Is it me or is customer service getting worse in this country?

[Deleted User]

Companies always seem to screw things up through poor service !!!

In the last week :-

- Virgin ported my number to the wrong number even though I specifically told them which one to use. (Got two numbers on my account, one of which is my Dads sim).

- Barclaycard cancelled my credit card because I paid £1000 for something.

- Villa booking in florida cancelled because the owner found someone else who was willing to pay the old higher price (I had been given a late booking discount)

In the last few months :-

- Car bodyshop made a mess of respraying my car and I had to complain to insurance company to get it sorted.

- Rented a caravan in Butlins but owner didnt bother telling me all the facilities were closed due to a special event.

- Numerous complaints to restaurants, cinemas for poor food, service, or facilities.

I'm sure in the UK we just put up with things. I'm on a mission to complain time I experience bad service !!!!

fluffnutter

It's an interesting one. I actually think customer service has improved. What you're describing (in the main) are mistakes. I do think that companies might be becoming more incompetent and therefore making more mistakes as a result. Perhaps the scale of what we spend our money on, how we spend our money, what medium we use to buy products (e.g. internet, mail order) has increased. Modern life is kind of complicated. We've come a long way from growing veg and swapping sheep. But customer service? Probably better than it was 30 years ago. The consumer is king after all.

viv0147

I asked in the store if they had a complaints department ? the reply I received was no you fat bas-ard

[Deleted User]

fluffnutter wrote: »

It's an interesting one. I actually think customer service has improved. What you're describing (in the main) are mistakes. I do think that companies might be becoming more incompetent and therefore making more mistakes as a result. Perhaps the scale of what we spend our money on, how we spend our money, what medium we use to buy products (e.g. internet, mail order) has increased. Modern life is kind of complicated. We've come a long way from growing veg and swapping sheep. But customer service? Probably better than it was 30 years ago. The consumer is king after all.

LOL. Yeh maybe. But I find theres loads of companies who think they can get away with screwing up.

gordikin

Did you have a confirmed booking for your Florida holiday?

Jo_Mc_2

I've had a few instances of poor customer service recently, I really do think that companies are less interested in keeping their customers happy now than they were a few years ago.

Today for instance, I called a leisure facility an hour away from us which my children had been given giftcards for to book a session there for them, and I had a discount voucher for my husband to use when taking them - it's an expensive place and I always (this is the third time my children have been given giftcards for this place by this one person) feel a little peeved at having to put extra to this "gift" for my husband to go, although it's necessary that he does to keep an eye on our children so the discount eases the pain a little.

Anyway, I told the receptionist that I had these giftcards and also a voucher and told her the time of the session I wanted to book and she immediately asked for my credit or debit card number. I reminded her about the cards and voucher so she took the giftcard numbers first and when they'd gone through again asked for my credit or debit card number. Again I reminded her that I still had to give her a discount voucher. She sighed loudly, said "Oh God" and abruptly told me I'd have to hold on. A few minutes later she came back and took the code. She was so rude. I paid and even with my children's sessions being covered by their giftcards and my husband having a discount off the cost for him, I still paid over £15 - as I said, it's not a cheap place.
I called back shortly afterwards and asked to speak to the manager to make a complaint about the way I'd been dealt with. I could only get as far as a superviser who said a manager would call me. I said I was just going out but would be in after 12pm so was told someone would call me back at 12. By 1.30pm no one had called and I had to go out again so I phoned again. The manager was on her break but would call me when she got back apparantly.
The person who called me back was actually the superviser I'd spoken to earlier and she said that she'd worked it so that the cost of one of the sessions could be put back onto one of the giftcards. I said I didn't want that as it meant that we'd have to then make another visit there to use it - it's not exactly convenient being an hour away plus we'd end up spending yet more money at a facility that clearly doesn't put customer service to the forefront. Trying to be helpful she suggested that it could be spent at the bar, or on the junk food they serve there.

The point of my complaint wasn't to get money back onto the giftcards or whatever, but it was for the company involved to recognise that they'd failed in customer service when taking a booking from a paying customer, with the superviser making excuses for the receptionist...and even when I called to try and sort this out with a manager, she had failed to call me back when I was told she would.

preable

can customer service get any worse?

savemoney

Haven't had any bad experience in fact the opposite. Just lately I have had

Faulty 3rd party camera battery off ebay bough in Jan-Fen but haven't used much this year. came with 12 months warranty, told to send it back and got a replacement a few days later

Faulty dual layer discs must be a bad batch as normally have no problems apart from odd coaster. Got from Amazon, they sent me a replacement with no questions asked

Thats all I can think off for time being

Velcro_Hotdog

I think customer service is the same as it always was, the problem is that we are a nation or moaners who think we are owed compensation if the wind blows in the wrong direction.

Mistakes happen, just get on with it

marleyboy

I think you can get some good customer service, and some bad. I think its down to the individual, who are either more than happy to be helpful, or couldnt give a flock about it.

However this would moreso be dependent on how the customer approaches the situation.

I have had very helpful customer service, but then I have appalling customer service, its all down to how one individual respects the other, no matter what the circumstances.

The_One_Who

As someone who works in in customer service, I do try to help if I can. Shouting and screaming and moaning will just annoy me and I won't be inclined to help. Sometimes the public need to apply some common sense to their problems, for example asking if a party of six can move seats when the event is obviously sold-out isn't going to get a positive result.

Just remember that we are all human and we can all have bad days.