to be utterly fed up of "because of pandemic" being used as an excuse..

[5foot5]

..for piss-poor service. Particularly on call centres and the like.

Granted in the early stages I can see it would have an impact - people off sick or self-isolating. Initially also I suppose there was some set-up to get people working efficiently from home. But, come on, it has been over a year. Surely things should be sorted by now?

I have just spent 45 minutes of my lunch hour waiting for my call to be taken. And yes I do know that some of my questions might be answered on the web-site FAQ and yes I know that I can manage my account on-line for some things. But not this thing. Even though they gave me four choices of musical style to listen to while I am waiting it doesn't help. Of course I wasn't arsey with the person who eventually answered as it's not his fault (I assume) but I do wonder if some companies are now using this excuse to cut down on staff and explain the long waits away on "unprecedented" circumstances.

DH is in a similar position. He sent a query about something to one of his pension funds. February was when he made the original query. He got the "because of difficult times" excuse and was told it would be in excess of 20 working days before they they could reply. More than 6 weeks later and no response he chased it. Then he was told another 10 days. Of course no joy so queries again and now it is 5-10 days. FFS 3 months to answer what he thought was a simple query

Just how long I wonder are companies going to keep hiding behind the pandemic excuse

I got a blood test back which showed Ovarian Cancer Markers... got referred to gynae in December. Called last week waited 1.5 hours to find out when my appointment is... they said .... “Another 42 weeks wait on the current waiting list”. !!!???!!!!
Every time I see an ad on tv talking about how you need to see your GP ASAP if you have cancer symptoms I laugh. NHS have turned into the worst organisation around. I used to think they were heroes... now? A bunch of job shy uncaring dicks! (Obviously not the hard working nurses and healthcare assistants) Just the GPS and Specialists.

Indeed!

My favourite example is the British Gas Homecare plan. Apparently they want to keep me safe by not doing the gas safety inspections...

Sorry that reply was for the efficiency of home working.

@Ohnomoreno

My favourite example is the British Gas Homecare plan. Apparently they want to keep me safe by not doing the gas safety inspections...

This is my dads biggest bugbear! Last service was 2019 and no reduction in the price despite not completing the whole contract.

Yet, landlords services of boilers continued as it's a legal requirement. So tenants are safe but homeowners are just left.

I think covud is being used as a excuse for any shoddy service. Why are the banks still not open properly, when all shops are. Also have to go in back doir only what on earth for. Why aren't doctors open, hairdressers, nail bars are but a doctor is rarer than hens teeth. All the ailments still exist that were there before covid. I badly need a appointment but i know chances of getting to actually see a doctor is a long shot. No date of this ending either yet everything else has a end date.

in my job it has absolutely affected the waiting list, it may well be over in some respects but it has caused an immense back log and is still not back to normal.
99% of people are understanding

Seems to be the gift that keeps on giving for poor service.

Offered bad service, if it is question, the answer is...yeah but Covid!!

Seems to be happening in all spheres of life.

Yep, I'm so sick of the "because of covid" excuses too. Yes, last year when lots of people were self isolating or off work poorly with it meaning businesses were short staffed I can understand but to keep that line going now...ridiculous.

@Supersimkin2

The worst reckoning will be when the UK realises the NHS has saved Senile Sid, 99 and incontinent, but his granddaughter, Solicitor Sally, 43, 3 kids , died in terror and pain from untreated cancer.

Cos Covid.

Great post

I've given up trying to see a GP, I do need to see one, I've lost most of my mobility over the last year, have a problem with POTS have fainted twice recently on standing because my blood pressure is dropping so low. I'm on 22 different medications plus half dozen strong opioid s for pain, have severe mh conditions so obviously everything must be caused by that. My last 2 annual diabetes reviews have taken place by phone, last 3 heart tracers haven't happened despite having palpitations more often (have AF).

I've given up. It's wrong, but it's clearly not going to change.

I dont say because of covid necessarily, my phrase is due to infection control

Everyone I know has a story like this. It's bloody scandalous.

Mine is ASDA on two consecutive occasions just deciding not to bring my online groceries; the ones I had ordered because I had just given birth. They had blocked all incoming calls to the local store inexplicably because of Covid.

I now find that the word "unprecedented" makes me scowl inwardly.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that companies have had to make cut backs to survive the after effects of covid, they may have also had workers pass away, etc. and had to recruit and train again. There have been massive backlogs, etc. caused by lockdowns which have meant people really want everything sorted with time and attention when they do get on the phone. I expect a lot of big companies have told their staff their targets for how long phone calls should take will be adjusted to ensure they try to fully resolve queries.

Certain industries have been impacted with lots of suppliers going under which has been made worse with Brexit on top because supplies that can be imported can be slower (I have experienced this first hand from goods within the EU recently taking between 6-8 weeks). Whilst people can be efficient, there may be other mitigating factors.

Maybe it's that I'm in a customer faced role (I always pick up the phone as soon as it rings!) and more sympathetic when calling companies but I've not had any problems with service from mortgage companies, water/electricity/gas suppliers, solicitors, etc. and I moved during the pandemic so I expect I would have experienced it.

That being said, I also think we were already in a new era where companies have pushed dealing with them online via webforms/online chat/email and that has been pushed way more as a result of Covid and we are being reminded about those options on wait lines. Interactions online are a bit of a ping pong but generally in terms of how long they take per email, its way less than a phone call and costs the company less. Personally, apart from paper trails, I hate it.

i agree with all that @OldEnoughToBeYourMum

mumsnet doesn't like their cosy little lives to be disrupted and having a chance to complain about services being curtailed does not go down well!! doesn't change it though

we are in fear of failing a COVID AUDIT where i work, they are a 'thing'

yes, our stores have also had to block all incoming calls.....the public have been vile throughout. blocked for a reason!

YANBU. So sick of hearing ‘it’s cause of COVID’ as a poor excuse for laziness or crap service.

Water provider wrote to me to say that they are trebling my monthly direct debit but that I can’t phone them to discuss it ‘cause of COVID’. Accommodation that we stayed in recently could no longer provide the standard food welcome package ‘cause of COVID’, we also apparently needed to empty the bins ourselves ‘cause of COVID’, still happy to charge the same amount though.

The only company that I’ve found hasn’t taken advantage of the situation is our private medical provider (WPA) who wrote to acknowledge that they haven’t been able to provide the same level of service and refunded a chunk of the premiums as they didn’t want to profit from the pandemic. They have definitely won my loyalty.

My gym have also decided that they must now close 2 hours early every day, ‘cause of COVID’ of course

Totally agree. Even the HR dept at my work do it. My response about six months ago was that it was no longer a viable excuse. Why can employee of the month not be done electronically for example. Its just plain lazy and people refusing to think outside of the box and adapt.

The last company i worked at didn't pause a heartbeat at all.

Well, there has been many people working from home, we are just getting out of the pandemic, therefore you can understand that things are just “starting” to go back to normal. Nothing is so easy like we want the same way that it was not easy to handle when it started.
Things will go back to normal, but e everything takes time. Just be a little bit more patient.
If you came out of it alive, is just a good reason to celebrate and be patient, and kind .

A lot of people don’t seem to understand the knock on effect the pandemic has had on manufacturing. Most products are made in China or their elements are made there. They have been trying to catch up on their backlogs but it’s had a years worth of of delays to most products worldwide. Brexit hasn’t helped as most of uk products are finished in the EU or needs parts from the EU. The UK is suffering from both directions.

So much going on under the guise of Covid. Shocking.

British Gas changed me to a smart meter a few months before covid struck. Its never worked. Ive called a few times and they ask me for a meter reading so they can send me a bill. I did it once bt never got resolved or any vill sent. Every time I ring they ask for a meter reading bt i now refuse as it makes no difference and they shd fix it so they can get it themselves with their so called smart meter. They get quite aggressive when i point this out. Its been to mgmt who say they resolved it bt its from an email u can't reply to and its made no difference. I called them last month and made up a meter reading which shdve generated a bill of @£10k. Still nothing from them and i haven't had a bill in 18 months. I just like to keep it on record that I've called them tho 😆

@Bookworm19

Yep, same here. Having a nightmare right now for SALT for my son. Told it's because of Covid. Ironically the private SALT he's started seeing told me they've been operating face to face (including funded NHS patients) because they're deemed as essential

We're the same with SALT. Saw DS for the first time 10 days before lockdown. Not heard a damn thing from them since, despite my chasing. Even my usually useless HV service chased them up when they called for DS's 3 year review. Their excuse was covid. Since lockdown DS has come on so far with his speech, but I don't know if that's enough for him starting school in September. Hopefully his school can help him more like his current nursery have been doing, because he's not going to be getting professional help from anywhere else.

@TheDogsMother

Many of these organisations were fairly crap before the pandemic though. How many times have you been left on hold because the company 'is currently experiencing a high volume of calls'. The same companies with the same message so you think they'd have learned to plan it a bit better by now (or hire a few more staff).

Because of Covid ..... my opticians tried to change my contact lens check to a telephone screening about it. Call me old school, but I think an eye check is better done in person !

I had this, but for a baby's hearing test!