RIP OFF, charging ridiculous amounts for add ons- set up to rip off travellers and visitors to Serbia! AVOID!
Prior to my arrival in Belgrade, I intended to purchase a eSIM card and add credit in advance to ensure access to various services upon landing. A1: this experience is most likely the first interaction between international travelers and Serbia and its people.
Make it delightful! Be better ambassadors for Serbia, its people, and its citizens!
Upon arriving at Nikola Tesla Airport, I was required to visit the A1 service counter, where a visibly bored and annoyed representative assisted me by verifying my passport and manually activating the number, a procedure I had hoped to avoid.
It worked until I ran out of credit.
I added more money and purchased multiple add-ons, most useless to me and avtotal waste of money (their servicesbut the activation process remained unsuccessful, and I spent hours attempting to resolve the issue.
When I tried to pay for parking via SMS, it did not work. I was notified that the transaction was declined, but I received no explanation or guidance on what I could do about it.
Attempting to provide feedback or interact with automated support on my phone also proved unnecessarily difficult.
But then, when I called customer support, an agent with the most soothing voice by the name of Zoja saved the day, and ultimately my impression of A1, hence a rating of 3 instead of 1.
Ms. Zoja’s professionalism, patience, attentiveness, ability to calm a frustrated customer, and problem-solving skills were truly exemplary. After performing the necessary checks, she explained that Serbia currently does not operate a 5G network and that my phone’s network settings needed to be manually adjusted to function correctly. Remarkably, she even remained on the line and guided me step by step until everything was successfully resolved.
Such a level of dedication and professionalism is exceedingly rare. Ms. Zoja’s expertise, understanding, and genuine commitment not only resolved the technical issues but also significantly improved my impression of A1 and elevated my overall experience.
However, this experience revealed a critical communication gap.
Customers, particularly international users, must be clearly informed that 5G connectivity is not available in Serbia and that devices set to connect automatically to 5G networks may fail to register properly. Proactive communication on this matter would prevent confusion, frustration, and unnecessary service calls.
Employees of Ms. Zoja’s caliber should be recognized and entrusted with teaching, mentoring, and training others!!
Her approach exemplifies best practices in customer relations and technical support and should serve as a model for future training and development. Notably, she assisted me fluently in Serbian, demonstrating both cultural and technical competence.
I want to express my sincere appreciation once again to Ms. Zoja for her outstanding service, professionalism, and dedication. Go Zoja!
EDIT: After charging me for 100 add-ons (none of which which really worked btw) I am saying this for anyone thinking about paying this company to rip you off .- avoid like the plague! 🤬