Category: Observation

So there’s a planned tube strike in London starting at 7pm tonight. Mayor Boris Johnson called the planned strike “ludicrous and unnecessary disruption”. It certainly feels like a dumb thing to do to your customers. I have to be in London on Thursday. My bicycle is broken so I’ve decided to walk to work instead. I called into Radio London and told them about my planned adventure. Paul Ross asked me if I would skip at least part of the way. I will do just that and I will call Mr Ross en route just prior to the skipping section. The map shows my route, I plan to divert to take in as much parkland as practically possible. If you know any interesting places along my journey, drop me a line and I’ll try to fit them in.

So where were we…

After being offered the chance to exchange the dud batteries at a cost of £10.99 the man thought. The company has offered him some options to resolve the dead battery saga, they are:

1 – A £10 online voucher. The shop @ which the voucher is valid doesn’t sell the required batteries
2 – A telephone number he can call and pay £10.99 to replace something that never worked in the first place
3 – Return the whole phone to the company for an exchange. This would leave the man with no phone for the duration of the exchange

Then the man had an idea. He remembered that he worked for the company which owned the shop. The man wrote once more to the online shop summarising the three options. He asked the shop to check and make sure these were indeed the three and only options available (he reminded the shop that all he wanted were two AAA rechargeable batteries – in case you or anyone else had forgotten by now). He said that once they had checked, he would let his colleagues in the company know what was going on and see if he could obtain a satisfactory resolution that way, albeit reluctantly.

The shop replied – yes the man’s summary of the options was correct.

In the end, and only after the man spoke to his colleagues and asked for them to help, the man was sent a replacement phone (for some still inexplicable reason the whole thing had to be sent to him). He removed the batteries, swapped them over into his phone and lo – the handset now worked. The shop did offer to collect the phone but the man couldn’t bear to wait around so he took the second phone to the post office and returned it. He enjoyed an ice cream on the way back home.

The original cost of the product was around £100. If you remember, the man felt good about his purchase at the time. I wonder how much cost and time and hassle have been expended to get a £100 item working? I wonder how the man feels now?

A man buys a phone from an online shop. The phone is dispatched and arrives promptly. The power supply is low energy, the packaging is recyclable, and it’s easy to set up. The man feels good about his purchase.

One day after setting the phone up, the man notices that one of the handsets isn’t working. He calls the helpline who very helpfully, help him to work out that the handset is fine; it’s the batteries that aren’t working (blush). The helpline doesn’t keep batteries but they know someone who does, and they give the man a phone number.

Our man phones the number – no sorry we can’t help but we know someone who can. Repeat x 3. The man gets nowhere so abandons this line of enquiry before unnecessary rage sets in.

Next the man tries email. He writes to the shop. They reply saying that if he believes the item to be faulty he must return it, in its entirety and the shop will test it and if it is faulty (because there is a chance the man is just making all this up for a laugh) they will send a replacement. The man points out (again) that the phone is not faulty it just needs a set of batteries that work. Seven email exchanges follow as various excuses why said batteries can’t be swapped are trotted out. Online vouchers are offered as part of this exchange – trouble is the shop where the vouchers are valid doesn’t sell the batteries! The man goes onto Twitter and tweets about this lousy experience.

Then the shop email with another phone number. You can call this number and get the batteries replaced. Hoorah! The man calls the number and yes, the person on this line can replace the batteries….for only £10.99. The man puts the phone down and writes another email to the shop. Far as I know – he’s still waiting.

I’m guessing there will eventually be a conclusion to this tale of how to turn a feel good into a feel bad. I can’t be certain though.