Foxtel boosts call centre staff to deal with cancellations
Pay TV operator moves to deal with call centre frustration.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under Subscription
Foxtel is increasing staff numbers to deal with the calls to cancel or suspend subscriptions.
Last month CEO Patrick Delany apologised for delays to call centre calls, confirming call centres were short-staffed due to restrictions put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.
AdNews reports customers have complained to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s COVID-19 Taskforce about not being able to update their plans.
“[Foxtel] has assured the ACCC Taskforce it was urgently increasing call centre capacity which had been shut down because of COVID-19 lockdown measures overseas,” an ACCC statement said.
Despite losing Live sport including the NRL and AFL, Foxtel has given access to more channels to users for free. It is also supporting subscribers facing financial distress.
200 roles were recently cut as it restructured in the fallout from the pandemic, with another 140 staff stood down to the end of June.
Foxtel spokesperson today advises:
- Foxtel call centre impacts were as a result of our Manila and Durban call centres effectively closing due to coronavirus restrictions.
- Call volumes were not unusually high. The issue was simply our inability to get to many calls but we acknowledge the frustration of many customers who could not get through or had very long wait times. We apologise to them for the inconvenience.
- In addition to hiring more people in our Gold Coast and Moonee Ponds centres, our call centres offshore are increasingly returning to normal and from late last week customers should be experiencing a near normal service when the contact us.
6 Responses
Their biggest tech fail being unable to downgrade a package online, has bitten them in the bum. You can only upgrade online, which is instant, so the technology should be there to downgrade.
Like Telstra, Optus etc etc find anyone who wants to.work for $10 an hour and they’ll have them back here in a flash
Is this not the time to return call centers back to Australian shores.With so many at Foxtel loosing their jobs surely they can employ at the centers. Save the language barrier
I’m psyching myself up to cancel but I read this morning that their Drama streaming service is launching in the next few weeks, so might wait and see what that has to offer…
I’ve down graded my package still prefer Foxtel satellite service over say Netflix where you need to watch it,like the ability to record?
Most streaming services provide ample time to watch content you can re-watch movies and shows many times for months to come.
I guess if you want a particular sports item to keep it will prove a bit more difficult, perhaps Kayo could offer a Google style sports archive, if it’s still around in the future.
Note: If your set top box fails any recorded content gets lost too, when it’s replaced.