[talks-uk] Re: T-mobile disbands Disability Services Team!
- From: "Graham Longly" <longly@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <talks-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:27:53 -0000
Hi all
As per my message of yesterday we are not here to discuss phone providers
only using the talks programme, talks compatible third party apps and
problems using talks on compatible phones so this topic is now closed. I
would suggest that if people want to discuss more general issues they
subscribe to the blind phones list. Cheers!
Graham
-----Original Message-----
From: talks-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:talks-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of DurDevil
Sent: 11 December 2009 14:57
To: Talks-Uk Email group
Subject: [talks-uk] Re: T-mobile disbands Disability Services Team!
Hi All
This is all personal preference really isn't it? I mean for me personally I
don't care if they have good knowledge on disability because I'm independent
and very patient and I would rather find out what's available myself rather
than relying on the phone company because they are often just glorified
sales people who don't necessarily know everything that they should - but
I'm sure a lot of blind people would just rather deal with the phone company
and the phone come ready for use which is fair enough. But even on a
dedicated disability department it still comes down to that persons
knowledge and also the questions you ask, just because Mr Smith works for
the disability dept it doesn't mean that he knows all about Talks for
example as he might have only dealt primarily with deaf people etc etc, at
the end of the day the best people equipped for advice on accessibility
needs are people that primarily focus on that area that applies to your
needs - the likes of Comp Room and TalkNav for example or RNIB, Action for
blind etc etc depending on what your trying to achieve.
I would rather deal with the phone company as just a network provider just
like a normal person and I'll sort Talks and a phone myself and the only
times I phone the network is to negotiate my next tariff! Everyone has
different preferences and different needs just like a network and tariff
that suits me wont be the same as someone else because I may have a
preferred network and cheap deal due to my loyalty, I prefer to get Talks
sorted myself and through a dealer such as Steve or Neil but some like to
get it all sorted through their network provider - it's horses for courses
isn't it.... Or as I like to say - Tomato, Potato :-) were all different and
that's what makes us interesting :-)
If it were my choice I would not have a dedicated department, I would just
like the option of a newly blind/partially sighted individual to be able to
say to the normal staff - "oh I just realised, I'm blind. Can I have a phone
that is accessible please?" and the staff simply access a accessibility tab
on their system and wholla all the info is there for them to inform you
with. No need for specially trained staff which wouldn't be any better
(unless they only dealt with blind people all the time so their info was up
to date anyway)
But hey, if we didn't all have our opinions we would just be robots! And
we've all seen that doesn't end well unless Arnie is on your side LOL!
Cheers
Pete
-original message-
Subject: [talks-uk] Re: T-mobile disbands Disability Services Team!
From: "Hussein Patwa" <talks-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: 11/12/2009 1:10 pm
Hi,
Not to cast aspersions on anyone, but whereas this may seem to be a negative
move on the surface, I think a large part of the 'service' people experience
from any company is the way the person themselves interacts with the
company. I personally have never had a problem with T-Mobile, and had even
forgotten the disability team even existed. Then again, I'm usually quite
patient and if there is something I know to be true that the operator does
not, I'm usually willing to work with them to help them help me. I know
this isn't always true of many customers, for a variety of reasons.
I think it's important to understand that many people don't fully understand
the full implications behind having a disability, whether that be access to
information, understanding complex language, or being able to provide
relevant feedback to an operator's queries. I would hope that T-Mobile
would continue to offer the good service the majority of customers have had
with them, but that customers too would play their part to maintaining that
service.
Thanks for the update in any case, as I said this is something I'd probably
have never known about if I hadn't read it here.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: talks-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:talks-uk-
> bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Matt Brown
> Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 6:29 PM
> To: talks-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [talks-uk] T-mobile disbands Disability Services Team!
>
> Sorry, I know this isn't exactly Talks related, but it is never the
> less important to note, and does impact Talks users who are with
> T-mobile.
>
> T-mobile have recently disbanded the Disability Services Team that
> customers grew familiar with over the last 10 years. The only reason
> T-mobile management were prepared to give me was that it was felt that
> the company was positively discriminating in favour of disabled
> customers, and so the decision was made to disband the department
> entirely.
>
> At present, calling 122 from your T-mobile will still route your call
> to the Northeast call centre, but I am told that eventually the only
> function of
> 122 will be to bypass the virtual menu system, and your call could be
> answered by any customer service adviser at any T-mobile centre, even
> if that happens to be India or Philippines or wherever they may be.
>
> T-mobile will not state publicly that they guaranty there will not be
> any change to the level of customer service and knowledge the advisers
> have regarding stuff like Talks, grade 1 or grade 2 Braille and other
> disability related issues.
>
> I think its important to remember that the Disability Services Team
> answered disability related calls day in, day out for over 10 years,
> whereas the majority of the regular advisers will never have answered
> a disability related call in their entire time with the company. This
> means that they will not acquire day-to-day knowledge and experience
> of dealing with VI customers so I strongly suspect we can expect to
> see a reduction in the quality of service from now on.
>
> Sorry to those of you who are not T-mobile customers, but this was the
> only way I knew to reach people.
>
> Don't be surprised if you call 122 and no longer hear the message
> about being transferred to Disability Services, as there's no such
> department any more, there's no point in having that message now.
>
> That's all folks, sorry if this wasn't relevant to some of you.
>
> Matt
>
>
>
>
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