When Did It Become The Norm To Hide Behind "Company Policy"
Discussion
I've had a few issues with Ebay, Vodafone etc hiding behind switchboards with robots stating "it's Company Policy" when things have gone wrong, the latest being MyHermes who having taken 7 days to NOT deliver my parcel (that was estimated to be delivered in two) and have damaged it instead.
They have then told me that "It's Company Policy" that it can take 15 days to return the item to me.
When I make a mistake I pull out all the stops to correct it - hence a next day delivery would be nice, or the same 2 days as it was supposed to be delivered in the first place, but how the hell can 15 days be reasonable ?
Of course the call centre staff agree that it is indefensible but "It's Company policy" so that makes it all ok.
When did we start accepting this ?
They have then told me that "It's Company Policy" that it can take 15 days to return the item to me.
When I make a mistake I pull out all the stops to correct it - hence a next day delivery would be nice, or the same 2 days as it was supposed to be delivered in the first place, but how the hell can 15 days be reasonable ?
Of course the call centre staff agree that it is indefensible but "It's Company policy" so that makes it all ok.
When did we start accepting this ?
Probably when " we" opted for cheap as chips delivery companies.
Often though these companies overestimate the return times to be on the safe side. Had a customer who refused to be in and refused to arrange redelivery or collect from depot. They said 2 weeks. Reality was back in 5 days
Often though these companies overestimate the return times to be on the safe side. Had a customer who refused to be in and refused to arrange redelivery or collect from depot. They said 2 weeks. Reality was back in 5 days
I've just had an issue with a US website taking a couple of payments from my account (for a service I thought I had cancelled). It appears that there was some issue with a payment several months ago, so they switched from monthly to annual payments, hence one for 12 months and one for the next single month being taken within days.
I suspect somewhere along the line this was (at least partly) my fault, either by not cancelling properly or whatever but I emailed to query it and pointed out I hadn't used the service in over 12 months and didn't think I was still subscribed.
Two helpful emails back and I'm just waiting for a $200 refund. No hiding behind company policy or endless references to T&Cs like you get here. Quite refreshing and makes me all the more likely to use the service again and recommend others to it.
Naturally if the refund doesn't arrive I'll be moaning like f
k but I expect it to. US service > UK 'service'.
I suspect somewhere along the line this was (at least partly) my fault, either by not cancelling properly or whatever but I emailed to query it and pointed out I hadn't used the service in over 12 months and didn't think I was still subscribed.
Two helpful emails back and I'm just waiting for a $200 refund. No hiding behind company policy or endless references to T&Cs like you get here. Quite refreshing and makes me all the more likely to use the service again and recommend others to it.
Naturally if the refund doesn't arrive I'll be moaning like f
k but I expect it to. US service > UK 'service'.Badda said:
Nothing's changed, it's just a phrase. Like 'annual leave' rather than 'holiday' or 'data protection' rather than 'I can't be bothered'.
It has though - I can argue against "I can't be bothered" and keep calling back or escalating it until I can find someone who can be bothered, now no matter who you talk to you get the same line.Needless to say the "Company policy" wasn't clearly advertised at the time.
V8RX7 said:
I've had a few issues with Ebay, Vodafone etc hiding behind switchboards with robots stating "it's Company Policy" when things have gone wrong, the latest being MyHermes who having taken 7 days to NOT deliver my parcel (that was estimated to be delivered in two) and have damaged it instead.
They have then told me that "It's Company Policy" that it can take 15 days to return the item to me.
When I make a mistake I pull out all the stops to correct it - hence a next day delivery would be nice, or the same 2 days as it was supposed to be delivered in the first place, but how the hell can 15 days be reasonable ?
Of course the call centre staff agree that it is indefensible but "It's Company policy" so that makes it all ok.
When did we start accepting this ?
Long before I was born. They have then told me that "It's Company Policy" that it can take 15 days to return the item to me.
When I make a mistake I pull out all the stops to correct it - hence a next day delivery would be nice, or the same 2 days as it was supposed to be delivered in the first place, but how the hell can 15 days be reasonable ?
Of course the call centre staff agree that it is indefensible but "It's Company policy" so that makes it all ok.
When did we start accepting this ?
Look at it from the companies perspective. They cant guarantee delivery before then, they'll try but they cant guarantee something.
In todays litigious society, if they said 3-15 days they'd be sued if something took 4 days. So its all about protecting their arses.
Secondly, you're talking to a call centre worker, often they don't have the authority to actually do anything that isn't on the script (and half the time I don't even trust them to get what is on the script right, working in a telco call centre is the worst of the worst jobs, turnover is insanely high because if you can get a better job elsewhere, you would so only the most unemployable remain).
If you want better service from, pay enough to get a personal account manager.
Whenever I've worked as a supplier of anything (Mostly IT services) I always hated the cheap customers because they expected gold class service for peanuts. The best way to get good service is to be a good customer, that means not being a pain to deal with.
captain_cynic said:
Look at it from the companies perspective. They cant guarantee delivery before then, they'll try but they cant guarantee something..
But I can (and have) got many parcels delivered within 24 hrs - that isn't an unreasonable expectation.Hence after screwing up the delivery and then damaging it, they are certainly capable of returning it within 24 hrs if they wished to, 48 hrs is their usual estimate so why on earth would they need 15 days ?
I'm self employed, if I screw up, I put it right - if that means working for free, late and/or weekends I do it.
Sent on the 7th, it's now the 24th - how is that defensible ?
V8RX7 said:
DoubleD said:
You are self employed and they are a large company, things can take longer with bigger companies.
Hence I consider 48 hrs which is their normal time scale, to be reasonable.Their normal time scale relates to packages going from a known pick up to a known drop off point. You now have a package where something has gone wrong, and so all their "automated systems" to track the parcel, are not set for this.
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