Those who know me realise I'm not one to rant. Today is the exception to the rule through my dealings with Carphone Warehouse and the dispassionate response in trying to sort out my aged mother in-laws phone.
She has recently come to live with us and is in the process of selling the family home in Dorset. She has been the main carer for my father in-law who has Parkinsons and related dementia. The final straw in caring for him came a few weeks ago when she became ill enough to warrant hospital admission.
With her daughter in Australia and also needing to keep in contact with the precious few friends she would be leaving behind, we thought it would be a lovely idea for her 88th birthday last Friday to buy her an iPhone 6. With the large touch screen we figured she would soon get the hang of it. She's been fairly tech savvy so far with her computer.
We tried to order the phone online through Carphone Warehouse but the payment was declined, we were told to ring them directly. In the phone conversation I had on ordering, I was assured that there wouldn't be a problem with changing the new phone number to her old number. With my mind at rest we ordered the phone which happily arrived on the day of her birthday.
I did everything I was told to do - I set up the new phone with the EE sim card and then rang them to get the number changed. I was a little suspicious of the man who answered my call in that he seemed to be having a problem. He put me on hold and eventually someone else came online and told me that it would take 48 hours.
48 hours later and no sign of the change over I ended up having to ring EE again to see what the problem was. Again I was concerned because my mother in-law had gone ahead and posted 90 letters with change of address and contact details using the old phone number. One friend had tried to ring the old number only to have it answered by an Indian man who insisted it was his phone number!
'Angela' the EE phone agent I got through to was very helpful. She told me that there was no record of any call on Friday but that she would sanction it again. She assured me that in 48 hours we would get a text confirming the change over to the old number. We waited patiently……
Today a text came from EE saying there was a problem and that we should ring them.
I duly rang and spoke to 'Andrew'. By this time I was not in a frame of mind to be fobbed off any more and made my feelings known. He was apologetic and said that he would sanction and that it would be done in 48 hours! I expressed the view that EE had not reassured us of the customer service they boast of on the marketing splurge. I was seriously considering pulling out of the contract which the Carphone Warehouse agent had assured me I could do within 14 days. With all the 48 hours hours we were being given to wait, the time frame was shrinking rapidly. He told me that he would go to the next level to get this prioritised, he would get back to me.
Meanwhile I decided I would ring Carphone Warehouse to make sure we would be within the 14 days of pulling out of contract and to fill them in the picture. I spoke to 'Zukira', patiently explaining the story so far. When I mentioned that we might possibly want to pull out of the contract she became more officious and patronising. She said she wasn't able to deal with me directly. I explained my mother in law was 88 and I was dealing with the call to prevent further stress to her but that I could get my mother in law to answer security questions. What followed was frankly outrageous. Zukira had obviously decided that the party line was to insist we visit a Carphone Warehouse. Even though my mother in law satisfied all the security questions that Zukira asked - Zukira insisted that she had not answered them sufficiently. We both asked her what it was we hadn't answered sufficiently. Zukira was wanting to get off the call, I insisted that my mother in law would be able to satisfy all security questions. Even down to the payment card and number used to purchase the phone, which by the way she hadn't requested.
Zukira was not listening. She was repeating that we needed to go to a Carphone Warehouse shop. Even when I pleaded for some compassion and understanding of the situation, that she was an old lady and unable to leave the house. At this point Zukira continued to insist she'd asked all the security questions, I challenged her about lying, that there must be some other security questions. At this point she put down the phone……..
Seems EE might pull out the stops and resolve the number problem in the next 5- 24 hours. We'll wait and see. I certainly hope so! I don't fancy dealing with Carphone Warehouse ever again let alone the nightmare scenario of taking my 88 year old mother in-law into one of their shops to try and cancel the contract! If Zukira is representative of the indifference they show towards their customers, especially the elderly and house bound, then be warned dear reader!
