Stolen Modems – unknown broadband number?

We get regular reports about Jump modems being lost or stolen. This presents a slight dilemma for customers when calling the Skinny Care Team to request a replacement. The IVR for Jump (press ‘3’ when calling 0800 475 4669) asks callers to enter their broadband number and verification code. But this is pretty difficult to do if the modem has been lost or stolen, or in some cases the transparent sticker with these details has been removed.

The good news is that Skinny Jump Care Agents can retrieve these details if they are sure the person calling is who they say they are. Normally, they would request the broadband number and verification code, printed on sticker on the side of the modem. Or they may ask the customer to retrieve these details from their Jump app.

In the absence of these details, the Skinny Jump agents may request the following details to verify the caller:

(1) registered email address;

(2) service address; or

(3) last top-up.

Once the Care Agent is satisfied they are talking to the right person, they will retrieve the modem details and complete a Modem Returns form, including a request for a replacement modem to be sent if this is what the customer wants.

Of course, all this assumes that the customer has been able to reach a Skinny Care agent. If they choose the IVR path (press ‘3’), they will get caught in a never-ending loop, unless they attempt to enter a broadband number and verification code; if these numbers are invalid they will then be given the option to press ‘9’ to talk to a Care Agent. More on this in my next post.

Jump customers being referred by Skinny Care Team to Partners for replacement modems

This shouldn’t be happening, but I get regular regular reports from partners that it is. Our agreed procedures for handing faulty and returned modems are clearly set out on our website.

The Skinny Care agents rely on a knowledge base to provide advice to customers when they call, so the Jump team went on an exploratory mission to find out where the agents were getting this wrong information.

And success! They discovered a rogue flowchart that was directing Skinny Care agents to some obsolete information that instructed them to advise customers with faulty modems to return them to a nearby Jump partner. Needless to say, this has been corrected. Thanks, River.

Thank you also to the partners who alerted us to this issue. We always welcome feedback on processes that are not working as they should. We can then try and fix them.

Accolades for Skinny

Skinny has been proclaimed number one amongst the major telcos when it comes to customer service. The results of a independent survey of telcos’ service performance was released this morning by the Commerce Commission.

This is doubly good news for Skinny Jump customers – not only are they getting the most affordable internet service in New Zealand, they are now also getting the best internet service.

The Residential Broadband Rankings for the period from January to June 2023 put Skinny ahead of all other major internet providers when it comes to how likely customers are to recommend their provider to friends and family. Skinny also topped the tables in customer satisfaction with how quickly providers resolve customer service issues.

So well done to the Skinny team; we are fortunate to have you as the Jump internet provider.

New Jump IVR a hit!

At 8.30am on Wednesday 17 May, the Skinny Jump IVR (Interactive Voice Response) went live. What this means is that Jump customers can now interact with a computer-operated phone system through voice or keypad input to get the help they need rather than going into a wait queue to speak to a Skinny Care agent.

Within an hour of the launch, Jump callers were quickly finding the IVR was solving their problems, allowing them to:

(a) hear the dollar balance on their Jump account

(b) hear their data balance (number of Megabytes)

(c) top up their account using a Skinny voucher

(d) renew their Skinny Jump plan

(e) hear how many plan renewals they have remaining for the month

(f) cancel a plan renewal

In the first week, the number of calls to live agents dropped by 40% and we are sure this also resulted in much happier customers, being able to avoid the wait queues. Furthermore the IVR never sleeps – awake 24/7.

To use the Jump IVR process, customers have to:

  1. call 0800 4SKINNY (0800 475 4669)
  2. select Option 3 for Jump
  3. enter their broadband number (0204….)
  4. enter their verification code

Step 4 is something new. Until now, this has only been required when setting up a new modem, so customers will need to have both the broadband number and the verification number ready to use the IVR.

Customers will still have the option to “press 9 to speak to a Care agent”. We encourage all partners to explain (or even demonstrate) the IVR option during the initial set-up process.