Had my first “run in” with Telefonica today!
I couldn’t make out going calls from my landline, which has been operational for almost 2 years without a hitch.
My computer was still working although i must admit i have never used an ADSL service as slow as this (gripe number 2) So i just thought maybe there was a local fault and it would be fixed soon.

By 10pm this evening i called 1004…......wait for it…........14 times before i got an answer. I asked to speak to someone in English, but was told there was nobody available (how many English speaking clients must they have?) so i said, thats fine, hablo en castellano (it’s basic, but i can get by) I explained i had no out going line, to be told i hadn’t paid my bill!!!!!!

I explained that i pay every bill that’s comes through the letter box, although i have to admit that i don’t keep track on how often they come. Having said that, i received the latest bill last Friday, and would normally pay it sometime this week, when i’m in the bank. This latest bill was for a normal amount of around 85 Euros.
So the guy said, no you didn’t pay the bill for September, to which i replied, i obviously didn’t receive it, or it would have been paid, and why didn’t you just add the amount onto this bill…........oh we don’t do that, he said….......strange i thought!

So i asked if i could pay both bills right now on the phone with my credit card…..........no we cant do that he said….........even more strange i thought…...a company with 100 million customers worldwide, and they dont accept payment over the phone…....what century are we living in?????

Trying to keep my cool, and not sound rude, i asked how i could get connected immediately, he said you cant, you have to go to “Banesto”...................i thought, is he swearing at me?......lol…............never heard of it.
He informed me that it’s a bank…........hallelujah…......where is it, i asked, he said he had no idea in my area, and to look in the yellow pages…........what fantastic service, i thought.
I then expalined that it wasn’t my fault if the bill had gone astray in the post, and did they not look at a clients history of payment before they just cut off the service…..................answer…......no they dont….................how considerate i thought!

So to cut a long story short, my nearest Banesto bank is a 60 kilometer round trip, which i will have to make tomorrow, because i need my phone back ASAP for work.

I can remember many years ago in the UK, British Telecom, had this same arrogant attitude towards customers, because basically if you wanted a phone, you had no other choice but them…..........................until…...................the dreaded cable companies from the USA ripped up all of our pavements and installed competition to BT…..cheaper line rental, cheaper calls, cable TV that was cheaper than Sky, and BT lost so many customers in 3 years, that their customer service department couldn’t do enough for you if you had a problem…..........closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, comes to mind.

I do hope that one day soon Telefonica gets their wake up call…....it’s called competition, what a can of worms that will open up.

Until then, i will have to suffer their holier than thou attitude to the customers who pay their wages, and God help me in a few weeks time when i move house, albeit, only 700 meters down the road, and i want my line, with the same number transferring!!!!!!!!!

Will keep you posted.

Well, after the last thrilling installment with Telefonica, i decided to try and get through and speak in English, before i did a trip to Batea to find the Banesto bank.

Not too bad (i’m being sarcastic here) it only took 11 attemps to be transferred to customer services this time. I spoke to somebody in English and asked if i really had to make a 60 kilometer trip to pay my bill? The woman was quite courteous, and said if i gave her my bank details, they would take it directly out of the bank. I explained, that after my conversation in Spanish the previous evening, and telling the young man that i would pay the bill first thing the next day, they had cut off my ADSL during the night, to which she said she couldn’t comment!!!

So i gave her my bank details immediately, then asked how long it would be until i was reconnected with the world? 24 hours she replied…............incredible i thought, but i dont suppose i can do anything about it.

So, i would have to wait, and wait and wait, because the next day at the same time, neither the phone or computer connection were working, they were still DEAD!

So, i called again, this time 10 attemps to get through, so i suppose that’s an improvement.

A different young lady asked how i had paid the bill, i asked, dont you have a computer screen in front of you with the history of these calls and comments….........she said no! She explained that she would have to contact the relevant department to see if the payment had been received and she would then request the reconnection. Again i asked how long this would take, she said hopefully today…........................hopefully, i thought.

I asked if she could pass on some information to her superiors, she said yes of course.
I had heard that Telefonica had bought the mobile company in the UK called O2, she said yes, that is correct, so i said that they had better get their act together, because there is so much competion and other choice of service providers, and quite frankly the great British public would not put up with such haphazzard business dealings, and they would lose a huge proportion of their customers…..................................i must remember to watch out in the financial reports during the next year or so.

Thank God, i am now reconnected, and everything is back to normal, if that’s what you can call it, but i will mark down every bill and payment with them, because even when it’s not your fault, they just pull the plug!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Jool,

Yeah, sadly this sounds all too familiar to me. So far I’ve only had one problem with Telefonica but luckily had a Spaniard call and talk to them for me. I mean, I could do it in Spanish but when you piss off the customer service or they detect that you’re pissed off they start speaking faster and it just becomes a big pissing match… which, in Spanish, I lose. :( That happened with Wanadoo actually.

Hi Jools,

“I do hope that one day soon Telefonica gets their wake up call…....it?s called competition, what a can of worms that will open up.”

As a matter a fact… this is YOUR wake up call!
THERE IS A MUCH BETER ALTERNATIVE THAN TELEFONICA!

Since 2006 a company from the UK has begun to battle against Telefonica.
They have around 750.000 clients in 5 countries and still growing strong!!! Why?
They don’t spend millions and millions in advertising (bothering consumers). Instead they focus on service and low rates!

Everybody you call in the company speaks English. (I think they hire only people who can speak english).
Also you get a direct number from your personal account manager. No anonymous call center stuff, but professional, personal & direct contact who solves everything directly & speaks your language.

PM me and I will give you more info/details okay?
Or call me +34 630401592.
Cheers!

Why not always pay with direct debit system ?? Just a thought…..........

I don’t find the ADSL by Telefonica THAT slow, it’s quite alright actually, and I use the net a lot…

Thanks again for pointing out www.Onspeed.com though 😉