Recently, my office experienced an unexpected outage of internet and phone service provided by a major player in the Netherlands. As a small business, I do not have a dedicated account manager. I had to call a 0800 number and speak to a chatbot before reaching a human agent. After explaining my issue, the agent determined that my router needed to be replaced and arranged for a replacement to be sent to a pick-up location overnight.
However, when I went to pick up the replacement router, it did not work. I had to repeat the process and speak to another agent who decided that a technician needed to visit my office to fix the problem. The earliest appointment was scheduled for the following day between 2pm and 5pm. The technician arrived at around 4pm and fixed the problem in 15 minutes.
From a former corporate employee perspective, the customer service worked very well. The agents offered solutions within 24 hours and the technician showed up within the agreed time and solved the problem. However, as a small business owner, I cannot be happy. For almost 52 hours, I had no service for which I paid. For two business days, I had to work using my iPhone hotspot. I also had to be on standby to pick up the replacement router and to allow the technician to do his job.
This raises the question of whether small businesses and consumers will always pay the price for these types of issues. While the customer service was effective, the prolonged outage still caused significant inconvenience and loss of productivity.
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anosis nederland 