Please note it's not a bad review. Just sharing the experience on switching plans...
Yes, we heard and read how awful this network has poor customer service, but in all fairness, the customer service staff are very helpful but they are hands tied by the inflexibility and red tape around the company policies and (archaic) IT systems... MrHKer had hands on experience on how inflexible the corporation is, where they are rigid and unable to accommodate simple customer requests...
Summary of a day of renewing a mobile phone plan
The story goes like this: MrHKer bought a pre-paid plan and was 'downgrading' the plan by just subscribing to one that fit his usage, ie less data and just more talk and text... As the old plan expired, the kick-in-the-nutz website locked the account and payment method, and after phoning up the hotline and asking for help on the chat message helpline too, MrHKer was told to pay up first to unlock the system's constipation.
Low and behold, after paying up (by going to the branch and paying at the counter), the website automatically renewed the old plan. No biggie, right? We are in the digital age and IT systems easily allow data changes and adjustments*? Wishful thinking here... after requesting to have the plan changed, the customer service politely informed MrHKer the old plan was already paid for and he'd have to pay further to switch to the desired plan... There, right there, kick-in-the-nutz. Wham!
Thoughts and observations?
- Customer service from Freedom mobile is really good. The people factor👍. But they are hamstrung by poor rules, policies, administrative overheads... you can see in the story above, that despite them wanting to help accommodate mrHKer's request to change his plan, they just cannot because they don't have the authority. They offered a partial refund but this does not address the customer issue. So you see, all this indicates a systemic failure and a constipated IT system😅.
- *Their IT systems must be from the jurassic age because they can't do a simple data change on request.
- MrHKer spent a whole day phoning up and at the branch. The branch staff, the people on the phone and in the chat message helpline were all very helpful. Not their fault for the way the company runs and curtails their ability to help.
Conclusion
Would we keep using Freedom mobile? Yes, but we will be careful. They are not the cheapest but they offer the mobile plan package that convenes us, but after the experience, we would encourage other prospective customers to beware of the limitations you can perceive above. Even with great and helpful people servicing you, this company is structured around a poor IT system and customer policies.
If we had to do it differently, we would not pay upfront despite the advice from the customer service staff but would go to the branch to ask them to help switch the plan. They also use the same phone helpline and chat message helpline to assist them perform the backend changes (cue kick-in-the-nutz IT system) and they will find the same limitations and can better advise you based on what happens, all without incurring any extra charge on you.
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