Sunseeker1st

Same here. Lazer would not help and we are not exactly in nowhere land either but off a main road. Apparently a hill is in the way.

Jon-Bxl

Hi
I can't get through to MEO support in English

On My MEO they say on their forum
Solução por Trutafario
+351 961 001 620 press 9

(This is in response to the question I copied at the bottom).

I went to a MEO shop - but they couldn't help - just gave me the number above.

It rings for just under 2 mins and hangs up.

1. Does anyone have any tips on how I can speak to their billing/payment team in English, please? Like the best time of day, alternative number, email etc etc
2. Also is there a formal complaints procedure that actually works, please?

Bill Bryson got it right in this quote

"There are three things you just can't do in life. You can't beat the phone company, you can't make a waiter see you until he's ready to see you, and you can't go home again"

Thanks in advance
Jon

copy of complaint on their forumI have been trying for days to get through to an English speaker and I always get cut off. I cannot get through - I answer the questions, it doesn’t like my answers, when I finally get a human being they put me on hod’ for half an hour and then cut me off. this is the worst customer experience I have ever had in many different countries! iconSolução por Trutafario+351 961 001 620 press 9 Ver original

Rambling archer

jon-Bxl Try this one ... 800209986

BillBullock

This number was posted earlier in the thread. Why would you not try it?

Sunseeker1st

We have been without again since 2 February add their latest is that we will be up and running (that is a joke) by 18 March!!!!!

Jon-Bxl

yes.. it doesn't work for me....

wellinever

Just go into your local MEO shop and ask them to arrange for someone from HQ that speaks in English to call you.
I did it yesterday (Saturday) at 6pm, and had a call from HQ within the hour and job sorted done and dusted in 5 mins.

liveaboard

I've been to their shops a few times; I had the opposite experience.
They asked someone to call, but when the call came the person did not speak English. they said they'd have an English speaker call me back but they never did.
I wondered why I drove all the way to the shop at all, when they just told me to use the phone.

Calling the 800209986 number was successful several times.
Well, I suppose if it was really successful I would have only had to call once!

Jon-Bxl

Thanks (genuinely) liveabroad for the suggestion to go to a MEO shop, but I think this attached message says it all. Im glad you had success this time

I actually did it a couple of weeks ago, but learned that many MEO shops are franchises.. they don't really have much clout. Not their fault.

They told me to go to another (non franchise) shop that was yet another 40 mins driving. Id had enough at this stage.

Whilst I would never expect to be spoken to in English.... When they have a product designed for visitors and offer a service in English, I feel ok to use it.... Assuming it even works

MEO have a good product for me, when it works (of course) but their customer service is so bad that I will jump ship as soon as I find something good... Even if eventually when I need customer service they are just as bad... Frankly it cant get worse!!

Jon

toots sweet

Have to say that I think this is a language thing. They perhaps only have a number of staff who can discuss"technical stuff" so if poss will pass you on to someone else in the hope they understand better.
We've just had an ongoing problem for the last month with our box ,making the screen freeze on/off through programmes.OH speaks PT.
Rings up get a call back a few days later(I know not straight away ,but just glad for small mercies!) telling us to go to our nearest MEO shop and get a new box which we did and its got bells and whistles! Trouble is its too complicated for me to get to grips with.Just happy with the basics me.

macliam

Actually, I think it's a combination of things. Firstly the "doutor/engenheiro" culture in Portugal means that you will find plenty of people with an opinion, but fewer with any technical (let alone practical) experience. This is not confined to MEO, or to Telecommunications, but infects all areas - as I have seen in my dealings with "civil engineers" who seem unable to see beyond the obvious. Nor, I'm sure, is it confined to Portugal - but the culture means that any graduate speaks with the authority of an expert. Secondly, the requirement that one of these unicorns with an actual understanding of your issue will then wish to converse with a mere mortal in English is probably a bar too high..... I'm sure you can see the issue.

The Dr/Engº situation can actually be quite amusing. At one time I was a senior DBA, being classified as a software engineer for many years. I was speaking with some senior managers at EDP, as my BiL was a senior, but non-management employeee. One of them asked if he should address me as Sr Dr or Sr Engº and I played coy (as I abhor this practice - particularly when my BiL was addressed just by surname by the same person), so that when he asked more explicitly what my title was, I explained that I was, by education a Dr. (Graduate in Psychology) but by employment an Engº, but suggested he just used my first name! I think a Martian would have seemed less alien to them at the time!!

Jon-Bxl

Actually it's not a language thing... If a phone company cant answer the phone then it doesn't matter what language you speak... !

Add to that the shops are often franchises with no clout.... Add, also the title if this thread... And we have incompetence all around.

!!!!

macliam

Portugal is not well known for it's consumer protection, so any "helpline" is likely to be an afterthought. However, the lack of contact is not a Portuguese thing, let alone limited to MEO. This week it took no less than 18 paid calls to secure an appointment with my NHS dentist. Each call (made within business hours) was met by a 45-second announcement and a ringing tone ending is the invitation to leave a message - apart from the last one which obviously coincided with the rare circumstance in which a receptionist had concluded her conversation with a colleague........

"Shops" are retail outlets, so the pleasure of having someone to shout at must be balanced by the understanding that the person working there has no more technical knowledge than a Burger King employee knows the name or origin of the animal which provided the meat they are dispensing..... At best a faulty item can be demonstrated and the "correct" report made, anything beyond that is a stretch.

I dislike MEO with a vengeance, having endured their view of "service as a means to sell-on" for years, however they are far from alone in their practices.

liveaboard

The problem with the shops is not about technical abilities; and I'm talking about the company owned ones in Lagos and Portimao.
These are sales points, not technical help. They refer all technical issues to the telephone based technical department.
The employees in the shops have the power to sell things and services, but not to correct billing errors or modify services.
Only the telephone operators can do that, so there's just no use going to the shops to solve problems of any sort.


As for language, the telephone employees can only deal with customers in English if they (the employees) are certified English speakers; so if you get someone on the phone who is able to speak perfectly well, often they still have to refer you to a colleague who is certified. I've had this experience several times.

I did receive a call from a MEO troubleshooter the other day (who spoke English) and we worked out my billing problems. Hopefully, I will be billed for one service package instead of 3 now.

Technically, the internet is working very well now that I swapped out their 4G modem for a better one I bought myself.
As we're unable to get fiber at our house, we have their satellite TV service, which is not satisfactory.

Sunseeker1st

We still have no landline/internet, sine early February. Last indication was 18 March????