Call centre stuff-up not related to restructure: Vodafone

Customers told to contact chatbot, among other options. Photo / 123RF

Vodafone NZ has had major call centre issues today, but says they are not related to its restructure - which will see some helpdesk roles go to Indian company Tech Mahindra.

The telco tweeted around 3pm, "Our contact centres are operational, however we are experiencing higher than usual wait times. You can also contact us through online chat or the self-service options on the MyVodafone website/app. We apologise for any inconvenience, and are working with urgency to resolve this."

And a manager at a rural ISP told the Herald, "Our private channel partner line wasn't even working this afternoon, so RBI [Rural Broadband Initiative] partners can't activate sim cards for new customers."

The issues had been going on for hours.

A spokeswoman told the Herald around 4pm, "We have high call volumes at the moment due to a network issue our Philippines contact centre partner had. The issue impacted service levels for all of their customers including Vodafone NZ, which created a backlog of calls.

"Their issue is now resolved and while we're working through the backlog, we're encouraging customers to try our other customer service options including online chat, our chatbot TOBi, self-service options on our My Vodafone app and website, or to visit one of our team in a retail store."

She added, "This is a partner we had already made the decision to move away from going forward prior to this incident."

Our contact centres are operational, however we are experiencing higher than usual wait times. You can also contact us through online chat or the self-service options on the MyVodafone website/app. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

— Vodafone New Zealand (@vodafoneNZ) May 16, 2019

Early this week, Vodafone Group said it had agreed to sell its New Zealand business to Wellington-based Infratil and Canadian investment company Brookfield.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of August, subject to regulatory approval.

News of the buyout came as Vodafone NZ was close to completing a sweeping restructure, instigated to get the telco into shape for an IPO planned for early 2020.

Although some inhouse tech support roles are being culled, chief executive Jason Paris has said none will be at the expense of service - which he has said has to improve through a combination of new technology and reorganisation.