'Fings ain't wot they used t'be'..... or are they?

[#1]

At one time you could phone a company and get an answer or, write them a letter and stick a sixpenny stamp on it. Then came the internet which was fine at first but now? Nobody picks up the phone and you get stuck in a queue, and even though a company may send you an email, try and reply and it gets bounced back - as for getting an email address for them in the first place.....

Now we are required to go back to writing a letter, "send it to head office recorded delivery" and pay at least nearly £2 for the privilege of the stamp and what's now known as a 'Royal Mail Signed For' letter. I can understand the reluctance of companies not wanting to be overloaded with emails, but is that any more difficult than having sacks of mail delivered and having to be opened by their mail room staff? I don't think so.

Sure we can post here, on facebook and even go and chat to a polite agent on-line, but it does have a feeling of containment about it. 

'Fings ain't wot they used t'be' indeed, or am I missing the elephant in the room? Possibly.

 

[#2]

Crikey, just received an email from the Post Office.......sent from <do_not_reply@pobroadband.co.uk>

[#3]

I can't say I'm happy that some companies expect you to phone or send letters for anything important.

But when things are reversed you are expected to accept often disappearing emails from them.

I successfully won an argument (with OFT's help) against a previous power company. It was deemed unacceptable to send (or say they sent) a contractual obligation by email. They ended up dropping any fantasy charges and compensating me for my trouble.

[#4]

Contract by email, like the I have just had from plusnet? Interesting. 

[#5]

I suppose we have to go with the flow. Something that gets me more, is the increasing inability to elecit apposite answers to points raised. Or if there are more than one, the answer to other thab the first.

[#6]

What annoys me the most is that many companies claim to be customer friendly... "contact us on our facebook / twitter" you'll often see them say. Have you ever tried that? They can't get rid of you quick enough! Their reply is usually "Please DM us so we can help" and the moment you DM them the reply is "Sorry we can't help".

You send them a written letter and you'll be lucky if they even bother to reply. Ring them up and you get nothing from anyone in writing... just some false promise of "we'll sort it out mate" from some snide little 16 year old who just left school and doesn't really give a damn about anything other than getting wasted and chasing girls.

If you ask me every company should by law have a grump barsteward department where people like us who are miffed with todays "high levels" of customer service can make direct contact with the company and get proper service the old fashioned proper way.

[#7]

Well a letter from myself concerning some rather longstanding serious issues is winging it's way to plusnet at the moment so lets hope I do get a reply but yes, I hear you. Unlike many other organisations, Plusnet's fb page certainly seem to hide any posts you try to put out into that particular public domain.  

[#8]

Just to add, that single letter to plusnet cost me £1.65. 

Nice work if you can get it eh?

[#9]

@Minivanman

At £1.65 that must be some big letter, I can see that getting filed in  the bin.

[#10]

Personal protest is the way to get your issues resolved.

Make a big placard with your complaint on it and stand outside the HQ of the company and get on the mobile to the press, when they arrive move on to the company's land so some burly guards or the police can carry you off, trust me no company wants the negative image that presents.

Either that or continue to put up with the problem or keep writing/phoning and get fobbed off.

[#11]

Sky high postage charge plus the fee for sending it 'signed delivery' as required by plusnet. 

[#12]

Funny you should say that because that is just what I did some years back. Long story but I spent the entire day with a placard walking up and down outside a garage that had massively overcharged me and held my car 'hostage'. Never got my money back but having made sure beforehand that the local paper knew all about it the garage owner got a lot of bad publicity and no doubt lost a fair amount of business. Boy oh boy was he peed off!

[#13]

Do you want PN's address in Sheffield or have you already got it !

[#14]

Knocking up that placard as we speak! 

[#15]

@Minivanman

What ever you do don't announce the date and time you are going to do this on the forum otherwise you will hardly be noticed amongst the thousands of other people already there !