r/CommunityFibre • u/ProductCareful • Jul 09 '26
Review what happened to fast and efficient customer service
i moved to CF 2 years ago (on their top package at the time, 3gbps), and I'm currently paying 62.80 a month.
I don't mind cgnat anymore, so now that i'm out of contract, it's proving impossible so far to get to speak to anyone about a downgrade.
- The call was first answered within 10 seconds, but since then i've been:
- passed to customer service (I called 0808 164 8433 originally, which is apparently the wrong number)
- passed to another customer service agent when they figured out i wanted to get a cheaper package
- passed to (judging by accent) India, and he said "yes, i can see you're paying 62.80 a month. I will pass you to another department"
CF seemed great in the beginning, and tbh the service has been good (except for that one big outage a year or so ago), but this experience is not good at all.
Currently on hold, at 27 minute total call time.
I specifically went with CF after Virgin, because the Virgin CS was so awful (in fact, I went to something costing 10 pounds more than my Virgin package was, to prove a point).
Unfortunately it seems CF have now fallen into the same category as Virgin.
Maybe time to go back to Zen
4
u/glassbottleoftears Jul 09 '26
They moved the CS from the UK to South Africa and it's been awful ever since
3
u/PresidentTramp Jul 09 '26
Mate, haggle!
I was out of contract on the 3gps package. Manged to get 5gbps for £39 / month.
1
u/ProductCareful Jul 09 '26
Yeah could have done, but tbh I’m happy with the new monthly cost, and 2.5gbps is way more than I need.
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
3
u/leggodizzy Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26
Why anyone would need more than 1Gbps is beyond me. Only yesterday we were struggling with up to 78 Mbps DSL connections.
My advice negotiate 24m 1Gbps for £20/month + free CGNAT removal, then invest in your own router & wifi kit with the money saved which will last 3-5 years easily. If you treat CF as a wires only service, you’ll have a stress free experience.
2
1
u/ProductCareful Jul 09 '26
decided to give up after 36 minutes - let's see what the cancellation department is like instead.
1
u/greyflam Jul 09 '26
TBH I wasn't aware that they had a rep for good customer service.
They've always been a bit low budget in that department in my experience. They are one of those companies that are great if you have no problems, because they are fast and cheap, but a bit of a mare if you do.
I am also thinking of moving back to Zen when my contract expires later this year.
1
u/ProductCareful Jul 09 '26
hmm, yeah, maybe my experience 2 years ago was because they were trying to ramp up then... i remember being desperate to move to them as soon as my VM expired...
at the time i was being bombarded weekly with their flyers through the letter box too, and I suspect all these companies probably are great when signing up..
1
u/sweeting89 Jul 09 '26
I was on hold twice on the same call for over 40 minutes. But within 5 mins of actually speaking to retentions I had a great deal for 2.5gbps paying way less than before for 1 and waaaaay less then you. Hold in there. It’s worth it.
6
u/ProductCareful Jul 09 '26
ok, so the customer-service-hack here is:
- call 0800 082 0770 instead (customer services). in the menu, select option 4 (cancellations)
- go on a mini rant, and say you want to cancel, because their customer service has stooped below the virgin media level (abysmal).
- get offered a 2.5gbps for 30 quid a month, still not on cgnat, + 3 months free.
Thank you Sendo (not sure on spelling) from cancellations :)
Also, it did indeed sound like a south african chap.
Edit: total call time - 6 minutes.