Customer Service

Recently I have had a couple of not very good customer service experiences.  The interesting part is the way that the two companies have dealt with the situation.

Staples, after a slow start, reacted very well.  I was contacted by the support department and then by the store manager.  I was then sent some vouchers (cash value £50) to spend in store, by way of a sorry.  That was not necessary, but was appreciated, and will encourage me to return to the store.

Domino’s, on the other hand, said (in essence) “Tough Luck”.  The drivers can’t be made to read the special instructions, so maybe you want to use a different store (company). 

To add insult to injury, their customer services will not respond to my emails and their twitter person will not tweet back to me.

Good move Dominos, just bury your head in the sand and the problems will go away.

Funnily enough I did actually place another order with Dominos, after all this started – so you would think they would be on best behaviour.  The driver rang the bell (no surprise there) and managed to drive off without giving me the drink I had ordered.  I called the store and a very nicely turned out young lady (I am assuming a manager/supervisor…) came round, knocked on the window (shock horror!!) and gave me the missing drink.  I pointed out that she was nicely turned out as the drivers are normally quite scruffy, so she stood out in comparison.  She managed to read the special delivery instructions, why can’t the others?

I am currently making a complaint to a company called Solus, that Aviva use to repair cars.  They returned our car in a dangerous state and seem to want to brush it under the carpet.  So far their manager has ignored my emails, lets see how Aviva and Chrysler deal with this.

I may be coming across as a bit of a “Victor Meldrew”  but I do believe that we get the service we deserve.   Walking away just means that we loose the utility of the company in question and they loose a client.  Is it not better all round if they buck their idea’s up and we carry on using them?

If one of my clients complains to me I see it as a warning shot across the bow.  How can I know if I am dropping the ball if no one tells me.  I go out every day and work to the best of my abilities.  Sometimes I will miss the target, sometimes my staff will not deliver to the standards that I expect.  Let me know and I will address it, walk away and we all loose.

Dangerous Driving?

This is an email that I have just sent to the manager of a major (country wide) accident repair firm.  I want to know how our car was give back to us in such a dangerous condition and I want my tow eye back!   Is that too much to ask?

As always I will not name names, not even company ones, until they drop the ball.

Dear Sir,

First some background for you.

On the 13^th of February my wife unfortunately had a crash in our car.  She was rammed by someone that pulled out without looking and hit the right hand corner of our car.   I contacted the insurance company and they allocated the repair work to yourselves.

I went to the vehicle, removed our contents and waited for the repair truck.  This duly arrived (from <name removed>).

The driver decided to drag the car on to the back of his truck and to facilitate this he used one of the 2 towing hooks (eyes?) that the car had stored in the tool bay.

A few weeks later the car was returned to us, apparently repaired, but minus the towing eye and the rubber cover that covered the hole where it screws in.

I contacted <name removed> and pointed this out.  I was told it would be found or replaced.

Let’s now move forward to June.

I put the car in for its MOT.  You can imagine my surprise when it FAILED!!  The right hand  shock absorber was leaking (badly) and the brake hose was on the edge of snapping!  Had the shock collapsed or the brake hose snapped at any time while I or my wife were driving the car (usually with the children on-board) the car would probably have gone out of control, or at the very least been very hard (almost impossible) to stop (after all it is not a light car).

I returned the car to you and it has now been repaired and MOT’ed, the car is back but I am still missing the towing eye.

So why am I emailing you?

1^st, The car was given back to us in a dangerous condition.  Clearly the brake hose had been incorrectly installed. And this was not seen in pre dispatch checking. 

2^nd, While I accept that some parts fail, even though they are new, it is still disturbing that the shock went.

3^rd, Your service manager has offered to pay for a new towing eye, if I can find one.  My question is WHERE IS THE ORIGINAL.  It was on the car when I last saw it.  Presumably it was on the car when it was unloaded by <name removed>.  It must be either with you or them.  Why do I have to search for a replacement?

This whole issue seems to have been brushed under the carpet by your staff, and dismissed, but I hope you can see that sending a car out in that condition is not acceptable!  Loosing parts from a client’s car, however trivial the part is to you, is not acceptable.

My wife was shaken by the original accident.  This has just added to her anxiety about driving as the car that she felt safe in could have been a death-trap.

Feel free to call me on <My Mobile> or email me.  I do hope that we can reach a mutually agreeable solution.

Regards

I am actually very concerned that they could send a car out in that condition and that they have lost a part of my car.  Ok so the rear tow eye is not vital to day to day usage, but that is not the point.  Does it mean that I have to remove ALL removable items from my car every time it is in for a service; like the spare tyre, jack, spanner?  Do I have to get the car checked over by a third party every time I get it back from a service, just in case?

Incidentally, I have also mentioned all this to Aviva and Chrysler Customer Services (In Milan, now they are part of Fiat).  Lets see if they take it seriously.

Thanks for your concern Dominos

Well After the crappy response from the Eltham store owner I forwarded the email to Tracy at Dominos Customer Service.

She read it yesterday morning.

Your message
   To: Tracey Matthews <Tracey.Matthews@dominos.co.uk>
   Subject: FW: Dominos Customer Service Ref: 15957 28154 London - Eltham Delivery Area/Drivers
   Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 11:44:13 PM (UTC) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London
was read on Wednesday, June 27, 2012 7:15:15 AM (UTC) Greenwich Mean Time : Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London.

and promptly ignored it.

Thanks Dominos, epic fail!

I have forwarded all my communications, including this one, to

comments@dominos.co.uk,
dominos_feedback@btinternet.com,
DomComplaintManagement@dominos.co.uk << This one does not work, so not sure why they send email from it. Maybe that is how they manage complaints?   Or maybe Dominos have more problems with their IT than just inability to design an interface.

Late Night Response to Dominos

Well <Name Removed at Mo>, I think you can now see the problem.

The management in Eltham do not care about their customers!

I ask again.  Why have a “Special Delivery Instructions” box on the website if the stores cannot be bothered to read it.

Frankly I am lost for words at the moment.

Aha. Domino’s Answer… “Go Somewhere Else”

Nice bit of customer service!!

From: Domino's Pizza [mailto:dominos_feedback@btinternet.com]
Sent: 25 June 2012 23:02
To: cosmap
Subject: Re: Dominos Customer Service Ref: 15957 28154 London - Eltham Delivery Area/Drivers

Dear Cosma,

Thank you for your email last week regarding the ongoing issue you have had with drivers from my Eltham store missing the special delivery instructions on your orders. I am sorry that despite our very best efforts in the store and following numerous conversations between you and my team, we have not been able to resolve this for you.

We aim to provide great service and we hate to disappoint any customers. Following further discussions with the team in my Eltham store, I am sorry to advise you that we do not feel there is anything further we can do from a store point of view to guarantee for certain that a driver will not ring your doorbell. We have already suggested calling the store to order and explain your instructions or to put a note on your doorbell, in addition to the notice we have put up in our staff room and unfortunately, we feel there is nothing else we can do. To this end, I’m sorry to say that we feel that as this is a crucial part of your delivery, you would be best to either collect your pizzas from the store (we will obviously give you a good carry out deal) or order your pizzas elsewhere as you suggest.

I hope you can understand our reasons behind this, your children’s sleep is obviously crucial and although we hate losing customers and this has been a very difficult decision, we just feel this is the best option.

Best wishes,

Nij enterprises ltd Ta Dominos Pizza

Eltham Domino’s does not seem to be interested in Customers

Nothing from the Franchisee in Eltham.

Just an email from Domino’s

Dear Sir

My sincerest apologies for the lack of correspondence from the franchisee of the Eltham store.

I have now passed your details directly over to our Operations Department here at Head Office who will speak with the franchisee and ensure that they do contact you to discuss this issue in more detail as promised.

We will be discussing the problems with your order directly with the franchisee and we will do everything in our power to make sure this does not happen again.

We will also be addressing the way that your complaint has been handled by the franchisee and the fact that he did not contact you as he advised. We would like to assure you that we did not find this acceptable and we will be taking steps to make sure that does not happen again.

Once again my apologies for the complete lack of customer care you have experienced on this occasion and please do not hesitate to contact me again should there be no further contact from the franchisee.

<Name Removed>

Customer Service Co-Ordinator
<Name Removed>@dominos.co.uk
www.dominos.co.uk
facebook.com/DominosPizza
twitter.com/Dominos_UK

Well at least they are trying.  But this does sum up the attitude in Eltham.  Just say whatever to the client to keep him happy at the time and then ignore it.

Must be a busy shop so s/he does not care about loosing the odd client, especially one that is a pain.

Wonder how many people have voted with their feet and have simply not returned to Domino’s?

I actually like their products, and would like to resolve this to my satisfaction so I can carry on eating their pizza. 

Nuff said..

My Reply to Dominos

Many thanks for your attention to this matter.  I am sorry to say that I do not hold out much hope.  I have spoken to people that purport to be the store manager several times (in fact every time they RING THE BELL).

I have been promised, repeatedly, that they will tell the drivers to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS.  I have been promised that they will put up a “special notice” in the staff room.  But it still happens.

As I have said before (please refer to http://cosmap.blogspot.com) I was told that the place where the drivers see the address that they are going to does not display the “special instructions” information.  This seems to me, as an IT Professional and User Interface specialist, to be a very poor design.

I shall look forward to hearing from the franchisee, although it has now been 2 days and I have heard nothing so far.  Perhaps s/he does not find this matter as important as you or I (which would explain why it keeps on happening).

Well I hope you have a nice weekend and my mobile is always on.

Regards

Dominos Customer Service Responds

Dear Sir
We are sorry that your recent experience of our London - Eltham store was not up to the high standard you should expect from any Domino's store.
At Domino's Pizza our aim is to provide 100% customer satisfaction, so it greatly concerns us when any aspect of our service or product doesn't meet our customers' expectations.  We appreciate all feedback and would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to address this matter.

Domino's is a franchised business and our franchisees feel it is very important that they own the relationship with their customers. To this end, I have passed the details of your complaint directly over to the franchisee of this store and they will contact you soon to resolve this issue. Our franchisees know that all feedback is the key to improving their businesses and finding out about any ongoing issues.

If at any point you are unsatisfied with the response from the franchisee, or if we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards
DomComplaintManagement
Customer Concerns
<Name>@dominos.co.uk

An Open Letter to Dominos Pizza

Dear Dominos Customer Service,

Yet again your driver has failed to read the delivery instructions.  What is the point of having "Special Instructions" when the driver NEVER reads them.

The store manager tells me that the system that the drivers look at to provide them the addresses does not show the special delivery instructions.  And they clearly NEVER read the delivery note.

You need to either
a, Modify the screens so that this information is shown, or
b, Train the drivers better, or
c, Remove that option from the order screen!  If I can't ask for it I cannot be annoyed about not getting it!

Your Manager did suggest that I phone my orders in.  But, as I pointed out to him, If I am going to phone it in I may as well use the Pizza Hut that is at the end of my road.  I use Dominoes because of the utility of the web site and the lack of AMBIGUITY.  I order what I want and I get it. Which is also why I am doubly annoyed!!!

I am in IT.  I have a degree in user interface design.  I am more than happy to consult with you to improve the systems that you are using in order to make sure that the appropriate people get the appropriate information.

Call me.

All joking apart  I am severely annoyed, I have two kids in bed and your drivers do their best to wake them up every time I use you.

I would like a call from someone senior with whom I can discuss this matter.  My number is <Mobile Number> and my email address is <Email Address>

This message has been posted publically and I will be publically posting your responses.

Regards

<Me>

The end of the Staples road

Had a phone call this morning from someone (name with held) who said he was the Manager at the Old Kent Road Branch of Staples.

Basically he apologised and acknowledged all that I have said.  He thinks he knows who the offending member of staff is and will be having a word. He also offered to send me some discount vouchers to tempt us back in the store.

Guess that is the end of this line.

I know this all seems like a pointless exercise but, in the long run, if more people start to do the same (complain), we may get better customer service.  Businesses cannot afford to annoy the customer (especially one that pays cash) as most people will just vote with their feet and not come back.   The way I see it I am doing businesses a favour. This way they get the chance to mend the ways of errant staff and win a customer back.

The next thing that needs addressing is the English inability to complain when they are wronged.  It does not need to be a shouting match.  As the Irish say “Speak quietly, and carry a big stick”.  The internet gives us all a tool to voice our annoyance and bring big companies to task. 

The next step from here would have been to look at site such as http://www.customerservicescoreboard.com/Staples or many of the other public forums to get it out there.  If they do not react then you can!  Any way….

Not much else to say on the subject really.  Shame it took so long, but we got there in the end.

Some progress with Staples

This morning I decided to give staples a call.
I spoke to a chap on their Store Customer Services number.  In keeping with my policy of not naming the innocent I shall not put his details here.
He said that he had responded to my initial comment.
And after some digging I found this.
From : customerservices@staples.co.uk    <<<  Generic Address Which is why I thought it was machine generated.
Dear Cosma,
Thank you for your email and for taking the time to fill in our customer service survey, your comments are appreciated and will be passed onto the store for their information and improvement.
Kind Regards
<Name Removed>
Customer Services
Staples UK Retail Ltd
Followed by a partial transcript of my responses.  My comments were missing.
Then I got a bog standard template email from generic addresses.  This came from the comments box on their website as follows….
From: Retail@online.staples.co.uk
Your comments have been passed to our Stores Customer Service
Team and you will receive a response shortly.
Please do not reply to this email.
Should you require any further assistance pleasec ontact us via our web
site,  http://www.staples.co.uk. Alternatively please email customersupport@online.staples.co.uk and one of our dedicated
representatives will be available Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm.
Kind regards
STAPLES  DIRECT
Why not follow us on Twitter for Customer Service offers and more! https://twitter.com/XXXXXXXX
The last line is quite funny.  Why would I want to follow your twitter account if I am annoyed?  Good thing I am not a Troll.  Oh, I love the typo.
Today I have received 2 emails From humans at last.  Progress?
From : customerservices@staples.co.uk <<< Generic Address
Dear Cosma,
Following on from our telephone conversation today, I have cut and pasted your blog and will pass it on to our complaints team.
Kind Regards
<Name Removed>
Customer Services
Staples UK Retail Ltd
****************************************************************************
From : customerservices@staples.co.uk <<< Generic Address
Dear Sir/Madam,
I was extremely sorry to receive your email regarding the poor service you received from our Old Kent Road store.
At Staples it is our aim to provide the best customer service at all times and it appears the store has fallen below the standards we set as a company.
I have passed your complaint to the District Manager, for investigation and resolution.
Please can you advise me of a contact number for you to enable our District Manager to contact you personally to apologise.
It is only by receiving feedback from customers like yourself that companies are made fully aware of any problems and are then in a position to resolve them. Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to bring this matter to my attention.
If you have any further queries or this is not resolved to your satisfaction, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Kind Regards
<Name Removed>
So I have managed to speak to one person.  Got 1 Real email and 3 template emails.  All from generic addresses.  Lets now hope that I start to get some real people on the line.
Incidentally….
We needed some bits today.  Another £100 cash.  This time it went to a competitor.  I realise that £300 is peanuts on the grand scheme of things, but we are constantly buying bits and pieces and all the pennies soon make pounds!

Staples Customer Service

I like to think of myself as an easy customer.  I generally know what I want.  All the customer service representative has to do is convince me I have made the right choice and take my money.

Today I went to Staples to buy a networked hard drive for a client.

I knew the model I wanted and the price I wanted to pay.

We walked into the store (myself, my client and his assistant) and noticed, as soon as we walked through the door, one member of staff berating another.

We were ignored by everyone, but luckily we saw the item we wanted.  It happened to be at a good price so I took an empty box to the counter.  This is where the fun starts…

The person was still having a go at her colleague and we had some effort to get her attention.  She stomped over to us, snatched the empty box and stomped off, without saying where she was going.

The young lady that was being berated was left to smile at us, some what embarrassed.  I asked if the other lady was having a bad day and if there was a manager about.  Apparently that was the manager!!

The manager returned with the product and unceremoniously dumped it in front of me.  I opened the box to confirm what was in it.  I wanted to make sure that if I needed anything (cable, UK plug) we purchased it then and there.  The manager was not best impressed and scowled at me as I checked.  As luck would have it all the elements I needed were in the box

My client gave the manager the correct amount in cash (£199) only to be told that the unit was £239.  We pointed out that the shelf said it was £199.   After quizzing me if I was sure it was £199 she was not convinced and made a performance of stomping over the shelf to prove me wrong. She grabbed 1 of the 2 extra large shelf labels checking something on the back of the label and comparing it to the product.  Mumbling some comments under her breath (I did not catch what she said) she stomped back to the counter and made a “Managers Override”.  Displaying zero good grace.

We were all keen to get out of there, but my customer did want to explain to her how unimpressed he was with her attitude.  I also told her that were it not for the fact that we needed the device we would have walked out and purchased it elsewhere.  She acknowledged our comments, but did not apologise.  Clearly she did not really care.

In times like this, when jobs and customers are hard to come by, I would have thought that a shop would have been happy for a £199 sale, CASH (a card would have incurred processing fees), in less than 5 minutes with very little sales effort required.

I filled in Staples online questionnaire, they did not get a good rating, and will be interested if they reply.  

Whether I or my customer will be using Staples again remains to be seen.  I certainly will not be going back to the Old Kent Road store.

A bit of management level customer support training required I think.

Open Letter to Kwik-Fit

To whom it may concern.
I just had a puncture fixed by Kwik-Fit.  The price of £21.50! was excessive, but I had no choice at the time or else I would have gone elsewhere.
The experience started badly as the fitter just HAD to look at some amusing content on his colleagues iPhone before dealing with my tyre.  I did point this out to the chaps in the office, but they were not interested and seemed to think that keeping a customer waiting was ok. 
I was shocked when I got the bill to see the breakdown.  I neither asked for nor wanted "Nitrogen inflation" or a "New Inflation Valve".  That would have saved me £6.50.  £15 is still steep for a puncture repair!
This just strikes me as gross profiteering.  I know for a fact that my local tyre shop charges £10 for a puncture repair.
I am shocked and disappointed that you would take advantage of customers in this way.  If you must add extra services to a simple request then you should inform the customer BEFORE so they can choose NOT to have them.  As I said, I did not want "Nitrogen inflation" and there was nothing wrong with the valve (I have difficulty believing a valve costs more than £1).
I take it that you price promise your work.  What documentation do you need in order to prove that other businesses charge a reasonable amount?
Regards
An annoyed customer

IT Knowledge

<soap box mode>

Over the past few years, as computer technology has been invading it's way in to just about everybody's life, there has always been one thing that has never ceased to amaze me.

I cannot understand why it is still socially acceptable, in fact almost encouraged in some circles, for people to be proud of the fact that they are totally Technologically inept!

The has been a conversation on one of the Mensa lists I belong too, during which one lady was happy to declare that she did not know her own phone number and another (supposedly tech savvy) person did not know how a phone number should be formatted (trivial, but an indication of the lack of respect this kind of knowledge holds).  I ask you, what other area do you find people proudly declaring their ignorance?

I have noticed, in my interactions with friends etc, that not many kids (in my social circle) are doing any form of technical subject.  Those that are doing "Computers" seem to spend more time learning how to write a word document and make pretty pictures, than they do learning how to actually PROGRAM a computer.  I am glad to see that the government is finely waking up to this   http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jan/10/computer-skills-ed-vaizey   the question is "Will the rest of us wake up, before we are left too far behind to catch up"?  

The Empire and the UK's good times, were built on manufacturing.  We have thrown that away and seem to be in the process of throwing the hi tech business.  This country has had some great inventors in the past.  Why are we not trying to train the inventors of the future?  Why are kids at school not being told that  programming is creative and "artistic".  Designing and building a "thing" and then making it work, thus solving an issue or achieving a goal, is incredibly satisfying (and "creative").

This is an episode from a podcast I listen too about this subject.  The guy starts by talking about a "Portable dog Killer" (don't panic, the name is more dramatic than the device) and then goes on to discuss the need to encourage innovation and development of new "stuff"  http://media.grc.com/SN/sn-281-lq.mp3   it is well worth a listen.

After WW2 we threw away an early lead in Computing.  Let's not let the rest of the world crush us in the stampede to the future, while we sit around twiddling our thumbs and drawing pretty pictures.

"There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what the heck happened". Philosopher Dr Friedrick Nietzsche. 

</soap box mode>

________________________________

Cosma
www.papouis.net
P Please consider the environment
Save paper - do you really need to print this email?
Save electricity - do you really need to send this email?
Save your own energy - do you really need to read this email?

Windows 8 Developers Preview

Well,

After much gnashing of teeth and hair pulling I have managed to get Windows 8 up on both an old laptop and a Virtual machine.

The installation was much helped after I found out that there have been download issues from the MS website and some people (me included) ended up with truncated .iso files!!  I re-downloaded it an checked that it was the correct 2.8Gb, which is was second time.

After that…. 

It would not load on VMware workstation, but I am using V7 so I was only able to specify Windows 7 as the OS type not Win8, not sure if it makes any difference whatsoever.

I then tried Oracle Virtual box.  When I started the App it immediately wanted me to update it, so I did (more out of habit than any belief that it would make a difference) and loe and behold it offered me a “Windows 8” OS type!  Notable features.  Well I noticed immediately that it set the memory requirement to 1Gb(for 32bit 2Gb for 64bit!) Which is much  higher than the usual values for other OS’s.

My laptop only has 4Gb, 1Gb of that is used by the graphics card so I had to kill a few tasks to get it to a point where it would actually install.  But it then went on to install and start working!

Initial comments.

My 1^st impression was “Very pretty, but nothing works”.   Then I changed the screen resolution. It, by default, sets the resolution to 800x600 (on both the laptop and the virtual) but then you click on the tiles and nothing happens.  I wound it up as far as I could, just to see what it looks like, and the tiles sprang into life.

Many (all??) of the tile apps that come pre-installed seem to want to be full screen.  I will withhold judgement on that for the moment.  IE looks totally different when launched as a tile, but can be put back in to “standard” mode.  I like the apps I have played with (Facebook, Twitter)  they are pretty, not revolutionary, but pretty.  I think that if I can pin Word Excel, and a few other key business apps to the Metro interface it could actually be quite good for offices where you only what the staff to have the apps you authorise.  I must remember that, being a techy, I am not like other users.  I typically have several apps open at a time, and visible (maybe even on two or more screens).  Most “normal” users tend to switch from app to app, using one at a time.

The active tiles are interesting, but I must admit the Facebook tile is very irritating as it scrolls through an ever changing selection of pictures from my friends.  Very distracting, especially as, when I saw a picture that intrigued me, I clicked on it and it took me to the home screen rather than the picture in question.  I think I would like it to scroll the news feed rather than pictures (this may be possible, but I have only been looking at it for a while and have not got that deep).

Another “odd” feature is the lack of “Exit” buttons on apps.  The intention is that you just use the apps and don’t worry about managing them.  When you want to move on you just go back to the “Start” screen (incidentally, alt + tab will take you back to the desktop not the start screen.  This is a pain, but, again, I am assuming it is a tweakable feature) and select another app.  Windows 8 will manage the open apps and will terminate the “oldest” when it needs more resources. 

So far I quite like it.  It will require slight mental shift and a change in my working practices, nothing dramatic, but still a change.  I will have to take my own advice and stop fighting the system (to make it behave the way it always has) and try to go with it.  The performance is not what I would call snappy, but I am not too upset about that as a, I am running it on a Virtual Machine and an aging laptop, b, It certainly is not bad, c, I have heard reports from people running it on better hardware that it is quite snappy and d, it is not released code so it probably does contain debug info, which will make it bigger and slower.

I will carry on experimenting and see where it takes me.

HP Customer Support

Is this the worst Customer Support I have ever experienced?

I have just spent a considerable amount of time on the phone to HP Support trying to get a simple bit of information about a device that HP produce and sell.

Initially they bounced me around their various departments as they could not decide who should assist me. Each time the wanted ME to call a different number, but relented and transferred me when I objected. Eventually, when they could not find reference to the product I wanted I got through to their complaints department.

They took all the details and then 24-hours later they called me back and said that they had found the info that I require, but they would not give it to me as I do not have a support contract!! They actually do not know if I have one or not as I have not given them the serial number of the device, just the Model number. They said if I paid £15 they would give me the info! How much trouble must they be in to be scratching about for £15????

All I need to know is the maximum supported resolution of the device. That could be read off a data sheet by a monkey!.

When I asked to escalate it I was told that I can't all I can do is write in, but that would go to the same department that I had just spoken too. The management will not talk to clients.

I think I now know why HP are coming out of the PC market! This is so far from my definition of customer service that I am lost for words.

If you want to talk to them you need Alex on DCVC_EMEA_EN@mail.support.hp.com if that is not an address that is designed so that it cannot be used then I don't know what is.

The final irony is that I actually found the info that I was looking for, just not on the HP website.

How is it that Dell keep records of all the PC's I have ever purchased? All I have to do is enter the TAG number and all the specs of the machine, as it was shipped, appear (even for some machines that are many years out of maintenance!!)

They world is rapidly becoming one where service is tops. Apparently HP don't know that, can't do it, or just don't care!

Guess this explains why HP are getting out of the PC market.....

Tick Tick Tick

Tick tick tick
the sound of my life ebbing away.

Daddy Daddy Daddy.
'Enjoy them while they are young', "they will soon stop asking"

Will there be any me me left by then?

Is there any of me left now?

Nokia Raise A Genius Call

Well on we go.

On Friday I get a call from the local expert.  He has escalated the issue to “Nokia” I presume he means Finland.  I waited till today to chase only to be told that though they have raised what they call a “Genius Call” it could take months to get a result.

Glad to know that the customers concerns are Nokia’s.

By the time they get back to me, which I very much doubt they will, I will have moved on to the next phone.  I was quite looking forward to a Nokia Windows Phone 7 phone, but an HTC or Motorola Android phone could be in my future.

Such a shame. 

Brave New World

The world is changing.  There was a time that a phone was a phone.  You made calls, maybe took pictures, and that was it.

Today a phone is a small computer.  It has my diary, my pictures, my numbers.  It syncs with various services, accesses many wireless networks and does a myriad of other things.

So what?  Well So I do not want to do a factory restore!  In my phone I have wireless keys for numerous hot spots I regularly use, but I do not have record of these keys.  I have finally managed to settle down the syncing so that I do not get duplicates all over the place.  My address book has settled down.  Do I want to go though all that pain again?  NO!

The does come a point at which I will just say sod it.  I will ditch the so called smart phone and just use a dumb phone.  Or maybe I will be like 90% of the rest of the population and will just use the phone for calling and pictures.  When I upgrade the phone I will loose all my pictures and have to re-enter all the numbers by hand.  Just like a friend of mine that has just posted on FaceBook “Please inbox (Grrrr..  she means email)  me you number, my phone has gone and I have lost the lot!”.  Yer right! I can really see me doing that!

Phone companies have to realise that their devices are now computers and they form and integral part of peoples lives.  I cannot be without my phone for a week while you blow it away!  I do not want weeks of agro setting it up again.  You have to treat this things like what they are.  When they fail your staff have to be skilled enough to get in to the guts and fix them!  I was impressed when the tech in Manila remote controlled my phone, that is the way it SHOULD be done.  I was not impressed when all he did was bugger up my access point priorities and reinstall the app I was trying to fix.  Here’s the news.  "I ALREADY DID THAT!”.

Nokia are already in trouble as they have dropped the ball with the N97 and the N8 (as it was basically obsolete before it was released).  The N8 is a good phone.  It has a great camera, a real flash and in general I like the way it works.  The problem is that it is slow and the touch is not great.

I am looking forward to getting a Windows 7 based Nokia.  Don’t get me wrong, I like Symbian.  I have been using it since I hade a Psion 5!  It is just a shame it has fallen behind, both in performance and in technology.  I like Nokia engineering. The phone looks good and feels good.  Now get the innards up to spec and we will all be happy.

But PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get the support people up to speed and change the mentality.  A factory reset HAS to be the LAST thing you do when ALL else has failed.  And there MUST be a way of imaging the phone so that when the factory reset has not fixed the issue I can at the very least get back EXACTLY where I was when we started (just restoring my data is NOT enough).  At least that way I will not be in a worse off position than when I started.

Technorati Tags: Nokia,N8,Rant

ition.

Nokia Support Takes the Biscuit!

The story so far……

I made the fatal mistake of applying a Nokia update to my Nokia phone! 

Result………

The social app will not work.

I called Nokia about this last week, and after some messing about was told that I would be called back. 

Silence….

Yesterday I got annoyed and posted on the Nokia UK FaceBook page and lo and behold I get a call today.  Coincidence?

So what’s the story?….

Well.  After some messing about (using a great tool that allowed him to remote control my phone) I am told that I have to cold reset my phone and reinstall! I pointed out that I did not want to do that as it had taken me a while to get the phone the way I like it and I do not want to lose all my settings etc.

Cutting a long story short…  It appears that applying the phone update tried to upgrade my phone to Social App version 1.3 but this failed.  Now all they can give me is version 1.2, but this will not over write the scripts for version 1.3. 

I cannot understand why they cannot either give me 1.3 to install or just the scripts I need for 1.2 to work so I can manually over write the damaged ones.

Well, would you believe it?…

In the space of 2 minutes I get a call from Nokia UK Complaints department and then at the same time from the Manila support department.  He has found 1.3 for me and she wants' to talk.  Well I have installed 1.3.  No joy so I am about to call her to talk.

The Lady at the UK help desk is going to escalate to a UK based support person.  This is good as Symbian originated in the UK with Psion in Milton Keynes.  Is it beyond the wit of man to manually remove the elements of the social app or fix the defective scripts and reinstall it, without flashing the whole phone?

We will see.  I have promises from The UK and Manila for a call back…