Fed up with how crap 'Customer Service' is everywhere!

[OnlyTeaForMe]

That's it really.
I seem to have spent too much time today chasing up things due to basically crap customer service:

• Returned something to Millets - they still haven't refunded me 3 months and many emails later

• Turned up at Boots to have them say they hadn't received my prescription. I contacted my GP surgery and got a terse 'well tell them we sent it '. Deadlock.

• Trying to get a household job done. Contacted several tradespeople last week - not one has returned a call.

I know I'm old, but when I worked in business service standards used to be a thing and customer service was important.

Grr...

How much has Covid impacted on things?

Re the Millets thing the shops are shut so presumably running an online operation that is now very busy?

The Boots thing happens to me all the time so no idea what the problem there is. The prescription goes over automatically and I should get a text from Boots when it's ready but it's all a bit it and miss.

Not sure about tradespeople. I have managed to get a decorator/plumber and gardener recently. I think the decorator had had a lot of cancellations.

You’re not unreasonable to feel like this but I think everyone is just worn out and downtrodden. Life is pretty monotonous at the moment. That’s not an excuse but I think it may be the reason for it. Whether you put in a huge effort or no effort at all, you still leave work without the prospect of a meal out, a social evening with friends or a night at the cinema. Life’s a bit glum!

I agree. I tried to buy a car seat from Halfords last week. I paid for click and collect and they would only give it to me in exchange for my daughter's name, age, etc to ensure the seat was "appropriate"

They are collecting kid's names and birthdates in the ruse of "safety". Creepy.

I refused, customer service shrugged their shoulders and I am waiting for a refund a week later.

Yep. Just dealt with the most incompetent, useless estate agent last week; really nearly blew my top. Thank fuck we're now in a position where we won't have to use one again for a long time!

I did have the misfortune to spend way too long in a car showroom with the worst car salesman ever. It was all very awkward with the 'if you sign today and you pay £250 to secure it' stuff after being told I would not be signing anything today. But I thinks that's standard isn't it?

I think it's down to 'computer says no' a lot of the time, companies saving money using systems that are run by people who've never served a customer in their life and people facing customers no longer allowed to use their common sense or judgement for fear of action for not following policies.
Customer expectations are very high, unfeasibly so sometimes, compared to what the companies actually allow their staff to do.
The companies seem to have forgotten that customers and staff are at the heart of everything, they listen to neither and unless the money stops rolling in (beyond where laying off a few staff helps) then they're not really that bothered.

I hear you! It's really bloody frustrating, especially when it's lots of things all at once. Re the Millets thing, you can contact your bank and get a charge back - really quick and easy, job done.

It's really frustrating when you start the day with a list of tasks and it feels like you take 2 steps forward and 3 back!

And so many companies and organisations have become inpenetrable during Covid (and I can't help feeling some are deliberately so!).

GP surgery was particularly unhelpful - just kept replying that the prescription had been sent, with no suggestion of what I could do since Boots just shrugged and said 'we haven't got it'. Then when I re-requested the prescription online with a note as to why I was requesting it again, they just rejected it with no follow up. Grrr.

@MaMaD1990 - thanks for info about chargebacks. Would that apply for only part of an order though? I'll look into it.

I'm not sure, but I don't see why they wouldn't do it for you, it's still money you've paid out and not been refunded. Make sure you pour yourself a huge glass of wine tonight and stick two fingers up to the lot of them!

Can’t answer for all the issues, but regarding the prescription... have you used that pharmacy before? Because electronic prescriptions love to wander and depending on how the pharmacy operates, may not have been downloaded to the store system yet.
You need to nominate your preferred pharmacy first, that can be done in the pharmacy, just ask the staff. Can also check which pharmacy is nominated in case it’s somewhere else.
If you bring your NHS number we can also trace any prescriptions issued and where they’ve gone, and download if not already downloaded somewhere else.
Of course this depends on the computer system all working, it does like to crash.
Also depends on how experienced the pharmacy staff are with the system and what can be done locally, and of course the current workload. We have at times been on our knees due to staff illness/isolation, increased workload and then a few bank holidays get chucked in for good measure. Not making excuses but there have been times it’s been a full 10 days between prescription request and it being ready for collection.
My store has more than doubled prescription items this year with no increase in staff numbers or budget.
I’m sorry you’ve experienced this, may be worth trying again if you have the details above and know what to ask for -if it’s not there ask the staff to run a trace on the spine using your nhs number. Nicely.

In general though, we’re all knackered and fed up. It’s been a bloody hard year.

@Lilmzsnowflake - thanks for trying to help, but this has been my nominated pharmacy for many years, and I checked the GP online system and it's definitely the nominated one. I left 11 working days between ordering and trying to collect. The store was virtually empty when I visited and I was the ONLY person collecting a prescription. The member of staff was just BLOODY RUDE and treated me like an idiot. I offered to bring up the details on the GP surgery online app and she just waved me away saying it 'wouldn't help'.
I'm not working in the town at the moment, so I'm not inclined to make another 50 min round trip in the hope that someone might help, so long as I speak to them 'nicely' .
We're all tired, fed up etc and trying to do our own jobs - it's not really an excuse to be shitty to customers.

I've now managed to get the EPC barcode from the GP surgery, but since Boots won't answer a phone or provide a store email I can't send it to them, so I'm in discussions with an online pharmacy to move my prescriptions to them in future.

Agreed.
Covid is the new excuse for bad service.
I say this as someone currently being ghosted by the fucking chimney sweep

Agree. Covid is definitely the new excuse for shitty service everywhere.

I think some companies are loving covid because it gives them an excuse for shit service!

Yanbu. But some workers are wfh with inadequate equipment, no printers so their output is slower. Yet demand and workload is 50% higher with no additional staff or resources.
Coupled with stroppier clients (stroppier people in general) it isn't running at its best.
Plus facing workers are exhausted dealing with nasty angry people and it must be all they can do to keep calm in that situation.
Then off they go home often to start job 2..child wrangling..
There's no let up and no pleasure.

I work as a live chat advisor and honestly a lot of the time, I find myself agreeing with the customer, but because of the company policies, I'm the one that gets to bear the brunt of the difficult service 🙃 when it's not the policies, it's the same mundane, monotonous things for 8-10 hours everyday, if you're lucky you get sworn at and named everything under the sun to shake the shift up a little.

My step mum is having to call a lot of service providers (BT, ADT etc) to get things switched to her name and bank account after dad died.

They are all useless. ADT switch her endlessly around departments none of which can actually assist so she has to call weekly and explain the situation every time, constantly talking about dad dying.

BT said they'd sorted it, but then didn't, and when she called they wanted info like when a bill was last paid but she doesn't have access to dad bank account so she has to go through it all over again.

It's so frustrating for her having to keep repeating all this, it's hard enough to talk about anyway.

@arinah - aw, I never take it out on call centre staff - tbh I'm usually so grateful to speak to a living human I am over-gushing with them!
I've worked in businesses with call centres and I know how hard it is.

Covid is the new excuse for bad service.

Which rather mistakenly suggests you were starting from a high bar.

@OnlyTeaForMe no phone calls for me, I'd definitely burst into tears if I was verbally told the things I've been sent over message! It is a tough balance, even outside of covid there are a lot of policies in place by companies that require the customer to chase every step up themselves, which doesn't seem fair even from my end.

If we still had 'That's Life' (perish the thought) then I am sure they would have had a weekly award for bad customer service during the pandemic.

Just in the last four weeks:

1. two cancelled Asda deliveries because 'the van broke down' both times. Can't talk to the store, had to wait a week for refunds. Luckily, I was able to pick it up from the store the first time and got a click and collect slot for the next day the second time. I now shop with Tesco.

2. ordered fancy ice cream as a treat for the kids, first time using Deliveroo. Order took 1 hour to be dispatched, then the GPS showed the driver going the wrong way then they cancelled it. Two weeks for a refund.

3. Green Flag - I entered my reg number one digit wrong when I bought a new policy on Friday just gone. They took payment immediately. Called on Saturday 'its not on the system yet, try Monday, yeah its an easy fix etc'. Tried yesterday and today on live chat and phone and its still not showing up. All very 'computer says no'.

I work in customer services for a small company and our standards are very high. I would get dragged over the coals if I spoke to a customer the way I've been spoken to this last few weeks. I am always unfailingly polite because I know how shit it can be. Covid has been an excuse for shitty service for long enough now.

On the flip side, customers have become way more demanding and unreasonable. People want everything for nothing and they want it yesterday. They expect us to be pyschic and know what they need, growing tired of answering basic questions so I can process their order or help with their complex query. On emails and live chat they are not afraid to be rude and nasty because they are not face to face or over the phone. Its like the human element has disappeared.

Covid has become the catch all excuse for shit customer service.

Dare to complain - Covid

Delays - Covid

Anything you're not happy with - Covid.

Customer service has been terrible for a year now and everyone seems to blame it on Covid and so-called unprecedented times if I hear that sentence again I will scream.