Telefónica Tenacity

It is twenty months; yes, nearly two years since I left an address.  At the time I telephoned Telefónica to tell them I was cancelling the service. The procedure following the call is they say they will send a letter with a code number. You then call them and tell them that number. That way they know it is genuine. I never received that letter (I doubt very much that they sent it) so in their books there was no cancellation. A nice scam; coincidentally you ALWAYS get their solicitor's letter!

So why have I nearly two years later received a letter from an Alicante solicitor telling me I owe Telefónica €76.39 which I must pay? It is interesting that these companies are sloppy and uncommunicative as it is possible to be. But when a few euros are (allegedly) owed they epitomise administrative efficiency to a remarkable extent.

I am not surprised they were voted the worst company in Spain. I don't like seeing companies going bust and staff being made redundant but there are times when it is self-inflicted and as such deserving of no sympathy whatsoever.

Wonder how they arrived at that figure? Given that line rental is 14 € per month the figure should be more like 280 +IVA... and if you had adsl at the former address that would be 20 x 39€ making a more or less round figure totalling 1000 Euros. Sounds to me like what you have there is a bill for the last month of usage, line rental, calls, and adsl +IVA.

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I have to cancel one of our phone lines this week....I'll let you know how we get on, but from past experience these things are always much more complicated than they should be.

Justin

"Sounds to me like what you have there is a bill for the last month of usage, line rental, calls, and adsl +IVA."

Spot on Foxbat!  I will of course pay. What I was drawing attention to was the contrast in customer relations. Telefónica are notoriously sloppy and cavalier with their subscribers money. However, when it comes to avarice and single-minded tenacity in clawing in by fair means or foul sums of money they think are owed to them they are the world's most ruthless and efficient regime imaginable.

This being the case it might be a better idea if they left the communications side of things to a utility like British Telecom and morphed into a debt collection agency. Each to their own; they are really good at that.

Hi Mike, is it not the case that Telefonica are now owned by British Telecom, or at least an offshoot of them?

Yes, I know of the 'connection' but there is no direct BT input. Telefónica is very much an independent Spanish operation. Its ownership or share distribution is of no more than of academic fiscal interest. If anyone thinks that because of that tenuous connection they can expect BT standards from Telefónica they probably believe in the tooth fairy and have gnomes in their gardens.

Similarly Rentokill (the rat catchers) are one of the world's greatest multi-nationals; they own hundreds of 'independent' companies throughout the world. Who knows or cares?

Much the same can be said of the banks here with their familiar 'British' names and logos. They are in fact Spanish banks run independently to Spain's own system of rules, regulations, culture, work ethic and accountability. Think of the franchise operations as an example. The 'owners' buy the name, abide by general rules but basically run it their way.

 Telefonica is neither owned by BT nor an ofshoot of BT.  Telefonica is a publicly traded company owned by thousands of independent investors.  Originally,  Telefonica was a public company owned by the Spanish Ministry of Industry but it was privatised many years ago. 

You may not like the service it provides, but it is one of the most profitable Spanish multinationals.  A very substantial part of its profits are generated in Central and South America where it is one of the major telecom operators.

Mike, I just cancelled one of my phone lines today with Telefonica and managed to do it all over the phone.  It will take 15 days...I assume so that they can charge me an extra two weeks line rental but no need to verify any codes or anything.

So far so good and quite painless!

Justin