Follow Up: My O2 and buying an iPhone experience

Just a short update to my previous post.

I bit the bullet and decided to go queue for an iPhone this morning. I didn't want to hang around too much so i decided to get there at 7:30 (I'm up early everyday anyway feeding and walking my many animals). Surprisingly - i was first in line at my local O2 store, with a large queue forming about 5 minutes after I arrived.

I wanted a 16GB iPhone and knew they only had a small amount. I was one of the lucky 2 people who actually got the 16GB model.

No the point of this post is to tell you all about the shambles that was the signing up process of a new O2 customer.

Guess what, all their internal systems went down due to demand (they have an secure online based ordering and vetting system). The staff were in panic, telling each other " We have to go to Contingency" - basically they had to down mice and PC and start calling the details through.

No problem from a customer point of view - it's usually done quickly and you still get your handset and new deal.

However, this morning was different, very different. The call handlers were overloaded too. So everyone was on hold for in excess of 30 minutes. THEN - news filtered through that the call handling center had also gone into "Contingency" - meaning their central systems had buckled under the load too! Sheesh!

I'm really really surprised about this - especially after the issues O2 experienced on Monday. I mean, they can't use the excuse that they were aware that demand was going to be so high this time can they!

In the end the store staff, who were embarrassed and very apologetic, took all my details, photo copies of ID's, let me pa for the handset and then said that they'd process everything later in the day once it calms down.

I must say that the staff were great and dealt well with what was, in essence, a poorly planned situation.

O2, next time think about staggering opening / sales time so that you can at least manage with demand and ensure a clean and smooth customer experience.