People using up your time

Georgiegirl256

Slinky wrote: »

What is it with bikes that they 'have to be set up?'. I've never understood this. Why aren't they ready to take off the shelf?

They don't come put together, they've got to be assembled. You've got to make sure the brakes are adjusted correctly so they work, and also so they don't make a squealing noise when you brake. Make sure the tyres are inflated correctly and the seat adjusted to the correct height. It's a long time since I was a bike mechanic, but of the top of my head that's what I can think of!

onlyroz

Slinky wrote: »

What is it with bikes that they 'have to be set up?'. I've never understood this. Why aren't they ready to take off the shelf?

Because they come in a box, in bits. You are welcome to just take the box, and that gets you the extra fun of solving a jigsaw puzzle while your six-year-old asks "is it ready yet?" every two seconds.

zarf2007

FBaby wrote: »

But it's absolutely everywhere or so at least it seems and happens even with managers. Same with supermarket staff who stack shelves in the middle of the day and seem to think that customers should be waiting for them to finish, or move to let them pass with their trolleys, or just block a whole alley whilst talking with their colleague. They seem to be doing so totally naturally that it is hard to believe they have actually been told not to.

tbh the whole customer service industry is a joke these days. Due to a number of things like lack of staff training, zero hour contracts etc employees really don't give a toss. Companies only care about one thing, are they making as much profit as possible for their shareholders, who cares if customer service is rubbish.

I find most shop staff have an attitude of 'like it or lump it I dont care because even if you storm out and never buy anything here again in your life there will be another 10 people along in a minute who will'.

I feel most of the younger generation have the attitude that "this is just my day job until I marry a millionaire or win X Factor and become rich and famous, why invest time in doing it well".

Take Indian call centres, the whole country moans about them and they do nothing but damage the brand of every company that use them but because they are cheap and (obviously discounting the hidden millions lost trying to train them and the loss of sales due to their incompetence) look good on a balance sheet, companies persist in using them. Try changing your TV or broadband package on BT or Virgin.....yeah good look with that.


You also have the 'saturday staff' culture who really don't give a toss and are too busy hung over from the night before to even care.

tbh until companies put service before profits (will never happen) or there is a viable alternative so that people will vote with their feet it will never change.

I'd say a few companies stand out for customer care, Apple and in my experience Nationwide are two such organisations that have been consistently helpful no matter which shop/branch/online store I visit.

Indie_Kid

Slinky wrote: »

Annoying though it is to wait at the doctor's on the rare occasion I visit, I try to take the view I'd rather have my little-time-wasting-problem to talk to the doctor about rather than whatever it is that the person in front of me has time-taking problems with. I'm sure my friend with incurable brain cancer wishes she only takes up 5-10 mins of the doctor's time.

The GP once apologised for running late. (they tend not to if it's a few minutes or so) He explained that he was doing a home visit.

I know that for some things, you can book a double appointment.

I was at the hospital years ago. My appointment was at 11am. I arrived, they did some tests and put some eye drops in. I was finally seen at 14.30. And to make it worse, I had to spend those hours sitting there doing nothing. I had eye drops in and couldn't read a thing.

Caroline_a

My ex was consistently late for everything. As I am an ontime/early person I used to try to find ways around this by telling him that we were due at places at least an hour and a half before we were, and we generally got there roughly on time. Looking back, it was definitely passive aggressive behaviour.

He would also be very late to the table when meals were ready - I quickly gave up waiting for him, the children and I would often have finished by the time he arrived, despite being told things were ready just before I put the veg on! Several times the dog managed to get the first 'lick' in while the food congealed on his plate :rotfl:

Needless to say it was a major factor in why he is now my ex....

SanguineSteve

I went on a group trip recently where we were forever half an hour to an hour late departing everyday.

The agent would tell us to be on the bus, ready to roll at 8am. They would only start to stir at 7:30 because "It only takes me half an hour to get ready" completely disregarding the fact there was 12 of us sharing 2 bathrooms and 1 kitchen.

Simply put - It's downright rude and disrespectful to the organisiers and everyone else on that trip.

Needless to say, I was seen as 'the stroppy one' (because i spent my entire trip waiting for their failings of basic timekeeping.... Gah!)

pollypenny

I'm still annoyed with the unprofessional Border Agency young woman who had just come on shift I think, snarled at me in an unintelligible way and talked to her neighbour as she settled herself.

I didn't have a clue what she was muttering.

Heathrow, 22 June, evening shift.

LilElvis

zarf2007 wrote: »

I'd say a few companies stand out for customer care, Apple and in my experience Nationwide are two such organisations that have been consistently helpful no matter which shop/branch/online store I visit.

I didn't find Apple at all helpful when I went to one of their stores to buy an iPad. I knew what I wanted so all I needed to do was pick up a box and pay for it. Easy - less than 5 minutes! Wrong! I had to give my name to a sales assistant in order to go on a waiting list to see a sales assistant who could actually serve me. Which they did - 45 minutes later! 45 minutes hanging around a crowded store just to be given a box and to pay for it! It makes the Argos system of multiple queuing (order, pay, collect) to make a purchase look like a work of genius.

Jagraf

I know often they have to do this, but I get really cross at works vans, buses, etc thinking they can hold me up in my car while they get on with their daily work, being paid, while I sit in my car wasting time and not getting paid.

'Let buses pull out'. What's that all about? It's about me putting myself out so that bus companies can make more money.

I had a row with a supermarket once as I phoned them to say an item was mouldy. They told me to take it back to the shop for a refund. So I suggested they come out and pick it up.

engineer_amy

My mother is constantly late. Its because she spends so much time talking to people, either by phone or in person. She will use 100 words to say something that could be said in 10. Most of the time, if she has an appointment, she is only leaving the house at the allotted appointment time. I find this incredibly rude especially if other people turn up on time for their appointments, and then have to wait because other people have turned up late and are still being seen by the doctor/dentist/whoever.


I now tend to tell her that events start at least half an hour before they actually do, then she has some chance of being on time. Growing up with this has had a big effect on me, as now I always make sure I am on time for things, or early, and leave enough time for things like traffic.


My dad has started going the same way now that he is retired and pottering about the house. He sees things that needs done and thinks he has plenty of time to do them. You say you will pick him up at 2pm. At 1.30pm he will decide to cut the lawn because he has plenty of time. By 2pm he is still trying to extricate the lawnmower from the garden shed......