Customer Satisfaction

On June, 23th, I ordered my first iPhone. The woman at the hotline was very friendly and – considering the fact that Deutsche Telekom had to pay for the call – very patient. However, after the call ended, it came to my mind that I did not mention that neither my billing address nor my delivery address is the address where the “home zone” should be centered around. I had asked for the home zone conditions but I did not tell her the address and she did not ask. So I called again.

The guy that picked up was not as friendly as the woman in the first call. In a voice that clearly stated that I should have known that, I was told that it is not possible for him to access data of an account in creation. Bummer. To me, this meant that the home zone would be centered around my billing address. This means I will get a number with the wrong prefix and that I will have to change the address later – and will have to pay €7,50. She should have asked, I should have told her. Let’s call it my fault.

From then on I did not hear anything from Deutsche Telekom. Until some weeks later when I got a letter that something went wrong. There was a problem when they tried to transfer my mobile phone number from my old carrier. At least, after weeks of uncertainty I knew that my order was in their system. So I called the given (non-free) service number. From the letter I already knew that the problem was also easy to solve: Even though I spelled my name in the first call, they had completely scrambled it. The guy at the hotline could change it so he obviously had access to the contract data. When asked for the home zone address he told me that he can change data in the contract but not add anything. “I don’t want to add a home zone, I already ordered it.” – “Sorry, as far as I can tell, there is no home zone ordered for your contract. But you can add it for free after you activated your SIM card.” Great. I had asked for the option to be active. The good thing: will not have to pay for the correct address.

Two days later I received a mail that the number transfer has been registered and that I will receive my new SIM card 14 days before my contract at my old carrier ends. No word about the iPhone. I was scared.

Time passed by and no news from Deutsche Telekom. Then, about the two weeks before my contract starts, a mail arrived: There’s an regularly updated status page when to expect the delivery on their web page. I could expect delivery just in time. Today (T-5d) it arrived. Well, nearly.

I do have a job. It’s a day job. So, during the day I can not accept deliveries at my billing address. That’s why I gave them not only a billing address but also a shipping address. Deutsche Telekom sent both, the iPhone and the SIM, to my billing address. Again, they ignored important contract data I had given them. This failure means that I have to drive some 10 km to the logistics service to get the parcel. Great.

When the first bill arrives I will see whether they at least booked me on the ForFriends plan. I’m quite sure what is waiting for me …