I have had it with this company and would discourage anyone from doing business with them. I have just waited 67mins on hold to be told that the system has problems and is unable to take my call.
This is not the first time this has happened. I think it was back in Jan or Feb this year that on 3 separate occasions I waited close to an hour before giving up.
With customer service like this they deserve to go broke.

Rant over.

What time of the day did you make the call?

There are times in the day where someone can wait on hold from 5mins to 90 mins. Try calling as soon as the support centre is open and you maybe surprised. I've been with soul since they bought B digital and I've only had to wait about 10-15mins at the most. Though I can admit their customer service could do with some improvement.

i was with soul an had no probs when i first joined up with a contract. at that point calling customer service was ok. the most i waited at the time back then was 10-15mins at the most. then months later it got real bad. everytime i rang i was on hold for 20-30mins grr it really did my head in. im glad my contract had ended a few months back now. so all i got to say is im never going back to them again. they had something about this on a current affair on channel 9 last night.they tried all customer service centers such as optus, soul, telstra, vodaphone an even centerlink to see who had the worse customer service an waiting times etc. the funny thing was that even centerlink was quicker then soul..now thats saying something lol.

I've had very similar experiences, as has my house mate, and my girlfriend.

Not only this, but my private information was provided to my parter without verifying her, and she is not even authorised on my account. she obtained my full name and date of birth from their customer service. I don't mind that she has those details, she obviously already knows them, but I DO have a problem with them being supplied to seemingly anyone with my phone number.

Because of that, and problems I've had with direct debit details, I have sent through a formal complaint and a requested to be exempt from the rest of the contract. I have no problem paying out my handset repayments, the phone has been great, but the contract was breached (I'm assuming, i havn't actually done the leg work, but surely my privacy was accounted for therein) so I don't see why I should hold up my end.

I tried this morning at 0817 and was on hold till 0924. What a great way to start the day.

I have emailed the customer service from their website and I am waiting for a reply. I have also notified my bank to stop the next payment being sent to see if that gets their attention.

when i ended my contract a week after it expired, i was on the phone again for ages an ages. so i got fed up with it, went to the phone shop myself and told the guy (who originally helped me it, setting it up etc)that i wanted it finished. he said no worries puts in a diffrent phone number to what everyone else uses then within 2mins i was talking to someone, explained everything to her an it was done within 2 mins lol.. i was shocked i had got through so quick. i asked him how he got through an he said he pritty much had a directline an never has to wait. the longest he said he waited was 5mins.

and that was at around 11am on a week day. i remember that trying to contact soul on a weekend was the worse time every to try. word of advice never ring on the weekends lol

kray-z writes...

i was shocked i had got through so quick. i asked him how he got through an he said he pritty much had a directline an never has to wait. the longest he said he waited was 5mins.

Yeah, they've given him a direct line because he's selling business for them! They don't want the customer to know what they're in for until they have their money.

Never heard anything good about Soul, but their ad serves as a public service, warning people to stay well away.

Ya got-ta, got-ta, got-ta have .... patience ? ;-)

bishop38 writes...

I have just waited 67mins on hold to be told that the system has problems and is unable to take my call.

I've had that problem before.. can't remember who with though.

It's a pretty bad way to treat customers but probably comes out of the technical limitations of the systems, and not being overly proactive about keeping the customer informed, regardless of if you're solving their problem at that stage.

I like the call centres that give you an ETA on when you're call is expected to be answered.. especially if they keep to it. Or even "you are number X in the queue".

Either way, the best option is to try and talk to someone in sales. As someone else has mentioned, companies are always trying to get money from you so if they think you want to give them money you won't have to wait too long (hopefully).

My father was with them for his mobile until recently - he absolutely hated dealing with them. Always on hold for 30+ minutes, sometimes over an hour.

The worst thing is that you cannot re-charge your mobile online - wtf? They have all these deals with stores - none of which were convenient...and some who although supposedly part of the Soul 'store list' did not actually participate.

He cracked it & went with iSim - a painless experience so far & about the same price.

My brother is with them for Internet & regrets it - too many dropouts & slow speeds at certain times.

Avoid.

yea internet with soul is not a good idea. some people say telstra is bad for the internet to.

Soul is a crap company. Had the home phone & internet with them). The internet had constant drop-out problems and half the time our email addresses wouldn't work. Their customer service is pathetic. Most times I was on hold for up to an hour. We moved the home phone and the internet to Optus, but the first time we applied, our application was cancelled because Soul did not remove the complex codes. I rang them up and asked them to remove them and got told it will be done within 5 working days. I rang 5 working days later and it was never done! It was never even processed. I asked them to do it again and they finally processed it and it took 2-3 days. We're finally set up with Optus...All we have to do now Is wait for the final phone bill with Soul and thats it with them.

I don't recommend Soul to anyone.

whats optus like with their internet in terms of the amount of downloads you can do in a month? some places offer up to 20 gig a month for real cheap prices. not sure what the download speed would be.

Back on hold again. I wonder how long I will wait this time?

another hour proberly lol

i have had no mobile service since the 25th of april when my sim crashed and went into "PUK" and no i didnt enter the wrong pin 3 times; unless i did it in my sleep ;0 .. so thaught it would be simple enough to get the puk of the ivr.. was given a puk that doesnt work eerr tried 2 diffrent phones from two diffrent brands. Tured the phone off etc all that jazz.. Then i started the waiting....ohh i think i can recite most of thier commercials now.."soul is multimedia service provider " lol ..so its been 7 days without the mobile ..feels like i have lost a limb.. but i continue to hold ..

just got hung up/disconnected from soul."i am sorry we are currently experiancing system difficulties and cannot process your call" then hung up..after 1hr and 20 mins WTF thats the second time today

I am trying to activate my SIM after porting from AAPT (boy, I wish I could reverse THAT decision). After three consecutive evenings where I have been on hold PAST the closing time and then had my call disconnected, I finally was put through to a salesperson (I have kept a record - after dialling 133020, select...2...3...3...1...1 and you DO get to speak to someone.

However, the person/s that I am put through to has/have:
-returned me to the call queue
-disconnected my call
-refused my request to speak to a supervisor ("...there are only sales people here...")
-denied my request to cancel the whole thing because.............the number has not yet been activated (I kid you not!!)
-placed me back into the queue (which disconnected after ten minutes) when I said I would be contacting the TIO

I am at an absolute loss as to what I should do. I have contacted the TIO, but find my experience utterly appalling and depressing. I have not had use of the mobile for over a week - I can't believe their standards. If anyone has any help/suggestions they could offer I would be most grateful!

I am heading into a shop first thing Monday to try and get my own problems sorted out. I will let you know how that gets on. I think my best bet is to try and cancel out of my contract with them and take my money elsewhere, perhaps Optus? Who knows.

i am a customer with them i agree customer service is a disgrace but thats what you get for being cheap.

yea i spoke to the tio as well ..got a number for souls "senior complaints section" was on hold for about an hour and just gave up. Will have to try them again i suppose..i think soul is going to become a "Onetel"....i think i might just go and buy the optus pre paid porting kit and go from there as i m not on contract with these nuts ..but want to keep my number.

khmer writes...

i am a customer with them i agree customer service is a disgrace but thats what you get for being cheap.
i am a customer with them i agree customer service is a disgrace but thats what you get for being cheap.

well they are not cheap ..they charge the same as optus the only reason i m with them is i like the facility to check your airtime in between the month on their ivr ..if optus had that i m glad to just combine other phone and internet services with optus..

Soul is an absolute JOKE!

I had my phone stolen well over a month ago now. I pay insurance every month on the phone. Insurance company was satisfied with my complaint and SOUL has to bar the IMEI number on the phone in order for me to proceed my insurance claim.

The day after my phone was stolen I went to a SOUL outlet to get a new sim card which was no problem and told them to block the IMEI number.

I waited for a over a week to hear from SOUL and heard nothing from them. I too was caught up in there disgusting customer service line (being on hold for over an hour and getting cut off - waiting for long periods of times to talk to people with bad english skills and did not know what they are doing - rude supervisors that were not willing to help)

Since then I have personally been in to my local SOUL dealer 3 times to sought the matter out with no success. Approx 8 phone calls to SOUL customer service line with no success. 4 phone calls to the insurance company (they can not do anything till SOUL block the IMEI number)

Last friday I was guaranteed by a supervisor in the customer service centre that my IMEI number had been blocked. Just got a call from the insurance company today that SOUL can not block the IMEI number.

What does paying my monthly insurance get me????
NOTHING!

I have contacted the TIO a few days ago about my matter. Hopefully they can help!

STAY AWAY FROM SOUL. been a customer with them for over 5 years now. as soon as my contract finishes i will be going to optus!

Is SOUL turning out to be a rSol?

i would avoid contracts period.

Here I was thinking that I had kicked a cat and walked under a ladder.

I was fed up with SOUL destroyer.

I took my business to another provider. It was actually faster to do the move than it was to wait for SOUL destroyer to fix my problem!

No one has to put up with waiting for hours for SOUL destroyer and their non existant customer support people to simply answer the phone.

They deserve to and will go broke.

where was this forum nine days ago when we signed up.........Oh my life!

9days ago we signed up for 2 mobiles, One had changed over within the hour, 9days later the second still hasn't switched over....but wait, they called the number and it rings therefore it works....hahaha.

Of course it works, the number is still active but with a different carrier....you got to love their work, their bright.

After endless calls to the Charlestown Square Soul Store(Newcastle, NSW), who now refuses to answer our calls or just hang up and the endless calls to their customer service, who claim that it is working. we've had enough & now lodged a complaint with TIO. I just want to cancel this contract and hand the phone back now, unless they can get it to work within the next minute.....which i doubt

IS it a term or condition that they are to provide reasonable customer service expectations?

i am with soul and will be leaving them in 3 months after my long 6 year (3 x 24mth contracts) service ends.

last question i had took 56 minutes to speak to someone.

hawoo wecome to soool how way i hell yoooo?

Hi, can you please help me with a billing enquiry

ahgh yees, pleaa gim mee your acownt oowr sevis numbaa?

So it takes 10 minutes to give them a 10 digit number because they dont understand english.

Can i pleea get yoo to cofwim youar wame and dwate ob bwirth

Adam ***** ********** (using phonetic code - takes approx another 10 minutes to get confirmation)

aw ok Mr ******** i welll twansfer you noww

WTF beep beep beep beep beep

1hr and 30 minutes wasted

Adam writes...

i am with soul and will be leaving them in 3 months after my long 6 year (3 x 24mth contracts) service ends.

Lucky for you, we've just started.... all the best with the next mob you go with.....

After my initial complaint with them 3 weeks ago I have still not spoken to or heard from someone at Soul. I have taken the matter up with the TIO and I now want my account/contract cancelled with them. I have sent 3 emails to there customer service and spent more than 3 hours on hold. The original request was over a malicious caller who I have taken care of myself. The reason why I didn't do this before was advise given to me by VIC police and it was my wifes phone and I believed it could have been a genuine threat especially after what you read in the paper, see on the tv.

Please what ever you do, don't have Soul they are an abSOULute disgrace.

bishop38 writes...

The original request was over a malicious caller who I have taken care of myself

I would love to know more about this. I am in the middle of complying some legal infomation to see if it is worth my while taking soul to court. A friend and i have both had our infomation sold onto a company which Soul contracts (kind of) to ring customers and try to keep them with Soul. They use a program called C3, this program if you have a customers mobile number and password (Which the store normally makes your year of birth)any 18 year old sitting behind the counter has access to the customers full details, (Credit card numbers (With 4 digit security code and Expiry date), Drivers licence numbers, address, Date of birth, work phone numbers. Soul has sold this infomation on the a company called MCB. My friend got a phone call from a MCB rep asking if she was interested in upgrading. She told them she was but would prefer to do it in the store. She was asked why this is to which she said she likes to look at the phones. The rep responded with "dont you have the internet, you are you just to stupid to use it". She told the rep that she didn't even believe that he was from soul to which he replied with, i know everything about you. I know you are a teacher at (and named her school), i know your credit card details, i know your work mobile, i know everything, as if i am not from soul. Soul has some serious privacy issues at the moment which really need to be sorted ASAP. Anyone else who has recieved harrassing calls please let me know as i would be interested in hearing.

Couldnt agree more with most of the post here. I'll add another one to
the list of Soul customers who have to wait for any sort of phone
service.

I originally chose them as they have , at that time, seems to
be the most ideal plan for me $29 cap with yes time. Credit to the Soul
shop for making the switch to a new contract (surprise surprise)
quick and easy (all within 15 mins).

Anyhow, I haven't had much problem with the network but everytime
I tried to ring them.. takes about > 1 hr sometimes at various times,
including first thing weekday mornings. Really am sick of them.

I hope someone can give them a wake up call. At the moment, I'd love
to cancel and switch to another more service/network orientated
network (but got a feeling they are all the same anyway)..But still
got 1 yr to go with them.

BAsically this is my first post just to warn people who are thinking
of joining Soul.. Basically apart from the shops.. u aren't likely
going to be served much !.. :)

have a nice one!

Ya gota gota gota hate soul.

Okwell i have been with Soul for over 2yrs. I thought they were alright, had no major problems with them until recently i decided to actually check out my bill. I usually just get the bill and pay it (thats my stupidity i guess) because i have now realised they are totally ripping me off! and im guessing they have been since day one. Im on a $49 cap with $300 worth of free calls. This month i only used $140 of my calls but they only took off the 49 dollars instead of the 140 free calls.
Im going to go in store and work this out but does anyone know if i willbe credited the whole 2 years? On the internet they only have my last 6 bills... can anyone help me onhow i can actually prove the last 24 months if i dont actually have every single bill.. (just in case they fight this.. which no doubt they will...)

theoldman writes...

Soul has sold this infomation on the a company called MCB.

MCB for the uninformed, and there are many, are an Outbound Call Centre dealer for signing up customers.

They haven't been sold, there is an existing commercial relationship between the two companies, which has been there for about 12-18 months. They use the same system for sign-ups that Soul do, ie: C3, which gives account holder information to the Sales person making the call.

It integrates with another system that Soul run, which is called JBill.

Soul Sales staff (before they were made redundant) used that program (C3) to do outbound calls for upgrades of customers who have expired mobile contracts. They have outsourced their retention team to MCB as it's a "cost saving". There has been no selling of customer data to 3rd party companies.

Interesting enough, it appears as though Soul are not paying their Dealers their commissions.

www.theaustralian.news.c...9616-643,00.html

One wonders, what really is going on at Soul?

I work with X employees of Soul, hence this info about their systems

Soul pay delays anger resellers

www.theaustralian.news.c...9616-643,00.html

Good lord - what does all this mean for TPG who are shouting from the backs of buses that they and Soul are now one company?

I love that slogan of theirs,

'Never have to talk to Telstra again!'

Yes because Soul is so much more enjoyable?

Please continue in the existing thread:

Soul Mobile - Customer Service Discussion