To think that Covid has become a convenient excuse for poor service ?

[Mellonsprite]

For some firms (not all) ?
Just come back from a couple of days away in the Uk. Lots of car parks still closed, public toilets not opened, Not many inside activities like museums and castles re-opened yet, the officious-ness of the clipboard wielding all in the name of Covid? The hotel Meal meal (Prepaid) was cancelled at last minute, then acting like refunding my fee paid upfront was highly generous of them, apparently they’d ‘mis-calculated due to Covid’. Neglecting the fact that it left us completely high and dry, unable to speak to guest relations via email or phone. Bars closing at 9pm with staff asking customers can we pay up & leave!

I have decided never to use Ocado again after the way they acted. The impact on me is near zero, but I’m sure others will do the same. I started recently getting lots of emails that I could book with them again.

@SkatingWithPenguins snap.

@TingTing1 Anyone with kids who has been working from home will probably tell you how it has made a massive difference on their productivity.
Kids have only just gone back so we may see a shift soon.

You make a very good point! Cross fingers we see a shift.

I work for a claims service for an insurer. It's quite niche. Lockdown had a massive impact. Most staff furlouhged. Now most are back and being paid up to 10 hrs overtime each week to get through the backlog of work. The only saving grace is the minimal number of new claims during lockdown. But covid isn't an excuse, it's a reason. As with all businesses, in normal times it is run on really lean staffing with minimal, and I mean minimal slack. So if a days work was lost it could take weeks to recover. Losing 3 months is not going to recover overnight.

Yes, you are right. Everything is a battle these days. It's very wearing.

But covid isn't an excuse, it's a reason

It';s both. Some firms have carried on being efficient throughout and hopefully they will reap the rewards.

Others furloughed everyone to save their top brass' bonuses and cut opening hours etc. Hopefully they won't do well (although as I said on the other thread, it's a pity if people lose their jobs because of the idiotic decisions of those above them, who are always ok regardless of how crap they are). And of course the negative impact on customers.

Our tip insists on pre-booking too because of "social distancing". I don't get this thing about cars needing to social distance. The virus can't get through metal.

Recently told that I can't get an engineer for a dishwasher "due to COVID" - is this because all the engineers are sick, or because the company is still taking as much furlough as possible

The latter, and it shouldn't be allowed. If your sector is open, you bring your staff back.

I needed to enact power of attorney (financial) for my FIL. I couldn't do it in branch so they gave me forms. The forms explained that due Covid it would take longer than usual but I would receive a response in 10 working days.
I called in 10 days only to be told it was taking longer due to Covid.
I explained that the form had already taken that into account, but they still trotted out all the usual stuff about how I needed to be patient.
It took over a month in the end.

They're going to have to seriously rethink WFH for anyone in customer-facing jobs. It's not good enough for organisations to spit out stock email responses then refuse to answer the phone.

@TingTing1

Anyone with kids who has been working from home will probably tell you how it has made a massive difference on their productivity. Kids have only just gone back so we may see a shift soon. Please don’t forget that for all workers everywhere, there is still the case that someone may have to isolate, and while they could still work from home if they already do, this takes other employees out of the workplace. Just yesterday in my local news, a member of a school office team was contacted to say they needed to isolate as they’d been in contact with a positive case. They subsequently tested positive (asymptomatic) and 3 other members of staff were identified as needing to isolate too. Whether the virus is a hoax or not, we’re still having to do this shit. If I get a call next week saying one of my kids is showing symptoms or been in contact with a case, our household then needs to isolate. If I test positive my branch has to shut for two weeks from the last time I was in work. Why? Because Covid.

TingTing1 why would your bank branch have to close for 2 weeks? Other businesses are closing for a deep clean and then re-opening with staff that haven't been in close contact with the person who tested positive?

In the case of the school you mention above with a number of staff now isolating has the school itself closed?

Definite variance by sector from my experience this morning. I've had to contact an academic institution and an insurance company, in both cases with a non-standard request.

Academic institution: four tries to get through, can't ring the main switchboard and have to ring another number, then advised (by a helpful person) to contact a particular faculty but their number just rings out, so it's a case of sending an email into the void that is enquries@department and hoping someone reads it.

Insurance company: answered within three rings, couldn't process my request immediately, called back within an hour, gave an answer.

I thought academia was more commercialised now, but it seems not.

Our tip insists on pre-booking too because of "social distancing". I don't get this thing about cars needing to social distance. The virus can't get through metal.*

I don't get it either. The car backs up to skip, you put stuff in and go. Large spaces between skips and cars. The operators stay in their huts.

The response of the tips got my goat too. Ours was among the last to reopen and our bin collections (garden) had only just resumed.
They didn't accept certain materials for a long time.
We're trying to go up in case they use any excuse to close fown again.

British Gas - can't get through AT ALL. Every time I do hang on for 30 plus minutes - it rings and doesn't connect. Took 2 days for them to reply to a tweet asking them to book a call. I'm not allowed to book a call.
It's a non standard enquiry - they are sending me bills for a meter that isn't operational but they don't want to remove because of Covid.
Doing my head in

Our tip insists on pre-booking too because of "social distancing". I don't get this thing about cars needing to social distance. The virus can't get through metal.

I don't get it either. The car backs up to skip, you put stuff in and go. Large spaces between skips and cars. The operators stay in their huts.

The response of the tips got my goat too. Ours was among the last to reopen and our bin collections (garden) had only just resumed.
They didn't accept certain materials for a long time.
We're trying to go up in case they use any excuse to close fown again.*

I also didnt understand this. Tips seem extremely easy to SD. We're trying to clear a relatives house and ended up getting a skip because it would have taken forever with 1 trip to the tip per fortnight to clear house and garden rubbish.

Yep !! REALLY getting on my nerves now. Banks hardly open, same with the post office. On hold to admiral for 2 hours to try and take out a new policy. And the one that’s really peeing me off is our local leisure centre. After ‘unfreezing’ our membership at the promise that they would be opening all the facilities in a staggered way, more than a month later and still all they have opened is the gym and classes. Which is fine, start with the most popular thing. But I’m paying a monthly fee for NOTHING that we use. Baby pool - not open, swimming lessons - none, cafe - no sign of opening, no kids activities, soft play, crèche so I can actually use the gym. So irritating when most of these things in the outside world have been open for weeks. RANT OVER 😂

Wow so many responses, I’m clearly not the only one!
I’ve actually handwritten a letter to my bank now as I am so fed up with trying to get through on the phone I’m guessing it will be quicker for then to signature check my letter and do my request. Going back to the 1990’s way of dealing now!
Tried to open a bank a/c for DD11, was turned away from bank and told to do it online, so I did and got a written response to post my ID and address verification to branch - originals not copies. No thanks ! That’s a fraud risk to me not to mention disruption & cost to me to replace If they get lost.

Adding Gourmet Burger Kitchen to the list. I completely understand reduced menus because you can't have as many staff in the kitchen, but theirs was so reduced it was basically just a beef or chicken burger, with cheese and bacon if you wanted to be fancy. And the only soft drinks available were Coke or water, because, you know, Covid, yet somehow they could have a huge beer and wine menu - but I'm sure it's just a coincidence that they make a much bigger margin on those than they would have done on a glass of fruit juice.

We walked out, and won't bother going back. We then tried to go to Wagamama instead, but they were only open for takeaway - because of Covid, despite the fact that restaurants could open two months ago.

I know there are some businesses who are genuinely impacted because they can't work in the same way as before, and so will obviously make allowances for those. But those that could open relatively normally, and have chosen not to, have no excuse and will start losing customers.

Local GP. Seems patients are just a bother to them.

@Namechangr9000 I know!! We have this at a local country park too.

You have to leave a "car space"
BETWEEN each car space ... FFS I didn't realise my car can catch fucking COVID!

@chomalungma

Local GP. Seems patients are just a bother to them.

They get paid whether they see you or not, so no incentive for them to do anything more than they get'd get away with not doing.

I've had mixed experiences. The independent cafes I've used have all been fabulous. Marks and Spencer great too. Nhs/dentist not so. My dentist is still closed.

Just seen the figures from my area: there is one Covid patient in a hospital across my county and the next, so that's one hospitalisation for 800k people, and yet half the MIUs at the community hospitals are still closed 'due to Covid-19'. The close them in winter anyway 'to help with winter pressures at the larger hospitals'.

I'd like to add Better Leisure to the list of poor performers. They have one of the worst websites I've ever used at the best of times but they've just released kids swimming lessons ahead of them resuming next week and the website has immediately crashed - at least they have had the good grace to put a notice on the site apologising for inconvenience caused.

Just come on here to have a moan too. I ordered bathroom stuff yesterday from a well known site. I need to change the order as I've made a mistake with one of the items. They are not taking phone calls. I contacted them via email , they've sent me a reference number & say they will contact me within 5-7 days. It's so annoying, if I'd known this up front I would have bought elsewhere. I hope they will get back to me before the delivery date otherwise it's going to be a real problem. Now I don't know whether to buy the correct one from another supplier but that will mean £35 delivery charge or wait and see if they can amend my order.

Husband and i say this almost weekly! Some people/companies are clearly relishing in implementing rules and procedures. The daft thing is about of the measures shops and the like have taken actually prevent social distancing. One way systems in small shops create bottlenecks. Closing every other toilet cubicle and sink in the public loos create unnecessary queues. Drives me mad.