A feature phone has been in the hands of Mystery Caller since last year after he lost his iPhone 4. Can the networks suggest the right smartphone for him and bring him back to the future?
6: Virgin
What Roley was doing was offering me the most expensive tariff and disregarding my allowance preferences
Manner – 3/5
Understanding – 2/5
Knowledge – 1/5
Helpfulness – 1/5
Clarity – 1/5
Overall – 2/5
Total – 10/30
5: T-Mobile
Once again, the CSA had bypassed the others and put me straight onto EE, this time without even telling me!
Manner – 3/5
Understanding – 2/5
Knowledge – 3/5
Helpfulness – 3/5
Clarity – 2/5
Overall – 3/5
Total – 16/30
4: Orange
It appeared I was being offered an EE contract anyway, despite my insistence of wanting to go onto Orange
Manner – 2/5
Understanding – 3/5
Knowledge – 4/5
Helpfulness – 2/5
Clarity – 3/5
Overall – 3/5
Total – 17/30
3: Vodafone
He recommended the iPhone 4s. I was a little perplexed by this as it is almost three years old and was wondering why he didn’t offer me the iPhone 5c for just a few quid more
Manner – 4/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 4/5
Helpfulness – 3/5
Clarity – 3/5
Overall – 3/5
Total – 21/30
2: O2
Mike asked if I was after a smartphone with a big screen and if there was any particular colour I liked. Wow! He really was going for it.
Manner – 5/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 5/5
Helpfulness – 5/5
Clarity – 4/5
Overall – 4/5
Total – 27/30
1: Three
Three had a World Cup-related offer. Normally there would be an upfront charge of £49 for the Google Nexus 5. But as long as England remained in the tournament, it would be £19.66
Manner – 5/5
Understanding – 5/5
Knowledge – 5/5
Helpfulness – 5/5
Clarity – 5/5
Overall – 5/5
Total – 30/30
Summary
What should have been a straightforward task had a feeling of the good, the bad and the ugly.
‘Roley’ at Virgin just got everything wrong, from handset choices to pricing, largely because he gave the impression he didn’t know what he was talking about.
The CSAs at both Orange and T-Mobile continue to direct me onto an EE tariff, even without telling me, which immediately loses them points. Both asked decent questions but the calls became more confusing.
Vodafone’s Ricky put in a decent shift but the length of time he took to ask my budget let him down, while O2’s CSA Mike showed good all-round knowledge in gaining high marks.
Rob at Three was the clear winner and due to his assertiveness had a clear idea of what I was after less than a minute into our call.
Full article in Mobile News issue 566 (June 16, 2014).
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