A bit over 20 years ago, I became two things that I'd never considered being before. The first was a technical writer; the second was a businesswoman. I'd dabbled in a bunch of different things - I did bookkeeping for two different companies, I ran a doctor's office (wow, I loved that job). I did some graphic work and sold advertising. I wrote for various newspapers (and even got paid...what a concept).
Career? Nope, none. It wasn't in my thoughts. I had three small children when I came to Israel and my only goal was to get my family settled. And then, a new friend asked if I needed a job and one thing led to another and I ended up being both a technical writer and a business owner.
And the one thing that I learned to value above all other things in a business relationship, is loyalty (well, that and good service). We were Cellcom customers for eight years, until they over-billed us - and when we caught the mistake, their response was something along the lines of - sign on for another 3 years and we'll refund the amount. Um...no. Goodbye, Cellcom!
We moved to Orange and met with a man named Gal Moran who might get paid based on how many SIM cards he sells...and so, he sells an awful lot...sometimes without the person even knowing it. We signed up for 15 telephone lines, and somehow cute ol' Gal managed to register 75 phone lines. Yeah? No. Goodbye, Orange - it's hard to believe anyone could make Cellcom look good, but Orange managed it.
We moved to Pelephone. A few months into the billing, there was a mistake of about 4,000 NIS. Here we go again? Nope. We called and they credited us the next month. Customer service. Loyalty. Go, Pelephone, right? No.
Last summer, my phone was stolen. The next day, I went to the Talpiot Pelephone office and had the great misfortune to meet Nofar Sassoon. I explained I needed a SIM card because my phone was stolen. She listened and then started clicking and talking and clicking. I asked again. I need a SIM card. She told me she was working up a great deal for me.
I need a SIM card, I said again. She offered me a free Galaxy S6 in exchange for signing up our phones for three years...and a netbook computer.
For free? I asked - all I have to do is pay a monthly fee for each line for 3 years. Yes, she confirmed. The amount was 10 NIS above what we are paying now. That's another 60 NIS a month - do the math...it comes out a little high, but not unreasonable.
And a Samsung tablet comes with it.
She also offered me a Huawei S8 phone...and a smartwatch and a tablet.
I asked again - no additional cost - we stay with Pelephone for 3 years. You know the saying that sometimes a deal is too good to be true...well, it was. My company has always covered the cost of phones and phone lines - most are used for business; the rest is deducted from salaries within the company.
I came home with everything. Thrilled to have solved the issue of a phone for me; gave the phone to my older daughter, whose phone was dying. I gave a tablet to David so that when he came home from the army, he'd have the tablet to use. I gave another to Aliza. Elie used the watch for a bit, but it really wasn't so great and so it went back into the box. Oh, and dear lying Nofar also gave me a JBL speaker - another wasted gift.
When I told my husband and eldest son about the deal - they both went a bit crazy. They said no way; you were cheated. She lied to you. I didn't want to believe it but I was scared. So I wrote to Pelephone. And wrote them again.
The very first day, I wrote them and said - THIS is the deal as Nofar the Liar told me (I didn't actually start calling her that until about 4 months later). Nofar even called me up and confirmed the deal again - no charge for the equipment. The Pelephone business division confirmed that there were no charges for the equipment; all's clear.
The first bill came and I checked it carefully. All's good. The second bill came...no extra charges. I was enjoying my phone; the kids were enjoying the tablets and I highly recommended Pelephone (OMG, never again).
What Nofar did, apparently, was start billing me personally, sending the invoices to my home address. Of course, the only credit card that I gave her was the company one, so she used that. The invoices to the company never showed the equipment because Nofar billed me. And how much - dear Nofar billed me for over 8,000 NIS in equipment (including 1,044 NIS for a speaker labeled as 700 NIS; over 5,000 NIS for the Galaxy S6 and tablet...that's almost $1,500 for a phone that was a good 2-3 years old...and a simple tablet!), etc.
When I saw this, I stopped the payments and the lawyers came slithering along threatening to sue. They sarcastically baited me asking if I thought that I got the equipment for free? Well, yeah, I did - but then again, I told Pelephone straight out that very first day. Nofar said it was for free in exchange for signing 6 lines on for 3 years. And that's what I did. And, I wrote then, if that ISN'T the deal, I'm canceling the deal and will return all the equipment...
The law in Israel is that you have 14 days to return purchased items...I offered within the first 10 hours.
Pelephone was screwed and their lawyers knew it long before I did. That one email broke their case.
Take the equipment back, I offered them; or honor the deal. Today, they took the equipment back - all of it. What will they do with a year old phone? Not much. It turns out that they owed us over 1,000 NIS for monies they had no right to take. They agreed to pay it back. I suggested giving me the Samsung simply because I had spent so much time organizing the data, the layout, etc. In yet another slap in the face, they decided to take back a phone that is virtually worthless - after all, what do they care about how how long it will take the customer to reconfigure a new phone?
They took my soldier's tablet and my younger daughter's tablet; they took my daughter's phone and once again, battered my faith. There is no perfect phone, but I don't need anything really fancy, and I loved that Samsung Galaxy S6.
But more, I wanted to believe that companies value their customers and their loyalty. I wanted to believe, until that very last moment, that they would be reasonable and logical. That they'd fire the Lying Nofar and they'd value us as customers. They didn't. They won't. They can't. They aren't.
Tomorrow, we will hopefully complete our move to Golan Telecom.
Goodbye, Pelephone. You suck worse than Orange and worse than Cellcom.
Note: To finalize the deal, I had to sign an agreement that I have no further complaints against Pelephone. So, let's just say - I have many bad feelings. I wish they were an honest company - they aren't. I wish they valued loyalty - they don't. I wish they were more careful in hiring so that people like Nofar Sassoon don't get away with what she did. But I'm not complaining. In the end, they got back equipment that has been used - hopefully they won't sell it to anyone as brand new. What did I get out of it? Well, I enjoyed the Samsung S6 a lot. It's a heck of a phone - great pictures, fast, comfortable. I miss it already. So, I got a year of really enjoying the phone and I got a lot of heartache from Pelephone. I'm sorry that we are leaving Pelephone...but the heartache and anger is too much.
So, the saga continues - on to Golan!
Career? Nope, none. It wasn't in my thoughts. I had three small children when I came to Israel and my only goal was to get my family settled. And then, a new friend asked if I needed a job and one thing led to another and I ended up being both a technical writer and a business owner.
And the one thing that I learned to value above all other things in a business relationship, is loyalty (well, that and good service). We were Cellcom customers for eight years, until they over-billed us - and when we caught the mistake, their response was something along the lines of - sign on for another 3 years and we'll refund the amount. Um...no. Goodbye, Cellcom!
We moved to Orange and met with a man named Gal Moran who might get paid based on how many SIM cards he sells...and so, he sells an awful lot...sometimes without the person even knowing it. We signed up for 15 telephone lines, and somehow cute ol' Gal managed to register 75 phone lines. Yeah? No. Goodbye, Orange - it's hard to believe anyone could make Cellcom look good, but Orange managed it.
We moved to Pelephone. A few months into the billing, there was a mistake of about 4,000 NIS. Here we go again? Nope. We called and they credited us the next month. Customer service. Loyalty. Go, Pelephone, right? No.
Last summer, my phone was stolen. The next day, I went to the Talpiot Pelephone office and had the great misfortune to meet Nofar Sassoon. I explained I needed a SIM card because my phone was stolen. She listened and then started clicking and talking and clicking. I asked again. I need a SIM card. She told me she was working up a great deal for me.
I need a SIM card, I said again. She offered me a free Galaxy S6 in exchange for signing up our phones for three years...and a netbook computer.
For free? I asked - all I have to do is pay a monthly fee for each line for 3 years. Yes, she confirmed. The amount was 10 NIS above what we are paying now. That's another 60 NIS a month - do the math...it comes out a little high, but not unreasonable.
And a Samsung tablet comes with it.
She also offered me a Huawei S8 phone...and a smartwatch and a tablet.
I asked again - no additional cost - we stay with Pelephone for 3 years. You know the saying that sometimes a deal is too good to be true...well, it was. My company has always covered the cost of phones and phone lines - most are used for business; the rest is deducted from salaries within the company.
I came home with everything. Thrilled to have solved the issue of a phone for me; gave the phone to my older daughter, whose phone was dying. I gave a tablet to David so that when he came home from the army, he'd have the tablet to use. I gave another to Aliza. Elie used the watch for a bit, but it really wasn't so great and so it went back into the box. Oh, and dear lying Nofar also gave me a JBL speaker - another wasted gift.
When I told my husband and eldest son about the deal - they both went a bit crazy. They said no way; you were cheated. She lied to you. I didn't want to believe it but I was scared. So I wrote to Pelephone. And wrote them again.
The very first day, I wrote them and said - THIS is the deal as Nofar the Liar told me (I didn't actually start calling her that until about 4 months later). Nofar even called me up and confirmed the deal again - no charge for the equipment. The Pelephone business division confirmed that there were no charges for the equipment; all's clear.
The first bill came and I checked it carefully. All's good. The second bill came...no extra charges. I was enjoying my phone; the kids were enjoying the tablets and I highly recommended Pelephone (OMG, never again).
What Nofar did, apparently, was start billing me personally, sending the invoices to my home address. Of course, the only credit card that I gave her was the company one, so she used that. The invoices to the company never showed the equipment because Nofar billed me. And how much - dear Nofar billed me for over 8,000 NIS in equipment (including 1,044 NIS for a speaker labeled as 700 NIS; over 5,000 NIS for the Galaxy S6 and tablet...that's almost $1,500 for a phone that was a good 2-3 years old...and a simple tablet!), etc.
When I saw this, I stopped the payments and the lawyers came slithering along threatening to sue. They sarcastically baited me asking if I thought that I got the equipment for free? Well, yeah, I did - but then again, I told Pelephone straight out that very first day. Nofar said it was for free in exchange for signing 6 lines on for 3 years. And that's what I did. And, I wrote then, if that ISN'T the deal, I'm canceling the deal and will return all the equipment...
The law in Israel is that you have 14 days to return purchased items...I offered within the first 10 hours.
Pelephone was screwed and their lawyers knew it long before I did. That one email broke their case.
Take the equipment back, I offered them; or honor the deal. Today, they took the equipment back - all of it. What will they do with a year old phone? Not much. It turns out that they owed us over 1,000 NIS for monies they had no right to take. They agreed to pay it back. I suggested giving me the Samsung simply because I had spent so much time organizing the data, the layout, etc. In yet another slap in the face, they decided to take back a phone that is virtually worthless - after all, what do they care about how how long it will take the customer to reconfigure a new phone?
They took my soldier's tablet and my younger daughter's tablet; they took my daughter's phone and once again, battered my faith. There is no perfect phone, but I don't need anything really fancy, and I loved that Samsung Galaxy S6.
But more, I wanted to believe that companies value their customers and their loyalty. I wanted to believe, until that very last moment, that they would be reasonable and logical. That they'd fire the Lying Nofar and they'd value us as customers. They didn't. They won't. They can't. They aren't.
Tomorrow, we will hopefully complete our move to Golan Telecom.
Goodbye, Pelephone. You suck worse than Orange and worse than Cellcom.
Note: To finalize the deal, I had to sign an agreement that I have no further complaints against Pelephone. So, let's just say - I have many bad feelings. I wish they were an honest company - they aren't. I wish they valued loyalty - they don't. I wish they were more careful in hiring so that people like Nofar Sassoon don't get away with what she did. But I'm not complaining. In the end, they got back equipment that has been used - hopefully they won't sell it to anyone as brand new. What did I get out of it? Well, I enjoyed the Samsung S6 a lot. It's a heck of a phone - great pictures, fast, comfortable. I miss it already. So, I got a year of really enjoying the phone and I got a lot of heartache from Pelephone. I'm sorry that we are leaving Pelephone...but the heartache and anger is too much.
So, the saga continues - on to Golan!
Enjoy Golan. I have 2 lines with them. 99 ILS a month gives me everything including service outside the country!
ReplyDeleteThere reception is much better than it was when I started with them a few years ago. Never had any trouble with them.
Every time my parents come, I get them a GT SIM card and cancel the line after they leave.
I'm a very, very satisfied customer.
BTW - You may want to activate virtual numbers in the USA and/or England. You can select 2 countries. If you have clients there, you're a local call away for them.
Thanks, Yehuda - you'd be amazed how many people are writing to me to tell them that Pelephone pulled the same game with them, how nasty the lawyers for Pelephone were to them etc.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I thought the "naming and shaming" Pelephone might encourage them to "do the right thing" but after hearing stories from several others, I realize that their corporate culture is not focused on customer service and honesty and the loyalty of a customer means nothing against the chance to make a quick profit (even if that profit comes from a dishonest source).
I have the phone recording from my conversation with them asking for an international plan. Twice, I clearly ask for "calls and data" and without warning, the salesperson offered a plan that only had data without pointing out that it did not cover the calls that I had clearly requested. we were discussing three plans - two had calls and then she introduced the third plan which had the amount of data that I wanted. I incorrectly assumed that it included the same amount of calls as the last plan and that the only difference was the amount of data. I returned home and received a bill of 1,600 NIS from Pelephone for calls - well below the 200 minutes she had quoted to me. I tried fighting it - but Pelephone's internal "audit" decided Pelephone was right...what a joke!
As for Golan, we are very hopeful. We are signing on to the larger plan so we'll have those international virtual numbers and the international calls for 45 days. Thanks for the positive feedback on Golan! Can't wait to move...
Paula, it's called Shitat Mazliach and it is how Israeli commercial law rewards thieves. When someone catches these companies cheating them and actually goes through all the trouble of asserting their rights, both sides merely end up where they were before the sting. In other words, there is no penalty for lying, cheating or stealing. And since not all victims and abused customers have the wherewithal to stand up for their consumer rights, it pays for the cheating company to just keep going on cheating.
ReplyDelete