When was the last time . . .

[damian_steele]

. . . that you found someone doing a good job?

It has seemed to me in recent years that there are very, very few people left who do actually do a good job. Or is it merely that there are many, many more people these days who do a bad job?

Today, for example, I had to telephone for an appointment at the local hospital after a referral from my GP. They told me that they had no idea what I was talking about and had no information on their system. So I called the GP surgery and was told that the form he'd sent was incorrectly filled out and had been returned. The surgery admitted that they should have phoned me, but didn't. They also admitted that they should have sent a new form to the hospital straight away - but didn't. So now I have to wait for a letter from the GP's to tell me when and who to phone at the hospital so I can then wait again for an appointment. And this is for a scan to find out whether I have cancer or not!

An hour after that farce I had my delivery from Tesco. Now Tesco, in their attempt to look like they care about environmental issues, gives the customer the choice of whether to have goods delivered with carrier bags or without. I choose the "with" option as it is easier to bring the items from the doorstep to the kitchen. Anyway, the chap turned up with about half the items just dumped in the delivery trays - without bags - and those bags that were packed had a mix of goods that should not be placed together - such as fresh foods and cleaning fluids. Then we found out that some of the items were missing, too.

What ever happened to the days when people did what they promised they would do, quickly and efficiently?

Do you deal with anyone who IS quick, accurate and efficient?
Can you commend any large companies who still offer a decent service these days?
Do you personally employ someone who actually earns their wage instead of expecting their money just for turning up?
Or is the whole country really going down the toilet?

[Fossy]

I sympathise with you Damien. I agree with you that the Country is going down the drain when it come to customer service and good wokmanship.

[DanTheMan3]

I needed an electrician a couple of months ago as we had lost power to half the house.
I phoned him at 6.00pm on a sunday evening.
He came round within the hour and checked where the fault was.
He set up temporary lighting for us.
Next day he turned up at 8.00am and started to rewire part of the ring main.
He finished at 4.00pm having rewired 3/4 of the ring main.
He also installed a new consumer unit with built in RCD's.
Total cost £165.00.
Absolutely delighted with the work that he had done and even more pleased at what he charged me.
.

[ejean9]

I dont think people give a flying for instance anymore...a while back i bought a Warbungtons loaf..it had huge chunks of uncooked yeast in it..i took pics..contacted War...someone got back to me (eventually)...sent them pics ect...i have contacted them twice since..they havent bothered to reply !
Local Asda..i was overcharged 6 different times for the same item (this went on for weeks)..each time i had to stand in a queue at customer services to get a refund...i contacted Asda..someone emailed me back for further details...have i heard back ??
and on that note..im off to contact Warb again...this time..i wont be pleasant !

[Jencel]

Well, I do hope I do a good job when i do workshops or childrens parties (or sending out orders) , says I, blushing.

I agree, though, the big companies are so frustrating to deal with. I try to avoid it as much as possible, to the extent that I get very lazy about switching gas and electricity suppliers.

Celia

[UniquenMornique]

Unfortunately the country is full of big wigs & not enough of the little wigs.
The big wigs get over paid for putting all the work on the little wigs who are getting there wages cut by ten% I believe.

No wonder they sometimes get it wrong.

I hope all goes well Damian hugs to you.

[JanetB]

2 weekends ago, hubby and I went to do our monthly bulk shopping at our member's club outlet, amongst some of the items, we purchased the usual 1lb punnet of mushrooms. We always check for size/color/sellbydate and all was fine until we got them home and hubby proceeded to cut them up.

He wasn't happy with the quality (I thought they were fine). So he located the manufacturer from the label, went online and found the website then proceeded to email them of his disappointment with the purchase. Within hours they emailed him back expressing their deepest apologies.

Last Saturday, in the mail, he received a check for $10 and coupons to purchase any of their brand products free of charge. We were quite surprised as hubby only wanted to express his dissatisfaction. We used the mushrooms anyway.

Now that's what I call customer service.


~Jan~

[Fossy]

I needed an electrician a couple of months ago as we had lost power to half the house.
I phoned him at 6.00pm on a sunday evening.
He came round within the hour and checked where the fault was.
He set up temporary lighting for us.
Next day he turned up at 8.00am and started to rewire part of the ring main.
He finished at 4.00pm having rewired 3/4 of the ring main.
He also installed a new consumer unit with built in RCD's.
Total cost £165.00.
Absolutely delighted with the work that he had done and even more pleased at what he charged me.
.

Thats an incredible price, the consumer unit and cable must have cost half that amount. Shame he doesnt live down this way..

[canuckbid]

Hello everyone. Well Canada is not the UK but I had a nice thing done last week. I accidently dropped some prepaid postage during my last visit to the post office.
This week it showed up in the mail addressed to me. I was very pleasantly surprised that the post office had taken the time and postage to send it to me. Also that they knew who I was. (must go back to feebay days when I shipped alot) I made a point of going in and thanking them. Very nice thing to do I thought.
They did a good job.

[PoppyGrove]

Todays society are more interested in profit - they go more for quantity as opposed to quality. In general, the companies don't give a fig for customer satisfaction - if you don't go back to them, their attitude is 'so what'. All the major supermarkets and diy outlets etc are all big enough and get a huge turnover of customers, they don't even know who steps through their doors or spends money, never mind miss someone who calls and doesn't call back.

One reason why I buy most of my food produce at the local market - it may be a little dearer, but its all local, all good food, and each purchase is appreciated, and as a customer, I am recognised as being important to them. Just like how things used to be in the village shop - remember them??

My pet hate is ringing a company and being told 'they're out, they will ring you back as soon as they get in'. That time passes and I'm into another day, and still no return phone call.