Freebox and Client Relations

It has been three months since we moved and I decided it was time to get our internet changed over into our name (before it was in my brother-in-law's). I had his box closed, and I started the moving process on ours.
First let me explain what the Freebox is. It is a telephone, internet, and tv service in one for the low price of 29,99 euros per month. International calling is free to all landlines, so Y can call Turkey for free and I can call the states, it is wonderful. Plus we have all kinds of TV stations, there are like 10 turk channels; and the english ones are only the news stations, but that's what internet is for. It sounds good right?

Well when you decide to move, it isn't that appealing. September 1 passed and I plugged in our boxes and applied online to finish the moving process. Well there was a box that said it wasn't possible. So I called their service relations number and tried to talk to someone about it. I explained the situation about applying online and the guy was like "Madame there is no phone line, therefore you must call French Telecom!" Yeah they blamed it on the other guys, I called France Telecom and explained the situation and they were like no its Freebox who has to fix the line. I called back to explain it to the service people and it was the same man and he put me on 'hold' and never came back.

And calling the service people is not cheap, its 0,34 cents a minute that they apply directly to your bill! And of course you are on hold for more than 10 minutes! Ridiculous!

So I called back another day, explained the situation again and the woman told me that I clicked on the wrong button. I clicked a button that asked if we wanted to keep the old number, so I clicked on it and I didn't know it was wrong. I called her a bad word - because in France you have to get forceful with them in order for them to change their mind! I preceded to tell her that they shouldn't offer moving services online if people are always clicking the wrong button. She was like "well its your fault not mine, I didn't force you to click it". And then she said call back tomorrow.

So I did just that I called back the next day, and played a little stupid even though I had all the information in front of me on how they could fix it. The guy was super nice, he understood that I didn't speak French very well and made an effort to make sure he got the information right. He said Freebox would pay to open a new phone line and take care of everything! Wow! I was nice and didn't have to cuss at him in order to get my way!

Remember:

• Raising your voice isn't always a bad thing, just make sure your French is good
• Always have the information available so you can say "haha you're lying"
• Never play dumb, because the French will just walk all over you!

Now I will have internet to post adventures and information about visiting, living in Paris.


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