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My new wanadoo problems forum
OK, you're wondering... Why a forum ?
Well, because it is now 30 March 2006 and I have not had my Wanadoo broadband connection (which I'm paying for still) since 7 February 2006...
That's 7 weeks and 2 days if my sums are correct.
And in that 7 weeks and 2 days, oh what fun I've had...
It all started when my 2Mb connection (which I was very happy with) was upgraded to 8Mb (in fact 0 Mb as you will see):
I think I have spoken to every member of the Wanadoo Technical Support Team... But never the same person twice... And even when I do ask for a person by name, I'm told that they "do not work at this call centre... We have lots of call centres... Do you have the person's extension number?"... No I reply, when I asked for an extension number I was told that these are not given out! "Well, because we have so many call centres, it is not possible for me to locate that person... I will help you..."
They then proceed to tell me that they will help me, I tell them that I am sure they will not be able to as this problem has been occurring for weeks now, but they insist... I tell them that I should speak to a team leader, in fact I would like to speak to a team leader... "That's not possible. Our team leaders are in a meeting at the moment".
They then proceed to tell me that they will put a fault through... For the umpteenth time. I tell them that this has been done previously, on many occasions. But they insist.
And so the saga continues...
And... I nearly forgot to mention that in the beginning, their helpful Technical Support staff had me uninstalling, reinstalling, setting the Livebox back to manufacturers settings. Which, of course, I knew and (probably) they knew, would not and did not resolve the problem. And they still insist on asking me to do it - which I just refuse to do now... Then, is your username and password entered correctly - oh I think so... It has been checked almost daily for the last 7 weeks!
I will get some time and literally list every phone call I have made to Wanadoo in my "own" area of the forum! I have been quite meticulous in recording teh events of teh last 7 weeks.
And still... No internet connection...
By anybody's standards, this is somewhat unreasonable I believe.
Well... here's to receiving a call from Wanadoo's legal department threatening to sue me over this site... Well... At least it should raise some awareness to the team leaders and the men (or women) at the top - because, on the phones, it is impossible to get put through to these people.
Here's hoping I am back on-line soon...
Please add your comments to this forum. www.wanadooproblems.co.uk
Start a new thread, answer other queries posted by others... And yes... I think I can help with almost every possible situation now... Other than mine!
The only thing Wanadoo haven't asked me to do is unscrew the casing of the Livebox... I'll just have to wait til my next call....
Of which I have to make and pay for each time... They have never returned my call - even, on the odd occasion that I spoke to a team leader "S", when I was promised a call back - that was on 04 March 2006.
Anyway... time for you people out there to add your comments and views...
Feel free... No need to register at the moment - want to get things moving first!
I will check this forum regularly and promise to help as many people as I can - you should too - because Wanadoo are not likely to.
Ok, to add to my previous post i have found a way round not to pay these idiots. i called bt and enquired about changing to them for my broadband service as at least i have my phone line with them and no problems (not yet anyway). they advised that if i am in a contract (think he meant that anyway) i will need a MAC code from my existing suppliers to transfer over to them. anyway i called wanadont (wanadoo) back and asked for the MAC code and after a brief conversation with one of there CSA's he put me through to a department called customers cancellations. he asked why i wanted to cancel and i told him my reason (not billed then asked to pay for the back billing after being told wouldnt need to) and i also mentioned the fact i was prepared to pay the cancelation fee's which i think was quite an important bit for his response....... "ok i can overide these charges if your willing to stay with us"!!!! WHAT!!!??!! HE CAN DO WHAT!!??!! after all the problems i had with the previous so called supervisor he can actually overide the debt!! anyway i thought 1. the broadband service is ok 2. i will be getting what i was told i was which i was happy with until recently and 3. i havent got to pay any cancelation charges. a quick note to anyone who is going to use my example to get what they were promised by wanadont, make sure your prepared to pay the cancelation charges and make sure you ask for a MAC code and they will overide the debt, which of course is there fault!! Morale of my experiance, Wanadont broadband service good, wanadont customer service shocking!!! P.S i WILL be leaving after my contract is up pretty pronto!!
I myself have just got off the phone to wanadoo after recieving the same letter (not billed for 3 months etc). difference being i have called them in the past to ask if payment was actually going to be taken as none had gone out and i was told that i will not have to pay for the months i didnt get charged. i didnt believe them so i called them again the same day and was told the exact same thing. then low and behold i get this letter "apologising" that i hadnt been billed and that payments would be taken over the next three months to cover the payments that were missed and for each month continuing forward (i think you get my drift) Anyway i called them again today and was told that nothing can be done about the payments and to write to the complaints department, so i asked to speak to a supervisor and after about 5 minutes on hold (again) i spoke to tracey (sorry to use her name but i thinks its really bad how she spoke to me) and she basically said it wasnt my (me not her) fault but i still had to pay as i had actually used the service. i went on explaining what i was previously told and that even when i called on the 26th january the day i received the letter i was told to resetup my direct debit, which i did, and the payments will be reset to the agreed amount. during me explaining the problem she kept interupting me and tried to throw me off by saying that she never agreed this, so i just ignored what she said and that she isnt listening to me (this may sound rude but i work in the back office to a call centre and know all the tricks they try to use) after about 20 minutes she said that there is no way i can get my service for free and that nothing can be done. now some of you may accept this but there is always a way around ANY billing problem. she then went on and said she would call me back in 20 minutes, well guess what that was 40 minutes ago and still no call back. again some of you may think that i am being unreasonable by refusing to pay for the period i had used the service, but as a customer i have a right to timely and precise billing and i have always understood good customer service as meeting the customers expectatios and actually doing what i have said i will. i have had to call them back and i will post what has been done (if anthing) the morale of this is to not use wanadoo or ANY of its related companies.
Wanadoo had a computer problem and didn't charge me for my broadband for 3 months. I phoned to ask why I hadn't been billed and was told it was a computer error and I wouldn't be backcharged. They then sent out a letter to say that I would have to pay it after 2 different people saying I wouldn't. They are a bunch of liars and not to be trusted. Eventually got a supervisor to agree to two months free after being continually told there was nothing they could do and that I couldn't eve speak to a supervisor. Only got this as I theatened to cancel my direct debit and give them nothing. Do not trust anything they say. I will be cancelling my contract as soon as my 12 months are up.
I was sold a Wanadoo Wireless and Talk package by a lady who assured me it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. However, after trying for THREE hours to set it up for my PowerMac, and then waiting 25 MINUTES for someone in Wanadoo's IT support to pick up the phone, I was told the service didn't support Macs. FANTASTIC - surely they could have told me that before I signed up. Now, because my line has 'gone active' I am not allowed to cancel. I've got to pay Wannado £17.99 a month for a broadband service I can't even access. Talk about illegal miss-selling - surely there is something that can be done to make this company help me out?
hello everyone. just the quickest of messages. i`m writing this on my lunch break, on a computer at work (guess what? i can`t go online with my computer at home since i signed up with wanadoo broadband). everything i`ve read so far has happened to me over the past week; endless calls to tech support, endless calls to cust services, hung up on twice! not our fault (bts fault) line checks, uninstall, reinstall blah blah blah blah blah! in a strange way it`s nice to know i`m not alone in thinking wanadoo are a bunch of modern day con artists. i`m pretty certain some of their methods are illegal. the last conversation i had with a csa was with regards cancelling my account (yes, i`ve been told i can`t, 12 mth contract and all that). well i ain`t paying for a service i ain`t getting and i sure as hell ain`t getting any service so i ain`t paying. call your bank or card company and tell them to block any payments to wanadoo. i don`t believe they can make you pay for something and then not provide that something. anyway time has run out now. have some guts guys and tell these theives where to get off. ps we could all do with a bit of legal advice on these matters if anyone can help.
On my pay-as-you-go account I have to enter my e-mail address 2/3 times as Wanadoo says it does not recognise the address.However that gives them an extra 2/3 minutes extra revenue as by now we are on-line.I ,ve tried to sort it out with their premium rate helpline which is staffed by foreigners who don,t understand plain English,surely a deliberate rip-off as other people I spoken to have similar issues.
I work for Wanadoo at Garlands and must say it is s**te. At present we are stuck every night with calls waiting for wireless and talk and not enough staff to take them. Not only is there not enough staff to take them but half the staff don't know much at all about wireless and talk anyways because we were never given the correct training!!! To top it all the fat ass managers all go home at half five and leave us to take the flack, CHEERS!!!
A bit of advice to customers, Give us chance and be patient, We know it's annoying and all that but we do want to help. We are just stuck doing the dirty work for penny's whilst the big boys make the cash. If we could click a switch to get you working we would but it's not that easy. We rely on out company and have to do as they say, for better or worse. Personally I work on a team of pretty good agents which could all pretty much solve your issue given time and patience and it would be alot faster than having to deal with a different agent each call as not all agents know there stuff. If you don't have a clue how to use a computer stay clear of broadband please, you should be made pass a test for a licence.
Basically if the managers got there ass in gear and helped us help you then you'd be fine, let's hope your lucky and get an agent with the know how!
I use to work for Wanadoo up at Ventura and all you CSAs out there defending it I would save your breath.Fact is Wanadoo don't care about customers or employees. Customers are there to make money off and you csas are there to take the stick and generally made to look stupid. Both Ventura and Wanadoo should be used as examples of how not to run your business.I hope every team leader on that Wanadoo unit is reading this because I can honestly say I have never worked for such an incomptent bunch of muppets in all my life. All you people out there who have to phone Wanadoo up day and night the reason you don't get through to a 'manager' is because they struggle to count past 5 never mind have the brain capacity to talk you through anything!I think the reason there are csa's on here having a go at customers is becasue its a place to vent their frustrations about the fact that there is no communication letting them know what ridiculous money making scheme are going to come up with next. To all you csas just think of it from the customers point of view if you'd been paying for something for x number of months and it won't work I'm sure you'd be doing exactly the same think.
i work on wanadoo wireless and talk customer support 6 - 10 ate night and all i get is customer shouting at me with all different problems saying i bet u get the same thing over again wrong no we dont they may have been a problem with that customer but not all customer have the same problem. if u think about why phones us up saying u gonna cancel cause where happy for u to go as long as yr not in contract and if u r good look cause u have to pay the rest of the contact off lol.
im sat here at home now - actually laughing my tits off at all you people getting so angry when most of trhe time its your own fault - we have to send out engineers to people saying they have line faults whenitas usually your problem - f**kING IDIOTS STOP RINGING THE HELP LINE.
After about 60 phone calls,ending up on first name terms with some of the escalation department and out and out breach of contract on behalf of Wanadoo, I have repeatedly asked for my contract to be cancelled and to be reimbursed for my phone calls and monthly fee. They will not do this! I have just found a number for their offices and I am hoping to get some sort of result, I want someone with somesort of legal common sense to realise that the company is at fault, reimburse me and then cancell my account. For information the number that can be called is 0113 2229100
never really use forums but felt shcoked at the terrible service from this ISP.
I first joined in 2000 as freeserve plus, one of the first people at that time. Since then the prices have occilated both up and down and the bandwith changed. Being a credible ISP, in my eyes only seemingly, i thought as they changed the prices they would have basically changed the service they were providing to me. But oh no.
For over 16 months they have been overcharging me, charging me for a 1mb line whilst i had a 512k only during this whole time. Obviously any price changes are always in their favour and they have been charging me for the most expensive package but providing the most basic. Declined a rebate of the money i said they owe me - being the difference between the 2 packages for 16 months.
Reported the problem and they offered one month free!! Surely they are breaking consumer act. no one else to speak to, write to head office and they may get back was the response.
Great, do not use. to be honest they have been reliable in the past, but their rates are high in terms of capacity offered - better deals around look elsewhere!!
how about all you incompuitent idiots stop ringing the tech help line - as i am currently working there as week speak i get fed up of idiots simply ringing up and sayin "its not working"? what the hells that supposed to mean - iff u dont know how to use it get off the computer fool!!!!!! i had a guy ring me up and say i want a free modem ive smashed mine against the wall - get over it!!! its your fault not mine!!!
I have had a wonderful service from wanadoo my broadband has been working fine and I have had no problems I think all internet companys must have some problems looking at tiscallis blog it seems wanadoo arnt the only ones
I too have had nothing but grief from wanadoo. Despite having been made to go through phone line tests and setup test numerous times-I still have no access to the internet. Despite asking for the account to be cancelled, I'm getting fobbed off by rude and obnoxious kids at the 'technical support' center despite being patient and going through the cycle of 'troubleshooting' the problem. DO they really think that doing the same thing over and over again, will miraculously make the whole thing better? my advice....don't use them-they're crap & life's too short for putting up with them.
Hi i am writting to tell you all that my sister works for wanadoo and she tries everything she can to help her cmr's and when she cannot it does upset her.
It upset's me when she comes home because she has had a bad cmr who says horrible things to her and she let's it get to her, all you people who call up wanadoo just remember most of the time you get a different csa, you may be upset but shouting at them and having a go at them does not help them do their job, they have standards and precedures to stick to and if they do not it is them who get in trouble.
Fair enough it is a pain when you get a problem if you get told to do something if possible make the csa stay on the phone while you do what they ask then if there is still a problem you will not have to call back as you are still on the phone.
I know if you get my sister on the phone you will get all correct information as she takes her job very seriously but if you are rude and nasty to her just think she will help you but if it were me i would think why should i help you, she doesn't even mind if you swear on the phone as long as you are not swearing at her.
so next time you ring up you may be upset but please remember to be as polite as you can manage p.s my sis is on broadband tech and livebox.
p.s always make a note of the csa,s name and extention number then if you have any problem's or thankyou's you would like to give to that csa then you could call up and tell someone about it or ask for someone higher up.
my sister does not know i am writing on hear and no i do not know her extention number ,thankyou for taking the time to read this.
We had Freeserve Any Time before broadband was available in our area. After they changed to become Wanadoo and broadband became available we tried numerous times to convert on Wanadoo but they failed to respond to emails or phone calls. We spoke to a customer services person to see if we could get the Any Time improved as it kept cutting out and he said that we needed to go into the system and update it as we had not changed to Wanadoo, which we did.
The following month we received a bill for £232.13 plus VAT instead of the £14.99 which was our normal monthly fee as Wanadoo said we had changed to Wanadoo Pay As You Go .
We made no alteration to phone numbers on the computer and had no indication that anything had changed. We curtailed the agreement and the email we had from Wanadoo confirmed that our Wanadoo Any Time Account had been closed.
They say that we -quote - 'may have failed to install your new Any Time access number or have altered your internet settings after completing the registration process' and have offered us £44.97 as full and final settlement. What can we do now?
I am writing with regards to my Broadband account with Wanadoo. In November 2004 I contacted Wanadoo Broadband customer line with the aim to cancel my Broadband account with Wanadoo. The reason for this decision was due to extreme billing problems, bad customer care and communication, as well as many connection problems. However I also encountered problems in achieving this, as the account was never cancelled on the first requested and required subsequent phone calls and much chasing up of important information which was never fully given.
On the final call I was made an offer of 3 months free connection if I reconsidered my decision and re signed up to Wanadoo broadband. I agreed as the best offer by another provider had been for 2 months free connection.
Until February 2005 I was happy with the service, and had not encountered any problems. On this day I checked my bank account and discovered that a payment for £27.99 had been taken by Wanadoo. I rang the billing enquiry line and explained the situation, upon which apologies were offered and accepted, confirmation of the original offer of three months free subscription was given, and I was informed that a refund of the £27.99 would be made the following month into my account.
As I have had problems with Wanadoo billing service in the past I called the billing line in March 2005 to check that this refund had been allocated and would be going back into my account as informed. The first Member of staff I spoke to was very confused by the situation and found it hard to understand the nature of my query so they passed me to another member of staff in another department. When I spoke to the next member of staff they just listened to my query and without any explanation passed me back to the billing department. The final member of staff I spoke was very helpful, but explained that the maximum free subscription period that could be authorised was 2 months not 3, which left me perplexed as to why I had been offered 3 months. She went on to explain that there was nothing she or any other member of staff could do and that my only option was to write to Wanadoo at their Head Office.
I received a quick reply, however I was amazed that even though I had written a detailed complaint to Wanadoo about customer services and the handling of such complaints, the reply I received showed every indication of my email not being read at all as the reply submitted was in no relation whatsoever to my query and complaint. Further more I was given and told that had I any other queries to ring the
customer support line. I find this most unsatisfactory as firstly it was about the service from the above support line the complaint was regarding and secondly they could not deal with my query so passed me to Broadband support.
I was extremely upset and annoyed that my complaint was not upheld or listened to. And that I was continuously misinformed over a four month period for something that should have been dealt with on the first instance I queried it. I am amazed at the lack of professionalism, staff knowledge and complaint handling of the many employees and departments I have spoken to, and that such procedures of senior staff and management refusing to talk to customers when ordinary staff members are unable to deal a problem. This also applies to the practice of passing through different departments when they cannot deal with a problem. The most disgraceful practice however is the one where a Wanadoo employee can deliberately terminate a call for no apparent reason and no warning given.
I would have appreciated any help Wanadoo could give on this matter as I am very unhappy with the level of service I have been given yet again as this was one of the main reasons for my cancelling my broadband subscription in November 2004. i wish i hadn't gone back
hi there all u sad people,i fink u guys shud just all grow up+realise that there's numerous procedures that we have to eliminate to diagnose the problem. as you probably have clicked on i work on behalf of wanadoo as a csa+am sick of you guys calling up about a problem,then we offer the solutions to yourselves and you refuse point blank to accept are advice. if you want us to help,be sure that you want to help yourselves before considering calling us! i understand why some of you are angry about our service,but we get paid to offer are technical support,and not to recieve abuse from obviously retarded people,who aren't the slightest bit technically minded! so if anyone wants or needs any good broadband technical advice post your questions here,and remember if you do need to call in,get off your high horses and accept the good advice!
Hmm. Been with them for maybe 6 years. When the company was Freeserve had no problems with them. Only called 6-7 times and always got a helpful friendly service at an obviously small call center. When I changed my Broadband package to the 17.99 one i started having problems. Had to call them maybe 25 times over the last 10 months. Firstly I got put into a new 12 months contract, I didn't know this until I called to cancel after my 10th call. The call center for broadband is in a different place than narrowband. I'd like to think that all CSAs for Wanadoo are helpful, but they're not. There are a few out there that are willing to help, are polite and generally nice people. But only a few. Most seem to blag you with some excuse about BT, filters, modem installation or username & password. They only seem to have basic 'need to know' training "How to set up a Dial up Network", "How to Reinstall Modem", "How to Check Dial Up Number". Most times connecting at work and finding my own solutions to my problems work, but Wanadoo Technical Support skip from reinstalling modem to BT line check. The training tape you heard was most likely a 'floor person' who walks the unit helping people.
Customer Support isn't much better, in fact worse in most cases. Unhelpful and just plain rude. You can hear them talking to other people while they put you on mute. Being very abrupt and having to 'send an issue form' after speaking to a 'supervisor'. It also takes alot of effort to speak to a supervisor, the CSAs are very quick to try and get a supervisor for you, but the are very quick to say no, so it seems. This to me seems like a lack of training. The supervisors (spoke to them a few times) seem to have the voice of god thing going on. Please.
At the call centers they don't seem to have any connection with their head office. Or their website. Or their network technicians. When things are down they'll tell you they're down, you ask when they'll be up and you get "I don't know" or "Its on the website", when you check it isn't, so you ask them to update it and they say they will, but it never does... Head office can only be contacted by letter, an ISP who doesn't't have an email to head office?
I'm glad to read that the CSA's have to lie about their systems, that they're updating when really they're waiting for the page to change. On several occasions I've had to wait maybe 3 minutes in a call for 'pages to load'.
The email systems they use all seem to use pre generated responses, where they stick in your name and their's.
I don't mean to slag off the CSA's maybe you guys are p**sed because you get peanuts for wages and I don't mean that in a nasty way. Eric is that there in his French Mansion, with all his lady friends, big cars and expensive suits, and you guys are getting jack squat for it. I'd just like to say thanks to the guys who are willing to help.
Bit of advice for the people on this board, if you get a CSA that is worth while then take his/her extension number ;) Sometimes you get through to the *other* call center and wont get the extension but most of the time you will.
Will be chopping Wanadoo very soon, connection problems on and off for the last 10 months. Switching to the great Telewest which my brother has got, seeing as though I use his connection more than my own.
Sorry for babbling on, but I've had a lot of experience with this company.
We had Freeserve Any Time before broadband was available in our area. After they changed to become Wanadoo and broadband became available we tried numerous times to convert on Wanadoo but they failed to respond to emails or phone calls. We spoke to a customer services person to see if we could get the Any Time improved as it kept cutting out and he said that we needed to go into the system and update it as we had not changed to Wanadoo, which we did.
The following month we received a bill for £232.13 plus VAT instead of the £14.99 which was our normal monthly fee as Wanadoo said we had changed to Wanadoo Pay As You Go .
We made no alteration to phone numbers on the computer and had no indication that anything had changed. We curtailed the agreement and the email we had from Wanadoo confirmed that our Wanadoo Any Time Account had been closed.
They say that we -quote - 'may have failed to install your new Any Time access number or have altered your internet settings after completing the registration process' and have offered us £44.97 as full and final settlement. What can we do now?
I've been a Wanadoo customer for at least 6 years and was always very happy with the service until I foolishly decided to sign up for Wireless Broadband.
I ordered the upgrade online and it arrived within the time period specified. It was easy to install and everything was wonderful for two weeks. It then suddenly stopped working for no reason.
I phoned the help line and was advised to reinstall and call back. 6 phone calls later it still wasn't working and the person on the phone said I needed a new reciever and it would come in 3 to 5 working days. Hah. What came was two envelopes to return items.
I phoned up, a very nice lady apologised and said there was a coding error and they'd get it in the post to me. Hah. Another envelope.
I phoned up and was told they'd just discovered a coding error (the same error I'd been told about the week before). Another envelope
Then after more attempts to get the current equipment to work I was told I needed a new light box. An envelope arrived. At this point I confess I may have been less than friendly on the phone. I said I wanted to cancel and was told I'm not allowed to !! I was told once the equipment arrived if it still didn't work I'd be able to cancel then.
A new Broadband light box kit arrived. It doesn't work.
I phoned up to cancel and was told they need to send another set but if that doesn't work then I have to have a cabled Broadband connection and I still wasn't allowed to cancel. When I pointed out the whole point of the Wireless kit for me was that I have a phone point downstairs and a PC upstairs I was told I should move my PC into my living room! We asked if we can have our old Anytime account switched back on so at least we have 'net access while we're tryig to solve the problem. We could but only if we wanted to pay the monthly fee on top of the Broadband monthly fee which we're still paying and receiving nothing.
During all this time I was constantly told to redial and select option one and the two and then three and then four and then back to one etc.
I now have no internet capability at home which means I have to make all e-mails etc in my lunch time at work. Last year I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and I rely on the 'net to keep myself informed of new treatments and also to keep family and friends up to date with my health.
I'm now consulting with a solicitor with a view to trying to cancel this apalling state of affairs and try with someone a little more helpful. I'm also writing to Wanadoo to complain and sending copies to Which and to Watchdog.
If by any chance a Wanadoo employee who can actually help is reading this please get in touch.
after 2 or so years of 512 broadband I decided to upgrade to 1meg last September. It was here my problems began....
I was expecting payments of 34.99 to go through, I was flicking through my bank statement one day and noticed I was being debited for 62.98, Basically after changing my account from 512 to 1meg I was being debited for BOTH account types all at once!
I looked back through my statments online and noticed this had been happening for a few months and as a result I was now owed over £120. I first spoke to the call centre in January, they were very apologetic and said I would be credited again on the 28th Jan. This didn't happen but the amount taken out of my bank had gone down to 34.99. I spoke to the call centre again and they this time told me my refund will now go through on the 28th Feb. I was also told there is no such tariff at 34.99 so my debit should actually be 27.99!
February 28th came and went and guess what, still no refund and they had debited 42.44!!!! So I decided it was time I phoned up again. This is where the fun really began. Although the phonecall was around 15 minutes long, in that time I ended up speaking to 6 different people, and each time I was transferred I had to retell the whole story again. Twice I was put through to the cancellations team even though at no point did I say anything about wanting to cancel. I finally got through to a team senior of some kind and after retelling the story again I was told my refund had been "escalated" and I could either be credited back by having free broadband or my refund of £150ish would go through on 28th March. I knew that I really did not see myself wanting to stay with Wanadoo another 5 months to make this offer worthwhile so I opted to wait until 28th March - I checked my statement today and still no refund but at least they've finally started debiting me the right amount.
I made another phonecall just now and was told my case was still with the escalations team, at that point I wondered if something fishy was going on at Wanadoo and from there I stumbled upon this site....
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OK, you're wondering... Why a forum ?
Well, because it is now 30 March 2006 and I have not had my Wanadoo broadband connection (which I'm paying for still) since 7 February 2006...
That's 7 weeks and 2 days if my sums are correct.
And in that 7 weeks and 2 days, oh what fun I've had...
It all started when my 2Mb connection (which I was very happy with) was upgraded to 8Mb (in fact 0 Mb as you will see):
I think I have spoken to every member of the Wanadoo Technical Support Team... But never the same person twice... And even when I do ask for a person by name, I'm told that they "do not work at this call centre... We have lots of call centres... Do you have the person's extension number?"... No I reply, when I asked for an extension number I was told that these are not given out! "Well, because we have so many call centres, it is not possible for me to locate that person... I will help you..."
They then proceed to tell me that they will help me, I tell them that I am sure they will not be able to as this problem has been occurring for weeks now, but they insist... I tell them that I should speak to a team leader, in fact I would like to speak to a team leader... "That's not possible. Our team leaders are in a meeting at the moment".
They then proceed to tell me that they will put a fault through... For the umpteenth time. I tell them that this has been done previously, on many occasions. But they insist.
And so the saga continues...
And... I nearly forgot to mention that in the beginning, their helpful Technical Support staff had me uninstalling, reinstalling, setting the Livebox back to manufacturers settings. Which, of course, I knew and (probably) they knew, would not and did not resolve the problem. And they still insist on asking me to do it - which I just refuse to do now... Then, is your username and password entered correctly - oh I think so... It has been checked almost daily for the last 7 weeks!
I will get some time and literally list every phone call I have made to Wanadoo in my "own" area of the forum! I have been quite meticulous in recording teh events of teh last 7 weeks.
And still... No internet connection...
By anybody's standards, this is somewhat unreasonable I believe.
Well... here's to receiving a call from Wanadoo's legal department threatening to sue me over this site... Well... At least it should raise some awareness to the team leaders and the men (or women) at the top - because, on the phones, it is impossible to get put through to these people.
Here's hoping I am back on-line soon...
Please add your comments to this forum. www.wanadooproblems.co.uk
Start a new thread, answer other queries posted by others... And yes... I think I can help with almost every possible situation now... Other than mine!
The only thing Wanadoo haven't asked me to do is unscrew the casing of the Livebox... I'll just have to wait til my next call....
Of which I have to make and pay for each time... They have never returned my call - even, on the odd occasion that I spoke to a team leader "S", when I was promised a call back - that was on 04 March 2006.
Anyway... time for you people out there to add your comments and views...
Feel free... No need to register at the moment - want to get things moving first!
I will check this forum regularly and promise to help as many people as I can - you should too - because Wanadoo are not likely to.
www.wanadooproblems.co.uk
I work for Wanadoo at Garlands and must say it is s**te. At present we are stuck every night with calls waiting for wireless and talk and not enough staff to take them. Not only is there not enough staff to take them but half the staff don't know much at all about wireless and talk anyways because we were never given the correct training!!! To top it all the fat ass managers all go home at half five and leave us to take the flack, CHEERS!!!
A bit of advice to customers, Give us chance and be patient, We know it's annoying and all that but we do want to help. We are just stuck doing the dirty work for penny's whilst the big boys make the cash. If we could click a switch to get you working we would but it's not that easy. We rely on out company and have to do as they say, for better or worse. Personally I work on a team of pretty good agents which could all pretty much solve your issue given time and patience and it would be alot faster than having to deal with a different agent each call as not all agents know there stuff. If you don't have a clue how to use a computer stay clear of broadband please, you should be made pass a test for a licence.
Basically if the managers got there ass in gear and helped us help you then you'd be fine, let's hope your lucky and get an agent with the know how!
I first joined in 2000 as freeserve plus, one of the first people at that time. Since then the prices have occilated both up and down and the bandwith changed. Being a credible ISP, in my eyes only seemingly, i thought as they changed the prices they would have basically changed the service they were providing to me. But oh no.
For over 16 months they have been overcharging me, charging me for a 1mb line whilst i had a 512k only during this whole time. Obviously any price changes are always in their favour and they have been charging me for the most expensive package but providing the most basic. Declined a rebate of the money i said they owe me - being the difference between the 2 packages for 16 months.
Reported the problem and they offered one month free!! Surely they are breaking consumer act. no one else to speak to, write to head office and they may get back was the response.
Great, do not use. to be honest they have been reliable in the past, but their rates are high in terms of capacity offered - better deals around look elsewhere!!
It upset's me when she comes home because she has had a bad cmr who says horrible things to her and she let's it get to her, all you people who call up wanadoo just remember most of the time you get a different csa, you may be upset but shouting at them and having a go at them does not help them do their job, they have standards and precedures to stick to and if they do not it is them who get in trouble.
Fair enough it is a pain when you get a problem if you get told to do something if possible make the csa stay on the phone while you do what they ask then if there is still a problem you will not have to call back as you are still on the phone.
I know if you get my sister on the phone you will get all correct information as she takes her job very seriously but if you are rude and nasty to her just think she will help you but if it were me i would think why should i help you, she doesn't even mind if you swear on the phone as long as you are not swearing at her.
so next time you ring up you may be upset but please remember to be as polite as you can manage p.s my sis is on broadband tech and livebox.
p.s always make a note of the csa,s name and extention number then if you have any problem's or thankyou's you would like to give to that csa then you could call up and tell someone about it or ask for someone higher up.
my sister does not know i am writing on hear and no i do not know her extention number ,thankyou for taking the time to read this.
The following month we received a bill for £232.13 plus VAT instead of the £14.99 which was our normal monthly fee as Wanadoo said we had changed to Wanadoo Pay As You Go .
We made no alteration to phone numbers on the computer and had no indication that anything had changed. We curtailed the agreement and the email we had from Wanadoo confirmed that our Wanadoo Any Time Account had been closed.
They say that we -quote - 'may have failed to install your new Any Time access number or have altered your internet settings after completing the registration process' and have offered us £44.97 as full and final settlement. What can we do now?
On the final call I was made an offer of 3 months free connection if I reconsidered my decision and re signed up to Wanadoo broadband. I agreed as the best offer by another provider had been for 2 months free connection.
Until February 2005 I was happy with the service, and had not encountered any problems. On this day I checked my bank account and discovered that a payment for £27.99 had been taken by Wanadoo. I rang the billing enquiry line and explained the situation, upon which apologies were offered and accepted, confirmation of the original offer of three months free subscription was given, and I was informed that a refund of the £27.99 would be made the following month into my account.
As I have had problems with Wanadoo billing service in the past I called the billing line in March 2005 to check that this refund had been allocated and would be going back into my account as informed. The first Member of staff I spoke to was very confused by the situation and found it hard to understand the nature of my query so they passed me to another member of staff in another department. When I spoke to the next member of staff they just listened to my query and without any explanation passed me back to the billing department. The final member of staff I spoke was very helpful, but explained that the maximum free subscription period that could be authorised was 2 months not 3, which left me perplexed as to why I had been offered 3 months. She went on to explain that there was nothing she or any other member of staff could do and that my only option was to write to Wanadoo at their Head Office.
I received a quick reply, however I was amazed that even though I had written a detailed complaint to Wanadoo about customer services and the handling of such complaints, the reply I received showed every indication of my email not being read at all as the reply submitted was in no relation whatsoever to my query and complaint. Further more I was given and told that had I any other queries to ring the
customer support line. I find this most unsatisfactory as firstly it was about the service from the above support line the complaint was regarding and secondly they could not deal with my query so passed me to Broadband support.
I was extremely upset and annoyed that my complaint was not upheld or listened to. And that I was continuously misinformed over a four month period for something that should have been dealt with on the first instance I queried it. I am amazed at the lack of professionalism, staff knowledge and complaint handling of the many employees and departments I have spoken to, and that such procedures of senior staff and management refusing to talk to customers when ordinary staff members are unable to deal a problem. This also applies to the practice of passing through different departments when they cannot deal with a problem. The most disgraceful practice however is the one where a Wanadoo employee can deliberately terminate a call for no apparent reason and no warning given.
I would have appreciated any help Wanadoo could give on this matter as I am very unhappy with the level of service I have been given yet again as this was one of the main reasons for my cancelling my broadband subscription in November 2004. i wish i hadn't gone back
Customer Support isn't much better, in fact worse in most cases. Unhelpful and just plain rude. You can hear them talking to other people while they put you on mute. Being very abrupt and having to 'send an issue form' after speaking to a 'supervisor'. It also takes alot of effort to speak to a supervisor, the CSAs are very quick to try and get a supervisor for you, but the are very quick to say no, so it seems. This to me seems like a lack of training. The supervisors (spoke to them a few times) seem to have the voice of god thing going on. Please.
At the call centers they don't seem to have any connection with their head office. Or their website. Or their network technicians. When things are down they'll tell you they're down, you ask when they'll be up and you get "I don't know" or "Its on the website", when you check it isn't, so you ask them to update it and they say they will, but it never does... Head office can only be contacted by letter, an ISP who doesn't't have an email to head office?
I'm glad to read that the CSA's have to lie about their systems, that they're updating when really they're waiting for the page to change. On several occasions I've had to wait maybe 3 minutes in a call for 'pages to load'.
The email systems they use all seem to use pre generated responses, where they stick in your name and their's.
I don't mean to slag off the CSA's maybe you guys are p**sed because you get peanuts for wages and I don't mean that in a nasty way. Eric is that there in his French Mansion, with all his lady friends, big cars and expensive suits, and you guys are getting jack squat for it. I'd just like to say thanks to the guys who are willing to help.
Bit of advice for the people on this board, if you get a CSA that is worth while then take his/her extension number ;) Sometimes you get through to the *other* call center and wont get the extension but most of the time you will.
Will be chopping Wanadoo very soon, connection problems on and off for the last 10 months. Switching to the great Telewest which my brother has got, seeing as though I use his connection more than my own.
Sorry for babbling on, but I've had a lot of experience with this company.
cheeseycleesey at 26th Apr 2005, 02:06AM
The following month we received a bill for £232.13 plus VAT instead of the £14.99 which was our normal monthly fee as Wanadoo said we had changed to Wanadoo Pay As You Go .
We made no alteration to phone numbers on the computer and had no indication that anything had changed. We curtailed the agreement and the email we had from Wanadoo confirmed that our Wanadoo Any Time Account had been closed.
They say that we -quote - 'may have failed to install your new Any Time access number or have altered your internet settings after completing the registration process' and have offered us £44.97 as full and final settlement. What can we do now?
I ordered the upgrade online and it arrived within the time period specified. It was easy to install and everything was wonderful for two weeks. It then suddenly stopped working for no reason.
I phoned the help line and was advised to reinstall and call back. 6 phone calls later it still wasn't working and the person on the phone said I needed a new reciever and it would come in 3 to 5 working days. Hah. What came was two envelopes to return items.
I phoned up, a very nice lady apologised and said there was a coding error and they'd get it in the post to me. Hah. Another envelope.
I phoned up and was told they'd just discovered a coding error (the same error I'd been told about the week before). Another envelope
Then after more attempts to get the current equipment to work I was told I needed a new light box. An envelope arrived. At this point I confess I may have been less than friendly on the phone. I said I wanted to cancel and was told I'm not allowed to !! I was told once the equipment arrived if it still didn't work I'd be able to cancel then.
A new Broadband light box kit arrived. It doesn't work.
I phoned up to cancel and was told they need to send another set but if that doesn't work then I have to have a cabled Broadband connection and I still wasn't allowed to cancel. When I pointed out the whole point of the Wireless kit for me was that I have a phone point downstairs and a PC upstairs I was told I should move my PC into my living room! We asked if we can have our old Anytime account switched back on so at least we have 'net access while we're tryig to solve the problem. We could but only if we wanted to pay the monthly fee on top of the Broadband monthly fee which we're still paying and receiving nothing.
During all this time I was constantly told to redial and select option one and the two and then three and then four and then back to one etc.
I now have no internet capability at home which means I have to make all e-mails etc in my lunch time at work. Last year I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and I rely on the 'net to keep myself informed of new treatments and also to keep family and friends up to date with my health.
I'm now consulting with a solicitor with a view to trying to cancel this apalling state of affairs and try with someone a little more helpful. I'm also writing to Wanadoo to complain and sending copies to Which and to Watchdog.
If by any chance a Wanadoo employee who can actually help is reading this please get in touch.
I was expecting payments of 34.99 to go through, I was flicking through my bank statement one day and noticed I was being debited for 62.98, Basically after changing my account from 512 to 1meg I was being debited for BOTH account types all at once!
I looked back through my statments online and noticed this had been happening for a few months and as a result I was now owed over £120. I first spoke to the call centre in January, they were very apologetic and said I would be credited again on the 28th Jan. This didn't happen but the amount taken out of my bank had gone down to 34.99. I spoke to the call centre again and they this time told me my refund will now go through on the 28th Feb. I was also told there is no such tariff at 34.99 so my debit should actually be 27.99!
February 28th came and went and guess what, still no refund and they had debited 42.44!!!! So I decided it was time I phoned up again. This is where the fun really began. Although the phonecall was around 15 minutes long, in that time I ended up speaking to 6 different people, and each time I was transferred I had to retell the whole story again. Twice I was put through to the cancellations team even though at no point did I say anything about wanting to cancel. I finally got through to a team senior of some kind and after retelling the story again I was told my refund had been "escalated" and I could either be credited back by having free broadband or my refund of £150ish would go through on 28th March. I knew that I really did not see myself wanting to stay with Wanadoo another 5 months to make this offer worthwhile so I opted to wait until 28th March - I checked my statement today and still no refund but at least they've finally started debiting me the right amount.
I made another phonecall just now and was told my case was still with the escalations team, at that point I wondered if something fishy was going on at Wanadoo and from there I stumbled upon this site....
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