Monday 30 November 2009

Customer service..what customer service?

Imagine, it's Saturday night, you've had a tough week and decide that tonight you and yours will not cook; you will use the take-away delivery service.

There are plenty to choose from in Yeovil, so out come the leaflets that they regularly stuff through the door.

Go with the usual? No their food seems to have gone downhill recently. Go with this one then, they deliver? Yes, GREAT.

Phone in order at 7.30pm.........how long? One hour; OK no problem.

Wait for delivery.

One hour later no food.

One hour ten minutes, get on phone to takeaway. He's 20 minutes away. OK.

One hour forty minutes; Now I am annoyed, I've been patient but honestly now I'm annoyed.

Wife calls takeaway.......Very sorry....bad weather (WHAT? look out of the window, check for typhoons, none found), driver sick.........it's not even cooked!?! Would we like to cancel?!!!

Cancel order......get bread and cheese out decide to 'out' the Takeaway.

For utterly hopeless service in the Chinese take-away restaurant market in Yeovil Somerset, step forward (wait for the fanfare)

The Hing Lee Chinese Take Away of 24 South Street Yeovil

Who completely and utterly failed to meet their own 45 minute standard waiting time, who invented new weather related excuses for not doing what they said they would do and for wasting their own money promoting a service that they clearly are not able to deliver.

Welcome to the hall of shame.
Leaflet in bin........don't bother asking if I'll give you another chance.

Thursday 19 November 2009

How to amuse your 4 year old son at 6am

Fold him a paper boat, thank goodness for YouTube

Saturday 14 November 2009

November 14th-Life

I seem to have loaded myself with more work than seems reasonable for one man. However promises have been made and deadlines are not very flexible, so reading, TV and similar activities will be off the agenda for the next couple of weeks.

My evening appointments calendar continues to get busier, it's nice to be able to work with new people every few weeks, it challenges my abilities in a very constructive way.

A former Hypnotherapy student of mine got in touch this week. After a couple of years of doing other things, he has set himself up in practice and crafted a new web site to go with it. If you are in the Swindon area then take a look at the site www.zen-hypno.co.uk which belongs to Tim Butt. Good luck Tim.

One of my sons took himself off to the USA this week. When he wanted to extend his stay by a few days he suddenly became aware of the bizarre world of airline ticket pricing; a world where a single ticket to somewhere can cost more than the return to the same destination. I think it may have been an expensive learning process for him.

Friday 13 November 2009

Great quote from BBC Radio 4

I heard this on a radio program (BBC Radio 4) about the pottery industry in the UK today.
It was about two guys who had cut loose to start their own specialist ceramics company.
I think I have it correct.

"I'm swimming through the ashes of all the bridges I have burnt!"

Brilliant!

Thursday 12 November 2009

Smokers?

I've had a sudden flurry of would be non-smokers booking sessions with me. Is the cold weather finally driving people to regret puffing on the little white stick?

Answers in the comments please.

Saturday 7 November 2009

What creates apathy?

This is by nature a slightly political post.

There has been for some time now a view that UK voters have become apathetic about exercising their right to vote.

The turnout in local elections often struggles to achieve 25% and even in general elections rarely achieves 50%.

Media commentators wring their hands and write essays on what should be done. They suggest everything from lowering the voting age to making voting compulsory.

Here's some suggestions for all those media pundits and hacks;
Stop treating the adults of the UK like children and they'll stop behaving like children. (I suppose
we could call this the transactional analysis approach). Who the hell needs to be told how to blow their nose and dispose of the paper tissue who is over the age of 6? Patronising video here.

Stop giving outrageous levels of snooping power to any man jack and his dog with RIPA and SOCA laws. Absolutely ludicrous use of powers example here.

Let the voting public have a real choice about the future path of the country instead simply choosing from one bunch of money grubbing politicos dressed in red and another bunch of money grubbing politicos dressed in blue (or possibly yellow). Outrageous money grubbing here.

When we all get a real choice apathy will disappear.

Apathy is only evident when choices are notional rather than real.

Given a real choice people will use their power; it won't happen because the levers of control and power would be ripped away from the current political classes. It would probably take a revolution for that to happen.