To think that since covid happened some businesses have 'got lazy and stayed lazy'

[Ilovechocolate87]

DH and i used to have an expression a couple of years back 'because covid' which we used when we thought a company was just using the virus as an excuse for not doing something properly or making unnecessary cutbacks.

But even now it seems that this is STILL continuing, but for no legitimate reason!

Some examples include;
-Our local bank shutting at 3pm...every day of the week.Crap for 9-5 working people like DH!

• No fireworks display at center parcs, which is a shame as it was really good and atmospheric over the lake.
• Soft play at our local sealife centre sitting there unused and wasted...such a shame as there is nothing wrong with it.
• Fitting rooms have been scrapped at sainsburys and asda (maybe elsewhere too?) so there is nowhere to try on clothes, resulting in either having to order online and have the expense and bother of posting it back if its not right (which it often isn't) or travelling to return it, neither of which are very good for the environment either, with all that plastic packaging and fuel!)

Has anyone else noticed that it just seems like SOME businesses/companies 'can't be bothered' anymore and are just doing the minimum possible? And the most frustrating thing is that as usual, they make the cutbacks, but the prices keep on going up!!

I hate that. You used to walk into a barber's shop on a whim, take a seat with the half-dozen other people and wait your turn. I could drop in there after an early shift no problem. Now I have to plan everything in advance, so if work finishes early I have to hang around, whereas if work finishes late I've missed the appointment.

If you ever go on a day trip to Chester, there's an excellent cheesemonger around the corner from the town hall.

Shocking service from banks
DVLA
Queens Bench Division

Some nurseries and many schools still act like prisons, making you drop kids at the gate or door, and not allowing parents settle the kids in, whether they are three months or three years. Particularly harmful considering the younger ages of the kids.

Totally agree. I've been if this opinion for about a year now.

It does when everyone's decided to keep their kids out of nursery and "wfh" with their darlings present....

I was going to say this but I know mumsnet doesn't like it. Brexit happened at the same time as covid.

My local sainsbury's has fitting rooms which are now back open to use and have been for a few months now. Asda unfortunately do not, they advise you to buy the item, try it on in the toilets then return if no good.

You are 100% correct.

Im getting sick of mardy arse waiting and shop staff gruffing at me because I have the nerve to shop in a place where they work.

I understand that during COVID that online booking was convenient to control numbers but I now hate having to book online for everywhere, especially when I know a place is only gonna have 3 people in it - so when I rock up I can’t just buy tickets over the counter (looking at you local soft play)

Customer service on the phone is shocking too. I strongly suspect that since so much moved to home working that a lot of people are having naps when they should be logging on (and according to MNland it’s v common to work only 2 hours a day at home even if you’re contracted to full time).

This. All day.
I work in hospitality as a senior manager and the attitude of some people from lockdown to when I went on maternity was quite frankly disgusting. I work for a good company that pays well, great perks, tips etc and team members left in their absolute droves due to the treatment of 'paying customers'. It's shameful

Funnily it's now the same people moaning that there's long waits or slow service who spoke to people like shit back in 2020 🤷🏼‍♀️

To the people who want the Sainsburys deli back, it's not coming back. All the deli staff, and most of the hot food staff, were fired, and they aren't reopening the delis as they "didn't make any money and the customers didn't use them" - if you have ever been in a Sainsburys with a deli, you'll know that that is a lie. The real reason is because they now have sushi bars in-store and wanted to drive customers there instead

So the concepts of backlogs and lack of staff have just not registered with you?
Pretty dumb then, sorry not sorry and not hear to argue or debate it
Maybe you could work for the nhs and just sort it out

Well, your post appears a bit ranty at first but honestly, it's just how I feel too. Everything is a battle. Everything. I work so hard, for shit wages, and I end up trying to do basic things like speak to someone about my high blood pressure on my mobile in my office at work with the public phone ringing, colleagues coming in and out and clients in Reception waiting to see me. I had to keep telling the GP "sorry, I just have to answer this phone", which must have been as frustrating for them as it was for me. It was farcical in the end, considering I was phoning about my blood pressure - the irony of having to discuss it in those circumstances....

I also need blood tests as a result of that conversation. Before COVID it was walk in, you took a ticket at the clinic and were usually seen, blood taken within half an hour at the latest, sometimes just 10 mins if you were lucky. Now you have to ring up to make an appointment, and the wait currently is 2-3 weeks. For a blood test..... You're not telling me that ALL the phlebotomists resigned duringi COVID......????

I went out for lunch recently. The food was lovely and the service was pleasant but god, everything took soooooooo long. There were only 2 waiting staff on, and one person at the bar. This was a restaurant, not a tiny cafe. We were there a good couple of hours it was all so slow.

I'm fed up of long waits on the phone to any customer services and I'm convinced it's because of home working too. No-one checks on a lot of homeworking staff, I don't think. Half of them sound very demotivated and switched off when you do manage to get through. They just need to get back in the office,, half of them, because it still feels like they're in lockdown working from home mode.

Totally agree.
I think some used it to stop doing things that cost more or took more time or were unpopular amongst staff.

In many cases I think these changes increased efficiency or profit. Although maybe decreased customer satisfaction.
In the case of GPS it has become a joke. The true cost of their reluctance to see anyone who is unwell will only be known in years to come when cancer deaths increase, preventable serious illness increases etc.

I'm in an area which didn't have a huge amount of foreign staff before Brexit anyway so I don't think staffing issues is down to that where I am. What I am seeing is a lot of young and often inexperienced staff in the low paid jobs who are mainly having to still live at home with their parents because cost of living means they can't afford to move out, or move across the country to a better paid job. It's shit for them too. When I was in my early 20s I was on crap wages but at least I could afford to rent a flat with DH (then boyfriend), even if that was also a bit crap! We could still afford to go out to the pub every week or for a meal or to a gig, and all our bills were paid. I ran a little car. We had a simple, enjoyable, affordable fun life when public services worked properly.

So I guess, it will become more and more unlikely eventually that low paid jobs go unfilled. Because no-one can actually afford to work in them if they want to cut the apron springs and move out of their childhood bedroom!

Our primary school not doing an evening navity /carol service this year citing 'safety reasons' as they didn't have to do it for 2 years it's an easy 'lets not bother' regardless of religion was always a lovely evening for local parents & kids.

I travel quite a bit with work and some hotels still aren't routinely cleaning rooms or making beds. They say it's for environmental reasons but I suppose it's staffing. Impossible to know, in many of these examples, whether the drop in service is due to staffing recruitment/retention issues or whether they intentionally cut staff to the bone during covid and are happy to continue getting away with it.

Our primary school is entirely back to normal now. Parents need to make it known that they would welcome a return to the evening performance.

I agree 100%. The one I really hate is businesses who are still using the ‘We are experiencing an unusually high volume of calls…’ Bullshit.

According to the staff member in sainsbury's, closing fitting rooms is easier for the staff 🤔

I moved away from the UK a year ago and have had so many of these issues resolved as a result.

Apart from banking. Banking here is still like the banking in the UK in the 70s!

Our local sorting office is now open 10am-12pm Monday-Saturday. That's it

Nine hundred British pounds per MONTH?!?!?!? What on earth for?!?!

Plenty of businesses need to pay in their floats!

Ours still has the Deli counter? Never went away