Service What Service?

Did you ever hear or take Chester Karass's negotiation course? Well I know some people who should, and really I don't just refer to salesman. I really talk about the concept of good service, which applies to all of us, in all our transactions be sales or personal. "Going the extra mile" should be the standard and not the exception.

This entry was prompted by news that the UK DHL customer enquiry line closes at 18.00. For an international 24 hour courier company I was quite astonished. So to continue the grumbles here are the servicing lows from my 2006:

• DHL's lets close at 18.00 customer service (including parcel tracking)
  
• www.artcomp.ch who managed to only once reply to over 60 phone calls, 15 emails, 4 faxes and numerous webform enquiries before eventually delivering my order. 48 hours later it broke down. Upon return to them I astonishly got thru to them one day ... They say they can only repair and not refund since I opened the Windows license packaging. This despite the fact that I ordered a French machine with a French keyboard and received a German one (which I therefore cant understand)
  
  In fact the latest is (January 15th 2007) that another 48 attempted emails, faxes, and webforms have passed since returning the machine, and over 2 months since ordering the machine. I have no machine and no contact from this company about when I might get a replacement.
  
• KingFisher and other Indian airlines who happily let you trundle thru their website, booking flights upto the Credit Card authorisation screen. Then they mention that they only accept Indian credit cards and if you haven't got one well tough.
  
• To Honda Chiswick who in house MOT'd my cherised Honda CRX VTEC but missed the lethal faulty front wheel skid braking problem. No problem though, after a 420 pund service (apology not included) the problem was fixed.
  
• To O2 who chose to lose me as a customer rather than tell me if the phone I wanted (available to all O2 outside the UK at that time) was coming to the UK.
  
• To Argos who explained "It's an automated system sir" as I waited for 2 hours for my purchase to travel the few hundred metres out from their warehouse to my hands
  
• To British Airways for trying to hide behind an automated "dont reply to this email" when they sent me the Good News that their enhanced booking system no longer allows you to choose your seat except for First, Business of flexible return class tickets

Rudolph arrives .. from those Crazy Swiss

Nobody is going to believe this so a photo is enclosed.

Well we were just out to a Sinterklaas party when as we opened our front door we were confronted with a spectacle. Sitting there bold as brass was a motorised, electrically powered lighted reindeer.

We don't know who was king enough to deliver it and plug it in but thank you, you crazy Swiss

Happy Christmas to all

photos are here

Compilation Time - Give Generously

Yes, it's that time of the year again, the season of mists and Music Compilations. Clearly at Christmas time, rockstars and musicians in general need a few extra Euros to provide for an extra special time. So what better way than to release an entire album of old songs.

Of course in these modern times we have probably ripped all our music to MP3 format anyway and so could play the new track equivalent of their new album without having to buy it. Hence the new strategy which is to include mostly the old songs and say one new one, or if that is too taxing then all the old songs in a different mix and order.

This years villans currently include: Aerosmith, George Michael, Gabrielle, Gloriai Estefan, Oasis, Sugababes and U2.

Which reminds me, apart from the Gold Standard of using Q magazine to discover your future monthly music purchases you can now listen to the podcast

Other regular scans I would recommend would be the Dance Chart and the Albums chart

Florian and Solange

Congratulations to Florian and Solange. We celebrate your wedding and now present the probably totally inappropriate set of post wedding party celebration photos.

All the inciminating photos are here