Claro burocracy

belgiank

Silver
Jun 13, 2009
3,251
103
0
Yesterday I had dinner with some friends and I asked them if it was normal that I did not receive a bill as yet for the Banda Ancha service, which I got starting sep 16th.

They told me it was not, and that I should check. And that I should be able to do this online...

So, as a "gringo" who does want to do things right (here and in my native country) I surfed Codetel yesterday, and tried to see my invoice online... Unfortunately you have to register, and in order to do this you have to have your last bill ready...

Second option... I called them this morning... yes sir, thank you sir, we will help you sir... you can check your bill online... thank you madam for your help, but as I do not have a bill yet I cannot register for that service... ah ok... let me check this for you sir... "5 minute wait"... yes sir, I see you have an open bill here from the 4th of Octobre, and we could not deliver it, as we do not have an adress of you in our computers...

OK, so how much is the bill, and how do I go about paying it, having no bill...
How much do you think the bill is, Sir?? (the reply)... Well, I don't know, I hope you are going to tell me this... or can I choose the amount? Ah yes sir, the bill is 1079 RDS, oh sorry I'm wrong I think it is 4976.86 RDS... You think???

Yes sir... and your next bill should be there on the 4th of November... and if you don't pay your first bill before that we will close the service... OK...

So she filed a claim... and I'm quite sure they will close this claim in a couple of hours...

So I will be off to the office tomorrow and hope they chose the first amount to pay...whahahaha

As for the bad service of Banda Ancha... I should take my laptop to La Vega, and they will check it... for the upteenth time... they should send a technician over here to see what the speeds are here... what do I care what the speeds in their office are?

Anyways... my only real regret? Those people on the phone are always so polite and helpful (although they can do nothing at all). I would so much like an impolite, rude mother****er at the other end, so I could vent some steam as well...:pirate:
 
Sep 22, 2009
2,875
1,305
113
Don't worry too much about this. There was a previous thread where we openly discussed Codetel's massive internal challenges.

Reclamations for your reclamations for your reclamations and what is so hard to understand is that you previous trouble ticket notes never seem to be in the CRM database. There is never one ounce of hope to resolve your ticket. The agents simply read off a script of protocol and are trained to take all the psychological abuse you can give them.

No bill ever arrives and you will be cut in an instant when you don't pay because you have no idea what the remission date is. The online system is a joke and always gives me the account data one month behind, so it looks like you never paid your bill when you did.

And paying for premium iPhone 3Gs service that is worse than EDGE. 5K/month for service that works 1/2 the time and no hope of breaking the contract.

Broadband service that comes in 256 less that whatever level you pay for. 8 weeks to set up the service and no credit ever offered for a lifetime of inconvenience.

Yo Soy Claro!
 
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santiago2008

New member
Apr 24, 2008
138
4
0
Yesterday I had dinner with some friends and I asked them if it was normal that I did not receive a bill as yet for the Banda Ancha service, which I got starting sep 16th.

They told me it was not, and that I should check. And that I should be able to do this online...

So, as a "gringo" who does want to do things right (here and in my native country) I surfed Codetel yesterday, and tried to see my invoice online... Unfortunately you have to register, and in order to do this you have to have your last bill ready...

Second option... I called them this morning... yes sir, thank you sir, we will help you sir... you can check your bill online... thank you madam for your help, but as I do not have a bill yet I cannot register for that service... ah ok... let me check this for you sir... "5 minute wait"... yes sir, I see you have an open bill here from the 4th of Octobre, and we could not deliver it, as we do not have an adress of you in our computers...

OK, so how much is the bill, and how do I go about paying it, having no bill...
How much do you think the bill is, Sir?? (the reply)... Well, I don't know, I hope you are going to tell me this... or can I choose the amount? Ah yes sir, the bill is 1079 RDS, oh sorry I'm wrong I think it is 4976.86 RDS... You think???

Yes sir... and your next bill should be there on the 4th of November... and if you don't pay your first bill before that we will close the service... OK...

So she filed a claim... and I'm quite sure they will close this claim in a couple of hours...

So I will be off to the office tomorrow and hope they chose the first amount to pay...whahahaha

As for the bad service of Banda Ancha... I should take my laptop to La Vega, and they will check it... for the upteenth time... they should send a technician over here to see what the speeds are here... what do I care what the speeds in their office are?

Anyways... my only real regret? Those people on the phone are always so polite and helpful (although they can do nothing at all). I would so much like an impolite, rude mother****er at the other end, so I could vent some steam as well...:pirate:


lol Belgian...i liked the last part of your post yayyy lol

ok if you still have doubts about your bill pm and i will get it sort out for you

i have access to their system
 

RUBIO4U

New member
Apr 1, 2008
60
26
0
I give you all so much credit for trying to deal with their system. Ahhh, the DR, so much hope, yet still so far behind everyone else. I pay as I go with the cards. When I get the computer telling me that's it, then I put in another card.
 

belgiank

Silver
Jun 13, 2009
3,251
103
0
Open 24/7... they must be joking...

After all the hassles today about bills... I lost service completely around 6 pm...

I called them, as they claim to be open 24/7... so they are not... a friendly person answers you, hears your complaint... connects you to the technical department which tells you, very friendly, there are no techical guys there, but could you please call back the next day... This was technical support...

So I called again, but this time to customer service... yes sir, we understand your problem, but we cannot do anything right now...

I'm not asking you to do anything right now... I just get a message, when trying to connect, that connection to the external server is impossible... does that mean you are having technical problems (which I could understand, as they might happen everywhere)? I could not tell you sir, as there is nobody technical around...

My next question maybe was not so diplomatic... so why are you open 24/7 if you cannot do anything anyway, or see anything anyway... close at 6 pm, and tell customers not to waste their time waiting for an available guy from Codetel, telling you he cannot do anything anyway...

Sorry, a frustrated Belgian
 

whirleybird

Silver
Feb 27, 2006
3,264
322
83
After all the hassles today about bills... I lost service completely around 6 pm...

I called them, as they claim to be open 24/7... so they are not... a friendly person answers you, hears your complaint... connects you to the technical department which tells you, very friendly, there are no techical guys there, but could you please call back the next day... This was technical support...

So I called again, but this time to customer service... yes sir, we understand your problem, but we cannot do anything right now...

I'm not asking you to do anything right now... I just get a message, when trying to connect, that connection to the external server is impossible... does that mean you are having technical problems (which I could understand, as they might happen everywhere)? I could not tell you sir, as there is nobody technical around...

My next question maybe was not so diplomatic... so why are you open 24/7 if you cannot do anything anyway, or see anything anyway... close at 6 pm, and tell customers not to waste their time waiting for an available guy from Codetel, telling you he cannot do anything anyway...

Sorry, a frustrated Belgian

Understandably frustrated - welcome to the DR!!
 

BushBaby

Silver
Jan 1, 2002
3,829
329
0
79
www.casabush.org
Don't worry too much about this. There was a previous thread where we openly discussed Codetel's massive internal challenges.

Reclamations for your reclamations for your reclamations and what is so hard to understand is that you previous trouble ticket notes never seem to be in the CRM database. There is never one ounce of hope to resolve your ticket. The agents simply read off a script of protocol and are trained to take all the psychological abuse you can give them.

No bill ever arrives and you will be cut in an instant when you don't pay because you have no idea what the remission date is. The online system is a joke and always gives me the account data one month behind, so it looks like you never paid your bill when you did.

And paying for premium iPhone 3Gs service that is worse than EDGE. 5K/month for service that works 1/2 the time and no hope of breaking the contract.

Broadband service that comes in 256 less that whatever level you pay for. 8 weeks to set up the service and no credit ever offered for a lifetime of inconvenience.

Yo Soy Claro!

I do not know who you guys talk to when you have problems so I will not comment on the frustrations you have when dealing with Codetel (often referred to as Joke-etel or We-won't-tell).

I have just has an experience with Reclamacions inability to refund charges they made by way of a credit onto my account. It took me 4 months to sort out what should have taken (by Codetel's own customer service reps) just 28 days.

I had to buy a new router for my internet connection but as the internet service was on the account held by 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' SHE would have had to go down & make the application. "No Way" says I, "I have been paying this bill along with my own line for the past 14 years!!!! Anyway, SHE is 'inferma' at the moment so can not get down!!"

Long story very short, I decided to have the internet account changed over into MY name which gave our friends at Codetel the opportunity to charge me TWICE for the router! I complained, got an assurance that I would be credited ............ & waited. Needless to say this did not happen so I refused to pay the double charging on the next bill & only paid the actual amount used in that particular month. The next month I got cut off for being in arrears but a 20 minute call to the Internet department coupled with quite a bit of firmness, got me reconnected within 1 hour AND a promise that the supervisor would speak to reclamacion!!!

Same story the next month except I was not cut off because I phoned the Internet contacts I now had to advise them of the overcharge & persuaded them to insert a 'DO NOT CUT SERVICE' into my file on their computer - it WORKED!!!! I then did the same in month three PLUS talk to Indotel (who are not liked by Codetel & are possibly feared a little bit) & then proceeded to get a SECOND Reclamacion number from Codetel to complain about lack of attention to the FIRST Reclamacion number!!!!

This worked as I got my credit through yesterday!!! (well, they still want RD $236 in 'Atrasas' but we shall fight that one next week!!)

I acknowledge that trying to get through to an English speaking representative is nigh on impossible by using the instructions determined by the Codetel automatic voice procedure so I bypass this & press '3' after the instructions finish (i.e 809 220 1111 then punch in '3' after the voice instructions). At this stage I ask to speak to someone who speaks English (I can manage to explain my problems & needs in Spanish but prefer to understand what they say back to me. As they have to talk more slowly in English, we find this a more acceptable way of communicating!!!). Generally Alex or Christian then come on to the line so we are now 'Old Friends' & they understand my way of doing things!! By being pleasant & jovial whilst remaining firm in my resolve (I think Alex now acknowledges that I am 'Bl**dy obstinate & a pain in the butt') we tend to end up with an amicable solution & always part as friends do - with respect & happy tidings!

Santiago2008.
If you want to help me get back my RD $238 atrasas please feel free to PM me & I will forward you the details!!! I would not presume to just send them anyway as that would be an imposition on your previous offer to belgiank! ~ Grahame.
 
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