Poor Customer Service

Why is it that companies think they can get away with poor customer service?

Last week I reported a fixed line telephone fault to Talk Talk and had to spend 40 minutes on what should have been a 2 minute telephone call. Surely it does not cost 20 times more to employ someone who can speak english and who has some knowledge of the product / industry that they work in. It was a joy to speak to BT Openreach a couple of days later, when I had the 2 minute conversation I should have had previously. At least someone knows what they are doing.

Several days later, and after arranging a ridiculous appointment date in the distant future for someone to come to the house and look at the fault, I have still heard nothing. The phone has been working for 2-3 days, and I have received a text messsage telling be that the fault has been escalated. Do Talk Talk know what they are doing?

The problem is, how do I tell them? I do not have the time to phone them, with the struggle that entails. If the fault has been fixed, it still took 4 days, and who knows what important calls we have lost. Equally the fault may not have been fixed, as the line started working when the weather dried up. They are going to have fun trying to find it again unless it rains.

What we have here is a text book example of how not to do customer service.

A well trained person could have reacted to the fault report with a logical elimination process and passed on the correct information to BT Openreach. This should have taken no more than 2 minutes of the customers time, and would result in lower employment costs and greater customer satisfaction. A quick reaction would also allow the fault to be found promptly, before changes in the weather or other variables make the fault temporarily go away. It is no accident that spending a little extra on well trained employees reduces staffing costs and increases customer satisfaction. The problem is, when will companies learn this simple lesson.

Samsung Galaxy Note - One Month On

The wait for Ice Cream Sandwich is now over, so I have updated my Galaxy Note. The upgrade went smoothly, with the exception of the battery stats getting corrupted. This was resolved by letting the battery drain until the phone switched off, and then recharging. I had to do this twice before the phone would recharge fully again.

I also had problems with Onavo Count, which became a battery hog with ICS. However, this was not a problem, as ICS adds data usage functionality, so I just uninstalled the now redundant app.

Almost every app available seems to work on the Galaxy Note with ICS, and it has been interesting trying them out. One of my favourites has been the BBC Iplayer, which allows me to catch up on radio comedy that I have missed. It is time now to try out some S pen apps.

Samsung Galaxy Note - First Impressions

The first thing you notice when you open the box is the size. It is a lot bigger than most mobiles, but within an hour of use, your old 3.5" screen just looks too small. It fits comfortably into a standard trouser pocket, to the point were you hardly know it is there. I could not say that for my old phone, a Samsung Galaxy Ace.

Battery consumption is excellent for normal use, calls, email, internet browsing etc, but can increase dramatically if used for screen intensive games. The battery lasts more than a full day with plenty to spare thanks to the 2,500 mAh capacity.

The main attraction of the Galaxy Note is the 5.3" screen size. The screen is not just longer, but wider, making it the perfect size for internet browsing or reading an e-book. It is the perfect size for using the Marvel comic app for example. Some apps look too big, but most are able to make use of the additional space available.

Internet connection is fast, with HSPA + available in many places. I have even noticed a faster connection when using wifi. Updating apps is certainly faster.

I considered the S pen to be an added bonus, and I have not used it much to date. The Galaxy Note learns your handwriting, making it easier to write with use. It is great being able to annotate pages by hand, and I look forward to using this more in future. One thing I have used a lot is the screen capture, which can be done by sliding the edge of your hand across the page line a scanner. This has saved a lot of time writing notes.

Making calls is no different than using any smartphone. You do not feel self concious at all about the large size of the phone against your ear. You certainly won't worry about dropping it like many smaller phones, which can be hard to hold in larger hands. The is enhanced by the clip on case I bought, which provides a very good grip at the sides.

The anti smear screen works very well, and is very responsive. My Galaxy Ace was always hard to read due to finger marks, but that is not an issue here.

 I will add more impressions over the coming weeks and months.

Mowing is easier by hand - The Brill RazorCut Premium 38 cylinder mower

Until last year, we used to own a well known brand petrol mower, but we soon found that it was more trouble than it was worth.

• Every year you paid to have it serviced.
• Several minutes were spent filling it up with petrol every time it was used.
• It had to be restarted every time you stopped to move a toy out of the way, or empty the grass box.
• It could not be tipped over, and we had a very expensive bill when we did this by mistake.
• The children had to be out of the way every time you used it.
• It was heavy, and my wife found it impossible to start.

We then discovered the Brill RazorCut Premium 38 cylinder mower, and were surprised to find that having a manual mower does not mean harder work.

Firstly, you have to push the mower, but petrol mowers are heavy and difficult to manoeuvre.The Brill is very light in comparison, and the amount of effort required is less if you have an awkward shaped garden. I have just made the first cut of the year, and it would have been a real struggle to get the petrol mower through the long grass. Not with the Brill.

I could also make this first cut while watching the children play happily in another part of the garden. The lack of noise meant that I could converse and interact with them, and the mower was easy to stop if the children needed help with something. There was even a Robin who settled on a branch right next to me while I continued to mow. A very civilised mowing experience.

Now that the fist cut has been done, my wife will have no trouble cutting the lawn if she wishes to. We had originally bought the Brill for just this reason, but as soon as we used it, the petrol mower had to go.

I am now cutting the lawn in less time than it took with the petrol mower. No filling up with petrol for a start. It is cheaper to run, less noisy, and just a pleasure to use. Manual mowers have come a long way since the old days, and they should really not be dismissed in an age of technology. Try it, you will be pleasently surprised.

Why do people use 0845 numbers?

I can never understand why people still dial 0845 numbers. 0845 numbers can only be dialled from the UK, so most organisations have to supply an alternative number for callers from abroad. All you have to do is replace the +44 at the start of the number with a zero, and you can dial using the free inclusive minutes on your mobile.

If this does not work, then you can always try saynoto0870.com which provides a list of alternative national numbers to try. However, unlike the above, this can be more hit and miss, as the alternative suggested may no longer be in use, or it takes you to another department within the organisation you are dialling.

If everyone used the national numbers as suggested above, organisations would soon get the message, and 0845 numbers would no longer be used.

'Unlock a phone, Unlock a chicken' is back. - The giffgaff community

Click on the link below to see Giffgaffs new video.

'Unlock a phone, Unlock a chicken' is back. - The giffgaff community

Finding free content for your Kindle

Part of the attraction of owning a Kindle is the ability to read E-books that are out of copyright.

A great site for finding these books is http://freekindlebooks.org/ which contains a large selection of works in the Kindle compatible MOBI format.

You can either download the books onto your PC and copy them across to your Kindle, or you can use the built in browser to download the books direct to your Kindle. I prefer the former method, as it means you automatically have a backup of all your books.

The books on this site come from Project Guttenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/) which has also started to supply E-books in the Kindle format.

You may find that the pages of these books are not properly formatted, chapter headings merged into the text for example, but this does not detract from the reading pleasure. The copyright on books in the UK is 100 years, so even books published in the 1910's can be legally obtained for free.