am not here to rail against forigners. However, there is something to be said for British companies giving jobs to British people. BT is doing what most other large British companies are doing, seeking to reduce costs no matter what that entails.
The general public are very boorish at times, hence the reason why I have as little to do with them as possible. However, such attitudes are made worse when staff at such companies are dmeoralised. I am no socialist, but workers have aright to be happy in their job and not feel like something that could be flushed down the nearest lavatory.
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Posted: 2004-02-07 06:19:37
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you, sir, have just made a friend.
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Posted: 2004-02-07 06:24:08
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Jolly good, always nice to have another chum.
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Posted: 2004-02-07 06:27:59
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I too am totally in agreement.
I feel the need to add another 2 companys that are quite similar.
B.P. - "Do you have a necter card, sir?" and then you have the benefits of it forced at you even though all you wanna do is pay for your petrol & sandwich then get out.
Dixons Store Groups - Who insist on pushing "Coverplan" which actually pretty much covers nothing and what it does cover is usually covered by existing household insurance. And when I was working in The Link back in 2000 they had a big deal on pushing o2 (BT Cellnet) because they were large investors in DSG.
Most companies are pretty damn corrupt. It would be nice to work for a company that does respect its employees.
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Posted: 2004-02-09 17:56:01
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with regards to o2, it's no coincidence that they're still totally corrupt as bt still have a big wodge of interest in them. rumours have it that they're even thinking of buying them back! still, its good to rant!
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Posted: 2004-02-09 18:17:00
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That was some RANT it took me a day to read it
You must have had a boil the size of a football before you managed to unburden yourself with BTs shortcommings
Youre lucky you didnt have a heart attack with all that pent up anger inside you but i bet you feel alot better now the air has been cleared
And YES i totally agree with you about the idiotic practises of BT
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Posted: 2004-02-09 18:35:51
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@welsh uk thank you (i think)
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Posted: 2004-02-09 20:49:42
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