New telecom operator Digi's customer service needs to be much more accessible says the Telecoms ombudsman. A month after its launch the ombudsman has identified several issues that need to be addressed. For instance, switching from the old provider to Digi does not always run smoothly and new customers sometimes cannot be reached for quite some time. The company acknowledges the problem and says it is working on solutions.
The ombudsman has already received some 60 complaints from dissatisfied customers since the launch of Digi on 11 December 2024. ‘It is difficult to say whether that’s many complaints or not, because Digi is a new telecoms player in Belgium. So, we don't have a benchmark to compare with.’
VRT News too received word of all kinds of complaints about Digi in recent weeks, ranging from unstable network connections to a number of transfers from old operators gone wrong. People also report that customer services are difficult to reach both by phone and e-mail.
According to the ombudsman, the latter is one of the biggest problems. ‘Communication is very slow and is often too brief. Also, the transfer of new customers from their old operator to Digi is sometimes going wrong. In theory, this should happen within one working day, but we notice that people regularly report problems.’
Normally, switching to a new telecom provider should not take longer than one working day. ‘Consumers whose number transfer takes longer are entitled to compensation of EUR 3 per day. We hear that this compensation is not being paid by Digi for the time being,’ says the ombudsman.
Digi apologises
What exactly is going wrong? Has Digi simply become a victim of its own success? According to Dorian Kronenwerth, Digi Belgium's Customer Care Director, that is the main issue. ‘Due to the successful launch of our services, we received a very large influx of customers. At the moment, our customer care does not yet offer the quality we would like and for that I would like to apologise on behalf of Digi.’
The director promises improvement soon. ‘We are seeing improvements every week and waiting times on the phone are getting shorter. In total, more than 300 people in Belgium now work for Digi, many of them in customer services. More people will soon strengthen the team.’
According to Digi, problems crop up mainly when they receive incorrect data from new customers or because other providers do not always cooperate quickly to facilitate the transfer.
The compensation given to consumers in case of a slow number transfer will be paid, Mr Kronenwerth promises. ‘Of course we are going to comply with all the rules. We have a list of all eligible customers and will sort that out in the coming weeks.’