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Telef?nica - still terrible service, only slightly improved

Jul 2, 2012 · 235reasons · 7 replies · 10661 views
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Hi -
Just got off the phone from Telef?nica. Got through to an operator today, but on Saturday, I had to wait 75 minutes before I gave up.
I had a query about an invoice. Over the past five years there have been many errors, all profitable for Telef?nica, culminating in a major pain a couple of years ago when I was left waiting for a replacement phone for two months despite calling Telef?nica every day, with no one taking responsibility for an internal error. Throughout, I was of course billed consistently.
Today, after a very rude explanation of the billing system, I mentioned the 75 minute wait to the operator and the guy, after a long pause, said: "So what - what do you expect me to do about it?"
I thought Telef?nica had recently improved, under pressure from losing a lot of business to Yoigo, Ono, Jazztel etc but it appears not. I am Autonomo, I now get connected automatically with an English operator (or queue..) The only difference is that someone now tells me to get lost in English, not Spanish.
I don't know how terrible the other Telcos are but if you don't need the coverage I would recommend looking elsewhere before going with Telef?nica.
Cheers
Jul 3, 2012 · foxbat
Couple of questions for you...

1) Why did you not just go out and buy another phone? Telefonica shops have them on sale From about 25 Euros... as do most Ferretarias and the big chain Supermarkets like Carrefour and Alcampo.

2) Telefonica losing business to other telcos? Somehow I doubt it because those other telcos lease bandwidth on the wholly Telefonica owned infrastructure....

Your IP address decodes to Madrid and JAZZTEL...so one wonders why you were talking to Telefonica anyway... your contract would appear to be with Jazztel not Telefonica...

As for how terrible the other telcos might be... so far as I am aware none of them offer customer service in English... you may get a sales agent who speaks passable English when they are trying to sell you something but when it comes to accountantancy questions it's Strictly Spanish....
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Reverse the situation... try requesting BT service in the UK on a Saturday in Spanish (or English for that matter!) and see how far you get... in fact what you will get is a scripted, heavily accented, Indian reply since all calls to BT are routed to call centres in India...

Telefonica may occasionally leave something to be desired when it comes to Customer Services, but they are streets ahead of any of the utility companies in the UK. Overall I have found T'fonica agents to be helpful, be it on their normal 1004 helpline or when dealing with subcontracted agents in their shops (and no I am not fluent in Spanish. not even remotely so).

Incidentally all calls to 1004 are immediately followed up with an automated call from them requesting a score from 0 to 9 in terms of rapidity of response, the information content of the response, the overall manner of the agent, and the customers satisfaction with the service provided.

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Jul 3, 2012 · 235reasons
Hi - I thought rage was welcome in this particular forum - "Come one and all, visit this Spain forum to bitch about Telefonica and be heard."?

Anyway, it is a mobile contract taht I have with Telef?nica, and not a land line. The reason I have stuck with them despite being more expensive and the generally poor service throughout the years - in Spanish and in English - is that their coverage seems to be the most comprehenisive, particularly in the more remote regions.
Jul 3, 2012 · foxbat

> Hi - I thought rage was welcome in this particular forum - ?Come one and all, visit this Spain forum to bitch about Telefonica and be heard.??


Fair comment!

So far as mobile coverage is concerned I can only speak for our local area...

Movistar... 2.5G (EDGE) GPRS locally, 3G a couple of miles down the road.

Orange... GSM cover only

Yoigo... no cover

ONO... no cover

Vodafone claim 3G locally but it's a bit hit and miss.

Strangely enough wifey's Kindle 3G shows a very solid 3G signal but we can't find out which network Amazon use locally. I would guess that its Vodafone (and a fluke) but that's all it is, just a guess!
Jul 3, 2012 · ROB1305
How can you bitch about Telefonica - they don't exist!
Jul 3, 2012 · zania

> How can you bitch about Telefonica - they don't exist!

Maybe so.
But if you go into any O2 shop in the UK they will proudly state that they are part of the Telefonica group and tell you about their links to Movistar in Spain as being part of the same group. :-)
Aug 7, 2012 · goatherd

> [quote author="ROB1305" date="1341320227"]How can you bitch about Telefonica - they don't exist!

Maybe so.
But if you go into any O2 shop in the UK they will proudly state that they are part of the Telefonica group and tell you about their links to Movistar in Spain as being part of the same group. :-)[/quote]

They most certainly wouldn't do it if O2 moved here that's for sure.... LOL