Why does so much simply not work properly any more?
Discussion
Just venting whilst on hold, but is it just me or does stuff just not work properly anymore?
Just tried to renew my car insurance online. All went through perfectly until it gets to the final bit which says 'have your app ready but don't open it yet' which is to approve the credit card transaction. And there we sat. For 20 minutes. Eventually it times out and I try again. Another 20 minutes and it times out.
So I call them, 'we're experiencing high call volumes at the moment', what a surprise - when are they not? 'Your call could take up to 10 minutes to be answered'. 31 minutes later I'm talking to a human, she takes the payment from the same card, no problem. Over an hour to do something that should have taken 5 minutes if it were working properly.
Now this is not a big deal, children starving in the world etc, but it didn't used to always be like this, now every day I seem to hit something just not working properly.
For thirty years I've been putting my bins out on bin day and for thirty years they'd be emptied on bin day. Now you put them out and hope. Might be the correct day. Might be the day after. Might be next week.
Thank you for listening, doctor. I feel a bit better now.
Just tried to renew my car insurance online. All went through perfectly until it gets to the final bit which says 'have your app ready but don't open it yet' which is to approve the credit card transaction. And there we sat. For 20 minutes. Eventually it times out and I try again. Another 20 minutes and it times out.
So I call them, 'we're experiencing high call volumes at the moment', what a surprise - when are they not? 'Your call could take up to 10 minutes to be answered'. 31 minutes later I'm talking to a human, she takes the payment from the same card, no problem. Over an hour to do something that should have taken 5 minutes if it were working properly.
Now this is not a big deal, children starving in the world etc, but it didn't used to always be like this, now every day I seem to hit something just not working properly.
For thirty years I've been putting my bins out on bin day and for thirty years they'd be emptied on bin day. Now you put them out and hope. Might be the correct day. Might be the day after. Might be next week.
Thank you for listening, doctor. I feel a bit better now.
Covid provided the perfect excuse for many companies to reduce their staff count.
Call centres were seemingly one of the bigger victims here.
And post Covid, nobody seems to be bringing staffing levels back up, as they've found that the poor, unwitting public will simply tolerate the poor service.
Call centres were seemingly one of the bigger victims here.
And post Covid, nobody seems to be bringing staffing levels back up, as they've found that the poor, unwitting public will simply tolerate the poor service.
TonyRPH said:
And post Covid, nobody seems to be bringing staffing levels back up, as they've found that the poor, unwitting public will simply tolerate the poor service.
There's also been such a race to the bottom on price in many industries over the last few years, covid demonstrated they could cut service levels with no impact on the bottom line to either recoup some profit or discount further to gain volume.It's often worth paying slightly more and avoiding the companies that compete solely on price. Although I'm sure there are exceptions.
This will sound like the most spoilt, w
ky, out of touch, bellend thing to say, while there are kids starving somewhere and people being blown up in Ukraine etc....but i'll say it anyway as it's how I felt at the time 
Last week shopping for Sunday lunch and there wasn't a single tomato available anywhere due to whatever oversight or energy price issue that has caused them not to be grown. I genuinely thought to myself why the fk can't I just buy a tomato like before? It really got to me far more than such a completely trivial thing should; I felt quite sad about it. But it was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. And that transposes to so many things recently, plus strikes, shortages, excuses, price hikes for less, just got on the property ladder and now my mortgage will sky rocket after being incentivised to buy with stamp duty cuts in 2021..... goal posts being moved left right and centre, ULEZ......... fuel problems 18 months ago and dheads queuing up making it worse, some bellend in Russia taking swings at us, pointless identity politics and whingers everywhere,............not to mention the whole covid bks we've just come out of..... etc etc ad nauseum. Then there is just the constant feeling of arguments, division, anger, disagreement, contempt everywhere in the last 6-7 years (you'll get the same contrary opinions to this and your post OP no doubt, rather than just those who have an interest chiming in with their experiences of the same.....)
Yeah, just all bks really. Need a holiday
ky, out of touch, bellend thing to say, while there are kids starving somewhere and people being blown up in Ukraine etc....but i'll say it anyway as it's how I felt at the time Last week shopping for Sunday lunch and there wasn't a single tomato available anywhere due to whatever oversight or energy price issue that has caused them not to be grown. I genuinely thought to myself why the f
k can't I just buy a tomato like before? It really got to me far more than such a completely trivial thing should; I felt quite sad about it. But it was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. And that transposes to so many things recently, plus strikes, shortages, excuses, price hikes for less, just got on the property ladder and now my mortgage will sky rocket after being incentivised to buy with stamp duty cuts in 2021..... goal posts being moved left right and centre, ULEZ......... fuel problems 18 months ago and dheads queuing up making it worse, some bellend in Russia taking swings at us, pointless identity politics and whingers everywhere,............not to mention the whole covid bks we've just come out of..... etc etc ad nauseum. Then there is just the constant feeling of arguments, division, anger, disagreement, contempt everywhere in the last 6-7 years (you'll get the same contrary opinions to this and your post OP no doubt, rather than just those who have an interest chiming in with their experiences of the same.....)Yeah, just all b
ks really. Need a holiday Edited by Krhuangbin on Wednesday 8th March 17:40
TonyRPH said:
Covid provided the perfect excuse for many companies to reduce their staff count.
Call centres were seemingly one of the bigger victims here.
And post Covid, nobody seems to be bringing staffing levels back up, as they've found that the poor, unwitting public will simply tolerate the poor service.
Talking to a manager of a very utility company, who was telling me that the company's lease of their head office building was due for renewal. At present the company only needs 10% of their present office space, due to staff either working at home, and/or one day in the office. Company now seriously considering not renewing their head office's Lease, and looking for considerable smaller office space.Call centres were seemingly one of the bigger victims here.
And post Covid, nobody seems to be bringing staffing levels back up, as they've found that the poor, unwitting public will simply tolerate the poor service.
Agree with OP, everything seems much harder to get completed. Whether is renewing insurance, building works, surveyors, solicitors, doctors, housing association staff, such hard work to get an instant reply.
Just yesterday my solicitor's legal secretary, emailed me requesting I forward several documents, I replied they were delivered to your company's office last week.
As a residential landlord most of my tenants, university staff, doctors, solicitors, council staff, are working from home. Working around those same tenants in having to arranging convenient time to carry out noisy remedial works, and increases both costs and time.
A lot of companies and pulic services have moved to a model of not being contactable, or as difficult to contact as possible.
Reasons are dubtless various, but they all then rely on IT/tech to do the job. Which of course, because IT people are involved, invariably doesnt work and/or is hopelessly unreliable. As the OP found out. No one will ever know why the payment didnt work, nor will anyone care.
So long as the directors get some nice pretty graphs at the end of the month from there system, then its all good.
Slowly but surely we a working our way to a postion where simply nothing gets done.
Reasons are dubtless various, but they all then rely on IT/tech to do the job. Which of course, because IT people are involved, invariably doesnt work and/or is hopelessly unreliable. As the OP found out. No one will ever know why the payment didnt work, nor will anyone care.
So long as the directors get some nice pretty graphs at the end of the month from there system, then its all good.
Slowly but surely we a working our way to a postion where simply nothing gets done.
Things have become too complicated in many cases, is the simple answer. Not just processes, but the technology that supports it. Horrendously complex networks of systems transmitting invisible 1s and 0s thousands of miles via cables or to space and back, and expecting it all to work. It's a wonder anything works at all I reckon 
I agree with the sentiment of the OP.
I agree with the sentiment of the OP.
Krhuangbin said:
This will sound like the most spoilt, wky, out of touch, bellend thing to say, while there are kids starving somewhere and people being blown up in Ukraine etc....but i'll say it anyway as it's how I felt at the time
Last week shopping for Sunday lunch and there wasn't a single tomato available anywhere due to whatever oversight or energy price issue that has caused them not to be grown. I genuinely thought to myself why the fk can't I just buy a tomato like before? It really got to me far more than such a completely trivial thing should; I felt quite sad about it. But it was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. And that transposes to so many things recently, plus strikes, shortages, excuses, price hikes for less, just got on the property ladder and now my mortgage will sky rocket after being incentivised to buy with stamp duty cuts in 2021..... goal posts being moved left right and centre, ULEZ......... fuel problems 18 months ago and dheads queuing up making it worse, some bellend in Russia taking swings at us, pointless identity politics and whingers everywhere,............not to mention the whole covid bks we've just come out of..... etc etc ad nauseum. Then there is just the constant feeling of arguments, division, anger, disagreement, contempt everywhere in the last 6-7 years (you'll get the same contrary opinions to this and your post OP no doubt, rather than just those who have an interest chiming in with their experiences of the same.....)
Yeah, just all bks really. Need a holiday
Plenty of tomatoes just not in the shop you were in. I’m not going to ask what part of a Sunday dinner needs a tomato probably done fancy starter ky, out of touch, bellend thing to say, while there are kids starving somewhere and people being blown up in Ukraine etc....but i'll say it anyway as it's how I felt at the time Last week shopping for Sunday lunch and there wasn't a single tomato available anywhere due to whatever oversight or energy price issue that has caused them not to be grown. I genuinely thought to myself why the f
k can't I just buy a tomato like before? It really got to me far more than such a completely trivial thing should; I felt quite sad about it. But it was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak. And that transposes to so many things recently, plus strikes, shortages, excuses, price hikes for less, just got on the property ladder and now my mortgage will sky rocket after being incentivised to buy with stamp duty cuts in 2021..... goal posts being moved left right and centre, ULEZ......... fuel problems 18 months ago and dheads queuing up making it worse, some bellend in Russia taking swings at us, pointless identity politics and whingers everywhere,............not to mention the whole covid bks we've just come out of..... etc etc ad nauseum. Then there is just the constant feeling of arguments, division, anger, disagreement, contempt everywhere in the last 6-7 years (you'll get the same contrary opinions to this and your post OP no doubt, rather than just those who have an interest chiming in with their experiences of the same.....)Yeah, just all b
ks really. Need a holiday Edited by Krhuangbin on Wednesday 8th March 17:40
Agree with much written here. My wife is sick of me moaning about everything I try and do with any service provider or company.
I notice it massively now since Covid and Furlough. I think it drastically changed the work psyche. The level of mistakes and innacuracy is just phenomenal now . This month BT , Financial Advisor , Energy provider and today Tradesperson all have made errors I have spotted and had to clear up . It's relentless lazy don't care appauling attitude. Standards have hit an all time low .
I notice it massively now since Covid and Furlough. I think it drastically changed the work psyche. The level of mistakes and innacuracy is just phenomenal now . This month BT , Financial Advisor , Energy provider and today Tradesperson all have made errors I have spotted and had to clear up . It's relentless lazy don't care appauling attitude. Standards have hit an all time low .
Freakuk said:
Weirdly, I've renewed my insurance within the last hour without issue and went through the exact same automated process. No help to you, but what I don't understand is why they assume you have a mobile banking app to authorise the payment.
You’ll need to ask your bank about that one. Dingu said:
Freakuk said:
Weirdly, I've renewed my insurance within the last hour without issue and went through the exact same automated process. No help to you, but what I don't understand is why they assume you have a mobile banking app to authorise the payment.
You’ll need to ask your bank about that one. I renewed my car insurance last month. Happened to be with a company I'd insured the same car with 2yrs ago. They sent me an email with a link to allow me to set up an online account, where amongst other things I'd be able to get my insurance certificate and upload my NCB evidence.
Of course I already had an account as I'd insured with them previously. The link just took me to my existing profile, and all I could see was the details of my previous policy, not my current one.
Rang them up and they apparently had no way to solve this apart from me providing a different email address, so they could create a different account for my new policy. This seemed completely bonkers to me, so I declined and just told them to email me my policy docs.
Of course I already had an account as I'd insured with them previously. The link just took me to my existing profile, and all I could see was the details of my previous policy, not my current one.
Rang them up and they apparently had no way to solve this apart from me providing a different email address, so they could create a different account for my new policy. This seemed completely bonkers to me, so I declined and just told them to email me my policy docs.
Just took out bupa health insurance, so far they have been dreadful, can’t fill out forms online (it’s 2023 ffs!), posted them, emailed and wrote to me that they didn’t get the forms and enclosed new ones and we must redo them, I then called to tell them we’d already sent them and then they began asking questions about the forms they apparently didn’t get “oh yeah we probably should have just said that and not sent all new forms”, took the money but never set up the account etc, yet more chasing. All far too much hard work for the money.
Hoofy said:
I've just started an O2 account after Virgin sold me a better package. Have spent the last 2 hours trying to sort it out. I am currently paying for and have two contracts! Will have to try later.
I'm looking to sack O2 off after they lied about why the signal around where I live is so crap.It was well documented that a mast in the area was decommissioned well over a year ago. I eventually complained as I have a business tariff with two lines. They acknowledged that getting a new mast up was taking time due to planning and gave me some free line rental to appease me.
A few months passed and I asked for an update and they literally shrugged their shoulders so I escalated a formal complaint. Michelle Steffens from the Complainst Review Team rolled up her sleeves t o tell me that it's "nothing to do with a mast" . The problem, she said, "is congestion".
Zarco said:
I renewed my car insurance last month. Happened to be with a company I'd insured the same car with 2yrs ago. They sent me an email with a link to allow me to set up an online account, where amongst other things I'd be able to get my insurance certificate and upload my NCB evidence.
Of course I already had an account as I'd insured with them previously. The link just took me to my existing profile, and all I could see was the details of my previous policy, not my current one.
Rang them up and they apparently had no way to solve this apart from me providing a different email address, so they could create a different account for my new policy. This seemed completely bonkers to me, so I declined and just told them to email me my policy docs.
Pretty standard. Useless IT. AgainOf course I already had an account as I'd insured with them previously. The link just took me to my existing profile, and all I could see was the details of my previous policy, not my current one.
Rang them up and they apparently had no way to solve this apart from me providing a different email address, so they could create a different account for my new policy. This seemed completely bonkers to me, so I declined and just told them to email me my policy docs.
I bought a van. Its was SORN when i bought it. I was leaving it that way. But the DVLA system cant cope with that. Duly get a threatening letter saying i need to tax it or SORN it. Check website. Shows SORN. Ring them up. Oh yes he says. The system doesnt work if you buy a SORN ed vehicle and leave it that way. How long has that been going in i ask? Ever since the inception of the system he says. w
kers. Another hour of my life wasted because they cant get their act together.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff