hellopeter objectivity & telkom

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jamieb

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Hi Everyone

I wonder about the objectivity of Hello Peter. I counted the first 400 Telkom records in HelloPeter and only 13.25% of them were positive, yet Hello Peter lists Telkom as having the most compliments. Is this simply because Telkom has the most more records than any other company?


THE INCIDENT

Am I miss reading your website? If not, I question the objectivity of your service when everyone in South Africa knows that Telkom has the worst customer service of them all, yet you list them as receiving the most compliments.

The usability of your website needs improvement. Its difficult to find statistics on which companies actually resolve their customer complaints, etc.
SUPPLIER'S RESPONSE
Time: 08:13:06
Thu 15 Feb 07


Hello

Telkom is listed on the most compliments - well, because they have!! See below the chart - last 10 days.
Prblem with customer service is that it's subjective - what may be great service to me might be shocking service to you. While you may think that Telkom provides bad service, there are countless Compliments from Users on this site who disagree. Who am I to argue?
Same goes for problem resolution. There are some customers who believe that the only way to fix a problem with a car bought two years ago and since driven over the Drakensburg is to replace the car with a new one. Other customers simply want the problem fixed.
Because the customer wants a brand new car and doesn't get one, is the company at fault?

We provide a portal for communication between buyer and seller. We do not profess to be an offshoot of Stats SA. But, go to Co's Who Respond > pick one > check their responses.... it's all there. Regards - Peter


To Hello Peter

I'd just like to respond to the earlier Telkom comment.

How can you claim to be objective when you receive big fat checks from the very companies that customers complain about? It is analogous to a search engine that alters search engine rankings based on the amount of money they receive from a company. Essentially, your business model encourages you to observe bias against the very consumers your service is supposed to serve.
 
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I can say this from my experience with Telkom and hallepeter.

I had a problem, posted on hellopeter requesting not to get the standard generic response I've been getting from them, and most of the complaints on that site. Gues what response I got. A generic "a technician will contact you, we have no further information". I got this reponse for about 6 weeks every second day when I phoned Telkom. I then post on the site and get the same response. How is this being helpfull to me? Now because Telkom gave me a useless answer, they get the thumbs up. I don't agree with this at all, and can't see why that gives them the right to be at the top of any list.
 
Yes

This is an oversight of the system. Since Telkom has the most positive responses, it is shown as positive, irrespective of the fact that a tiny percent of its customers are happy with them... They should not be advertised in a good light. Time to let hellopeter know you are not happy - use their contact form.

The bottom line is that they are encouraging people to subscribe to their service by only listing the compliments received on the quick access list for companies that respond (or pay them) and they only list the negative comments for companies that don't respond (or pay them)... poor show IMO.

Someone needs to remind Hellopeter that the only reason Telkom have the most compliments is because they have a horrendous number of clients (who can't go anywhere else for a fixed line telephone)... WHAT THEY NEED TO DO IS REFLECT THE NUMBER OF COMPLIMENTS AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL COMMENTS TO BE FAIR!!!

Try it for yourself:
go to http://www.hellopeter.com/advanced_search.asp
enter Telkom SA in the "Search by supplier field" at the top
Leave the "Date from" at the default - last 10 days.
Search.

What do you know!?
139 records in the last 10 days - page 1 alone has ONLY 4 positive comments and around 35 negative comments!
Negative comments include "No service at all", "Telkom slammed the phone down on me", "The usual Telkom runaround", "High Robbery Continued" to mention a few...
HARDLY A GOOD SERVICE PROVIDER HELLOPETER... AND IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU SHOWED THEM AS SUCH BEFORE I DECIDE TO FUND A 1 PAGE AD IN THE SUNDAY TIMES ON HELLOPETER'S BOS UP OF A RATING SYSTEM... JUST DON'T GET ME STARTED... THERE ARE FEW PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO SHARE YOUR VIEW THAT TELKOM IS A GREAT FIRM BECAUSE THEY PAY YOU.
 
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It seems that the site's objectivity can be influenced by the size of the companies "subscription fee"
 
icyrus said:
It seems that the site's objectivity can be influenced by the size of the companies "subscription fee"
Click to expand...

I lost faith in it long ago. It can be useful though in that it does seem to get companies to respond.
 
Syndyre said:
I lost faith in it long ago. It can be useful though in that it does seem to get companies to respond.
Click to expand...

Yes it gets them to respond, but what good is a response which means nothing, i.e. "I'm responding to your complaint and we are looking into it" Why not respond to the complaint, with something to do about the complaint...
 
MFour said:
Yes it gets them to respond, but what good is a response which means nothing, i.e. "I'm responding to your complaint and we are looking into it" Why not respond to the complaint, with something to do about the complaint...
Click to expand...

The Telkom responses are a joke but other companies seem to respond better. They often post a generic response on the website but then contact you and actually resolve the problem, maybe they don't want to commit themselves to anything in public.
 
Objectivity aside, HelloPeter has been discussed to death on this board. I know I'm not alone in saying I have only had positive results from using HelloPeter.

As far as Telkom is concerned, the sites text is quite misleading but if you had an ounce of logic you'd realise that Telkom's high rankings are based on their responses rather than their compliments. I agree though the two rankings should be separated.
 
jamieb said:
How can you claim to be objective when you receive big fat checks from the very companies that customers complain about? It is analogous to a search engine that alters search engine rankings based on the amount of money they receive from a company. Essentially, your business model encourages you to observe bias against the very consumers your service is supposed to serve.
Click to expand...

Unless I understand their modus incorrectly, I don't think your argument holds water. HP gets paid the same for all 'Responding' companies. You can't say they get more if they receive MORE compliments.:confused:
 
Its a pity Peter is not responding here, considering this site is bigger than his, I am sure he would like to defend himself :>
 
I got results!!!

Using hellopeter got my ADSL working and my phones fixed. This was the only way that communication was facilitated between me and the people that get things done.

The insulation afforded to Telkom by their crappy call centres was stripped away and results were obtained.

Be objective and selfish when it comes to getting service for yourself. hellopeter works.

Indulging in statistical analysis does not matter a **** if you are not hurting from lack of response.

First hand experience and positive results count.

It worked for me!
 
Good for u. I got results from speaking normally to the Telkom reps.
 
Exactly, what it comes down to is it works. Its definitely not a perfect system but if it continues to give me results I'll continue using it.
 
dabouncer said:
Nope, would've thought u read the ADSL topics seen as ur a Super Dude with Super Posts, not a Super Forumite are u.
Click to expand...

I have actually read them, but I'm sure you'll agree that Telkom service through the normal channels isn't exactly stellar.
 
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