jeff oakley Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 I have just spent today ringing up various people from HMRC, Green Flag and LV insurance after having stood for over half an hour to pick up a prescription from Boots. All of these are unrelated but what binds them all is that they do not have staff to easily speak with. You spend ages being pointed to a website which does not work or a chat bot which is a moron. When you get back on the phone they tell you how important my call is then do not answer it for 15 or 20 minutes and then to add insult they do not know the answers and have to pass you around. When did we accept that we as customers have no right to expect customer service to actually serve us. Whoever invented automated phone systems should hang their heads in shame as it is the root of all evil. One company who gets it right is Amazon and people then wonder why they are so successful. Rant over 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 100% agree with all of that. Most of the time I email these days. It's easier for me as I sit at a computer all day and it has the benefit of starting an audit trail. My emails are short and punchy, never more than 5 sentences if I can, so that they can understand the issue within their attention span... The exception is calling the doctor, which I have had to do (not for me...) a few times recently. I call, get the hold music then stroll down to the surgery and stand at the window. They hate that. Doctors no longer see patients and their serivce either says call 111 or call an ambulance, so I take a more "direct" approach with them at the moment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 I long ago realised that customers are the bane of any business. An awful inconvenience they’d much rather do without. Try calling the sales line rather than customer support. I predict a rapid connection to a human. They probably won’t do anything for you, but at least you can express your ire at a human rather than a machine. Even Amazon aren’t a patch on what they used to be. Like most company's now, their website seems to be designed to make one lose the will to live, rather than provide answers. They all seem to follow the same design of endless recursive loops to the same page that gives no information on how to actually make any form of contact. Much as I loathe it, I have on occasion resorted to Facebook pages for making contact. I think all the staff that used to be employed talking to people now spend their days trying to manage “social media” interfaces to minimise damage. As for doctors, I stopped expecting to be able to see one about 2 years back. So far, I’ve not had any need, but as and when the time comes, I don’t anticipate much success. 16 hours waiting in A&E seems most likely. Getting oneself there, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Davis AO - Devon Cornwall & Somerset Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 My worst experience recently has been with HP, trying to get support to get my WiFi printer to connect to the internet. It was an excruciating business that went on for months, and I never succeeded in getting it working. It was only via an IT support contact my wife had that we finally managed to sort it, if I had to rely on HP the thing would be in the skip by now. I must be lucky with doctors. Back in Walton-on-Thames we had an excellent surgery and could always get an appointment when needed, even through Covid. I had low expectations on moving down to Crewkerne, but have been pleasantly surprised. They have an online form that you have to fill out with your problem and how you want them to respond, and they always do, whether it is via email, a phone call or a face to face appointment. No complaints on that score from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 3 hours ago, fatblokestu said: My worst experience recently has been with HP, trying to get support to get my WiFi printer to connect to the internet. It was an excruciating business that went on for months, and I never succeeded in getting it working. It was only via an IT support contact my wife had that we finally managed to sort it, if I had to rely on HP the thing would be in the skip by now. Yeah I am never buying an HP printer again. I was a fan until my current one, a laser printer/scanner which does neither very well and the on-line software nonsense is deeply irritating. And it's not like it's on wifi (I never do that 'cos they just become unreliable when the printer goes to sleep), it's on a USB cable directly to my PC. It's definitely going in the skip. I know I could and should donate it, but even for free it just ain't worth the effort... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 I agree that turning up at the receptionist's window at the GP surgery is the way to get an appointment. What really irks me on telephone approaches to complaining with any firm is that after a long controlled and calm diatribe to a customer service 'agent' and they eventually promise to do what you want, you thank them and they reply "not a problem". Of course there's a f*****n' problem, why do you think I've spent half a morning trying to speak to a human being! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenh Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Has Victor Meldrew joined this thread yet? Sorry, couldn't resist it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff oakley Posted March 21, 2023 Author Share Posted March 21, 2023 Always made me laugh when the program "grumpy old men" as on, My wife used to say they were not even mildly annoyed at the side when I got going. My worst example of bad service was with TUI. We went to a 4 star Croatian hotel for two weeks, Booked Sea view and was given a room with a roof in front above the disco. All attempts to get moved failed and the rep was just awful. There were other things, my wife is a ceoliac which they said they could cater for, which was salad for every meal. Upon return we complained which was met with lies and avoidance. One small claims court request put in and their solicitor was basically see you in court. Then the day before we were due in court, she actually read the case, saw the photographs and settled for around £6k with a huge apology. We didn't want that much at first as we had the flight and made the best of it, but when their customer service team did what they did we thought what the hell. We still do get exceptional service from many companies, usually small independent ones who value customers, but the bigger they are, excepting Amazon in my opinion, the worse they are because we are faceless to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TableLeg Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 With regards to the prescription, can not get it delivered free? https://www.pharmacy2u.co.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 Used to use Pharmacy2u. Was OK for a while but once it went wrong, oh boy!!! So I went back to picking it up from my local pharmacy 'cos when it goes wrong it is possible to take direct action. All I will say about that is when I walk in there now, they know my name and what I want without having to be asked... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 "Something for the weekend sir?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 4 hours ago, Man On The Clapham Omnibus said: "Something for the weekend sir?" And that, although I had a haircut this week too 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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