The Hotel, Channel 4
Posted: Sun 13 January, 2013 Filed under: Charm School, Customer Services, Cynicism, People, Television, Thoughts 2 Comments »On Channel 4, they’re currently showing a new series of “The Hotel”, about the Grosvenor Hotel in Torquay.
In many ways it’s absolute road-crash TV, the sort that makes you think “What were they thinking when they agreed to this?” . All the people portrayed are just horrendous, total idiots. Indeed, it’s so bad that you wonder if it’s not completely staged, one of these ‘scripted reality’ shows like “Only way is Essex” etc. Indeed, I’m not yet fully convinced that it’s not.
There are a couple of reasons I’m more given to believe that it’s just stupid people with no clue and no insight into how they appear. They are :
- I’ve worked with several people who have exactly those levels of self-delusion and stupidity. (Funnily enough, all in that same industry)
- The media coverage that the hotel did end up getting sold to new owners
All told, it’s another of Channel 4’s excursions into excruciating people and teeth-grinding situations.
Inside Claridges
Posted: Fri 7 December, 2012 Filed under: Customer Services, Domestic, London, People, Reviews(ish), Thoughts, Travel Leave a comment »On BBC currently there’s a wonderful documentary series called “Inside Claridges”. Obviously it’s a ‘behind the scenes’ look at how Claridge’s Hotel runs – and it’s absolutely fascinating, a true “How the other half live”
The entire thing is quite, quite mad – I understand why and how they do what they do, but it really is potty. For example, taking photos of how a suite is laid out when a guest leaves, so that it can be laid out the same way if/when they return to the hotel in the future. I suppose if you’re paying £5,500 per night it’s the kind of invisible thing you expect – and yes, I think paying £5,500 per night is utterly obscene – but to me, it’s also potty.
All told, it’s a really sweet little series, well worth catching on repeats, iPlayer or whatever. It’s what BBC documentaries should be (in my opinion) about – things that the general viewer will never see, the way other people live, even if those lives are completely antithetical to our own.
Counterfeits, and Real Refunds
Posted: Wed 17 October, 2012 Filed under: Customer Services, Domestic, iPhone Leave a comment »Back in March when I got the iPhone upgrade, I ordered a new Mophie Juice Pack Plus battery pack – I’d had one for the old iPhone, and really liked it. Plus it has the nice side-effect of doubling the battery life of the phone.
I bought the pack – me being me, the purple one – via Amazon (as I usually do)
Over this weekend, it stopped charging, and is basically broke and fucked. Not impressed. It was past the 90-day period on Amazon, so I contacted Mophie direct to ask what could be done.
I got a reply the next day, asking for the normal sort of thing – receipt, serial number etc., which got supplied.
Then yesterday they sent an email, saying that the battery pack I’ve bought is actually a counterfeit product, so Mophie can’t do anything about it. Understandable, but nightmare.
Anyway, I contacted the seller via Amazon (and left a warning on the product page) last night, just letting them know, but really expecting knack-all.
And today, I got an email, telling me that I’d been completely refunded for the purchase, to not worry about returning it or anything, very sorry, and that they’d actually stopped selling those packs recently following other concerns about their quality.
I’m annoyed about the pack’s death, but very, very impressed with the resultant customer service – both from the seller, and from Mophie themselves.
Phone Insurance – You couldn’t make this shit up
Posted: Mon 9 July, 2012 Filed under: 1BEM, Customer Services, Cynicism, Insurance, iPhone 2 Comments »This morning, I got three letters from CPP, the muppets company dealing with the claim for my knackered iPhone.
All three are dated the same day – 27th June! Nearly two weeks to get sent out – and all ‘signed’ by the same person. Combined, they make for a brilliant record of how CPP handle things. Well, it’s hilarious if you’re not receiving them.
- Letter 1 – “We need more information – proof of purchase, and a more detailed description of what happened”
- Letter 2 – “We need a more detailed description of what happened” – guess this means they’ve received the proof of purchase ?
- Letter 3 – “Claim denied”. So they’ve received a more detailed description? Or did the one in the initial phone call suddenly suffice?
And bear in mind, this is all two weeks ago – it’s already been appealed, and complained about.
I wonder what excuse they’ll use for these letters, and the fact it’s taken two weeks to receive them…
Restoring
Posted: Fri 29 June, 2012 Filed under: Customer Services, Domestic, Geeky, Technology 3 Comments »So, while the insurance bullshit rumbles on, I went to the local Apple store tonight and sorted a replacement phone. Apple sell replacement phones for ‘out of warranty’ replacements. (a much nicer terminology than “water-fucked phones”, to be fair) Apparently they’re made from some reconditioned parts, but that means they cost £140 to replace, not £500.
The entire process has actually been really simple. I know I’m no Apple advocate, but sometimes they’re worthy of praise all the same – just not brainless adoration.
In this case, the actual transfer process took about fifteen minutes, start to finish. Restoring all the data is taking a long time, but it looks like I’ll have a complete restore, that I won’t have lost a single thing. And that is impressive, however you look at it.
All my contacts, all my email, even all my photos. (which were the thing I really expected to lose) This is A Good Thing, for sure.
Phone Insurance – Rejected
Posted: Thu 28 June, 2012 Filed under: 1BEM, Charm School, Customer Services, Cynicism, Domestic, Insurance, Stupidity 6 Comments »So, following on from yesterday’s post about the idiots at Homecare Insurance (part of CPP Insurance) it now turns out they’ve rejected my claim, because I “didn’t take reasonable precautions”.
Now, the phone is (supposedly) covered against accidental damage. But that apparently doesn’t include accidents. Of course, with insurance, the devil is in the details.
The actual circumstances of the phone’s demise are that I left it on the cistern of the toilet while I had a shower. While in the shower, I assume I received a call or a message and vibrated, because the poxy thing was in the toilet when I got out of the shower. And since then, it’s been knackered, for obvious reasons.
So apparently, I didn’t take enough care of the phone. Sure, I could have been in the bathroom, then left, put the phone somewhere else, and gone back in. I could have put the phone somewhere else in the bathroom – a windowsill, or whatever. But the fact is, I didn’t, I didn’t even think past “It’ll be fine on a flat surface”. Which it has been in the past. I didn’t think it’d fall in, because it was on a flat safe surface, not even close to the edge.
And this all means I didn’t (currently) take reasonable precautions. I freely admit to being an idiot, but the process wasn’t a careless or slapdash one – just a stupid one.
It’s being appealed, and the entire process is now also a full formal complaint.
But short story? If you’re insured with Homecare or CPP, don’t expect accidental damage to be covered, even when they say it is.
Missing the Point – Insurance
Posted: Wed 27 June, 2012 Filed under: 1BEM, Customer Services, Cynicism, Domestic, Insurance, Stupidity, Thoughts 1 Comment »Just under two weeks ago, I buggered up my iPhone. Like an idiot, I’d laid it on the cistern of the loo while I had a shower. I assume it received a message while I was showering, vibrated, slid off the cistern, splosh.
Fortunately, the phone is/was insured, so a claim is being processed.Equally fortunately, the insurance is an added benefit to my bank account – and that’s fortunate, because if I was paying for this policy, I’d be a lot more annoyed than I currently am.
The company, Homecare insurance, are part of the CPPGroup and are – frankly – a bunch of clowns.
When I first called, their systems were unavailable. So they said they’d call me back – except they can only call me back on my registered number. Which is, of course, my mobile. Which is knackered, hence why I’m calling them. But you can’t change the number, it’s only the registered one. And when I asked to speak to a manager, they couldn’t be put through because the systems were down. (Why managers are unavailable when the system is down is something we’ll just ignore for now. I suspect it’d make my brain hurt)
So. They can send out a claim form, but you can’t email or fax it back – it’s got to be posted. And then it takes five days to process. Bearing in mind that everything in the policy says “covered against accidental damage, water damage etc.”, I don’t quite know how it takes five days to make that decision.
Anyway. I got an email from the cretins today.
“We have attempted to contact you by telephone to discuss the claim you have made on your phone insurance policy but were unsuccessful in contacting you.“
Yes, they’ve tried calling the mobile number – again – and can’t get through. Considering it’s the phone I’m claiming for, I wonder why they can’t get through?