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Dear Tod,

Re: FOXTEL Account

Let me start by thanking you ever so much for sending me a generic letter of apology.

I think it is truly fabulous that you will be using my horrible experience as a case study to better train Foxtel’s incompetent staff. It’s just wonderful that Foxtel will be further benefiting themselves so as to make as much money as they possibly can. I am certain that they are desperate for case studies such as mine as the company is surly sinking fast with the unacceptable way that it’s employees treat their customers. Not to mention that pay TV is essentially a thing of the past in today’s fast pace world of high tech free to use and view devices.

At what stage exactly did I tell you that the situation was resolved? Could you please forward me the email stating that I was satisfied with the way my ‘case’ had been handled? I will give Foxtel it’s first bit of advice for free:

Never assume anything!

This morning my husband called your Customer Service department to find out why the service still had not been activated. He was told that he needed to pay a $50 reconnection fee- the fee which was supposed to be wavered because of an “accident” made by one of your members of staff on Tuesday the 1st of this month.

He was further inconvenienced by having to wait on the phone until someone could work out where the notes from Tuesday were. A team leader had to be involved because there supposedly were no notes on the system.

Later in the day I attempted to play back a programme I had recorded on the Foxtel box, only I couldn’t. So I called to find out what the problem was. I spoke to a member of staff by the name of Christine who informed me that all team leaders were in a staff meeting and would not be finished until 3pm. How incredibly convenient for Foxtel.

I called back at 3pm and spoke to a team leader by the name of Penny. I explained the entire situation. Somehow as if by magic she had located the notes from Monday and explained to me that because of an error caused by Foxtel’s staff I now could NOT access ANY of my pre recorded programmes. I asked her what she thought the point of my service was if I could no longer access programmes I had recorded and saved.

Penny could not answer the question. In fact she told me that she did not know. I suggest you go to the voice recording and listen to that. It amazes me how when a consumer does not have a Foxtel service, staff from Foxtel harass them with telephone calls every few weeks to explain in grate detail “why” they NEED Foxtel. Yet once a person becomes a Foxtel client then suddenly Foxtel employees have NO IDEA WHY a person needs the service. Fascinating isn’t it.

By the end of the call I was completely disillusioned. When she offered me ten dollars off my contract for the next three months of my service I knew that there simply was no empathy for the situation whatsoever.

So that we are clear:

Monday the 31st: a call was made to your billing department to arrange a part payment. A member of your staff said that was not possible. So they were informed that the account would be paid in full by the end of the week.

Tuesday the 1st: a call was RECEIVED by my husband from a member of Foxtel’s staff who could not speak fluent English. Whilst on the call she claimed to have “accidentally” disconnected the service.

Wednesday the 2nd: Foxtell was paid in full. However as it was paid through Australia Post the service could not be reinstated- or at least that is what was claimed by your rude staff.

What truly amuses me is that you Tod received an email at 9:26am on the 3rd of April from Laura White asking you to contact me regarding my initial complaint. Yet you chose not to contact me until 4:08pm on the 4th of April. After I had spoken to Penny.

The only reason why I did not disconnect my service whilst on the phone to Penny was because I wanted to see how well your Formal Complaint Department would be able to handle the situation. From the look of things clearly you can’t handle it very well either.

For your information ten dollars off my account for the following three months is not any kind of incentive when considering the depth of error on Foxtel’s part. The rude members of staff that I have had to endure. Not to mention the inconvenience.

I am on an $80 plan. And I have been your customer for quite some years now. Just think of all the money Foxtel has made off me. And yet they allow their staff to treat me with such a shocking lack of care.

Did you honestly believe that the situation was resolved.

As a Customer Resolution Specialist one would think that you could have at least had the decency to answer the only question I asked you when contacting you initially.

Keeping in mind that it’s my ongoing business that pays Foxtel who then in turn pays it’s staff one would expect some kind of effort be made to ensure the satisfaction of the people that keep Foxtel running. But there isn’t.

I am happy to inform you that you can go ahead and disconnect our Foxtel service now. I no longer wish to entertain your rude staff and I am no longer entertained by Foxtel’s repetitive content.

Thank you for giving me reason to end my subscription,

Rochelle O’Connor

▼ Hide quoted text

> On 4 Apr 2014, at 4:08 pm, “Customer Advocate (MEL)” wrote:
>
> Dear Rochelle,
>
> Re: FOXTEL Account
>
> Thank you for your email regarding the customer service you received. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you and for the added frustration this has caused you.
>
> I am disappointed to hear that the service you have recently received has placed Foxtel in an unfavourable light. We do strive to provide superior service standards and I am sorry this was not the case in this instance. Please be assured your feedback has been taken on board and we will use your experience as a case study to identify areas of improvement to ensure that we continuously improve our service and offering.
>
> After looking into your concern, it was unfortunate that this error was made, I do see that it has now been rectified and your service has resumed your existing package as of today 04/04/14.
>
> Once again I do apologise for the distress that this has caused you.
>
> Should you wish to discuss this matter further, please don’t hesitate contact me on 1300 854 530. I am available between 9am to 5pm EST Monday through Friday.
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
> Tod Julian
> Customer Resolution Specialist
>
> Foxtel | 1-21 Dean Street, Moonee Ponds VIC 3039 | foxtel.com.au
>
>
>
>
>
> —–Original Message—–
> From: CorporateAffairs (SYD)
> Sent: Thursday, 3 April 2014 9:26 AM
> To: Customer Liaison Team Escalations
> Subject: FW: Customer Service
>
> Hi,
>
> Could someone please respond to the following complaint.
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> Laura White
> PA to Group Director, Corporate Affairs
>
> T +61 (2) 9813 6140 | M +61 (0) 415 117 581 Foxtel | 5 Thomas Holt Drive, North Ryde NSW 2113 | foxtel.com.au
>
>
> —–Original Message—–
>
> Sent: Thursday, 3 April 2014 8:29 AM
> To: CorporateAffairs (SYD)
> Subject: Customer Service
>
> To Whom it may concern,
>
> Account number:
>
> On Monday the 31st of March, my husband contacted your billing department and requested a payment arrangement via credit card. He was told that the bill must be paid in full and that a part payment was not possible. So he informed them that the bill would be paid in full by the end of the week.
>
> He then received a call on the 1st of April from an employee of Foxtel who foolishly claimed to “accidentally” disconnect our Foxtel service whilst on the phone with him. She said that she would wave the reconnection fee as it was an error on her part, but that the service could not be reconnected until full payment of the bill was made.
>
> Yesterday, the 2nd of April, you received full payment of the bill, but because the payment was made through Australia Post, your staff refused to reconnect the service until the end of the week as they are unable to see the payment, even with the receipt number provided.
>
> All I asked was that the basic service be reconnected. It’s virtually just a switch of a button from Foxtel’s end. I did not ask that we have our whole package be made available immediately. Simply just the basic- free to air channels.
>
> Your company refused.
>
> Here is what you need to understand. I am a mother of four children. My life is so full that I don’t have the time to sit down and watch Foxtel. My children are at an age where they aren’t particularly concerned with TV. Don’t forget that all of your children’s content is available through the Disney Junior website which means if they really wanted to watch something in particular they could. And they wouldn’t even need to wait until a particular time when the show is airing on Foxtel. Through the various children’s website they could have instant access to the shows they want immediately. Then of course there is my husband who gets home late from work. Barely has time for dinner before it’s time for bed again.
>
> You need to understand that your service is a luxury. It is far from an essential service. Everyone has financial difficulties and payments can’t always be made on time. But at the end of it all your company has no right to have treated us as badly as what they have over the last week. Your customer service is absolutely horrible.
>
> Please don’t forget that you are providing me with a luxury which I do not need. We are paying you. Without my service it’s Foxtel that loses out on a customer. Without me you don’t get paid. And after the way I was spoken to yesterday by an employee of your’s by the name of ‘Wendy’ I just don’t feel any incentive to stay with your company.
>
> You have made my family go without your service for this long, so could you please give me one good reason to stay with Foxtel?
>
> This e-mail, and any attachment, is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it from your system, do not use or disclose the information in any way, and notify the sender immediately.
> Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not be the views of FOXTEL, unless specifically stated. No warranty is made that the e-mail or attachment (s) are free from computer viruses or other defects.
>


Posted by someonesmother, 4th April 2014


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  • Thanks for the tip off on how Foxtel treats customers.

    Reply

  • nice story for read

    Reply

  • I disconnect from a power supplier after they failed to acknowledge my attemps to contact them regarding a complaint. As soon as I did that I got phone calls, emails and letters asking why!

    Reply

  • oh my so pleased I no longer have them, we had an argument about the greek chanel being put on and never taken off and constantly charged for… no one in my house knows greek

    Reply

  • what an awesome company…not!

    Reply

  • They sound horrible and i would never join there service as they have constant repeats!!!

    Reply

  • And speaking of Foxtel I just received a text from them saying I owed $31 for early disconnection. We disconnected at the end of our contract in October last year and I just spent 16 minutes on the phone to someone I could barely understand, who had to place me on hold half a dozen time just to check that I was right and that he could waive that $31. Talk about incompetent!

    Reply

  • Dear Tod, thanks for the form letter but next time lift your game!

    Reply

  • If this is how you are treated, we will never be a customer of FOXTEL.

    Reply

  • Hahaha nice response. It\’s good to see people speak up when they\’re not getting the service they pay for. Absolutely unacceptable service from Foxtel.

    Reply

  • I am so glad i have never and will never be a customer of foxtel so many of my friends have trouble with them overcharging them its no way to run a company.

    Reply

  • Good on you, I am glad I am not one of their customer.

    Reply

  • I am so glad that I haven’t bothered with Foxtel!!

    Reply

  • Wow – This WAS me a few weeks ago – their customer service levels have sunk so far below what they used to be I would be leaving, except they signed me up on a new 2 year contract without my knowledge when they FINALLY replaced a faulty set. I was told when I signed the work order confirning the arrival time of the fellow, that that was the new contract agreement, and I had not cancelled it within 48 hours so tough luck… Hello Ombudsman…

    Reply

  • Glad I haven’t bothered with that then.

    Reply

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