The following recent messages from PlusNet and Orange tell me two things:
1. They have been cutting costs and not investing in people.
2. It is probably time I voted with my wallet.
PlusNet – “Service disruption has always been there, but not in the same frequency as the last two or three months. As regards the experience that some customers have had in that period, we are truly sorry. We are determined that we will not allow this collection of circumstances to be recreated in the future.”
Orange – “We have received your mail and will respond as soon as we can however, we have received a high volume of emails recently which may delay our response.”
Both companies collect money through premium rate tech support lines, and Orange make further savings by outsourcing to India, charging for previously free services and discontinuing others. These are not small companies by any stretch of the imagination and recent performance is pathetic. One friend of mine has recently voted with her purse and cancelled her PlusNet subscription after PlusNet lost all her mail and did not offer anything by way of good will.
So how can they put this right. As well as fixing the technical issues, Invest in people and get some positive PR by showing they are socially responsible by doing something for the community.