Foxtel has no customer service. They don’t want customers to contact them. Once they have you signed up, they make it almost impossible for you to speak to a service representative about a technical problem.
I have a Foxtel iQ and a Foxtel regular set top box at home. The service on both has been out since Monday. Each time I call the company it automatically resets the boxes and says if the problem continues I should call back. I call back and they reset the boxes again. The only way to get a human to answer is to pose as a sales prospect, they answer the call quickly. Thankfully, one of their human sales people walked the office and found a technical person. This was unsatisfying because all he could do was book inan appointment for a visit.
If Foxtel cared about customer service they would provide a help desk I could call where I could talk to a human. They would make it easier for me to get satisfaction instead of having to wait what will be five days before even having the problem diagnosed.
When speaking to the human yesterday I asked for a service manager to call me. He refused to arrange this. When I complained about lack of service, he said I am on the phone now. he cared less that the service had been out for three days.
Sorry for this off topic post. My hope is that it will attract the attention of Foxtel management or, better still, give a potential Foxtel customer reason to pause and investigate Foxtel service before signing up.
Newsagencies are customer service businesses. We have to be with everything we sell being available elsewhere. This is what competition is about. Foxtel has no competition yet. The next few years will change that as the computer takes over from the TV as the delivery channel for content.
Sorry Mark can’t say I had the same problem. My iq failed one night i was on with a tech within 10 minutes who went through 3 various solutions. Once they didn’t work she arranged for a technician to come around and in 2 days I had a new iq box installed and all was well.
Stephen, In my case both boxes went at exactly the same time. This suggests the problem is not the box. If only I could talk to someone who can help me better diagnose. mark
Mark
I reckon this post could have been bang on target if your introduction read something like:
“Imagine how long your newsagency would stay in business if its customer service was like Foxtel’s”….
Great point Bill. I kept the opening par about Foxtel because of how posts are indexed by Google and others. I did add a small par to the end though.
I hate Foxtel. They have no customer service at all.
I couldn’t agree with Mark more. I have been a subscriber for 10 years but that doesn’t count for much! A few weeks ago our cable and IQ service was down (and stayed down for over 12 hours) and getting in touch with a human was impossible. The thing I loved (loathed) the most was that my calls went through to an automated response service that suggested I call back later when they weren’t so congested and then hing up on me. I am sure that if my bill was not paid so promptly each month they’d have someone calling me ASAP.
Well, big business. What can I say? When contacting them, during the options try to compare between the questions “r u existing customer” AND “r u new customer”. Compare how different the respond would be.
Like Gray, I enjoy the automated response hanging up on me when it decides its too busy to put me through to a human. Apart from one time, when I have got through to a human being, they have been very polite and helpful. However when I lost all my movies and programs from my planner, they did not think it reasonable to refund me, or offer any kind of discount or anything similar to make it up to me.
Due to a house move were told to switch to Austar. We were told the contract wasn’t a problem seeing due to geography we couldn’t use Foxtel (Sound familiar? Contract with no service!)
Anyways we were charged $300 for the change in contract. We’re chasing it up now.
When will newsagents ever get a break? I’m in Queensland and are having enough of a hard time with BE, phonecards etc, still very grateful I’m not in Victoria with all of the tatts/intralot bizz going on. You guys are doing a good job keeping your heads above water.
I am an ‘almost new’ foxtel customer and I already have complaints! Its not a god sign is it… I have just relocated back to Australia fror the UK, where they have whats called ‘competition’ in the cable/satellite TV world. All be it 2 main rival companies (Sky & Virgin) but all the same its competition and the fight is all taking place in service.
I called Foxtel to complain that the ‘technicican’ had not turned up to connect my service as was described in the fodder they mailed to me, all be it on a completely different day than they had originally stated during my phone call when they were falling over themselves to sign me up with what seemed to be ‘the greatest of ease’.
Come the day of connection, no phone call in advance to tell me the technician was coming, no call when he apparrantly arrived and got no answer (??)… The first chap I spoke to was a young upstart that just wanted to put me through to cancel my account (service??) after telling me the ‘technisican’ had placed a calling card under the main glass door… of my apartment building with over 40 apartments in (???) and then hung up on me when I asked for a manager. The second was a genuinely helpful person who also hung up on me when putting me on hold, the third was the most genuine who agreed in my statement, and that of those comments above, that the service was APPALLING… she referred me to an account complaints division to speed up my connection… thank god I dont have a technical fault, as the previous comments have outlined…YET!
Ive now decided not to bother at all. As dismall as it is Im staying with the basics. I envisage future issues and frustrations which I am NOT willing to spend my money causing myself so much grief over.
One day…. we might have a better choice!
hate them too with a passion, i made many calls complaining and nothing was resolved and i sent few emails and nobody even called back , last week series link was down , this week something else is down, i cant wait till my subscription is up in january and i am going to cancel everything i mean how much money can you pay for repeats and more repeats and again more repeats, they make lots of money for not really providing new programs to view just repeats and more repeats and i am sick of paying over $100 for that, and as everyone says no customer service, i had problems with iq as well, i would record movies that i paid for and iq would delete itself and i would call foxtel and if i was lucky enough to speak to someone they wouldnt do a thing, and i expected to get credited but no chance
i am sick of foxtel they need to look into american or european market and see how they operate and what they offer, here they offer nothing and it cost much more then it costs over there
they billing stinks too, i have 2 free movies in my package but guess what i get charged every month for it and every month i ring etc etc,
i think the only way they will learn is for everyone to walk away and that will be a great lesson on how to treat customers and how to offer decent service
anyway good luck to new customers, if i was you i would connect to foxtel, and if you do remember you have been warned
i meant i wouldnt get connected to foxtel and if u do u have been warned
I completely agree. I had to wait 17 days for the technician to come and install. They give you 5 hr window when they would turnup(as if people dont have work). Then he turned up without the connecting cable and then they asked me to wait another 11 days. So cancelled the service. I had the service for about 5 years before I moved. I also helped them connect about 3 multi dwelling places that they must have gained so many customers.
As I say stuff them!
i hate foxtel i been trying to get my foxtel fixed. called so many times, every time said will send tech guy for today i have not seen any body why can’t we have pay tv like american **** Foxtel
to “Michael // Jul 31, 2008”
i work for foxtel and you were charged 300 dollars because you have not returned your equipment. Either that or the charge was created automatically on our computer system and was not yet deducted because it had not registered yet that you had returned your equipment. Just so youre all aware, we have outsourced contractors and they provide us with times and dates for appointments, we dont purposely make the bookings for a full 5 hour window to make you take off an entire day of work. WE KNOW YOU HAVE TO WORK. Even when we have staff accounts connected, we have to find a way to be available for installation. Meanwhile, i have been waiting nearly 12 months for my
Sorry dude you’re wrong. The equipment was returned by registered post and received before the charge. The deal was that the charge would be waived due to the geographic challenge. The charge was a mistake by Austar which wasn’t communicating with Telstra who was not communicating with Foxtel. All three were in some way at fault.
It was all resolved in late November when we threatened to get the ombudsmon onto it, after no less that six hours on the phone over five months, we had our phone cut off because we weren’t going to pay it and we were told by all parties that we did not need to pay it.
It’s all fixed now, I must note the technician that installed it was excellent and went above and beyond with the installation(Austar).
I have learned to live with the inadequate technical service “provided” by FOXTEL and will certainly vote with my feet as soon as my contract period is completed. The factor that I find most annoying is that I elected to pay my bill via Telstra , and that’s the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life. If my cancelled Telstra Bigpond is anything to go by, then the ending of the contract will drag on with Telstra continuing to send bills for several months.
Why the surprise?
Par for the course I would have thought.
The stench pervades, top-down.
I would rather boil my head in vulture’s vomit than ever subscribe to foxtel.
It’s bad enough having to deal with unlce rupert’s news ltd on a daily basis, thank you very much.
Ihave been trying to get foxtel cancelled, but they want me to pay $ 290.00. We moved in november 2007. We had foxtel 7 years at our old address, they say it was a new contract when we moved.i am now dropping to the basic package,even getting rid of iq. Foxtel technition coming this week to change the box,now go figure, it will probably cost them $290.00to do that, but as soon as november is Foxtel will be history for us.yeh we all need to tell them where to go, it is a matter of time before they get competition, hopefully anyway
Interesting. I tried to sign up to Foxtel the other day. They asked for my number which I provided in case the phone dropped out so they could call me back which I thought was strange). Anyway the phone did drop out and I have not heard back since. I am a NEW customer and this was enough to turn me off, and after reading this stuff it confrims I did the righ thing.
does anyone have an email address to make a complaint?
i have spent hours trying to find one and its seeming impossible. i have tried name combinations with their CEO’s name and they are all failing.
they mislead me on new charges and when i called back to discuss this the person on the phone said ummmm then put me on mute and hung up on me… to say im not impressed is an understatement.
the lack of email addresses is adding to this frustration.
any help?
23 April 2009
Here’s a letter I have just written to them….
Dear whoever cares….,
I am writing to tell you about the appalling customer service I have experienced with your company over the past 2 months.
I had been a loyal customer to Foxtel for the past 3 years paying monthly for your premium package.
At the end of January I called Foxtel to advise I was leaving my house and requested my account be transferred to my flatmate ‘xxxx xxxxx’.
My boyfriend xxxx xxxx (also a loyal Foxtel customer) arranged for us to have Foxtel installed into our new home. An apartment at xxxx, South Yarra. The apartments are made up of 3 storeys.
I took the day off on Monday 2 February to wait for a Foxtel Installer to come to my apartment. An installer arrived and spent 2 hours walking around in and outside the apartment. The installer explained how we would require a full installation and that he was unable to do this today. I understood and called Foxtel to re-fix a time for an installer to come and do a full installation.
2/…
I took a half day off on Thursday 5 February to wait for the Foxtel Installer. He arrived about 11am. He spent 1 hour walking around in and outside the apartment. After 1 hour he tells me I need a ‘full installation’. I said ‘I know that’. He said – sorry but I don’t have the right size ladder. (LOL) I was not impressed and called Foxtel immediately. I was extremely angry my time had been wasted again and requested an explanation as to why the installer didn’t know this was a 3 storey apartment and that he would need a ladder. I requested that I was now made a priority for the weekend. The customer service operator then floored me with this response ‘sorry Madam we only make you a priority if we miss you 3 times’!!! UNBELIEVABLE.
So, I ask again for another Installer to visit. This time we were confirmed an AM installation on a Thursday. I requested we were at least made a priority as first job and if not could you please call MY mobile as I will leave work to let the Installer into our home. I cleared my diary of all meetings for that morning. I waited at work. Waited. I got to 12.15pm and called to find out why we had not got an installer? Your customer service advised me that an installer had called MY BOYFRIEND at 11.15am. How incompetent can you get? Not only do you not make us a priority for that morning but you also don’t even call me – even though your customer service person confirmed that the installer should have called ME. By this point I’m thinking this is all pretty Mickey Mouse.
I, for some insane reason, agree to take the priority for the Saturday. An Installer arrives to tell how this is a ‘full installation’ (no SHXT Sherlock) and that he needs to go over the roof and he confirms that next door has Foxtel. He then asks do we have a letter from ‘body corporate’ – at this point I nearly combusted. Was he serious? On the 4th visit we get ask for a formal letter?! The Installer walks inside and outside the apartment – mumbling about how hard the job is and how he now has to call his boss and suggests that he may need to get him involved. He goes to his car and then leaves without saying goodbye.
3/…
On the Monday after I get a call from the contractor customer service asking for me to be home for the ‘senior’ installer to come around and view the property. I suggest that I have I no intention of taking anymore of my time and explain I am only available after 6pm. The customer service person calls me back to say the ‘senior’ installer cannot make it and will give me a call. He calls to find out if I can be home on Tuesday. GAME OVER. I’M OUT. HAD ENOUGH.
I had meant to sit down and write this letter a few weeks ago… but somehow I have much better things to do with my life.
Until yesterday and today. Yesterday I got a call from your customers service suggesting that I owe $200+ for my bill at my previous address. I crack and explain how I moved house, changed ownership to my friend and had no intention of paying a bill not liable to me. Your customer service representative tells me he will call me back. He doesn’t.
Tonight I get another call from your customer service people chasing my outstanding bills. I explain AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN. She offers a ‘waiver’. ‘Waiver’ ?– how can you waive something that should never have been charged in the first place?
Foxtel is the most incompetent, shambolic, farcical company I have ever had the happening to deal with.
I don’t care if you respond because you’ll probably lose the letter and probably just keep calling me to ask for money for a service I don’t get, can’t get.
4/…
Shame because I do miss Eastenders.
Yours sincerely,
From reading your story Hatt 100 it seems the installers didn’t want to do your job because they are not paid enough. if a job comes along that they think is going to be difficult they would rather go to the next one giving you any excuse they think of it’s just bad service.
Maybe maybe look up the bbc shop and get the dvd of the series.
worse customer service.i signed up on the condition i would not pay processing fee.now they have slammed it on my bill.customer reps not helpful,said to hold on then disconnected me and no one called back.LAZY SERVICE
Hi guys I used to work for Foxtel’s call centre and just a few comments I would like to say:
– Some customers are right in what they have to complain about, however ALOT of customers just like to complain about anything and that’s why complaints are not taken seriously.
I’ve had calls about people threatening to disconnect because there was a little ‘press the red button’ logo on the top right of the screen. The guy was going ballastic. Like come on, are you f-ing serious? Alot of times, customers are the stupid ones.
– Some people shouldn’t get Foxtel if they can’t pay the bill. And getting it cut off due to non payment isn’t so bad, it’s a luxury. People almost cry when they get cut off “What am I going to do for 2 days!?” Try going outside fatty.
– Another time a guy went psycho because his Foxtel got suspended due to non payment and his excuse? “It’s not my fault. Centrelink hasn’t paid me yet. So you go call Centrelink and talk it out with them and switch my Foxtel back on now” Err… I don’t think so.
– In response to the article, the technical line you called automatically resets the box because most people never try that and it fixes about 80% of people’s “technical problems”. If you wait 10 minutes before calling you, you’ll find you can get to the advanced technical department.
– Every customer calls up thinking that their problem is the most important problem in the world. And it may be to them, but to someone in a call centre you are just the 80th call that day. Is it our job? Yes, but when you talk to us rudely… we won’t want to help you. Flawed? Yes. The truth? Yes.
– On the flip side, I do agree there are many problems with the call centre. In the call centre, you get commission based on your stats. The lower your talk time, and the lower the amount of time you put a customer on hold, the better. That’s why you get hung up on when you ask for a supervisor. It’s too much trouble getting off your desk and searching for a manager, then explaining the problem to them when you can just hang up. Flawed? Yes. But that’s the reality of call centres, and many other big company call centres are structured.
– Stop calling and asking for free stuff. You won’t get it. We know when people think they can just call up and try to score free credits. Foxtel know better than this.
– Foxtel don’t handle the programming. They just broadcast the channels. If you have a problem with the programming, contact the stations!
That’s all for now
former Employee I agree with you…All of the above complaints from foxtel customers are all rude, arrogant, ignorant, rasict, sexist customers…I want a freebie and i want a free month of foxtel waaa waaa…The commercials are rude the commercials are long i pay for this i pay for that.. Call the WAAMMBULANCE nxt time not foxtel to complain..hehehehe
The Technician Appointments are outsourced to contractors the appointment window is between 7-12 or 12-5, Fact of the matter is that it is the customers choice on whether to get Foxtel, therefore it is up to the individual to meet the appointment time as no contractor anywhere can give you a specific time.
In regards to Call Centers these people you are speaking to are Young Australians trying to earn a decent living, taking almost 100 calls a day. Some customers get way too upset in regards to their Foxtel, screaming at agents just because they can’t get a free IQ. Some are racist too, advising Indian Australian’s that they dont want to speak to them and want to speak to someone else even though they are in Melbourne!
Foxtel is a luxury and should be treated as such. In regards to having “too many repeats” do you realize that you are watching channels that carry slogans such as “TV’s Greatest Hits”? ect. they are there to show TV Classics.
Series Link Issues can be easily resolved by turning your box off by the wall for 30 seconds, then turning it back on.
Hope that helps
Surprise, Surprise, the only positive comments on this board are from those who at one time had a vested interest in Foxtel.
Face it Foxtel’s customer service is second rate at best.
Foxtel as a company only cares about gaining new clients, not about satisfying the needs of its existing customers.
Yes Foxtel is a Luxury and yes I can afford it, but yes I would like Free stuff, why should new customers be offered the world, whilst your long established, long suffering customers get nothing in return.
Where is the reward for loyalty, that’s right there is none, but if I was a new customer I get it all.
No wonder people ring up customer service and complain, people are sick of being treated like a number and not a loyal customer.
So to hear the comments that some complaints are not taken seriously just reinforces my point.
Do you think that a customer has nothing better to do than sit there on the phone and complain to you?
The customer is complaining for a reason and it was your role to get to the root of the issue, no matter how trivial you may think it is.
So judging by your responses it is probably better that you have left Foxtel and maybe the level of sevice may have improved since you have left.
If there was another viable option I change my provider in an instant.
Trouble is, they probably now work in banks…
Y&G,
Some of us ex-bankies now own newsagencies.
iam sick with foxtel too
( murdoch+telstra= disaster ).i have been loyal customer with them since day one. the programs are repeated all over the same again and again. now i only subscribe the min.
I hate Foxtel too. We have had so many problems just trying to get the thing installed and after reading all these complaints I think maybe that’s a good thing so we can pull out before we have committed to them. Their customer service people are rude and their installers are liars.
i have a problem with my dish and they need to send a technician, how ever the first available time is 6 days away and i am unavailable for that day and the nextseven days after that. i have been with foxtel for ten years and they have never had to wait even a day for my payment. so i think its realy poor service to make a customer wait 6 days in my case it will be 14 days as i am not available for a week.No Compatition = no customer service. i think i will spend my monthly fee on something else
I have to agree with the statements above. I am at the end of the wits, I swear I am going insane. Our situation is a joke and I wish I could laugh. I can’t believe a company like this is still in business. When we move we are cancelling our subscription and going elsewhere.
In June this year, Foxtell took out two, yes two direct debt payments out of my account. When I rang up I had some person tell me that I was wrong and that only one payment would have gone out. I explained that on my bank statement online it said that they had taken two payments. He replied by saying that they hadn’t and when we asked for a supervisor, he hung up on us.
When we rang a second time, we had a guy that couldn’t speak english or understand it so we asked politely to talk to his manager, he got angry and said that he wouldn’t do it. We explained that according to the foxtel website, we as a customer are allowed to request that. He hung up on us.
We called again, and finally spoke to a supervisor who said that he didn’t think we knew what we were talking about and said that foxtel don’t make those mistakes, and hung up on us.
This happened over one night. Great customer service so far, I wonder if they have an automatic button that disconnects the call if it is too hard for them. So we waited three days (long weekend) and phoned in on the tuesday. Finally someone saw that a double payment had come out and found out that we were not the only ones and that it was their bank that stuffed up. We requested at this stage that NO MORE DEBT BE TAKEN OUT OF ACCOUNT.
Last week, we were horrifed to find that again an unauthorised debt had been taken out of our account.
So again we rang, and got told that we were at fault. Finally, we managed to get hold of a manager of the call centre who said that there are notes on our account telling them not to debt the account and couldn’t understand why it happened. She said that she would call us back.
She did, and explained that an trainee call centre operator had activated it and they aplogised for their mistake and offered us one month free foxtel, and said money would be in our account Tuesday.
Guess what?? no money in the account on tuesday, so we rang and where told that we would have to wait 5 days for them to process the payment, that they took out of our account and then an additional 3-5 working days to put the money back in our account.
What a joke!!!
Please be warned, it could happen to you
Mark,
I could no agree more Foxtel is a sham for service.
I was lucky enough to have our monthly credit card number taken by them incorrectly. When they asked us i month later to resign we said “come and get it” nothing worked and no amount of wanting it to happen was answered. If this is an example of a “kindle” type of service for the future of newspapers
then newsagents have no fear of losing their home delivery
TV rots your brain anyways.
we spend too much time indoors in our newsagencies, i cannot understand why anyone wouldnt be out in the sun, parks or forests, swiming etc, or catching up on sleep.
not only is the TV doing you damage, you then pay for the priviledge of more channels, because 7 free ones are not enough.
then your blood pressure goes through the roof because foxtel are crap.
thats just my 2 bobs worth anyways.
peter
We paid for a twelve month basic package for my mother in law we paid up front and they assured us they wont send her a bill because it was a christmas present now they are charging her three dollars a month for her account and a whole lot of other charges they wont explain every time she rings up they bully her when i ring they try and bully me and give me a whole lot of smoke and mirrors no facts or someone i can complain to not winge because in australia we have the right to complain about bad service not when you have a shit service with Foxtel not all customers are lazy dole bludgers and so what if we are this is a free country.
when competition for foxtel comes out, there will be a mass walk away from foxtel and rightly so, they are the worst provider in the world and i have been in 4 countries and some not supposed to be 3rd world???
Foxtel hey..smart ass’s over the phone, my foxtel completely shut off no power spoke to a smartass on the phone he told me i need to wait 6 days for a technician to replace the box 6 days for a service im paying over $100 a month for anyway i told him i have shows i dont wanna miss example the contender he replied well id better find somewhere else to watch it. thats Foxtel for you..
Foxtel is so cheap now, they don’t even buy seasons of shows anymore, just a few ‘selected’ episodes as they put it. Anytime I’ve had tech issues with it shutting down by itself which happens often, I called to make a complaint and I had to wait on hold for 20 minutes, then the guy was the most rude disinterested guy ever and the adds are worse than free tv only with ancient shows that have been repeated to death and I get slugged over 100 a month. Ooo we have new shows, mother and son and the cosby family, these aren’t new shows, these aren’t even bargin bin! Seriously now that a few of the only shows they buy new like the colbert report are on free to air tv and new channels are being made, after being with them since 1996 I think it’s time to retire them. If only there was another cable company, I don’t know why any others don’t try the market, foxtel are the most hopeless turds on the planet for both product and service and they act like drug dealers like we will die without it or something! I don’t want free stuff like the ‘former employee’ said, sounds like a company rep to me, I want the quality I used to pay 40 a month for ten years ago, not something that is a quarter as good for triple the price! Now the shows are just in giant three hour slabs anyway, I don’t think they could cut costs anymore if they tried. Any emails I send, never never answered, calls ignored, I hate foxtel now, and I think I’ll live without it and not go into a withdraws. And to those ex employees, we all work and get crap from time to time, if someone is going nuts over the red icon, he deserves to be ignored, but that doesn’t mean you can be a A-hole to the rest who have the service just shut down while we are still being billed.
foxtel what a serive take your money & dont care put a hole in my roof putting foxtel to my house water getting in they dont care still waiting what a joke my house will fill with water while we wait
I don’t want anything for free. I just want the service I pay for. It NEVER works. Yes, it is a luxury and one I am paying dearly for. I have a technician booked in to try to figure out our ‘latest’ problem and, he is booked for this Tuesday. Like most people….I WORK! They asked me when the next week day I would be available for the technician. I told them it would be June, when I’m next on holidays – only four months away. The woman I was speaking to seemed very confused and couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t just use a holiday day or, take a sick day.
The service is crap, the shows are crap and, it’s way overpriced for what you get – a whole lot of repeats. My solution – cancel. I have had Foxtel for over 10 years but, I’m sick and tired of it not working and, it always happens on a weekend. Oh, and by the way – for those of you have IQ, I’ve been told the reason my recordings ALWAYS fail is because I use it too much!!! You should never let it get below 30-40%. Adios Foxtel.
Foxtel sucks and will NOT be getting my business. Their technicians showed up at my place 9 hours late with NO explanation why they are late. I was given the times between 7 am to 12pm for installation, but the technicians never showed up. I rang Foxtel only to be told they are human and is delayed. The dimwits arrived at 4 pm that day !!! To make matters worse as I was already furious, they couldn’t install Foxtel as I was told I needed two cables in order to install Foxtel IQ2 as I had requested. I then requested for the installation of the standard setbox, the two techicians that came today were RUDE AND VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. I have enough and told them NOT to install…I rang Foxtel to disconnect their “service”!!!
I am still fuming and will not recommend anyone getting Foxtel. Shame on you Foxtel.
I have been a FOXTEL customer for 12 years. I ask for a free IQ2 upgrade, guess what. (customer service) “do you mind if I put you on hold” (me) “sure”… 5 minutes later… beep beep beep beep. Guess what I’ve been hung up on! Another thing our whole streets FOXTEL service has been out for 4 days. I pay $160 per month, and FOXTEL tell me “we currently don’t know the problem, we will schedule a technician” “OK”. Get a call from FOXTEL today “I’m sorry but we will have to reschedule your technician appointment from Wednesday to Sunday” “WHY?” “we were overbooked that day, our apologies”.
1 good thing FOXTEL refunded me $54.83 cents for the loss of service (YAY).
Oh and another thing &&%$^ing adverts on FOXTEL. I PAY $169 A MONTH, at least make there be no advertising.
Disappointing 🙁
how is this thread on foxtel service been going on so so long….
if foxtel is so bad. cancell your subscription, go down the newsagency and buy a magazine
I have tried to find name & address of Foxtel CEO to make a complaint about his company’s service – no such luck. Maybe if someone else starts up another pay TV Company my search wont be so futile!!!
I can’t believe they were showing boring doubles tennis, while Federer was playing Berdych, in quarter final, for FREE on 9
I work in a call centre, not Foxtel, and I am appalled at the so called ‘service’ I get when I call.
I called to query a charge of $39.95 on my credit card, and was told it was for some fight/boxing match. I told the guy on the phone, both myself and my partner were both at work that day, we don’t even have any sport channels on our package, we have no interest in watching a fight, let alone pay $40 for and basically we didn’t order it. I was told by the guy that ‘there is no mistake, you ordered it’. I asked who actually ordered it as they should have note of this if it was done over the phone with one of them as he says. He then told me “I am not allowed to give you that informaton” WHA?!?!?!? I then asked for a supervisor and he told me there weren’t any. Blatant lie, there is always a supervisor in a call centre. He eventually put me on hold, came back and told me he had spoken to a manager who said they would refund this amount. I have only been refunded $39. Still missing 95 cents. Even if I was refunded the full amount, I would still complain as somehow they have charged my account for something I haven’t asked for. I emailed the ‘customer advocate’, and am still waiting on a reply after 5 working days.
Does anyone know of who I can complain to? Foxtel is not part of the TIO so not them.. Please help!
Jacob – how did you go about getting a partial refund for loss of service? I experienced a loss of service for 2 weeks last month and I really don’t think I should pay for services that weren’t rendered…
Good to see all the comments on here – from my experience the “customer is always wrong” at Foxtel!
I have loss of service with Foxtel every 3-4 months for about 5-7 days. They give me a refund on those days but I dont care. I want what I pay for. And, because the original technician didn’t install it properly, when I lose Foxtel, I lose everything – no free to air.
The excuse is always the same – my whole area is down. If my whole area is down, they must be getting calls from a lot of pissed off people.
Finally today, I asked to speak to someone who could tell me why my area has so many problems. He said to me – “I wouldn’t have a clue. Telstra own the lines, ring them”. I pay Foxtel, not Telstra. Shouldn’t Foxtel be going to bat for me with Telstra. I am after all, the customer. No, they want me to find out from Telstra what the problem is. Anyway, I rang Telstra to see if they could help me. They just laughed and said I need to contact Foxtel!!!!
I have made complaints before to the customer advocate and am still waiting for a call back. They are not part of the TIO however, I rang them today for some advice. Their suggestion (for Queensland anyway) was once you have exhausted your options with the Foxtel Customer Advocate, to contact Consumer Affairs. My suggestion to anyone who is also having the same lack of customer service that I and so many people seem to have, would be to contact Consumer Affairs in Qld or, for other states, to contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (even though Foxtel do not fall under them) to ask them where to go to next – 1800 062 058. Good luck.
i still maintain, if the service is that crap, then cancel. go without pay TV
Its now Sept 2010 and the service is till as bad as ever but living in Australia you come to expect bad service from anything Telstra has a hand in. Optus tried to compete but Telstra used their muscle to stop them getting decent content so they stopped the service.
I have just cancelled my subscription to Foxtel. Unlike most of you I have only being with Foxtel for about 18 months but I have to tell you I am so over it. Expensive, too many ads, repeated programs again and again and limited or boring channels for the premium price I paid. Dealing with Customer Service was like pulling teeth. Note to Former Employees one and two and Current Employee, your comments have been filed under “too stupid to respond to”. One comment though I will respond to Current Employee, the staff are “young indians in India” fool!! Just fyi, I have never asked for free stuff, I have never called to complain just because I can (I mean, are you serious) and I have put up with a crap picture for three weeks and have been told it is my fault. So, today I cancelled my service, peramently. And you wouldn’t believe the freebies I was offered. It took 20 minutes for me to say over and over again “please cancel my account and give me a date and time for me to hand over the box”. Yes, people 20 minutes and the freebies kept getting better and better as the minutes ticked by. But I held firm and now, I’m free, free at last. Have a great year everyone!
I don’t like paying for all these commercials and repeats.
@ Lana, good for you! The so called customer service is a disgrace. The programming has become woeful, the pixelation and general quality is apalling and the cost keeps increasing. I’m cancelling tomorrow and am going to do everything I can to do ‘damage’ to Foxtel without being litigious. They cannot treat people the way I have been treated and expect no feedback, its coming and you are not gonna believe how much ‘noise’ one person can make. So sick of the lies and contradiction and being treated like a fool by rude customer service reps. Adios Foxtel, I am joining the exodus.
I am totally febup with Fox. I keep getting messages on screen that my card can’t be read. I reboot and the same thing 5 mins latter. I’m sick and tired of being on hold when I ring. Then I’m then told it will cost $75 for a tech to look at it. If it’s their fault it will be refunded (yeah..pigs fly). When I originally signed on it was advertised as ad-free. It’s worse than commercial TV! I now prefer the digital commercial channels. They have less ads.
The real problem is and always will be NO COMPETITION!!! Competition from rival companies brings better service and better pricing and so on. Until Australia sees more competition in the pay TV sector we will all have to put up with Foxtel and their monopoly.
Hi, I work for Foxtel customer service and I am going to say right now what I have always wanted to say: if you’re unhappy with the service F&^% OFF! Please, just F&^% OFF! We don’t care that you do not like the repeats, we don’t care if you tell your friends not to join, we laugh when you tell us to disconnect because for us, we just transfer you to disconnections. Please, do us a favour, let us enjoy our jobs and just fuck off. There’s more to life than television. If you had to listen to half the crap we had to, you’d understand. “What am I meant to do with my kids now that the Foxtel has been disconnected?” That’s just the tip of the ice berg.
Oh, by the way: notice when the line just suddenly goes into a deathly silence? That’s the agent putting you on mute while they tell the consultant how much of a fucking moron you are.
Wow. Not sure if the last comment is someone just faking and trying to get a rise, but if it’s genuine then that’s appalling. (Would certainly confirm the attitude of the customer “servce” department).
So what about those of us who have foxtel because we live in a physical situation where we cannot get free-to-air television (I would need like a 60 foot antenna on my roof). We are not fat, have our lives revolve around the TV, or “morons” looking for freebies – it’s simply the only way I can get TV basically.
I read this thread today because I was googling foxtel customer service because mine has just gone down… and of course the first thing I tried was rebooting the IQ box… which didn’t work… so ’twill be interesting to see whether I am back on this same thread in a couple of days adding yet another story of woe to this lamentable catalogue of pain…
By the way, I avoid all the ads on Foxtel.. I simply record the programs I want to watch and then fast-forward past the ads when I am watching.. thoroughly recommend it to all ! 🙂
wow at #58; i’m suprised you have a job at all.
#58 here. Confession: no, not an employee, having a laugh because of how disgusted I am. I actually base that on an experience I had with Foxtel and I vow never to join. Reconsidered my response and decided that was really a bad way to to explain my disappointment. Let me explain.
I’m sure there’s some good people at Foxtel…somewhere. But after dealing with about 9 consultants/operators/service people (whatever the term) and 3 team leaders (apparently). When I signed up to Foxtel I had a special arrangement made with a sales consultant who promised me something a little better than what was being offered. Basically, I was going to get sport thrown in with a free second viewing outlet. When I read my invoice after the second month (first being free) I discovered that I was overcharged. At this point, I wasn’t angry or even disappointed as this type of human error has happened with stuff like Big Pond and my Insurance.
Naturally I called up and was grilled from the get go. “Did you have the consultants name”, “when did you call”, “what was the offer”, “do you have the paper work” etc…while these read like perfectly reasonable questions, the tone and manner in which they were trying to ascertain this was really insulting. I felt like a moron or someone who was inconveniencing them.
Roughly 2 or 3 calls were like this then I did get a really good consultant: patient, good listening skills and quite logical. This person even offered a call back within the week. Cool – I was happy with that. A week and a half passes by, nothing.
I call back, not only was this agent dismissive of the above claims, apparently nothing at all was noted. This is where I got pissed off. Not in these exact words, but certainly to the impact of, I was told it was too bad, nothing was noted and that this was not a current promotion. I then requested to speak to a supervisor 7 TIMES! After much argument and raising my voice, I finally got put through. Again, totally unwilling to listen to the recording, I just had to cop it.
Interestingly, this team leader noted the account, I spoke to two team leaders after this, they just took those notes as gospel and refused to do anything. As long as Foxtel has covered their backs, they seem content that someone has been set aside. I opted to disconnect…like a previous post here, you should have heard the offers. But you know what? Why should I trust them again?
This may not read as something out of the ordinary, but after the repeat calls I made and the RUDE and DISMISSIVE consultants I spoke to, you’d understand. I’m sorry for my above post (#58), but I seriously wouldn’t put it past a consultant to address someone like that, at least once they’ve hung up.
A service that is worthy in theory, but in practice, a comedy of errors. You have been warned.
I also have foxtel.
I am a newsagent and
Mr Murdoch owns both the papers and foxtel.
Do we get any satisfaction from being newsagents?
Should we expect any satisfaction from foxtel.
Question answered.
Let’s vote with our
only weapon and cancel foxtel.
I wonder how many agents have foxtel.
If only 50% that would be about 2000 cancellations for them.
Let’s see if we can do something together and make it work fellow agents (I’m not holding my breath)
I knew someone who worked at Foxtel Customer Servicel! let me tell you one thing… Foxtel Customer Service is Excellent!
The idiots are the bogan Australian customers that Foxtel has!
Not only are they rude but they are true brogans (majority).
1/First of all Idiot customers who dont know there account numbers! *if i call a telco company they need to ID you and require you Customer Number! so dont turn around and say “I dont, how am i suppose to know my acc number?!” really?!!! come on!
2/ “WHY HAVE YOU DISCONNECTED MY FU%$#EN FOXTEL?!!!”… maybe because you haven’t paid your bill for the past 3 months.moron?!!!
3/ Customer Service doent only take your call in his/her shift… they take 90-120 calls a day/night! so give them a break! they have been listing to idiots like you complain all bloody day!
4/ “Why cant i order a movie through ondeman?!” because you dont have a telephone line plunged in!?? you dick!
5/ “fu$%#en to many adds!!!” – yes if foxtel didnt have adds you monthly fee would probly be around $190 for platinum package. adds are foxtel second sort of income so stop your bitchen!
6/ “i have been a customer from bla bla bla… and i never get anything!?” excuse me where do you buy your grocery from?! Coles…? Go and tell them you have been shopping there for years and see if they give you something for free!!!
Oh and just so you know, foxtel deals with a lot of calls from dirty old men saying horrible sexual things to the female consultants! poor reps end in tears alot of the time… just so you know!!! bet you didnt know that?!
I just wouldnt be rude to someone who has my details… would you?! umm… something to think about!
its a business!!!! hello?!!!
and listen… its just TV! get a life and go out side and play with your kid instead of putting them in front of the TV only because your lazy parent!
and one more thing… there are so many idiots that call the Technical Department with stupid enquirers such as “my tv scree is just black, and my box on the IQ are not showing up!!! i want it fix now you blooding Cunnts/fucker/fagots/curry munches/ bitch/idiots ext!”
reps replys with…”excuse me sir, is your tv and foxtel pluged into the poweroint?!”…. a few seconds later “OH YEAH, IT WASNT PLUGDE IN!”!
so next time you give foxtel customer service rep shit… think before you do it! and stop wathcing TV… “YOUR FAT”!!!!
Go for a run!!!
ROFLMFAO
That dummy has landed on the moon.
If ‘Idiot customers..Must Read’ above has heard of irony, he/she has sure got a funny way of showing it.
Your virtually illiterate level of English nicely reflects this Mickey Mouse company’s abysmal standards of service and operation.
How come politicians don’t offer some support here? When this company first began offering its ‘service’ to the public, I was told it actually emphasised the ‘advert-free’ viewing because you as a customer were choosing to pay.
How about that for total b/s?
And as for the gibberish of employees on this forum likening Foxtel to any other company a person chooses to purchase from, who would go back to Coles, for example, if they continued to exploit you like this company does? The repeating of programmes they’ve already shown and you’ve already seen, and therefore paid for, is a bloody disgrace. How many times do you have to take your same full shopping trolley through a Coles’ checkout, then?
Can you believe that for years I pay my account the same time every month and all of a sudden I wake up 15 days before I normally pay it and my service is disconnected, and why, they generated my bill earlier and they want the payment right now, not in its normal pay cycle… so without further ado, Foxtel u lost another customer… well done dudes, rocket scientists I reckon…. pay peanuts get monkeys
And visa-versa. Pay monkeys & get peanuts :-/
FOXTEL service is a contradiction in terms.
My FOXTEL dropped out and when i called i was told a technician wouldn’t be able to attend for 5days. Like many others on here it appears as FOXTEL takes ur money then doesn’t give a RATS. I have quite happily talked to people in shopping centres where they are advertising FOXTEL and I have happily walked away many customers etc.
After I spoke with a customer service rep they said their technicians would only be available during work hours which effectively means i have to take time off work and loose money to have service reconnected for which i already pay.
They offered me $25 dollars credit so i guess i should be happy.
As soon as there is a new service other than FOXTEL with a half decent reputation I will be changing. I like the product and i would like say like the service, BUT there is none. I challenge ANY FOXTEL management to address these issues. I BET THEY WONT 🙂
I am absolutely disgusted with Foxtel having no service in my area not only at the start of school holidays but also over the Easter long weekend how rediculas I will be demanding a months refund you really have no customer service Foxtel you do SUCK
please, please, please fix the audio full stop,get someone at foxtel to listen to the poor audio they put out,examples background noise in live studio interviews ,fox news channel,which staff in background make,multiview channels audio distorted,plus other channels volume not even,and we pay for this crap,which is not cheap,but foxtel audio output is.shame foxtel shame,more to come on other issues.foxel i am pist off.
Well try and get Foxtel installed!! What a disaster. I signed up in December at JB HiFi and to date – beginning Feb – am told it will still take to 22 March for them “to get a technician to me”!! What poor service – rather non existent service. Foxtel is absolutely useless!! Why bother? #FOXTELSUCKS
I switched to Optus TV from Foxtel, the Foxtel was from Teltra. Every month, I pay my bill in Telstra shop. Teltra offered a package , we paid for what we accepted from Telstra . When the Internet service was playing up and I had to go without TV for a few days. I turned to Optus. I asked Telstra what should I do with their box. A guy there told me . I did not have to return the used box. I continued with Optus. Years gone some one with an indian’s accent rang my husband told him about sending him a Foxtel box, offering him a deal. My husband has had two strokes,he took time, to figure what he was asked specially on the phone. Taking to him face to face, words do not came out of his mouth straightaway. I understand the guy on the phone, does not know that.
Next a tall Indian man appeared on our doorstep with a Foxtel box. I explained the situation and told him, we don’t need the box as we were with Optus. He took the box away. Next money was taken from husband account. So we contacted Foxtel. One female’s kept repeating in a scarastic way.”The money is with Foxtel, the money is with Foxtel.” I explained we used Foxtel through Telstra. It seemed she never heard about using Foxtel through Telstra. I checked at the Telstra shop. I was shown our name was in their system and we had cancelled our contract and did not owe any money. I went back to Foxtel , Foxtel said we were on their system, they would investigate. Money was taken for a second month from the account. I give the date and the name of the person, I spoke too and I was told ,there was nothing on their system. We got threathing letters to return the Foxtel box. I told them we were using Telstra box. They could not believe We were using Telstra box and remote control. We sent the Telstra box and remote control through the post. The next person, I spoke to was based in the Phillipine, he assured me everything was taking care of. He would closed the account with Foxtel. Just before end of 2016. We got a call from a woman in South Africa. She told me, the people I was dealing before had left the company, she offered to send me a Foxtel box , with two months free. I asked her . “What would I do with a Foxtel box when I am happy using Optus, and not to send any Foxtel box at my address. My husband went to see the bank, how money was taken from his bank account without his permission. The bank said, it will follow it through. Guess what afterwards we received a letter from Foxtel with the same bull. We had been with them for a long time, they are sorry to see us go.we have to pay them, the sum of money, they took from my husband’s account. To send the box to them. I wonder how many time we have to repeat we have not use Foxtel for how many years. We have returned their box through the post. I wished uncle Rupert knows what type of people, he was employing round the world with no clue about the business, all they do ,terrorise customers.