June’s Japes

The warmer weather has seen a return to the family picnic. One of our favourite picnic spots is Reculver in Kent, where we recently enjoyed another lovely trip. For those of you not familiar with Reculver, it’s on the North Kent coast and is the site of a former Roman fort, still boasting the ruin of a 12^th century church. The area is also a country park with small visitor centre and has a beach complete with rock pools. Car parking is a bargain, at 20p per hour or £1 for the day! However, the car park is not that big, sometimes resulting in queues. Despite that it’s a great place to visit.

Of course, a picnic isn’t complete without the food, for which I turn to the Tesco picnic range for additions to the usual home-filled rolls and healthy fruit. Their tubs of picnic goodies can be bought on a two for £3 deal, and include pasties, cheese onion rolls, pizza pockets and our new favourite, mini chicken kievs.

Until last year we owned a static caravan, which we kept on an independent site on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. However, following our rural move, we decided to sell up and just in the nick of time it now emerges! When we’d first bought our caravan we’d kept it on a Park Holidays site in Kent, but due to astronomic charges and appalling service, we moved to an independent site – Broadland Sands. Now I’ve heard this once lovely caravan park has been taken over by, you’ve guessed it, Park Holidays – a company that I do not recommend. If we hadn’t already removed our caravan from the site, we would now!

In light of that last revelation, you may like to read Static Caravans Can Move and Static Caravan Update

Finally, having had a couple of years break from English Heritage, we’ve just rejoined using Tesco vouchers. For £30 worth of vouchers, we’ve been able to take out a year’s joint membership (includes up to six children under 19 free), which is great value considering the number of places we can now visit at no extra cost. It’s a great use of Tesco Clubcard vouchers!

How did June work out for you?

The Controller Of The Bus

Buses remain a popular (perhaps by necessity), if somewhat frustrating, means of transport. There are various bus companies dotted around the country, with some performing far better than others.

My local area is served by Arriva, and sadly I have had some recent cause for complaint. Despite the fact that fares seem to increase every few months, services don’t always run as expected and communication with customers is rather lacking.

Living in a more rural area, we certainly seem to get a rough deal. With buses timetabled at varying intervals of between one and two hours, we suffer terribly when a certain bus fails to turn up, which seems to be happening more frequently. What makes this even more frustrating is that our complaints and comments fail to be met with any concern by Arriva.

Following a disastrous journey, when yet another bus failed to turn up as expected, meaning a two-hour gap between buses, I used the online complaints procedure operated by Arriva. The automated email response assured me that I would receive a reply within ten working days – over two weeks later I was still waiting!

Eventually, nearer three weeks after the event, I was called by an adviser, who although uttered an apology, did not make it heartfelt, nor were there any promises to endeavour to provide a better service in future. Despite the mechanical ‘sorry’, the tone of the whole conversation indicated more of a ‘hard luck’.

The missing bus was blamed on a breakdown, which I appreciate does happen, but my real gripe was lack of information. Considering I was boarding the bus at a major bus station to journey home, and had spoken to an inspector who had assured me that the bus was on its way, I was naturally frustrated that I was not told when it was discovered that the bus was taken out of service.

According to the adviser at the other end of the telephone, this was because the bus station had not been informed. But why ever not? Surely keeping passengers informed of such circumstances should be a priority. It should have been quite straightforward to notify someone at the bus station of the problem, with that person then passing on the message to waiting passengers. This should just be basic procedure.

However, it seems that bus operators can just do as they please, even if it involves leaving passengers stranded for hours, without much thought for their welfare. Communicating with the public seems totally beyond them and they really don’t seem bothered by this. The problem is, in many areas, there is no decent competition to make the bus companies try harder. There is no incentive to be more customer friendly.

There are, I believe, some bus companies that serve passengers better than others. On a trip visiting family in Dorset, it struck me how much cheaper and how more frequent services were than in my area. Indeed, I’ve heard that in some areas fares are very reasonable, but Arriva South East certainly run a more costly service that leaves much to be desired.

Indeed as I write this post I’ve heard of a reduction in services on certain routes, combining a current half-hourly service with a twenty-minute one, forming a hybrid of the two routes with buses running half-hourly. Yet their advert for this new service proclaims: “Buses more often”! Can’t work that out at all; Arriva obviously can’t do their maths.

What do you think of your local bus service?

Much Ado About McDonalds

So what’s been happening to McDonalds? I’m not a frequent visitor, I just take my son there for an occasional treat or grab the odd breakfast if we go on an early morning journey, so was surprised to see some changes on a recent visit. McDonalds seems to have taken on a kind of Argos persona!

It’s true that service in McDonalds seems to have become slower over the years, possibly not helped by the increased range of items on its menu. I remember back in the 80s, if your order was not fulfilled within a certain time span, your food was given to you free! I actually gained through that policy on a number of occasions.

As time progressed that policy was shelved, to be placed only with a “Sorry for the wait”, if your food was slow to arrive. McDonalds has obviously become aware of the slower service and thought that something needed to be done, but I’m not sure that the new setup is the answer.

In some branches, you now go to an order point on arrival, where you select your food and pay for it, before being referred to another (much longer) queue to obtain it. In my experience, this two-step system produced a much longer wait, than the original choose, pay and pick up all-in-one format. Queuing twice is just doubly annoying, and although appropriate in Argos where items have to be located in the warehouse, does not seem suited to fast food outlets.

I can see it’s annoying having to wait for your food, standing aimlessly by the tills amidst the crush of customers, which is why some branches advised you to, “Sit down and we’ll bring your order to you”, if it was expected to be too long. What was wrong with that process?

On the day that we first visited an Argos-esque McDonalds this system could easily have been used, as one member of staff seemed to be employed in nothing more useful than giving out balloons – bringing orders to tables would have been much more helpful.

Of course, the new system could be likened to the drive through version, but I would argue that the drive through (or dreaded ‘drive thru’, as it is cringingly labelled) is rather faster than the in-shop process.

I even feel that a modified version of the system may have worked, but am not about to reveal my cunning plan for a more streamlined service in McDonalds here and now. If the fast food chain would like to hear my idea, then they are welcome to get in touch and I’ll discuss it with them.

In the meantime, the Argos ordering system in McDonalds gets the thumbs down from me!

Shopping Heaven Is...

Finding an item of clothing on a sale rail that is actually your size!

Stopping for an indulgent treat!

Finding an item of clothing on a sale rail that you’d coveted for ages at an outrageous price, now being sold for a bargain – and it’s actually in your size!

Money-off vouchers – and lots of them!

Being served at the till and discovering that an item that you are purchasing has actually been charged at a much lower price than you’d expected.

Finding just what you were looking for!

Fast, friendly service and hardly any queues.

Bargains, bargains, bargains!

What's your idea of shopping heaven?

The Madness Of May

Let’s face it, May did turn out to be a bit of a mad month – the election was a complete madness in itself! The final result was a bit of a shock to many, not at all keeping with the forecasts; you can read my response at the-election-my-response

Having felt thoroughly disillusioned and fed up with certain issues, I’ve started a new blog as a platform to inform and campaign on certain issues, see www.purelypeoplepower.blogspot.co.uk to read more. Introducing this new blog means that my existing #OfstedNoConfidence campaign twitter.com/hashtag/ofstednoconfidence will move to this new site, and I have also started a petition calling for a review of Ofsted, which you can sign by visiting https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/call-for-independent-review-of-ofsted  Shoppers’ Joy can will now revert back to its original use, which is to showcase product and service reviews, consumer issues and general shopping-related chat.

And so in other news...

This month I reviewed both Travelodge and Pontin’s, having experienced recent short stays in each, both of which seem to have undergone some improvement. Travelodge certainly seem to be upgrading their hotels, and whilst Pontin’s accommodation could do with a bit of an update, other facilities on offer are good. I’ll be interested to see how both progress.

In one post this month, I mentioned that my weekly shopping habits have recently changed, with more visits to Morrisons being the norm. I’m now using Sainsburys’ much less, partly because I now live further from a branch than I did before, but also the miserly lot have reduced the number of Nectar points that they’re awarding! Hadn’t you noticed? They’re now only giving one point per pound spent, instead of two, but the value of points remain the same – so basically you’ll have to spend £2 to get just 1p back! And there are no longer points awarded for re-using your own bags. Not a good move Sainsburys!

Finally, I was thrilled to hear that culottes are making a comeback. I think they’re great, offering the look of a skirt but with the comfort and practicality of trousers. I owned quite a few pairs back in the 80s, and I know they say you shouldn’t wear a fashion trend if you sported it the first time round, but I just couldn’t resist picking up a pair sitting on the sale rail in New Look. At £7 they were an absolute bargain, I just couldn’t resist!

How did May shape up for you?

Pontin’s – My Bargain Break

A few weeks back, I found myself packing my bag and heading off to Pontin’s at Camber Sands. Not something I thought I would find myself doing, as I’d heard some none too favourable reviews in the past, but my daughter had booked a cheap break, and I’d agreed to accompany her and my toddler grandson on the trip.

My expectations had not been particularly high, partly due to what I’d heard, but also because I knew that my daughter had only paid in the region of £60 for a Monday to Friday stay. The paperwork had stated that our accommodation would be available from 4pm, but as we were relying on a lift there, ended up arriving before midday.

My plan on arrival was to ask if there was somewhere comfortable that we could wait with our luggage, but when I approached reception I was met with a cheery, “Hold on, I’ll see if your accommodation is ready,” – and it was! So by noon we were in our holiday apartment settling in, which gave us, in effect, a bonus afternoon.

Our ground floor ‘apartment’ (requested to make it easier with a pushchair) was basic, but adequate for a short stay. There was one bedroom with a double bed and a sofa bed in the main area, a small kitchen area with new-looking fridge and tired-looking cooker, which actually worked very well. The bathroom consisted of toilet, washbasin and shower that were OK, but we discovered the shower cubicle was broken. However, when we reported this to reception a maintenance man was despatched and a repair made within about half hour, so that was good service

Our main gripe was the bedding. Having paid for the privilege of having bedding provided, it was thin and ‘shiny’ and tended to slip off the beds every night, leaving us a bit chilly. I’m unsure as to whether this was the regular bedding however, as towards the end of our stay, we saw ‘proper sheets’ being placed in the neighbouring empty apartments.

Site facilities are good. There are a number of outdoor play areas for children of varying ages, a pirate crazy golf and a swimming pool, featuring a main pool with slide and a lovely warm toddler pool with assorted floats. Of course, there was also the inevitable arcade and a children’s club, large clubroom, pub and restaurant. Being off-season, evening entertainment took place in the pub as opposed to the larger club, as there didn’t appear to be that many of us staying there. Despite that, every evening there was a quiz (which I actually won one night and was presented with a bottle of wine) a children’s dance session and other entertainment.

My grandson loved the dressed-up characters that appeared at 10 each morning and again at the evening session and made use of the soft play area and toys in the children’s club.

As were we fortunate to have such lovely weather during our stay, we were also able to visit the beach, which just involved crossing the road outside and walking down a short lane.

We went for the self-catering option and, although there was a Nisa at the site entrance, found the shop opposite and the post office/village store further down the road cheaper options for shopping. Although, in its favour, the Nisa did have a £1 section selling useful things such as children’s arm bands.

There is actually a half-board option available, whereby breakfast and evening meal are provided at the Sands restaurant, but even if you do not select this deal, you can buy a three-course evening meal for £8.95, which is worth remembering.

Overall I enjoyed our Pontin’s stay, some of the accommodation is a little tired, but a little sprucing up could make all the difference. The facilities were good, but with over 700 apartments on site, could get a bit packed during high season. We were fortunate that as much of the accommodation was empty during our stay, we had easy access to everything that we wanted to do.

Although we didn’t meet huge numbers of fellow guests, we did see quite a few rabbits (lovely) and a huge number of seagulls, with regards to which I must issue a warning. On our first morning there, we heard a rap on the door. When I opened it there was no one to be seen, however when I glanced down towards the ground I was greeted by the sight of a cheeky gull. It was funny the first time, but wore thin as the week progressed, with this happening several times a day. At no point did we feed the gulls, indeed the site requests that you don’t, but did return one afternoon to find our ‘neighbour’ feeding them – not good!

I’m not sure that I would have wanted to spend a long holiday at Pontin’s Camber Sands, but would certainly consider another short break in the future.

Fancy a trip to Pontin’s at Camber Sands?

Visit pontins.com/holiday-parks/camber-sands  

All About April

Well April’s certainly seen some lovely weather, with warm sunny days that hint more at summer than spring. I’ve certainly been enjoying the warm spell, experiencing my first spring in my new rural home – you can read more at www.ruraljoy.blogspot.co.uk

Of course, one of the big stories of the moment has been the election campaign with all its related debates, broadcasts and inevitable slanging matches – candidates running down the opposition as opposed to concentrating on their own policies. Like many voters I’m finding this a tough one to call, although I think that I’ve finally decided on how I’m going to vote. Key issues for me include saving the NHS, protecting our children’s education and putting an end to the ‘rob the poor to make the rich richer’ mentality!

With regard to education, I’m continuing my campaign to call for a complete review of Ofsted, please join me with that by tweeting #OfstedNoConfidence or lobbying your local MP.

I’ve been fortunate enough to get away for a short break this month, enjoying some time with my daughter and toddler grandson at Camber Sands. The weather was unbelievably kind to us and we were able to build sandcastles on the beach and even paddle in the sea! My daughter had booked us in at Pontin’s, which had caused me a little trepidation as I’d heard some damning reviews in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised. Although the accommodation was a little tired, the staff were lovely and the facilities pretty good. You’ll be able to read more about my stay in a future post.

Although I’m only a very occasional visitor to McDonald’s I recently went to my local branch that had recently been refurbished – and promptly despaired at the service! The branch has taken on a new Argos-esque persona whereby you queue twice – once to order and another to collect said order. The waiting time seemed much increased from the old system and the staff appeared more interested in distributing balloons than serving customers. This is no doubt another subject I’ll revisit in a future post.

Hope you’ve all had a great month, soaking up the sunshine and hopefully not becoming too disillusioned by all the political speak. Feel free to share some of your April highs and lows in the comments section of this blog!

Politeness Costs Nothing

Time and again I blog about customer service issues, with my biggest gripe being rudeness and complete lack of manners.

Long waiting times in queues, lack of stock, poorly informed assistants and staff shortages can all be very annoying, but the situation can be lightened a little by apologies, explanations and generally polite service. Why is it then, that time and again, some assistants forget this basic rule?

Several days ago, my husband called in at a branch of Boots (Strood in Kent to be precise) to pick up some pain relief tablets for me, as I was suffering a flare up of my joints. He arrived just in time for opening, which was unfortunately delayed due to the pharmacist being held up.

Bad service makes me mad!

That in itself is fair enough. We all get caught in traffic at times or suffer some other setback and, by law, shops offering pharmacy services aren’t allowed to open without a pharmacist on site. What was unforgivable, however, is the way the situation was handled by the person who was seemingly in charge – an unhelpful individual named Richard.

A line of customers patiently formed outside the store, but at no time did Richard, or anyone else for that matter, pop their head out to offer an explanation or even post a notice on the door.

When Richard did open up shop following the arrival of the tardy pharmacist, instead of issuing a polite “excuse me” to customers so that he could push back the doors, he ‘shooed’ them away with an irritated gesture.

Things didn’t get any better. When he served my husband with the requested medication, he grudgingly muttered ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ through gritted teeth, exuding an air of “I don’t really want to serve you and I don’t like you”!

Needless to say my husband was seething when he returned home, having received such appalling treatment. We immediately looked up the contact details for Boots head office and emailed a complaint.

This is where I can report some happier news. The area manager of Boots stores phoned my husband with an apology and assured him that she would be visiting the branch to address the situation. And let’s face it, when we make this kind of complaint, that’s exactly what we want – an apology, an explanation and reassurance that our bad experience will not be repeated. A positive response to our complaint can make the difference between us returning to a store or shopping elsewhere.

It’s true that we don’t know whether Richard was having a bad day. There may be horrors in his life, problems galore – but these should never be taken out on unsuspecting customers, who just want to be served politely and go on their way.

As customers I believe that we always have the duty to report bad service, so that it can be improved for ourselves and others in the future. In turn shops have a duty to respond appropriately.

That February Feeling

February can be a gloomy month. The delights of Christmas are long past and spring still seems that little bit out of reach. Personally I dislike February even more than January, despite the evenings being slightly lighter, it just seems a bit of a tedious month.

Looking back over my posts for February, I realise that they appeared to give off a few negative vibes, seeming a bit gloomy. It’s true that I debated a few serious issues, with none of the light-hearted banter that I sometimes include, but I stand by my comments aimed at making pertinent points.

The post that I’m most passionate about is Are Ofsted Off The Mark? detailing my reasons for pushing for a complete review of Ofsted. Reports don’t always seem to reflect how students, parents and teachers perceive their school and are too subjective depending on which inspectors actually visit. I’ve read an article where Ofsted actually admit that opinion can vary depending on which team actually go into a school. Ofsted reports shouldn’t be a game of chance, there has to be a way of making them more reliable – involving parents more and ensuring Ofsted teams have a wider mix of inspectors from different backgrounds, for example. I’ve contacted the PM and various MPs and hope at some point to get some responses to share with you.

In Merging Into One I discussed how large companies are swallowing up the competition, reducing consumer choice in the process. If we want companies to stay on their toes and endeavour to deliver the best service and value-for-money, then these takeovers must be restricted – otherwise where do we turn for better deals?

My Thoughts On Half Term post may have sounded like a bit of a rant – I suppose in effect it was, but whilst I don’t want to be a killjoy I do believe we should be instilling consideration for others in our children. I’m a mother of three (the youngest now a teenager) and have always taught respect and good manners, expecting others to do the same. We should all be having fun with our kids, but not in a way that spoils enjoyment of an experience for others. You can have fun and good manners too!

So in March I’ll try and include a bit more light-heartedness in my posts, whilst still addressing the odd serious issue should it arise.

In the meantime, what things have made me happy in February? My local craft shop selling tapestry kits normally priced at £30+ for just £7, enjoying a pub meal with my husband to celebrate our wedding anniversary (not an impersonal chain, but a local, independent pub), spending time with my teenage son and catching up with friends.

You can also read my tales of doing up an old workshop in a countryside setting at www.ruraljoy.blogspot.co.uk

Merging Into One

I’ve recently heard about a couple of companies that are about to be ‘swallowed up’ by larger ones, which is bound to have an effect on consumer choice.

The Competitions and Markets Authority (formerly the Competition Commission, in turn formerly The Monopolies and Mergers Commission) is supposedly meant to strengthen competition in the marketplace, thus protecting consumer choice. Why is it then that in some areas our choices are becoming increasingly more limited?

One of the big issues at the moment, I feel, is that of mobile phone providers. I used to be a customer of Orange, which merged with TMobile (referred to in our household as Torange), which then became part of EE. It has now been announced that EE are to be bought out by BT – just the company I do not want to provide my service!

One of my concerns is that my current, excellently priced SIM deal will change. Originally taken out with Orange, but honoured by EE (although that stopped providing it to new customers) my immediate concern is that this will be scrapped. But from a wider point of view, I realise that if I’m not happy with the new service, there will be very little choice of other providers available. With it appearing that O2 is about to be taken over by the owner of the ‘3’ network, that leaves only Vodafone as a mobile provider on its own.

With our choices of mobile provider basically down to three, where is the incentive for the remaining companies to offer the best deals? With competition rapidly dwindling it certainly makes their life easier, but not ours!

Also in the news is the plan for Poundland to buy out 99p Stores – another bad move I believe. Certainly in my area, the 99p Stores are much better than the Poundland equivalents, stocking better products in a more welcoming environment. Of course, that may not be the case nationwide, but it’s still nice to be given the choice of where to shop.

Time and again shops and companies are being taken over by larger concerns, reducing competition and limiting our choices. Competition is healthy for businesses. It encourages them to deliver the best possible customer service, product ranges and consumer care. Insufficient competition can create complacency, resulting in poorer deals for customers and severe lack of service and care.

I’ve always believed that if I don’t get good service from a company, I should take my custom elsewhere. But if my choices are limited, where do I turn?

A Year In Supermarkets

With only weeks left of the present year, I thought it was time that I started looking back at some of my shopping experiences for the year, and in particular, what has been happening with the supermarkets.

Tesco were in the news this year for dodgy accounting, which has resulted in a criminal investigation. Now whilst this is serious stuff, and we should theoretically be concerned, as a shopper, I’m more interested in what is actually happening at ‘ground level’ so to speak. All the while I can go into a Tesco store, find what I want at a reasonable price, get good service from the staff and earn valuable Clubcard points I will continue to shop with the chain. They certainly operate the best loyalty scheme around, with points amounting to four times their value when exchanged for days out and Clubcard send out a regular supply of relevant money-off and extra points vouchers too.

Sainsbury’s, on the other hand, announced that they are set to cut the number of Nectar points that you earn on your weekly shop. (Loyalty cards) With their loyalty scheme already offering a poorer deal than the likes of Tesco I don’t think this is a very clever move. They are, however, pledging to cut more prices, so we’ll have to see how all this works out in practice.

Morrisons launched their new ‘Match & More’ card this year, (I want more) an interesting twist on a loyalty card, whereby you earn points on items that you would have been able to buy cheaper elsewhere – a price comparison that includes the likes of Aldi and Lidl as well as the other major supermarkets. What pleased me about this card was that Morrisons offered three options when it came to registering the card – online, by post or in store – a refreshing change from companies that expect you to do everything online!

Asda has never been one of my favourite supermarkets, but they’ve certainly put themselves in the doghouse recently. My daughter placed an online grocery order with them, but the goods never actually materialised (Oh dear Asda) and despite phone calls, completion of an online form, a blog post and a Twitter conversation (which reaps results in most cases) the company failed to properly apologise for the inconvenience, or offer any explanation as to what went wrong. Needless to say it’s not an experience she has rushed to repeat. In fact, my prize for “The Worst Customer Service of 2014” is hereby awarded to Asda. Perhaps they’d care to take note!

Whilst I continue to give Aldi a wide berth, having rated previous shopping experiences with them at 2/10, I have become a bit of a fan of Lidl. For me, Lidl have been one of the great emerging retailers of 2014. Most recently I’ve found them a great place to stock up with Christmas spirits – port, cream liqueur and cherry brandy all costing around the £5 mark, and tasting delicious – and I love their Stilton too! I’m sure that I’ll have much more to say about them in 2015.

So wherever you shop, I hope you’ve had good experiences this year – if not, let me know, I’m always keen to hear your shopping stories too!

What Price An Opinion?

I was absolutely incensed to see, when I turned on the TV this morning for a spot of news, a couple being interviewed after being ‘charged’ for writing a review about a hotel in which they had stayed.

The review in question had been somewhat negative, but listening to the report, it would appear rightly so. The couple had experienced a number of problems with their room, which they had reported, but had not been solved. Disgruntled with their stay, they consequently wrote a review commenting on their experience, which I believe they were perfectly within their rights to do. OK, so they didn’t pay a premium rate for their room, but it should still have been fit for purpose.

However, the hotel still had their credit card details from when they had paid for their room, and apparently helped themselves to a payment of £100 in light of the comments the couple had made. They justified this by saying it was in the small print (very small print as it appears) that anyone writing a bad review would incur a charge. How ludicrous!

This case throws up a fair number of important issues.

We shouldn't pay for others shortcomings

Firstly, I believe that as consumers, we should all have the right to speak as we find. If we receive bad service or shoddy goods, we should firstly exercise our right to complain to those concerned (as the couple in this case did), but if our grievances aren’t resolved, we should be able to warn others of the shortcomings, to prevent others having to repeat our bad experience.

A second, connected point is that we should all be able to exercise freedom of speech, with the exception of the use of abusive or threatening comments.

Thirdly, it should not be, to my mind, legal for anyone to take further payments from a debit/credit card just because they were once given the details as part of a separate transaction. I believe this is just another breach of consumer rights.

Of course, this whole subject is close to my heart, as I regularly write reviews on goods and services – good and bad – and believe I offer a service in doing just that! If businesses want to avoid getting bad reviews, they should, quite simply, ensure that they maintain basic standards and that the goods and services that they supply meet all health and safety regulations, and are fit for purpose. Where mistakes are made or standards are lacking, they should endeavour to rectify the situation promptly and with good grace – this can turn a potentially bad review into a more positive one!

On the other side of the coin, it would appear that some people threaten to write damning reviews unless they are offered a discounted price. This is equally wrong. Just as we expect to be treated respectfully by companies, we should act responsibly as customers. Reviews need to be truthful in order to be helpful to others, sticking to the facts and be made in order to put across a fair point, as opposed to seeking personal gain.

Reviews of products and services can be beneficial to all – potential customers and businesses alike – so let’s protect our right to speak out when things are wrong, without the threat of being ‘fined’ for so doing, as this just rubs salt into already painful wounds!

What do you think?

Oh Dear Asda!

Personally, I do not opt to purchase my food shopping online – I’m much too fussy a shopper to elect someone else to make specific choices for me! However, there are many customers that find this a convenient way to shop.

My daughter often buys her food shopping online, as she has a young son and relies on public transport, so having at least the heavier items delivered can be a big help. Buying groceries from Tesco using this method had proved reasonably reliable. Although the occasional item was missing from the delivery, the shopping did at least turn up and mistakes rectified where appropriate.

However, she recently decided to try home shopping with Asda, which in her case turned out to be a big mistake!

Online shopping may not be the key

Despite receiving two confirmation emails relating to her order, stating the delivery time slot, the shopping never arrived. After waiting a suitable amount of time (sufficient to allow for unavoidable delays), she contacted Asda. The first customer service adviser that she talked to was somewhat brusque, intimating that the order may not have been properly confirmed, despite the receipt of two emails.

She was then passed on to an adviser in store, who at the outset appeared more helpful, but did not go on to fulfil this promise. Despite their assurance that they would track down the relevant order and inform my daughter as to what was happening, they never did get back in touch. And the shopping never did arrive!

My daughter contacted Asda again the following day, when she was told that they would not take the money for the shopping! Did they think they were doing her a favour saying this? They can hardly charge for something that they’ve literally not delivered!

When my daughter expressed her displeasure at the whole debacle, the adviser decided to offer her free delivery on her next order – as if she was going to trust Asda again in a hurry.

I relate this tale as an example of what I consider to be appalling customer service. My daughter was left without vital shopping (including milk for her young son), no explanation has ever been made for the error, and their half-hearted apology doesn’t go far enough!

I was so incensed that I contacted Asda myself via Twitter - a method that has had favourable results with other companies in the past. Although Asda did respond, it was all a bit half-hearted, only providing me with the suggestion that she spoke with the store in question. Not very clever, when I'd mentioned that she'd already done this! Asda home shopping is definitely not an experience that I would recommend.

What online shopping disasters have you experienced?

The Quest For Ginger Preserve

It’s really annoying when you start using a product and really enjoy it, then suddenly it disappears from the supermarket shelves.

That’s exactly what’s happened to is Duerr’s Chunky Ginger Preserve, which I’ve previously blogged (see here ). I just loved its spicy tang, which helped to wake me up when spread on my morning toast. But since its disappearance I’m mourning its loss.

I had been buying it at Tesco, but as I could no longer find it in the store, or in any other local supermarket, I decided to email Duerr, who replied within hours, so a big thank you to their customer service department.

I was pleased to learn that they have not discontinued the product, although Tesco have withdrawn the brand from their shelves. Duerr urged me to write to Tesco to complain about this move, which I am in the process of doing, and would encourage other Ginger Preserve fans to do the same. Send your letters to:

Tesco Customer Service Centre

Baird Avenue

Dundee

DD1 9NF

In the meantime, Duerr tell me that I may still be able to pick up the preserve at larger branches of Asda (which sadly does not seem to apply to my local branch) and they apparently make Sainsburys’ Ginger Preserve for them, although I have not managed to find this as yet either.

However, in recent weeks I have managed to buy some Asda, Chosen By You, Ginger Preserve, which whilst not quite on the par with Duerr’s, will suffice until I manage to get more of my preferred variety. The Asda version is too jelly-like in consistency and therefore not so easily spreadable.

Have any of your favourite products disappeared from the shelves in recent times?

The Casualty Experience

Last week I had the misfortune to visit the A&E department of my local hospital. It was a worrying experience, not just because of the nature of my symptoms, but I knew the hospital was in special measures and had suffered recent bad press.

As a former nurse I am always more critical as a patient, as I know what should happen ‘behind the scenes’ so to speak. So it was with some trepidation that I arrived in the department as a patient.

The initial reception was quite good, I was booked in straight away (it was about midnight and reasonably quiet) went directly to triage and in no time was sitting in the queue for an x-ray. At this stage of the proceedings I was relatively impressed.

However, after this great start, things went downhill somewhat. Despite there only being about half a dozen patients in the general waiting area, a couple of hours seemed to pass with only the odd person being called. Now I know from experience, there is also the trolley area to account for and Resus (resuscitation area) to staff, but usually there are nurses assigned to each area. A couple of ambulance drivers appeared to book in patients, who then seemed to walk out and join us in the general waiting area anyway. So I can’t understand the delay, especially as I observed several staff members just wandering aimlessly around. When I worked for a time in A&E, I never remember having time to amble, but was kept busy the whole shift.

All that said, when I was seen by a doctor, the service and attention I was given was very good. She examined me thoroughly and performed a few tests, the results of which I then had to wait for until a final diagnosis could be made. This involved another couple of hours waiting time.

Finally, with the results back, I was discharged with appropriate medication and advice, which has thankfully since enabled me to feel much better.

But that’s not the end of the story.

Getting out of the car park proved to be a bit of an ordeal. It’s one of those parking arrangements where you pay at a machine just before you leave, although I do believe this used to be free during certain overnight hours. Anyway, we attempted to put our money in the machine (£5 would you believe?), but it kept rejecting our coins. As it was we had to scrape around for the funds as parking charges are hardly the first thing on your mind when you rush off to casualty.

Finally a member of staff came and directed us to another machine further away (by this time I was really tired and still in pain, despite analgesia) and just wanted to get home. Unfortunately this machine didn’t like are coins either, so we had to locate help, enabling us to hand over our money to a real person to validate our ticket. I do think the whole system of hospital parking is atrocious as I’ve formerly blogged see here

As a final postscript to my visit, a few days afterwards I received a text asking me to rate my experience and state how likely I would be to recommend that particular A&E department to family and friends. What a ridiculous question! If you’re experiencing an emergency situation, you’re hardly likely to survey people you know, you’ll just head to the nearest place that will help. Although in a separate text I was given the freedom to say what I wanted about my visit – perhaps I should just send them the link to this blog!

Customer Service – Responses

I’m a stickler for good customer service and am of the opinion that we should always speak up when service falls short of reasonable expectations.

Since starting my Shopper’s Joy blog nearly two years ago, I have taken up customer service issues with various retailers and service providers with rather mixed responses.

In the fledgling days of my blog, I experienced problems with both Sainsbury’s and Greggs, both of whom I sent letters of complaint, in addition to featuring them on the blog. I was pleased to report that both responded promptly and reasonably sympathetically, assuring me that they would address the issues raised and sending some handy vouchers by way of apology.

Long before my blogging days, I occasionally had cause to approach a company, either by letter or phone call, with regard to poor customer service, sometimes receiving an appropriate response, although at other times being totally ignored. It is fair to say that since any complaint that I’ve made has been shared on the public domain, responses are much more forthcoming. Thank goodness for the likes of Twitter, Blogger et al.

In the days when our grievances were only aired behind closed doors, companies had the option of brushing any complaints under the carpet, in the belief that they would be unlikely to become common knowledge. Although some firms have always responded well to reports of customer dissatisfaction, others have had to improve their reactions in the light of social media. Let’s face it, when we’ve had a poor experience, first and foremost we want an understanding reply, backed up by the promise that future service will be improved.

It is true to say that sometimes it is only an individual employee or isolated branch of a chain that lets customers down, but if the company as a whole does not respond positively to criticism, they risk being given a bad name.

More recently, I blogged about my experience of two different branches of the Hungry Horse pub/restaurant chain. One branch couldn’t have been more helpful and friendly; whilst the other gave the impression that they really couldn’t be bothered with my custom. On this occasion I cut straight to the blog without directly contacting the company and lo and behold, the manager of the poorer branch responded with a request for further details so that she could resolve the issue. The only sad part is that despite an encouraging first response, I never heard from her again. For the record this was The Star at Gillingham in Kent – just so you know!

Needless to say I have not returned there since!

In the last couple of weeks, a trip to my local B&Q store resulted in me leaving without my intended purchase, following what I can only describe as total indifference from the staff.

My attempt to by a floral arrangement in an odd-shaped pot was thwarted, when staff could not supply the means of transporting said pot without either crushing or totally losing its contents. A request for a box resulted in being presented with the most pointless, shallow example of its kind known to man – totally useless. An additional colleague was summoned who shrugged off the request with a kind of ‘haven’t-got-anything-hard-luck’ attitude. Right, thanks for your help guys!

Interestingly, however, a single tweet about my trip elicited a response from the B&Q help team, promising to investigate the matter. Great! Trouble is I’m still waiting for the result of that one …

And now BT is in the doghouse. My recent move saw me cut my ties with this company – a more expensive transaction than I would have thought. Watch this space for more news on this one.

So the point of all my waffling? Well, I have several in fact:

- When you receive poor service, do speak up; it’s the only way to get things improved.

- If you have access to social media, then use it! Pushing your complaint into the public domain increases your chance of a response.

- If you are a company on the receiving end of a complaint, then for goodness sake acknowledge it, investigate it, improve on it and say sorry! Remember, ignoring a complaint is just another form of poor customer service!

Which companies do you find are good or bad at handling complaints?

Hungry Horse – Good and Bad Service

We enjoy an occasional meal at a Hungry Horse pub/restaurant and have visited our local branch (The Star, Gillingham) several times. So when we decided to pop out for an evening, we headed there again.

On entering the bar it appeared quite empty, but as we wandered round in search of a table, it became apparent that all the empty ones were displaying ‘reserved’ signs.

Speaking to a member of staff about the possibility of a table, we were met with a most unhelpful response – in fact, his attitude indicated that he couldn’t really be bothered and didn’t actually want to speak to us! In answer to the question, “Is there a table available?” he shrugged, “ You just have to look.”

However, we were observed by an off-duty member of staff, who gave the impression of being the only person who actually wanted to help us, but who was sadly not supported by his colleagues. He reasoned that some of the reservations were for later in the evening, meaning that we could use one for an early meal. Unfortunately this suggestion was thwarted by a waitress who maintained that all the many reserved tables were booked for exactly the same time. That was a bit hard to believe.

Feeling very unwelcome and a bit dejected, we decided to head to the next nearest branch (Poacher’s Pocket, Chatham), which we had never visited before.

On arrival we were met by a much busier scene, with most tables actually in use and only a couple of empty table marked as ‘reserved’. We were thinking of giving up and going home, when a cheery waitress greeted us and asked how many we needed a table for. To our answer of ‘three’, she located a couple of small tables and put them together to accommodate us. It appeared that the level of helpfulness at this branch was 100% better than we’d received at The Star.

And so the evening continued. All the staff were cheerful and helpful, checking on us regularly and making us feel welcome. The food was lovely and what had actually looked like being a disastrous evening, ended up being thoroughly enjoyable.

It’s worth remembering that whilst all the branches of any one pub/restaurant chain may offer the same menu, the quality of food and the level of service received can vary enormously.

No prizes for guessing which Hungry Horse will be our restaurant of choice from now on!

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

From Bad To So Much Better

Last week my mother’s telephone line suddenly went dead. “OK”, you may say, “These things happen”.

However, in this case the situation was somewhat more worrying, as my mother has dementia and relies on the phone to ring me to ask the simplest of questions. How does she operate her TV? Has her electric bill been paid and should she worry about being cut off? What day of the week is it and is there anything that she should be doing? I also need to be able to check in on her.

The phone provider concerned is Virgin Media, so once I was aware of the problem, I proceeded to try and contact them. This proved to be a far from easy task. Two different telephone number provided on her bill only gave automatic responses. An appointment slot could be allocated via this system, but I needed to negotiate with a ‘real person’ to make them aware of my mother’s condition and the way we would therefore have to approach the situation.

In frustration, I started down the email route. Some hours after the first email, I receive an automated reply, once again giving a time slot that did not allow for special instructions. Somewhat exasperated I sent a reply back to the email address from which the appointment was sent. This obviously went to a different department, because within a reasonable time frame I received a telephone call.

The adviser who phoned was polite and apologetic and actually very helpful. He realised this was not a ‘normal’ situation and offered repair within a few hours of the call. However, it had taken so long to get to this stage, that my mother would have been in bed, so we arranged for repair the following morning – astonishing in itself as this was Sunday!

My next concern was as the allocated time slots span four hours, would I have to go and twiddle my thumbs for all that time? But no, it was arranged that the engineer would call me when he was ready to go to my mother’s so that I would meet him there. OK that was the theory.

Sunday morning dawned, and lo and behold theory became practice! A friendly engineer rang giving me a full hour’s notice of his visit. We met as arranged and the fault was promptly fixed (apparently her line was damaged when the council cut her grass, but that’s another story).

In the early stages of attempting to contact Virgin my opinion of them had been very low, such was my frustration. But once I had broken through the system and could interact with human beings, they suddenly became much more helpful and efficient and we received good service.

What’s more, we are now to be issued with a form, that once signed by her doctor, will put my mother on a fast-track system, which means in future her phone line will always be repaired within four hours of reporting the fault.

So thank you Virgin for rising to the situation!

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

Free Coffee

There have been loyalty cards available from coffee shops, and indeed anywhere that you can purchase a cup of the brew, for many years.

I’ve spent a good many years myself peeling the little stickers off McDonald’s coffee cups, collecting the required six per card to claim my free cup of latte.

For some time I’d also had my Marks and Spencer loyalty card stamped, although this required ten stamps to qualify for a freebie, until the service at my local branch deteriorated somewhat, and I decided to seek refreshment elsewhere.

Last year I acquired a Tesco Family Café (Fonta Nella) card, which in the spirit of McDonald’s requires six stamps for a free coffee, and is handy for grabbing a latte to get me through the weekly shop.

But most recently, I’ve added a Greggs’ loyalty card to my collection – rather startling considering I’d had a bit of a falling out with them just over a year ago. I still haven’t returned to their cafés, but do sometimes grab a take-away coffee when on a shopping mission. In this case, you have to get the card stamped nine times (strange number) to be rewarded with a coffee, so it’s not as good as Tesco and McDonald’s but preferable to M&S.

Mind you, all of the aforementioned cards appear to offer better deals than a Costa card as far as I can see. I abandoned thoughts of getting this one, when it appeared that I’d have to spend the equivalent cost of a small family home (OK, bit of an exaggeration) to having any hope of having a coffee on the house.

But I have to say, free is always good, so I’ll keep collecting those stamps!

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy

Customer Service Update

A couple of weeks ago, I related a tale of what I considered to be a bad example of customer service at my local Tesco. I was kept waiting for some time at a checkout when the delay was easily avoidable (see here)

A big cheer for good customer service!

I was thrilled therefore, when on a shopping trip to Sainsburys last week, I experienced customer service working as it should. A problem occurred with the shopping of the customer in front of me, but rather than keep everybody in the queue waiting, a supervisor came over, suspended the transaction (which involved printing out a slip) and took the customer and all her shopping to the customer service desk to complete her transaction.

This was the ideal solution as it meant that the customer in question was given assistance, but the rest of us were spared a tedious wait. Well done and thank you to Sainsburys for a very good customer service experience.

Follow me on Twitter @shoppersjoy