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Bulldog: Problems are over. Users: No they're not

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 07 Nov 2005 14:40 GMT

Communications provider Bulldog claimed last week that it has resolved its recent problems and made a fresh start, after suffering months of technical difficulties that enraged many of its customers.

Andrew Morley, Bulldog's chief commercial officer, told ZDNet UK that Bulldog had "turned a corner", following Ofcom's decision last month to close its investigation into the company.

"The clearance from Ofcom, which was one of the fastest investigations ever, has put a buzz back in the place," said Morley. He explained that Bulldog has increased staff numbers in its call centres from 50 to 350, after many customers complained they couldn't get through to Bulldog to discuss their problems.

"We've over-invested, and the average waiting time for a call to be answered is now under a minute," Morley said.

Bulldog is now launching a new marketing campaign to persuade potential customers that the company can be trusted to deliver innovative, high-speed Internet access and telephony products. It is also taking on Apple's iTunes story, by selling music for 79p per song and £7.99 per album — part of a range of multimedia services that will be sold as the Bulldog Lounge.

But some Bulldog customers dispute Morley's claim that things have improved. ZDNet UK contacted 14 users who had all complained about the service earlier this year. Of this group, eight said they were still suffering problems, while just two reported that they were now happy with the service.

The remaining four had quit Bulldog altogether — an indication of how much damage this year's problems have caused the company.

Morley was surprised to hear these numbers. He claimed that less than one percent of Bulldog's customers were using its complaints procedure at present.

"If you're still having problems, then talk to us. We have a very robust complaints procedure, one that we know works," said Morley.

Some ZDNet readers appear ready to take advantage of Morley's offer. James, a senior IT architect, has been without a home telephone since 23 June and said recently the broadband connectivity is "spotty at best". He went on to explain that: "one of the biggest issues is that their billing/finance department is clueless when it comes to trying to accurately bill customers. I have outdated and incorrect bills still coming. I imagine I have never even had the service fully installed.

"They can get away with things like this because most small customers, like me, can't afford a big enough law firm to get them to take interest," Morley concluded.

Others agree with the billing issues. "There seems to be a problem with their billing," said one reader, who asked to remain anonymous. The reader said they had been billed for "service for a period even before it was activated. And they [Bulldog] refuse to make the change even though they've told us so over the phone. The Web site also doesn't allow access to the billing area. And the bills keep on accumulating past amounts."

For some though, the billing issues have worked in their favour — so far at least. Ian Santry wrote: "Since joining up the service has been fine. I've had to call customer service a couple of times and that has been far quicker. A line fault resulting...

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