Originally Posted by
dfisher1
Sorry, I don't agree with that.
The bottom line can only be that it was management's fault...
So, it's my view that we shouldn't be blaming the foot-soldiers...
Its always easy to blame the management, its seems to have become fashionable to do this lately.
How do we know that the management at Watford weren't fantastic but it was the workers in the call centres/shop counter/store rooms that weren't pulling their weight and complying with request from management resulting in poor customer service experienced by many? We don't - unless you know otherwise. That is why I said the staff and didn't blame any particular department or groups of people because I can't single out particular individuals.
I'm trying to think how much of a grip you can possibly have of the real world of work. And I'm coming up with the likelihood that it's very little.
Of course there are crap workers but the very fact that they remain in work is management's fault - how could that possibly NOT be so??
The alternative scenario is this:
Worker realises that he's letting down himself, his employer, his colleagues and the members of the public.
As a result, he has a good talking with himself, explains that he needs to get his act together but promises to help himself with training, advice and addressing any other necessary issues.
Over the next month, he monitors himself for progress but notices no improvements so sits himself down for a little chat.
I won't bore you with all the rest of the twaddle through the first-stage, second-stage and third-stage warnings but will zoom forward to the time when having failed to pull his socks up or accept all the help and support he has been offering himself, he decides he has no other option but to give himself the sack.
Originally Posted by
dfisher1
Unfortunatly there will always be a few bad apples that spoil it for the rest (be it managers or foot soldiers). I don't know who is to blame in the case of bad customer service, so I've tarred the whole staff with the same brush - sounds silly but thats part of life and we ALL do it.
Perhaps some of us do - but, hopefully, most of us won't seek to make excuses when it's pointed out.
Originally Posted by
dfisher1
"Get real and show some humanity."
Perhaps thats what Watford SHOULD HAVE done before getting my back up. If they had dealt with my complaint swiftly and without fuss, I wouldn't be angry and therefore might have more sympathy for the company as a WHOLE if that had been the case.
You are perfectly entitled to be hacked off with a company that has let you down.
But to be filled with spite and bile for the foot-solders? No.
Originally Posted by
dfisher1
Look, I had a local business close down near me which I had used for many years. They closed because they were squeezed out by the 'big boys'. Now I'd used that shop for many years and always got along well with the owners (who were also the shop staff). Anytime I had a problem (damaged goods...) they always handled it without fuss and it was resolved quickly with minimal effort and time. Therefore when they closed I was sorry to see them go as they had served me and the community really well.
And, consequently, if they sold something that you could get a lot cheaper elsewhere at one of the "big boys", you always bought locally?
If we all did that, the big boys would go out of business themselves, but we don't - we do what's good for our pocket in the short-term.
Originally Posted by
dfisher1
HOWEVER, if I buy from a company and have a problem and I try and phone and nobody picks up, I leave countless messages and nobody replies, I sent emails to the MD, Customer services and nobody emails back. Then when I get through I am lied to and pushed from pillar to post and given an array of excuses you don't really expect me to feel sympathetic do you?
Clearly, quite mistakenly, yes I do.
Originally Posted by
dfisher1
I'm guessing nor would you if I messed you around, wasted your time, lied to you and ignored your calls, I very much doubt you would be showing me some 'humanity' if I were arrested by the police or went bankrupt.
So 'get real.'
If anybody knows my history, they know I've personally gone into bat in the past over readers problems and so will have genuine sympathy with your suffering.
But, nothing you've said so far convinces me that the sins against you are so great as to entitle you to discard your humanity.