russb
join:2011-01-24
Port Orchard, WA | Possible Explanations for recent Customer Service Problems Does anyone Know why PhonePower has been having so many customer service issues lately? I have been a customer for a little more than six months and have been a very happy customer the phone service just works without any problems. One month after I signed up I had a minor CID issue I called customer service and they answered on the second ring and fixed my problem immediately.
Now, 5 months later when they were having the DTMF issues on the toll free numbers I called customer service 3 times was put on hold for 45 minutes and then hung up on all three times. My question is this : What has changed to cause the customer service to degrade?
Did they lay off some customer service staff to cut costs? (I see they shortened their customer service hours)
Are they in financial trouble? (when companies are in financial trouble customer service is always the first to get cut )
Did the VOIP.com acquisition cause this?
After looking at other websites like my3cents and other like it you can see many positive reviews of phonepower until November of 2010 then you start to see a lot of complaints about customer service This was about the time they bought VOIP.com coincidence ?
I hope PhonePower works to correct this problem so they and restore the exellent customer service they once had. Let's Hope they don't start subbing out customer service to India or the Philippines like ooma is doing now. |
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ddwrtSit down and drink with me
join:2010-06-09
Albany, NY
kudos:2 | Well, as you know they did acquire VoIp.com so of course customer service is going to be strapped a little. My best advice is to call late at night or early in the mourning, logical sound advice. 
JMHO I can say with 99% certainty that PP is not in hole... They just bought the customer base of one company and acquired another. Just because a company cuts customer service hours does not mean they are in financial ruin. Like I have told other people Verizon is not open from 5:00 am - 7:00 pm PST (Monday - Friday) does this mean they are in financial ruin, hardly!
My advice, shoot them an email and they will get back to you ASAP if it is not urgent. To be honest email support is usually quicker! Just tell them what is going on, and within a few hours they usually have it resolved. Much better then being on hold for 45 minutes, right? |
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 PhonePowerPremium
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA
kudos:1 | reply to russb
Even though we staffed up significantly, we were inundated with the voip.com migration in the 4th quarter of 2010. These clients have been tucked into our system and are now just "regular" phone power clients.
Early this year we tried an "improvement" in the way we handled client support which backfired and caused huge hold times. We have since reverted to our old system which has significantly reduced hold times again. For example there is 0-2 minute hold time in our call queue right now as I write this.
We are a private company and do not discuss client counts or finances but i will say that we are financially viable and have the largest staff supporting the largest client base we have ever had. That said our user to call center personnel ratio has actually improved (there are more personnel per client than ever).
I will never make an excuse for a client who reports a bad experience because these things can and do happen. I will say that someone with a bad experience is significantly more likely to be motivated to report their experience. Over 40% of our clients come to us by way of client referral month after month. I think this speaks volumes about our overall user experience. |
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| reply to russb
Re: Possible Explanations for recent Customer Service Problems i've been a phonepower customer for about 3 months now and i have yet to get the phone to work correctly! ever since the zippy adapter came, it hasn't worked properly. i've tried contacting phonepower SO many times, via chat, phone, email and get a response maybe. first the phones wouldn't ring, then we couldn't dial out using the zippy (that got fixed when the 3rd guy who called knew to press #--the others didn't) now when you answer the phonem it keeps ringing. i just want the phones to be reliable and work! i've asked for it to be replaced and they wouldn't. i guess if they don't get in touch with us this time, it's a good thing we're on the month to month plan. |
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| This problem should not be hard to solve. Do you have a home adapter (in addition to the Zippy)? If so, what kind? Does it work properly on incoming calls? With the softphone, do incoming calls work if you use a computer headset? If you use a headset plugged into the jack on the Zippy? Have you tried another phone? When you have the problem answering, what do you hear (silence, dial tone, noise, etc.)? What does softphone window show? What does caller hear? What kind of modem do you have? Separate router, if any? |
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| reply to ppprobs
Can you PM me your account info that way I can locate the account? Once I have that info I can have one of the technicians contact you that way we can isolate the problem. |
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PhonePowerPremium
join:2007-07-20
Winnetka, CA
kudos:1
1 edit | reply to ppprobs
I see that you're not a registered user here. Alternatively, please call or email tech support and ask to have your issue escalated to management.
I'm confident that we can get your issue resolved.
said by ppprobs :i've been a phonepower customer for about 3 months now and i have yet to get the phone to work correctly! ever since the zippy adapter came, it hasn't worked properly. i've tried contacting phonepower SO many times, via chat, phone, email and get a response maybe. first the phones wouldn't ring, then we couldn't dial out using the zippy (that got fixed when the 3rd guy who called knew to press #--the others didn't) now when you answer the phonem it keeps ringing. i just want the phones to be reliable and work! i've asked for it to be replaced and they wouldn't. i guess if they don't get in touch with us this time, it's a good thing we're on the month to month plan.
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| reply to Stewart
oops wrong topic |
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