Large Impersonal companies and red tape.

Jeeepers · 11-01-2007, 02:38 PM

Unbelievable sometimes,and I wonder why I bother. I had a visit from Foxtel™ today for an extra outlet to the main bedroom. All simple and straight forward, as the outlet is only a few meters away on the same wall as the exterior cable box. Job took around an hour or so, and all was good. I signed, he left.

Grabbed a bite to eat at lunch, and came back to the pc to get my next fix. WTF? Cable modem power light only, and recieve light flashing, nothing else. So off to the phone I go, waiting, waiting. Told them the story, they proceed to file a damage report on the loss of cable internet. All good I think, things are rolling.

Then I'm told, "All done, you should hear back in 24 hours" Whaaa? Don't think so, I said I'd ring again in an hour, which I did. Same lame response. I said the guy's got a mobile, ring him and get him to call past. "Sorry we can't do that." "So I'm out my internet service because I payed you guys to up bill and give more commercials on pat TV?" "I'm sorry sir, but there is nothing I can do.

Well bugger me, there was something I could do. I went out and opened the cable box, nipped up 3 connections and bingo, all fixed. Honestly, how hard can it be to get service in this world?

Rant over.....

P.S. Didn't call them back. When the tech arrives to fix, I'll tell him I sorted it. I don't care what the outcome is.

belz82 · 11-01-2007, 05:36 PM

While we're talking about sh**te companies...

to get you up to speed, smciner1& myself have done a bit of home renovating. all looks nice, so we decide some timber venetian blinds would finish the room off nicely. out comes vista to measure and quote. we hand over our $300 deposit to said rep, and are told we'd have our blinds in four weeks.

Three weeks later, we get a letter in the mail 'thanks for your order, blah blah blah.. estimated delivery 4 -6 weeks from ordering'. noice. i ring to see how far along our blinds are, and are told we only paid the deposit 24hrs prior to receiving the letter. hmmm not good. seems the rep went on holidays with our deposit and 'forgot' to hand it over.

so.. finally, 7 weeks after ordering, the night before christmas, we finally get our blinds. awesome. we put them up and admire... only to realise one is 4 inches short. by this time i'm ready for blood.

so we ring vista, and are told to 'call back after christmas holidays'... a week later i ring back 'our maintenance guy is on holidays for two weeks, call back then....' so i ring back again on monday... 'oh, i'll pass your phone number on, and you should hear back from us in a week... the guy might be out in two weeks, but because the blind is short we'll probably have to order you a new blind'... so it looks like it'll be about 8 - 10 weeks before this saga is over...

:

not happy, jan :P

b.

Van D · 11-01-2007, 05:36 PM

I noticed one thing in your post that caught my eye... Commercials on pay TV.. WTF? I've seen it slowly coming in for a couple months now, especially Myer ads and the like.
I thought that was a plus of pay TV, no ads?

Jeeepers · 11-01-2007, 05:40 PM

And don't you just love it when they (the other party) expect you to happily eatshit and smile? The installer rang back here 30 mins ago, I said don't worry I fixed it. It was ummm, errr, sorry. :MrT_anim:

gtfpv · 11-01-2007, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ORSM T

Unbelievable sometimes,and I wonder why I bother. I had a visit from Foxtel™ today for an extra outlet to the main bedroom. All simple and straight forward, as the outlet is only a few meters away on the same wall as the exterior cable box. Job took around an hour or so, and all was good. I signed, he left.

Grabbed a bite to eat at lunch, and came back to the pc to get my next fix. WTF? Cable modem power light only, and recieve light flashing, nothing else. So off to the phone I go, waiting, waiting. Told them the story, they proceed to file a damage report on the loss of cable internet. All good I think, things are rolling.

Then I'm told, "All done, you should hear back in 24 hours" Whaaa? Don't think so, I said I'd ring again in an hour, which I did. Same lame response. I said the guy's got a mobile, ring him and get him to call past. "Sorry we can't do that." "So I'm out my internet service because I payed you guys to up bill and give more commercials on pat TV?" "I'm sorry sir, but there is nothing I can do.

Well bugger me, there was something I could do. I went out and opened the cable box, nipped up 3 connections and bingo, all fixed. Honestly, how hard can it be to get service in this world?

Rant over.....

P.S. Didn't call them back. When the tech arrives to fix, I'll tell him I sorted it. I don't care what the outcome is.

bugger that , ring them back and tell them to come out in 2 days . then when they arrive make sure you not home and leave a note out . be back in 10 minutes. stay out all day

Jeeepers · 11-01-2007, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by popinfresh

I noticed one thing in your post that caught my eye... Commercials on pay TV.. WTF? I've seen it slowly coming in for a couple months now, especially Myer ads and the like.
I thought that was a plus of pay TV, no ads?

It was... But we are worms with no control. If it wasn't for my partner, the tech would have been ripping out, not adding to.

Yellow_Festiva · 11-01-2007, 05:51 PM

Yeah, my olds have just built a new house, and the whole top floor got quoted for polished boards of a high gloss. the quote was dont 3 months ago.

Time to lay, parents giv them the ok to start laying, the builder lets them in and they get to work... they get half way through the job and mum shows up... funny the high gloss finish was not on the floor, rather a more satin dull look.....

we are talking of a 43sq place, and all the complicated work like the stair case was done first.... when mum called to say whats going on, turns out the compay no longer supplies the high gloss, so they just down graged the wood finish to whats on the floor. good how they made that decision without asking the people paying the cash....

So mum made it simple for them..... knock 35% of the price and finish the job, or come around the next day and rip it all up....

The job was finished the next day......

Wonder how they would feel if someone did that to them.... the gall of some people these days!

belz82 · 11-01-2007, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Wonder how they would feel if someone did that to them.... the gall of some people these days!

it makes you think doesn't it? clearly they are also consumers of some product here or there, and i assume, being human (or are they?), that they also expect a high quality of service. sure, some things go wrong, but clearly the examples we have here are of just utter disgraceful dealings by said companies.

for our trouble (the late blinds) we got a $200 discount. however, i sent an email regarding the short blind yesterday, still have had no response, and am therefore looking at consumer affairs as my next option... :S damn it. should've paid three times the price with the other company. :P

b

gtfpv · 11-01-2007, 06:08 PM

never never pay up front ever.

rodderz · 11-01-2007, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by belz82

While we're talking about sh**te companies...

to get you up to speed, smciner1& myself have done a bit of home renovating. all looks nice, so we decide some timber venetian blinds would finish the room off nicely. out comes vista to measure and quote. we hand over our $300 deposit to said rep, and are told we'd have our blinds in four weeks.

Three weeks later, we get a letter in the mail 'thanks for your order, blah blah blah.. estimated delivery 4 -6 weeks from ordering'. noice. i ring to see how far along our blinds are, and are told we only paid the deposit 24hrs prior to receiving the letter. hmmm not good. seems the rep went on holidays with our deposit and 'forgot' to hand it over.

so.. finally, 7 weeks after ordering, the night before christmas, we finally get our blinds. awesome. we put them up and admire... only to realise one is 4 inches short. by this time i'm ready for blood.

so we ring vista, and are told to 'call back after christmas holidays'... a week later i ring back 'our maintenance guy is on holidays for two weeks, call back then....' so i ring back again on monday... 'oh, i'll pass your phone number on, and you should hear back from us in a week... the guy might be out in two weeks, but because the blind is short we'll probably have to order you a new blind'... so it looks like it'll be about 8 - 10 weeks before this saga is over...

:

not happy, jan :P

b.

I have had the exact same drama, only with halogen lights for inside the house to replace ageing ones.

Ordered them early december, told they would be a week away. A week later told December 15th, to when I rang up and was told if not this week, mid January. Finally got the call yesterday!

DOC · 11-01-2007, 06:11 PM

Well with a few un expected blips on my Radar over the last month or so i could name most companies that don't really give a toska, and really are just money driven regardless of flash advertising, but i don't think we are all stupid enough to believe otherwise.

I wont list them as im sure it would be a boring list, how ever what i can say is amongst the bad is the good, and one i will name here is FORD, i know from time to time you hear warranty issues and stuff and a few moans n groans, but put to the task these guys are great and do besides some common thoughts that they might be out of touch, have a handle on things and do care about thier customers.

It might not be a high roller import but Ford have my business for many years to come thats for sure.

Walkinshaw · 11-01-2007, 06:21 PM

Funnly enough we don't get this problem at work, seing we pay for things at the earliest 24days AFTER instalation.

Do NOT pay up front, as said before is good advice.

Interceptor · 11-01-2007, 06:46 PM

smaller scale i know, but i ordered some bosch components through one of our wholesalers, got a call on tuesday with the wholesalers rep saying that he couldnt find anyone who had any, and was getting told there were none in stock in the country.....

i told him that its no good him ringing me to tell me that, if it means buying the damned stuff in from overseas, damned well do so, dont tell me he cant find any, get his damned supplier to supply the parts they're supposed to have!

then last night at a sales rep's ****up, chatting to the wholesalers rep, he seemed a lil miffed about my tone, his manager overheard the conversation, and pretty much told the rep what i said..... dont tell the customer that it cant be found, find it!

Krytox · 11-01-2007, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Interceptor

smaller scale i know, but i ordered some bosch components through one of our wholesalers, got a call on tuesday with the wholesalers rep saying that he couldnt find anyone who had any, and was getting told there were none in stock in the country.....

i told him that its no good him ringing me to tell me that, if it means buying the damned stuff in from overseas, damned well do so, dont tell me he cant find any, get his damned supplier to supply the parts they're supposed to have!

then last night at a sales rep's ****up, chatting to the wholesalers rep, he seemed a lil miffed about my tone, his manager overheard the conversation, and pretty much told the rep what i said..... dont tell the customer that it cant be found, find it!

heh don't we all get that?
I like the "not my job" reply's, that shows me who gives in a business.

Nowadays i just do what i need myself and trust no-one.

nobbystang · 11-01-2007, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by popinfresh

I noticed one thing in your post that caught my eye... Commercials on pay TV.. WTF? I've seen it slowly coming in for a couple months now, especially Myer ads and the like.
I thought that was a plus of pay TV, no ads?

Ditto, those ringtone ads are the worst. Now MTV doesn't play music unless its on one of these damn ads. Channel V was always crap so nothing new there with the VJ's, what a joke they are!!

No more analogue service which is good, but what about HD, no sign of. Then to top it all off, not only an increase in ads but also an increase in monthly rentals

Homer1 · 11-01-2007, 09:34 PM

I always wonder the if Telstra wasn't govt protected and had to actually compete, I'm willing to bet that with the service and product they provide, they'd be out of business within a year I swear!

[Tonko] · 11-01-2007, 11:49 PM

The local autobarn was the worst, when ordering my 650 holley and adapter,
go in, say i want to order and he says no problem, give us 3 days and all will be good
3 days later i go in, got my carby? nah sorry, will be in any minute
a week later i go in on a friday, my carby? oh yeah, its been at the post office since tuesday. i'll go get it. post office is closed.
and i was told redline are the only people in australia that make the adaptor for a cleveland. 3 weeks later i got it, they wanted an extra $60 for it. (double the price, which i'd already paid 60)
when i said i'll go to repco, they told me good luck and laughed... i laughed alright, i got one on the cheap and said to autobarn, thanks, you saved me $20 i'll never shop here again... there werent laughing then...

KaptnKaos · 12-01-2007, 04:05 AM

I'm having fun with an electricity company at the moment. The company shall remain nameless (but their initials are TRU) and they are chasing me for an unpaid bill of $62 dating back to July 2004.

Only problem is we have never lived at that address, and the electricity & gas has always been in the other half's name.

When I rang to tell them all this the dopey broad on the other end did the old "those notices are computer generated and I have no control over that" routine.

So I told her that I pay all my bills via the internet so she should get her computer to ask my computer for the money and stop sending the notices to me cos my computer holds all the money not me.

I was immediately transferred to a superviser and given a lecture about my attitude! My reply was to simply ask him for AGL's phone number. We must have been cut off at that point cos there was suddenly no-one on the other end. Wonder why?

4.9 EF Futura · 12-01-2007, 09:16 AM

As per previous comments... dont pay upfront... actually, dont pay until the job's been done. I bet that's how they run their own books.

But on the broader topic, these are big companies, with lots of customers and bucketloads of employees. Employees whom, despite your jaundiced opinion, are probably doing their best. Let's face it - at an individual level, most people in this country do their best to get their job done. As a whole, we generally value our jobs.

Its when you have a large number of employees, orchestrated into these wonderful beasts called companies, that the wheels tend to fall off.

But at the end of the day, 95% of the time, they do what's expected and what's agreed. Sorry to hear you're in the 5% that get jerked around.

Cut them some slack.... or better yet... come up with a better way to run a company and make a mint out of the idea

**GasoLane** · 12-01-2007, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by popinfresh

I noticed one thing in your post that caught my eye... Commercials on pay TV.. WTF? I've seen it slowly coming in for a couple months now, especially Myer ads and the like.
I thought that was a plus of pay TV, no ads?

We've had Ads on Austar for well over 12mths.

**Mechan1k** · 12-01-2007, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaptnKaos

I'm having fun with an electricity company at the moment. The company shall remain nameless (but their initials are TRU) and they are chasing me for an unpaid bill of $62 dating back to July 2004.

Only problem is we have never lived at that address, and the electricity & gas has always been in the other half's name.

When I rang to tell them all this the dopey broad on the other end did the old "those notices are computer generated and I have no control over that" routine.

So I told her that I pay all my bills via the internet so she should get her computer to ask my computer for the money and stop sending the notices to me cos my computer holds all the money not me.

I was immediately transferred to a superviser and given a lecture about my attitude! My reply was to simply ask him for AGL's phone number. We must have been cut off at that point cos there was suddenly no-one on the other end. Wonder why?

The thing is ... the poor person on the other end of the phone probably doesn't have access to sort it out and has to send it onto another team. That poor person has to put up with several hundred people a day ... and when they come across people with your attitude ... they don't need it.

Used to work in a call-centre .... it's crap work ... and having to put up with people's attitudes isn't dun somedays ... but when being referred to the supervisor, the supervisor won't take crap and will terminate the call. They are allowed to. Usually the customer gets an initial formal/verbal warning of call termination ... but sometimes not. And yes ... all calls are monitored and recorded.

If people call up with a little less attitude ... they will get a lot more help if being polite ... it makes it easier and more pleasant for both parties.

And from experience ... when you get someone on the line and the first thing they do is arc up over something petty ... it's a case of "Here we go again". And in the end ... the customer really does get the help they need due to their attitude.

People need to learn to be calm and not get annoyed on the phone ... you get annoyed at a company (call centre operator who has been sitting in the same chair for 12 hours taking calls all day) ... they tend to switch off and not listen ... also a note goes said customer's account stating "hostile customer" as well.

I find everytime I am polite and patient ... I get the help I am after and get the result i need.

**Mechan1k** · 12-01-2007, 10:27 PM

And yes ... I work for a large impersonal company.
They treat customer better than they treat their employees.

So when you ring up thinking you got the raw end of the deal ... you will find the poor employee on the end of the phone is getting shafted more than you are.

pertuan · 12-01-2007, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

I find everytime I am polite and patient ... I get the help I am after and get the result i need.

I also find that to be true. Personally, I always start off very polite and will try to help them help me. I only start to get annoyed and more aggressive if I think the guy/girl on the other end is just being smart and unhelpful.

**Mechan1k** · 12-01-2007, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pertuan

I also find that to be true. Personally, I always start off very polite and will try to help them help me. I only start to get annoyed and more aggressive if I think the guy/girl on the other end is just being smart and unhelpful.

Which is fair enough ... and understandable ... as there are some people out there that shouldn't be working in a call centre (I don't blame them ... it's a crap job).

JADED6 · 13-01-2007, 04:10 AM

Is a terminated phone call or "hostile customer" note something we should all fear?
They sound super scary.
As has been mentioned rationale & reason will get you somewhere but when things get screwy, hand me one of those hostile customer notices cos I'd take my business elsewhere.
To this day that has not been the case though.
It's just sometimes more fun slamming the door on the way out. It's not personal.

belz82 · 26-01-2007, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4.9 EF Futura

As per previous comments... dont pay upfront... actually, dont pay until the job's been done. I bet that's how they run their own books.

But on the broader topic, these are big companies, with lots of customers and bucketloads of employees. Employees whom, despite your jaundiced opinion, are probably doing their best. Let's face it - at an individual level, most people in this country do their best to get their job done. As a whole, we generally value our jobs.

Its when you have a large number of employees, orchestrated into these wonderful beasts called companies, that the wheels tend to fall off.

But at the end of the day, 95% of the time, they do what's expected and what's agreed. Sorry to hear you're in the 5% that get jerked around.

Cut them some slack.... or better yet... come up with a better way to run a company and make a mint out of the idea

While I do agree with your comment, i'm still waiting for my blind to be fixed, four weeks after i notified them that it was short... i've had to get consumer affairs involved...

fair enough one or two things go wrong, i'm happy to accept them, but if the rep takes off on holiday with my deposit, causing my blinds to be late, and then having to try for four weeks on end to get someone to my house to fix my blind... being told they'd do one thing, and then turn around the next day anddecide something else needs to be done.. continually promising that reps will turn up to fix blind.. and no one turns up.. it gets beyond the joke. the rep finally turned up yesterday and now they've decided something else needs to be done. :jab:

it's now getting to the point that it's comical...

dan.76 · 26-01-2007, 09:57 AM

i am a tradesman with my own buisiness, there is so much work around at the moment that if anyone is rude or whatever i just dont do their work and go on to someone nice.
it is funny to see ********* who want work done ranting and raving saying ill go somewhere else and ringing back a week later nice as pie. or people who pay late expecting prompt service.
and there are the customers with overdue accounts who expect you to get them out of the **** and get cranky when you say no work will be performed untill bills are paid.
and dont get me started on people who wont pay extra for me to work at night or on weekends

havoc19 · 26-01-2007, 10:20 AM

Its odd you say that dan.76 because i do the exact opposite if a tradesmans rude i tell them to shove there job up there **** and dont pay them how odd they also change there attitudes and act nice as pie i guess it goes both ways

GXL078 · 26-01-2007, 10:38 AM

The worst thing it ownimg a strata unit where the strata managers have the say on who gets the job and they charge exhorborant prices for everything. Like $1800 to put up 2 sheets of gyprock, but don't worry.. the insurance is paying. They send two Russians out who do the job in 4 hours. We are still waiting fo them to come back and sand it. We have to paint it ourselves because that is covered by our separate contents insurance, which has a $200 excess. My advice is don't buy anything strata under any circumstances.

Yellow_Festiva · 26-01-2007, 12:16 PM

xcgxl your bloody spot on,

The strata people don't use their own money, so when a tradie does a quote for a job on a strata property they up the price as they know in the end of the day they will probably get the job.

I was on the exec comittee for my place, time to paint villa hand rails for the front and back steps. One quote was for $9,000 the other for $25,000...... (the whole job spanned a WHOLE 3 days!)

And BOTH were very overly priced.... Iv'e done a few basic reno's on houses and know what jobs are worth....

In the end of the day we advised owners that the strata will do the job and charge a special levy or leave the repainting to the owners and make sure its done by a certain deadline. What do you think everyone did???