In defence of customer services, well kind of.....

After last week's customer services fun *, everywhere I look at the moment there are articles and TV programs about bad customer service. Have they been there all the time and am I just noticing them because it has been on my radar recently? They all seem to have one thing in common and that is how badly the customer is treated. Well there are two sides to every coin and this is no exception, so in an effort to address the balance let me tell you how unreasonable customer can be. 

* We are still waiting for the missing feet but our supplier has a couple of weeks before I contact their customer abuse line again for another round of ritual humiliation. No sign of that horse's head either.  Shame -  McG was looking forward to a bed time snack.

During our New Year ski trip our rep was running late for his visit to our chalet. His excuse he had been corned by another guest in one of the other chalets and harangued for over an hour and a half about the poor service that the guest felt he was receiving. The reason for the customers complaint was the wireless internet in the chalet was not working. When it was pointed out to him that the chalet did not have wireless access and in fact wireless had not been offered as part of the package that the customer had booked. Far from placating him he became even incensed and demanded to know how the rep was going to sort it out for him. I wouldn't have given the bloke 30 seconds yet alone an hour and a half.....tempted as I was I decided not to spend the next two hours complaining to the rep that he was over an hour 1/2 late for his appointment with us.

This to me demonstrates the flaw in the "Customer is always right" argument that some people put forward. If I thought I could get away with it I would use the CIAR point  to complain on a number of issues in life.  For example :-

Car Ads
I'm sorry but whenever I have attempted to take a brand new car for a test drive around the ocean**  far from skimming across the waves, the car sinks to the bottom and the engine floods. Don't even get me started on trying to jump a car across the city rooftops......all you end up is having to abandon a very damaged car as you limp away from a mob of angry residents a bit miffed that you have destroyed various parts of their homes. No amount of trying to explain that you were only trying out a serving suggestions seems to calm these unreasonable individuals. While I'm at it, where in gods name in the 22nd century do city dwellers get hold of burning torches and pitch forks at such short notice.

** Just trying to replicate what they do in the adverts - surely the adverts count like the proverbial serving suggestion, or in this case surfing might be more appropriate....

Under arm pit spray
Not once in all my years of using certain brands of under arm pit spray have I been chased down the street by scantily dressed hot woman (not that I need to be, Mrs B is more than enough for me, I'm not just saying that because Mrs B reads this) not even the slightest nudged by a slight over amorous tortoise or buzzed by a love forlorn may fly. Quite frankly I feel cheated....

BlackLOG
I would also like to complain about the BlackLOG, since I started writing the Blogt I have not once come across a Log yet alone a black one. It's outrageous and if I were you I would not stand for it, you should be bombarding the BlackLOG with complaints that it hardly does what it says on the tin.

The end of the Fireplace saga
Bad news for any fireplace saga fans out there as the story limps to a fairly unexciting conclusion. Things started out promisingly for you, as I got a phone call last Wednesday to coincide with the time the contractors were due to once again attempt to fit the correct stove....

Apparently the original fireplace that we were told was not suitable :-

"Oh, yes it is!"

"Oh no it isn't!"

"It's behind you!"

"Oh no it's not...." - What was behind us was the freezing Christmas where we could not use our fireplace...

turned out to have been delivered to them with the wrong coloured door ... They've only had six weeks to spot that one.  I just about held it together as the surveyor laughed on the other end of the line and said "It's funny how once something goes wrong it all starts to go wrong" Yeah bloody hilarious, especially when it interferes with Mrs B's idyllic Christmas

They rearranged for Friday and considering what has gone before it all went very smoothly, we now have the stove that we ordered in the first place. However I could have done without the new fitter saying

"Why didn't the other fitter put this in in the first place, it's a pretty standard fit....?"

i.e, we could have had the work complete on time and for Christmas

Aaarrrgggghhhh

I'm sure it is very nice in the right environment

- Yeah, if you are blind and have no taste.

Apologies to any readers who have a similar stove but you

are obviously blind and have no taste.Well done for

finding the brail version of the blog though.

"Nice labrador what’s his name?"

"Err sorry no this is not a crossing point my watch alarm just went off....?"

After weeks of waiting and just after the cold

snap we finally got what we ordered

Delivery fun
This started off as really good service, I had a text message reminding me that a package was being delivered on Saturday

Around midday I got a phone call asking me if I was expecting a delivery.

"Yes"

"Well it's been delivered to mine"

it was someone from across town, other than the house number and the town name none of the details were even similar

What I don't understand was why the bloke signed for my shipment. Yes he was expecting a package, but while my package was a huge heavy wall mounting kit for our new TV*** he was expecting a small package containing a light fitting. What on earth made him sign for a huge box that did not have his name or address and hardly fitted in his living room....

***Any thoughts I had of installing the wall mounting kit myself (and saving a small fortune) went out of the window when I found I could barley lift the kit. Thankfully it’s going to be attached to one of our external walls. The combined weight of TV and the wall mounting kit means that it would take a pretty determined house thief to steal our house now.....I would have said a pretty hefty storm to blow away our house but even though I don't believe in god I saw (no not first hand, the cheek) what he did to the Titanic after man made similar style claims.....

In the end I was to grateful to get my package I decide not to question him on it.

A couple of hours later I got a phone call from the delivery guy who had just realised his mistake and was attempting to rectify the problem.

I explained that I had already retrieved it so he thanked me and apologised one again

Ok he didn't get it right but he was at least trying to sort it out....I threw away the 14 pages of vitriol I had written to the delivery firm....


I'll leave you with some pictures of the week

Say it loud I'm 50 and proud.

Our 'Old' friend Ash celebrates his half century.

More details next week....

Mrs B's parents dog Max

"What you looking at fool!!!"

Butter would not melt ....

Psst do you want to buy a bed?