What year is it in Margate?

[spikey]

So I phone Hornby at 1230 today to ask a question and get an announcement that "lines are temporarily closed for training purposes and will re-open at 2pm".  Note on the website that they pack up at 3pm on Fridays, so phone again just now (2.45pm) ... and get the same message.  Go on website, send query by webmail ... and get auto-response saying that they'll endeavour to reply within five working days.  Thankfully my query's not about Airfix or Corgi spares, because the target time within which to repond to queries about them is apparently 28 days!

 

OK, it's only toy trains so my enquiry's not any big deal in the scheme of things, but is it me, or what?

[Pete the Elaner]

Sounds pretty typical of modern companies.

How many times have we called a number & heard an automated greeting of something like "due to the unusually current high volume of calls, we are unable to answer at present, please wait for an operator".

So we phone back later in the day - the same.

Then later in the afternoon - the same.

Then first thing in the morning - the same.

Then mid-morning - the same.

It doesn't really matter what time you call, you get the same response.

 

So what the automated greeting really means is "Due to us employing too few staff, we do not have enough left to cope with the amount of phone calls we receive. If we lose business then we do not really care".

The problem is you can't quantify lost business.

[Mike Buckner]

"Your call is important to us. Please hold until it is no longer important to you."

[AY Mod]

When I know many businesses have workers who start early and often work at home in the evenings I raise a smile when I see poets' day being observed.

[Wickham Green]

Which reminds me ........................ Good Night !

Edited August 2, 2019 by Wickham Green

[Phil Parker]

45 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

So what the automated greeting really means is "Due to us employing too few staff, we do not have enough left to cope with the amount of phone calls we receive. If we lose business then we do not really care". 

 

With my cynical hat on, I wonder who would pay for those extra staff? The very same people on here always moaning about prices?

 

I suspect that if you are placing an order, you use a different route and so the "loss" is people asking questions that eat money and don't raise it. Possibly the very same people who would complain if the prices were high enough to fund a 24-hour a day UK based call centre.

 

Takes cynical hat off and goes back to work. Still, I'll get the WHOLE Saturday morning off this weekend.

[RBAGE]

I've been here before and got myself in hot water as a result. Spent some time on the naughty step for my criticism of "the establishment" but it has to be said.

 

Why has the administrator and moderator quickly come to the defence of poor customer service?

 - The fact that businesses work long hours isn't unique to the model railway industry so why should that failure of any business to apply a reasonable level of customer support be met with comment of "poet's day" and raising "a smile"?

 - Why should failure require a hat of any kind to be donned, let alone a "cynical hat"?

 - Customer service is not "extra stuff". It's fundamental to the business. If customers face ridicule if they require service or support, there's something wrong.

 - The issue of pricing or "moaning about prices" has not been raised in this short topic so why is it necessary for it to be linked to genuine concerns about customer service. To draw such a link might be considered as inflammatory and may cause offence to other contributors. 

 - To suggest that there will be a different route for placing an order is one thing. That's quite clear. What might be misinterpreted is the suggestion that customers who call "eat money and don't raise it". Generally, the need to make a call is related to some dissatisfaction with something bought. Is the contributor suggesting that it's not unreasonable for customers to be ignored because the provider has already got his/her money and is unlikely to get any more as a result of a related call?

 - Once again, an unprovoked and unnecessary, critical comment that suggests that callers requesting the support they are entitled to are the people who complain about pricing. This suggests that there is no consideration built into the cost of products bought for customer service and customers would not be prepared to pay for it anyway. 

 

I find the response, by Administrator and Moderator, to a genuine issue of a failure to communicate with a manufacturer quite shocking and disappointing. I wonder whether some thought should be given to who the forum serves. Certainly, some comment on these contributions is warranted.

 

I must point out that this posting is in response to others postings on this topic. It is my interpretation of comments made in those postings and should not be taken as a criticism of any other contributor.

[Phil Parker]

7 minutes ago, RBAGE said:

I find the response, by Administrator and Moderator, to a genuine issue of a failure to communicate with a manufacturer quite shocking and disappointing. I wonder whether some thought should be given to who the forum serves. Certainly, some comment on these contributions is warranted. 

 

Maybe it's because the administrator and moderator aren't looking forward to spending unpaid evenings and weekends firefighting yet another thread where all those who hate a particular manufacturer spot a chance to saddle-up their hobby horses and ride into battle. Since this is exactly where you want to take the thread however, and I have better things to do, the thread is locked. 

[AY Mod]

29 minutes ago, RBAGE said:

Why has the administrator and moderator quickly come to the defence of poor customer service?

I won't be giving you a qualified and reasonable response as it's gone 5pm.

 

Have a nice weekend.