Are people really so inattentive?

Ages ago I wrote a post about the weird experience I’d had with Tesco’s customer service department.  It was clear from the very first sentence (and, I would have thought, from the context of this blog itself) that I was not that department.  There was no possible resemblance.  Yet I got comments which assumed I was.  Dozens of them, complaining about over-charging or some such at “your store” and demanding that I rectify it.  I wrote another post pointing out the mistake, but it had no effect.  I had yet another comment today telling me to put something right.  I’ve given up and deleted the post.

I suppose what was happening was that people were googling on the phrase “Te… customer service” (I hesitate to write it in full), coming up with my post and not reading any further.  Yet to get as far as leaving a comment they had to have gone down to the bottom of the post.  I don’t get it.

PS:  The word “inattentive” in the title is a substitute for another word I originally wrote

Don’t bother complaining

I usually listen to The Moral Maze on Radio 4; or rather, it’s on while I’m messing about on the computer.  Last week one of its regular panellists, Melanie Phillips, was, even by her own high standards, extremely rude to one of the interviewees.  I didn’t bother lodging a complaint because I knew what the answer would be.  But a lot of listeners did feel moved to complain via the Feedback programme (also on Radio 4).  Roger Bolton questioned the producer about these complaints.  But, inevitably, he couldn’t get her to acknowledge that Phillips had gone over the top.  The word “robust” was used, the same daft word that cropped up in the answer to my complaint about Kelvin McKenzie.

The culture of “never admit you were wrong” which prevails at the BBC is probably about hanging on to one’s job.  These programmes are all recorded in advance, so to concede that it was a misjudgement to let something go out is not a good career move.  But it’s a culture which has to change.

Response to complaint to the BBC

I’ve had an email this morning responding to my complaint to the BBC:

“I understand, as a licence fee payer, you’re disappointed with the inclusion of Kelvin MacKenzie on BBC programmes, such as ‘Daily Politics’.  Kelvin MacKenzie is a high profile tabloid newspaper columnist – and former editor – with strong opinions. We consider him to be a suitable guest and panelist since our programmes are committed to including a wide range of views and perspectives. His views are often controversial, but robust argument is the very essence of such shows. I appreciate, however, you may continue to disagree so I can assure you that I’ve registered your comments on our audience log. This is a daily internal report of audience feedback which is made available to all BBC programme makers and commissioning executives, including their senior management. It ensures that your concerns are considered across the BBC.”

Notice how they’ve missed the point.  They want “a wide range of views and perspectives” so they include the same guest over and over again, rather than looking for anyone new.  “His views are often controversial” i.e. he’s brought on because he often talks infuriating nonsense.  And “robust argument is the very essence of such shows” so we’re not interested in intelligent and informed discussion, just winding people up.

They’ve included a link to a survey, under the aegis of Ipsos Mori, asking about the quality of their response to my complaint, and I’ve completed that.  But of course, nothing changes.  Even if thousands of us complain about the same thing, it will make no difference.  The arrogance of BBC bosses knows no bounds.

Tesco complaints

I used to work in a food factory which made stuff for three of the big supermarkets, and it was part of my job to deal with the complaints passed on by retailers.  So I know about complaints procedure.  On Saturday I bought a twin-pack of tiramisu desserts from Tesco.  The first was fine.  The second, I discovered yesterday, was not; the sponge layer had been left out altogether.  No big deal, mistakes can happen.  But not only do I want a refund; the manufacturer needs to know that there was a problem with the line on this batch.  So send in a mild complaint.

Oh, but you can’t.  There’s no facility to do so on Tesco’s website.  The internet forums tell me that you can email their customer service department but you won’t get a reply.  So all you can do is take the item back to the store or write to head office.  I won’t be going back to the store until next Saturday at the earliest.  I can’t, anyway, take the product back.  Writing to head office was what we did when there was no internet.  But on looking at the packaging I realise that there’s no batch number.  That’s the code which, along with the use-by date, identifies the production run and enables the manufacturer to pin down the problem.  Perhaps it’s part of the barcode, but I doubt it.  It seems to me that Tesco isn’t interested in complaints, or in quality control.