Forum Discussion
Smarty is very stupiddy...
Wow, nothing but profound problems -- I have paid but they won't hook me hooked me up to to my line. I keep getting chirpy messages telling me to sort out my own phone so I connect woth them! will be asking for my pac code as soon as they (if they know how) get my number transferred. I have discovered recently it is very important to find out if the customer service of a mobile phone company is based in Europe rather than India.. Oops, I forgot to ask, but 1 minute on the Web chat and belatedly figured out to my horror it was India. I am just praying they can manage the number switch before the end of the month. In the meantime I still have my Lycamobile (I was leaving them because they are based in Sri Lanka, haha) I cannot believe Which? have them as a recommended supplier. In the future I will never trust Which?
6 Replies
TomThom_4294804 Have you received the SIM Card and then activated it yet, and did you select a later date for the number port to happen? Check this article, as it may tell you why the port is taking a long time. If you activated your SIM or submitted your PAC Code on Thursday after 5 PM, it should have completed on Tuesday (since this Monday was a Bank Holiday). Did you receive an Email telling you that they started porting your number? If it is delayed as you say, that is not due to being out of business days, you could get compensation. You can also submit a complaint, and if they don't resolve that complaint within 28 days, they will send an Email telling you that you may take your complaint to Ofcom via the Communications Ombudsman.
I did have a rough time dealing with support myself regarding not being able to receive calls after my port, which my previous provider Vodafone couldn't even fix. I contacted support, and they got their team to work on it. They gathered some information from me via Email a couple of times before going silent and sending the same copy-pasted Email 8 times, despite asking them to be transparent with their progress and what they were doing/have done so far, which was frustrating. Thankfully, they resolved it within the second renewal cycle just before I considered switching out. I only stayed this long due to their low prices, and that not even Vodafone could fix it.
That being said, their support can be improved if they shorten the time to fix issues and keep their customers up to date instead of sending the same Emails 8 times. Not everyone would hold out with support for that long, and they would just lose customers and money.
TomThom_4294804 Well then, it's lucky that you are not tied into any long contract.
Bear in mind also that if you find a supplier with a UK call centre, then you are going to be paying for it.
Having had conversations over web chat with agents, I can't say that it has been any worse than many other companies I have dealt with. Why exactly will a European call centre be better?
Leaving a company because they are based in Sri Lanka?? You always buy British? Everything?
No I definitely do not always buy British. However, when I buy British even when it's rubbish I eventually get some reasonable standard of service. European companies are subject to regulation. Bear in mind, the reason companies put their customer service in these countries is to escape regulation and because it is cheap as chips. So yes I do draw parallels between the what I thought was the worst possible webchat based customer service in the world (Lycamobile, Customer service hosted by Sri Lanka) and what I have discovered is even worse at Smarty (customer service hosted by India). I still am not connected with this awful Smarty service in 48 hours-- with Lycamobile at least the connection was competently achieved. I left Lyca because of the subsequently unbelievable inability manifested by it's Sri Lankan based agents, and I am leaving Smarty because they truly cannot even get me to connection. Appalling.
TomThom_4294804 So even if the item is rubbish, as long as the agent is in the UK/Europe then all is good! Wow! I suspect that you will find yourself with an ever-shrinking pool of items that you can purchase.
Yes, of course the companies outsource customer service because they can find cheaper countries - S. Africa, Philippines, India , Sri Lanka etc. This is reflected in the price that the customer pays in so many instances. Having said that, I have had plenty of poor customer service from UK based agents recently as well, so price is not always the sole indicator.
Anyway, the good thing about a company like Smarty is that people are not tied in (as I mentioned) and their product may not suit everyone e.g. customers who cannot get a decent 3/Vodafone signal.
