Telefonica nightmare

I have been a Telefonica customer for two years now. In that time i have never onced received a paper bill from them. I use Telefonica solely for the internet which i know is about 40 euros per month on top of this there is approx 14 euros a month standing  charge.These costs are plus iva. Up until March this year they was helping themselves to around 60 to 80 euros from my bank account with me having no record of what the money was for. I have tried on 3 occassions to give them my correct address in order for me to get a bill in the post. On each aoccassion they have assured me that they have updated there records and that i will get a bill.

Since March of this year no money was taken from my account and my service was disconected. I imeadiately phoned them and told to go the to post office to pay the bill in order to get reconnected, for which i was charged 25 euros. I have had to do this every month since March and everytime i am being charged 25+ euros to be reconnected. My monthly bills are now between 96 and 105 euros again this is just for ADSL. They bill you on the 7th of the month and cut you off on the 9th so if like this month the 7th was on a Saturday and i was cut off on Monday morning.

I phoned them yesterday as i normally do each month to find out how much i owe them so i can go to the post office and pay and get reconnected (which they do within a couple of hours after paying). I asked the guy on the phone why are they not taking the money from my account as there is always plenty of funds in there. The guy on the phone kept insisting i take it up with the bank. I knew i had a direct debit with them as i can see it on my internet banking and i know i have funds in there. I kept insisting there was no problem at the bank. I was told to hold then he came back on the line to say "we have you down as paying in person and not direct debit." He said "i will have to set up another direct debit" which i tried to do with them there and then. Five times i attempted to give him my 20 digit account number, each time he comes back with computer says "NO"

He kept trying to tell me i was giving him the wrong number even though i had it on my screen in front of me and also my bike insurance document and electricity bill, all of which have the same 20 digit number i was trying to give him. In the end he hung up on me after saying call me back when you have the correct number.

Talk about banging your head against the wall! Anybody got any suggestions what i can do next

You only have one option, keep calling until someone can take the number down properly.  It took me a few attempts to get them to register my account number.  I am in the process of changing to Orange as at least this way i only pay for the internet and not the line rental which is very high.

Joan

Been to the bank this morning and asked them to print out my 20 digit account number which they did, and guess what? its the exact one i was giving to telefonica yesterday.I just called telefonica and told them i would like to set up a direct debit.They say i already have one, so i told them yesterday they had me on there system that i would pay the bill in person. So i asked again can i set up a direct debit and he asked for my 20 digit number.I gave to him the exact same number as yesterday and he said that was fine and its all now on their system. To me it sounded like he did not even take the details down and that he just wanted to get me off the phone. I then said i want him to update my address details and after a big sigh he asked me to read them out. again it sounded like he did not even note them down.(its the fourth time i have been through this process of giving my address) Lets see what happens in December. I expect to be disconnected as usual but they may well suprise me.

Have you tried registering online to manage your account? Unfortunately there is no English option, so if your Spanish is limited it may be a bit of a challenge, but if you can navigate it successfully, once registered you can check / change your bank details, mailing address etc. and also receive / view your bills on-line. May be worth the effort to set up.

Start at telefonica.es and select the Area Privada tab (near the top right of homepage). Click the green button "registrese ahora gratis"; complete the required fields and continue.

Thanks for your reply Roberto. I have had a look at the website and have attempted to complete the form required but with my limited spanish not having much success. It will not accept my NIF. Have tried entering with and without the letters. Will have to wait until i can get someone to help me complete the form.

Have you tried selecting "tarjeta de residencia" frm the drop down menu before entering your NIE? (Yes, I know they don't exist anymore - but does Telefónica??!!)

 Have you tried contacting O2 and asking to speak to somebody in Spanish¿?

Need I say more

I would be suprised if they do not have Spainsh speakers as i know they cater for Hindi,Punjabi,Arabic,Polish,Romanian speakers to name but a few.

Need i say more

Bit grumpy, Aelred? I don't recall the original poster saying the problem was a language one anyway. Telefónica have English speaking staff on the 'phones. The problem here seems to be more one of gross incompetence and bad attitude, of which there are an infinite number of similar stories pertaining to Telefónica. I assume from your tone that you have nothing but respect and admiration for this fine old Spanish institution. I too am fortunate in that, in recent years at least, I have had no real problems with them. But trust me, when things go wrong, as they frequently do, your ability to communicate in Spanish will make not one iota of difference. I speak from (bitter) experience.

Open up a bank account in Gib, Portugal, or France, and send your funds there. Get internet with any provider other than Telefonica. Get a VOIP phone. Or, if you have squillions of euros, set up in competition to Telefonica, they are only a "screen scraper type outfit" as all the phone lines were installed by ..........BT.

Telefonica have a "Life on Mars" type attitude to customer service, ie UK in the 1970s. Thank God for Margaret Thatcher, and privitisation.