Open letter to Telekomunikacja Polska S A

To whom it should very much concern,

You don’t need to know much about me other than the fact that I am one of your customers, but in case that is not enough. I am 49 years old and I have 30 years business experience, 20 of them at director level. I am currently a członek zarządu in the Warsaw office of global consulting company with responsibility for a part of our business throughout Central & Eastern Europe. I also have clients and it is part of my job to look after them. In other words, I know something about business and also about looking after customers.

It is now 8 weeks since we ordered a neostrada internet connection to our home and 7 weeks since the modem and installation kit was delivered (Faktura F13422003908200808). As I write this letter, there remains no working internet connection in this home, no clear idea of why it doesn’t work and no indication at all of when it might work or even if it will ever work. This is in relation to an order for a 2Mb neostrada service that you have received from a business customer who already has numerous telephones and neostrada connections working within the same residential estate as our premises. The estate lies within the boundaries of Poland’s capital city, not in a field in the middle of nowhere. Dealings with TPSA thus far have demonstrated clearly that you are unable to retain data or information for any period of time and need everything repeating frequently, so, to recap:

1. I know what I’m talking about.
2. You have a very simple order for a 2Mb internet connection (number – TEL 000042377497)
3. It is an order from a business customer who already has working TPSA services in the same location.
4. The location is in Warsaw.
5. You have achieved nothing in the last 8 weeks. (unless you consider my deteriorating mental health an achievement?)

The very beginning of the story set the tone for what was to follow. I personally visited your ‘shop’ in Arkadia shopping centre around late July. After the customary 20 minute wait to be seen, I was told that they cannot discuss anything with me directly but if I come back with a KRS named board member of the company who owns the lines everything will be dealt with. I returned a few days later with the requested board member. We again waited 20 minutes to then be told that as we were business customers your shop was unable to deal with it and we should call 9330 instead. We pointed to the sign hanging over the unmanned counter in the shop stating that it was for ‘business customers’ but nobody in the shop was prepared to deal with a business customer.

LESSON #1 – remove the counters and take down all the signs in your shops that suggest business customers are welcome as they are not. This will provide more space for the very long queues of personal customers.

MY TIME WASTED – 2 hours – getting to and from Arkadia and queuing in your shop.

We then arranged for the Prezes of the company to call 9330 and place the order. She did this and we were given the order number mentioned above. For some reason, we were not allowed to collect the modem but had to wait for delivery and installation. It took a week for the modem to be delivered and when it was delivered it was via a courier and with nobody to help with installation. When we had been neostrada customers at our last address, we were allowed to place the order in the shop and take the modem away with us from the shop.

LESSON #2 – if business customers need an internet connection quickly, don’t make them wait a week just to be given a box by a courier when they could collect the same box from your shop immediately.

MY TIME WASTED – 5 hours – having to be home at 12 for a courier who turned up at 5.

In the absence of anyone to help, I installed the Sagem 800 f@st modem myself. It didn’t work, would not connect, error code 680. I made my first call to 0800 102 102 who tried to work out what was wrong with no success. They gave me my first ‘numer zgłosenia’, I forget what it was as there have been so many since then.

What followed would take far too long to transcribe but for the sake of your understanding, the list of possible problems includes (this is after repeatedly explaining that I do know how to plug into the phone socket and the USB and that I do know how to use a microfilter on the other telephone):

1. There is a problem with the line
2. There is a problem with the centrala
3. There is a problem with the order
4. We must register the system (without having any connection to allow this to happen?)
5. We registered the system too early
6. We registered the system from the wrong computer
7. The line will only handle 1Mb speed
8. The line might not handle any speed
9. The DSLAN needs to be changed
10. The line needs to be moved to another centrala
11. The line generally needs to be “rebuilt”
12. The ADSL needs to be moved to a new centrala

The telephone calls I have made are beyond number. They all follow a similar pattern;

• I call 0800 102 102 and get one story
• I call 9330 and get a different story
• 0800 102 102 say they can’t help and I should call 9330
• I call 9330 and they get back on the phone to 102 102
• Every time I am asked for my phone number, every time I give the same number. (they keep losing the post-it note?)
• Every time I am asked at what time someone can call me, we agree a time, nobody ever calls therefore I am always having to call you back.
• Every time I am given another ‘numer zgłosenia’
• Every time I am told “I have sent a note to the person dealing with your case……..”. I have never heard from anyone dealing with my case. Nobody seems to be “dealing” with anything.
• If I ask to speak to a supervisor or director I am told it is not possible for me to do that and I am given no other numbers to call.
• Both 102 102 and 9330 appear to have zero access to any of the technical people (engineers) who are supposed to be doing whatever work needs to be done. They seem to be a law unto themselves.
• There is zero coordination between 9330, 102 102, the person ‘dealing with my case’, the engineers. It is like I am dealing with four different companies. Perhaps I am?
• I call 9330 and press “5″ for English. I always get someone speaking Polish. The last one actually attempted to “instruct” me (in Polish) that I must press 5 for English. I explained that I always do. He gave up.
• 102 102 has no such option for English but I sometimes ask. Sometimes I am connected, often I am disconnected.
• I have made calls both in English and in Polish, it makes zero difference to the outcome although the people speaking English do seem to make more of an effort.

LESSON #3 – invest in a computer system. Allow 102 102, 9330, engineers and “the people who deal with cases” to access the same computer system. Employ someone who knows how call centres and customer service is supposed to work. Customers do not want a ‘numer zgłosenia’, they want action. They don’t want “blah blah” they want to know what is wrong and what is being done about it. Instigate a “red alert” system to catch all customers like me who have been given more than 10 ‘numer zgłosenia” or who’s file is now more than 10cm thick and still do not have resolution of their problem.

LESSON #4 – SEND SOMEBODY TO VISIT THE SITE. So far, nobody has ever visited here when we were home to investigate the problem first hand. Check the modem works, check my computer, check the software, check the line, check the socket………………

MY TIME WASTED – at least 20 hours on calls to 102 102 or 9330, including waiting for someone to answer.

So. That brings us up to the 12th September and from there on I will provide more detail by way of illuminating better all that transpired before this date. On September 12th I was told by 9330 that the line is being “rebuilt”, everything will be fine but it will take until the 17th to finish. I am given numer zgłosenia 40467585.

Nobody contacts me so I call 102 102 on the 17th and am told it will take longer than expected. I call again on the 19th and am told that the line is rebuilt but still nothing works. I am given another number – 40724772. Later that same day I am told by 102 102 that the problem is because we registered the system too early and so the order needs to be canceled and a new order placed. This cannot be done by 102 102 and I should go to the TP shop. I explained the TP shop are not interested in business customers. They tell me to call 9330.

I call 9330. They tell me they have no idea about this registration problem so they will check. Paweł Kłośinski of 9330 actually takes some personal accountability and promises to call me on the 22nd after 14:00. To my amazement, he does exactly that. They guy deserves a medal of honour. The news is not good. There are “other technical problems” as yet unspecified. Someone will get back to me.

Following morning, Tuesday 23rd, someone from telekomunikacja in Torun calls me, po polsku of course. They are telling me that we must order another line to the house, this line will be used only for neostrada and will not cost anything extra. It is not clear why we need to do this other than possibly our existing number is now so confused as to be utterly useless? I agree to the order for a new line. I’m told someone will call back with details, nobody calls.

I call 9330 and get Paweł. He says that yes, an order was made for a new line and someone will be in touch to arrange the time for installation. He gives me the order number for the new line – TEL000043372373.

Nobody calls me regarding the installation but some people from TP turn up at our house on Thursday 25th (yesterday) at 11:30, while we are all out at work. I subsequently discover they were there to install the new line. They ask our cleaner to let them in and show some papers. Our name is not on the papers so the cleaner refuses entry. They try to call Pani Traitler (the Prezes) who is on holiday and therefore not answering the office phone. The engineers leave. Nobody called me, the person who’s name and phone number have been recorded 1,000 times regarding this problem, order, zgłosenia.

I get home to be told the cleaner sent some people away. After I calmed down I call 9330. There is no record of anyone visiting, they will pass another note to the “person dealing with our case”. They have no idea when someone will return but “probably tomorrow (today) or Monday”.

Today. Nobody called, nobody visited. I called 9330 to try and make sure I wasn’t going to miss any visit. Nobody has any information. I asked to speak to a supervisor or director and am told that’s not possible. I ask who the person is who is “dealing with our case” and am given a name but no access. I explain that I will be visiting TP’s offices in Twarda personally if nobody calls me back today and lets me know what is happening. Nobody calls.

MY TIME WASTED ON MORE CALLS – 3 hours.

TOTAL TIME WASTED SO FAR – 30 hours. My normal charge out rate = 220 Euro per hour which equals 6,600 Euro. You can expect to be getting an invoice from me soon.

So where do we go from here? I’ll be visiting your offices personally on Monday. I know where you are and it is 5 minutes walk from my office so, for once, you won’t be putting me out too much. I have read your information to investors on the internet, of course not from home as I’m still not connected. I’ve also read your annual report. I note in the annual report for 2007 that of five main board members, three resigned in January of this year. That was the three that were, by the looks of it, responsible for running the company. Everyone except the CEO and HR. Is that because they couldn’t stand working for such a poorly managed company, or because they were responsible for creating this disaster you call a company?

I also note your recent news that;

On 25th September 2008 the Supervisory Board of TP S.A. appointed Mr. Ireneusz Piecuch and Mr. Piotr Muszyński as Members of the Management Board. Mr. Ireneusz Piecuch was appointed a Member of the Management Board in charge of Corporate Strategy and Business Development, while Mr. Piotr Muszyński – Member of the Management Board in charge of Operations.

It took from January until September to fill those critical gaps in your organisation???? Do you have any idea what has happened in the meantime????

I note that with regard to Mr Muszyński;

He joined TP S.A. in 2001, holding the position of Director of Customer Care Branch. In 2005 he was assigned to the position of Director of Sales and Services Division.

As he has first hand experience of your “Customer Care”, he’ll be the person I’m looking for first.

I found this passage from your annual report most interesting;

WE STAY ON TRACK BY BEING CUSTOMER-FOCUSED
In an increasingly saturated market, it’s more important than ever for us to keep our customers at the heart of everything we do. We know that better customer service translates directly into improved customer loyalty: a win-win situation. Being customer-focused also means listening to your customers and giving them services that fit their needs and their budgets.

I’ve been in business long enough to understand that you have to write this kind of thing in your annual reports, even if it is in your case, complete fiction. I do however suggest you read it again, it is a good philosophy and one you really should pay some attention to if you wish to retain a single one of your current customers should the considerable protection you currently enjoy ever be removed and your almost monopoly position on the telecom market in Poland comes under serious threat.

As you can see above, I have very serious cause for complaint and rest assured, I shall follow my quest for satisfaction with renewed energy for as long as it takes and wherever it may lead. If I get no satisfaction from a personal visit to Twarda, I shall investigate other avenues. I don’t want to be vindictive but I do want to discover is there is a single person within or associated with Telekomunikacja Polska S A that either a) cares about customers or b) is able to get anything done.

You may think I am a lonely, twisted, atypical customer of yours. I can assure you that I am not. There is not a single person I have spoken to who does not think your company is a joke to deal with and probably the worst run enterprise they have ever come across. This is a business model I’m not familiar with – while you hold a secure and massively dominant position in the marketplace, spend your time making sure that every customer of yours is extremely dissatisfied. Thus ensuring that when your position is weaker and the competition is stronger, all your customers will desert the TP ship like rats on a sinking ship. Sharp thinking guys!

I’ll be seeing you soon.

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