Do you think businesses will ever go back to making life easier for customers?

[NutellaEllaElla]

They seem to be all about inconveniencing us for their gain. I'm thinking of supermarkets and other shops requiring you to sign up (hand over your details) for their membership - sometimes you have to pay for the privilege of 'discount' prices which are really just the prices it was before.

Aldi only had one human on the till, the rest was self scan (elder lady was saying it was to her disadvantage).

Ryanair seem actively hostile to their customers. All airlines now charge extra for things that used to be included.

Banks, governmental orgs, any services really, all direct me to their website to waste time looking for answers to my questions rather than bother to provide customer service.

Amazon Prime video now has adverts and you have to pay extra if you don't want them. Same price, worse service.

The list is endless.

Yeah, modern life is rubbish.

The examples cited in OP are of products and services offered at rock bottom prices.

These organisations are literally in business in order to make money. The examples you give such as Aldi or Ryan judge that their potential customers are extremely price sensitive and that they will put up with a lot of minor inconvenience for the sake of a good price.

If this does not suit you, if you want really excellent customer service focus on your needs then yes, you are going to have to pay more.

Company the whole customer journey for a sharply priced RyanAir flight and first class on any national flag carrier airline. I think you will be able to spot the difference.

As the saying goes: you pays your money and you makes your choice. Simples.

No. They have shown they can get away with it. What is the incentive to change?

I am not sure they will. I think the commrnt amount price is right, but i also think that there isnt a lot of competition for some things either as its all a bit global nowm

I can cope with all of those except Ryan Air who seem genuinely to make life as difficult as they possibly can for their poor customers. Ghastly organisation, to be avoided at all cost.

Even HMRC is a pussy cat in comparison.

Yes it is all worse, fortunately I'm old so not too long to go now to put up with it all

They should have options obviously but a lot of those thing for me personally I find do make life easier.

if I can sort something online rather than finding time to go into town or sit on hold on the phone that’s a good thing.

when I fly with Ryanair I don’t need to take more than a small bag with me so I can stick with the cheapest option rather than paying for things I don’t need.

there is an element of swings and roundabouts with a lot of these things.

I agree OP. Sometimes I see why, cheaper prices for poorer services and that's fair enough as its consumer choice. But often its almost like they are just being vindictive, making it as difficult as possible. Chat bots to replace humans are ridiculous, and the chat service when they are human are almost as bad as they don't have access to your details such as emails and you have to enter all details again, then security questions etc..just pay someone to answer the bloody phone.

I think you just probably have to pay more now because people want everything cheaper so I pay for Amazon Prime, Tesco deliver saver, no ads on the telly where I can and never fly with Ryanair. Service in shops is terrible now so I tend just not to use them.

It's not just private businesses. GP's, social services, police force, schools (not the teachers), everyone seems to be going out of their way to make service users feel like an inconvenience. I called up for a gp appointment yesterday at 2pm. It took 15 minutes to actually get through, then I was on hold for 25 minutes before speaking to a receptionist. When I asked for an appointment the woman actually LAUGHED at me. Told me it was at least a month for non emergency appointments. What a time to be alive.

I agree and disagree with you here.

Aldi and Ryan Air - you kind of expect.

But a couple of weeks ago I had to travle by air - the amount of my time that I have to give for this process is unbelievable. Due to inadequate staffing numbers at security and immigration etc the flow of people is slow. So I have to compensate by "donating" time.

Having to sign up, agree to this and that for simple things on line is also crap - data mining and a time suck.

Amazon are dreadful - grasping every penny this way and that so he can fly around the earth. I do not use it for anythingat all anymore and life is better for it.

Apple - built in obsolesence etc.

Coffee shops - Cafe Nero, Starbucks etc. Terrible coffee, expensive, often dirty.

I think the op has a very valid point. Part of the problem as I see it is monoplies.

It us not like these companies do not make money -there are more billionaires than ever - we pay the price though.

I'm moving my Business accountant and other services, which is a right pain in the butt - however after a year of feeling like an inconvenience and having really bad call with them this morning where their attitude stunk, I'm ending our contract with them. It's the fact a lot of services don't even attempt a decent customer interaction anymore, so agree with you OP.

If a company or organisation make my life a misery I (try to) avoid using that company in future.

I work for TfL and when you have a problem with your Oyster card or contactless payment you can only sort it out online or on the phone. The customer experience has nosedived because the customer has to sort out their ticketing issues away^^ from the station/stop when (as some see it) there's a person doing nothing standing by the gate. I totally understand their point of view.

I think it depends on what you consider "easier".

I much prefer self service checkouts, they save me having to queue.

Budget airlines have made many things which used to be free chargable but not everyone uses or pays for those. They have also made flying a lot more affordable. Flying was a lot more expensive before the likes of Ryanair came along.

Being directed to a website may seem like an inconvenience but how did banks give us that information before? You either had to write a physical letter or had to make an appointment and take time out of your day to go and ask the question in a branch.

My absolute pet hate is when you do phone for whatever reason and before you even get the options you have to listen to a recording telling you to go to their website.

I think customer service is reasonably different between budget supermarkets, airlines and other price sensitive options. I think budget supermarkets are dependent on the management ethos. Locally, they seem to respond better to customer need.

Customer service from banks, insurance companies, manufacturers, has nosedived. They over promise and under deliver.

Not with the labour market as it is, no. Unless you're willing to pay more for the customer service you want, maybe. But a lot of this is just a function of living in a society without all the workers we want.

Severely visually impaired here, I can’t use self checkouts or websites that don’t have accessibility. I’m on my own, and yes, things like no one around at the supermarket to help, can be a bit difficult to say the least. Thankfully there are some good people around who will step in, but it’s definitely hard.

Whilst I can understand your logic I’m not sure that the more expensive companies are any better.
I’ve been trying to buy few goods/ services but better quality for about 10 years now. Unfortunately everything is much of a muchness; quality and service has gone down the pan irrespective of how much you pay.

That really isn't true. Take a million pounds to Harrods and see if the service is shit.

Well yes of course that true but who can afford to do that?
Im talking about paying 30 - 50% more for supposedly better quality/service.