bose.co.uk

Shattered Loyalty in One Phone Call

After weeks of waiting for the Bluetooth USB Link Adapter (to utilise my NC700's effectively with MS Teams - ie. Working Mute button), it finally came back in stock, so like a loyal user (I have been a supporter of BOSE since 2002, and have most flavours of devices, from Lifestyle Home Cinema Surround sound, through Sound bars, Smart Speakers and most headphones, thought the years), in the past I have had no problems, and found everyone very helpful either in sales or advice, until today!My new USB adapter turned up, incredibly late even by UPS standards, so today was my test run, day one some may say.Without doubt the pairing to my NC700's was seamless, so my expectation were high, my first MS Teams call soon demolished that feeling, the audio was fine as you would expect, but alas, the mute button, which only works if you connect with this adapter (hence my purchase), didn't work...pressing and holding the mute button, DID raise and lower my hand, but a short press doesn't mute, it merely causes a defocus of the meeting window, to the Teams dashboard/Home Screen.So off to the web to see if I was alone, no hits seemed to offer the same issue, so I had to resort to a call to BOSE support - this is where it has all gone wonky, the first support agent managed to cut me off mid flow, the second, well this is where the story gets interesting - Now before I get accused of offshore bashing that is not the case, but as the High St banks learnt 15+ years ago, Premium users expect an impeccable service, which is why people accept higher pricing (and subsequently started to re-onshore for Premium services) - BOSE being a Premium brand should fall into that category.After explaining myself several times and having each point re-played to me, the agent clearly had no concept of my problem (or product), and whilst clearly following an incorrect script, and significant periods of silence (clearly reading documents) had no experience of the product concerned - this in its own right is nothing short of frustrating and considering my preamble I informed her of my actions to self help. Then the worse possible statement came at me "can you reboot your laptop", these actions are not only insulting to certain individuals but a complete waste of breathe, effective triage should identify the potential competence of the customer and tailor the questioning accordingly.The agent then suggested that my NC700s were fault and would raise a fault ticket -- completely unacceptable since the day (August 2021) I have had these they have worked flawless, on Apple devices, mobile devices and natively on Windows 10 laptops, all I wanted was the mute function in MS Teams as an addition.The agent dismissed the fact that this was the first outing of the USB Bluetooth Adapter, and focused on the incorrect area - again creating frustration and annoyance.This single experience has single handedly destroyed my faith in the brand, and in my recommendation to others - I am thankful, that I have now actioned a return for this £40 piece of kit, if this had been my £000's Cinema Setup, I would be a tad more upset.The take away from this experience is;- in my opinion BOSE has dropped from being a premium brand- the support mechanism is a complete shambles and needs a massive overhaul- other Brands now need to be considered- customer services (on my third call) were so quick to offer me the refund, rather than try and resolve my issue, which symbolises the lack of pride/belief in the products.I am so disappointed in the actions taken, my illusion has been totally shattered.As I finish off, I would last like to point out that I am a Technical Director for an International BPO/ITO organisation so I consider that my opinion is not only valid but I know how to 'peak behind the curtain' for these types of issues, and also the need for customer centric service excellence.

Date of experience: Oct 10, 2022