Companies Using "Because of COVID" As An Excuse For Poor Service

[scotrail158713]

I second that comment and raise you - do let the company know that either a) you intend to cease using them (and actually mean it) or b) tell them after the event so that they know they have lost a customer and why.

Yep. It’s remarkable what can occur once you tell them you’re switching - some remarkable offers are made.

 

[island]

Phoned British Gas today and got an Annual Service booked as soon as next Monday afternoon with no problems. It was a completely automated call and so I was not able to ask why the online booking system has not been allowing me to do this for the last 8 months. All the time I was getting a message saying ‘We will contact you when you are able to book an annual service’. It will be interesting to see when I am able to book a service next year.

I wonder what would happen if one’s boiler were under warranty but the warranty had a condition that you get an annual service.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Well, that can’t be the case; my local sorting office is 07:00-09:00 daily except 07:00-12:00 Wednesdays and Saturdays. And it’s about to return to 7 day service.

Certainly annoying when you get a red "We called and you were out" type card through the letterbox and the local sorting / collection office is then shut the next day!

P.S. Just seen a news article indicating that Royal Mail are once again re-considering binning Saturday deliveries to try to save money. Slippery slope!

 

[trainophile]

We ditched BG for boiler and heating cover with drains cover added when it went up to nearly £500 a year on the last renewal. We have now booked a local firm to do the boiler service in January, not sure how much they will charge but when my sister in law used them recently it was less than £100. I know we haven't got the security of fault call-out but we'll take our chance with that. Plenty of electric heaters in the house.

 

[Skimpot flyer]

Certainly annoying when you get a red "We called and you were out" type card through the letterbox and the local sorting / collection office is then shut the next day!

P.S. Just seen a news article indicating that Royal Mail are once again re-considering binning Saturday deliveries to try to save money. Slippery slope!

They would need the approval of the regulator, Ofcom, to ditch deliveries of letters on Saturdays, as letters are part of the USO (Universal Service Obligations).
Royal Mail are not proposing to cease Saturday deliveries completely. They are seeking permission to deliver only non-letter traffic, i.e. parcels, on Saturdays
(You may have seen in a recent trading statement that revenue from parcels outstripped that from letters for the first time in Royal Mail’s history)

 

[LAX54]

Funny how people are going on about banks, specifically about branches - do people (individuals) really still use them often enough that they are a viable service? I moved to first direct several years ago and haven't needed to use a branch since, and their support is second to none - across all sectors, not just banks.

By contrast, 3's service was so terrible that they lost a customer and then lost three month's worth of revenue in compensation after my complaint won at ombudsman level, then again I have no base level to compare it with - although I guess it was much better pre Covid

Well a fair size of people still use a 'real' Bank, otherwise they would not have the longest line of people waiting to get in on the High St !

 

[trainophile]

A lot of grandparents, uncles, aunts still send cheques to family members for birthdays and Christmas, probably more so this year if they are not going to be able to see them. Cheques have to be paid into a bank. I believe there are one or two banks that facilitate doing this electronically but for the vast amount of people this isn't an option.

 

[david1212]

Certainly annoying when you get a red "We called and you were out" type card through the letterbox and the local sorting / collection office is then shut the next day!

P.S. Just seen a news article indicating that Royal Mail are once again re-considering binning Saturday deliveries to try to save money. Slippery slope!

Currently only parcel deliveries on a Saturday in my area.

With WFH more households have somebody in daytime at the moment but for many Saturday is the only day when occuplied to accept signed-for, special delivery and anything too big for letter box. I'm lucky that the local delivery office is only a mile away so, subject to hours, I can collect. However it covers a large area. I'm sure many would choose redelivery on a Saturday rather than a 15 mile round trip to collect. If household deliveries absolutely have to be cut to 5 days drop Wednesday or Thursday.

A lot of grandparents, uncles, aunts still send cheques to family members for birthdays and Christmas, probably more so this year if they are not going to be able to see them. Cheques have to be paid into a bank. I believe there are one or two banks that facilitate doing this electronically but for the vast amount of people this isn't an option.

Once my BS had a pay-in facility at cashpoints but that ended a couple of years ago. Cheques can be posted in but to them the prepaid postage, postage back of the receipt and if another paying in form and envelope is requested, yes just one of each, that comes separately so three postage charges plus stationary and time ....
The local branch did having a paying in box but that was removed when refurbished last year, as I found out just before last Christmas queuing about 20mins just to pay in a cheque

 

[adc82140]

I can theoretically take photos of cheques using the Lloyds banking app and pay them in like that. I have never successfully done that, as you seem to need a professional photographer's lighting rig for the image to be accepted. Every time I end up doing the 25 mile round trip to the branch.

On the subject of boilers, just tell British Gas you suspect it may be leaking carbon monoxide. That'll get them round.

 

[alxndr]

I can theoretically take photos of cheques using the Lloyds banking app and pay them in like that. I have never successfully done that, as you seem to need a professional photographer's lighting rig for the image to be accepted. Every time I end up doing the 25 mile round trip to the branch.

I've been using it for all my cheques for the last few years now, with the exception of a couple that were over the limit which seems to have increased since it was first introduced, and I've never had an issue with it. Prior to that I used the automated machines and they've also been fine, even when my grandfather put slightly differing amounts down between the value in the words and the value in numerals (I think it was only by 50p).

The only time I've had an issue paying anything in was when I first opened the account and paid in via the Post Office (in person). Somewhere along the line they managed to lose a fairly decent sum of money, transferred in two transactions a few weeks apart. I did eventually manage to get it back, but it was quite a hassle, especially as they deemed me too young to use telephone banking, but didn't open outside of school hours, hence the use of the Post Office in the first place.

I did used to prefer going into the bank for important things, but after going there to transfer the deposit when buying my house and realising that it was just someone with an iPad accessing exactly the same system that I could have done myself, but with more questioning, I stopped seeing the point.

 

[scotrail158713]

Yesterday afternoon it was announced that there will be no fans at Hampden Park for this year's Scottish Cup final on May 22nd, as UEFA take control of the stadium on May 14th to prepare for the European Championship games the next month. As many people have pointed out on social media, Hampden was unavailable in 2014 as it was being prepared for the Commonwealth Games so the final was moved to Parkhead instead. Apparently a similar arrangement can't be made this year - presumably "due to COVID".

No fan return for Scottish Cup final

There will be no fans inside Hampden Park for next month's Scottish Cup final because Uefa will have started work ahead of the Euro 2020 finals.

www.bbc.co.uk

There will be no fans inside Hampden Park for next month's Scottish Cup final.

The 22 May showpiece will be held just three weeks before 12,000 supporters will be able to watch Scotland's first match at the European Championships inside the same stadium.
But the ground comes under Uefa event control from 14 May.

And Europe's governing body will have already started preparation work for Euro 2020 before the final.

The Scottish government on Wednesday gave approval for Hampden to accommodate 25% of the stadium's capacity for four matches scheduled there during the finals.

Uefa had given the 12 host cities until Wednesday to submit plans for fan attendance, with the likelihood of some venues being switched if no guarantees could be given.

A final decision from the governing body is likely to come on Friday, with Scotland due to face Czech Republic on 14 June.

The Scottish FA reached an agreement with Uefa that allows the domestic final to go ahead at the national stadium.

However, as part of that agreement, no fans are allowed due to preparation work in the stands.

Under the Scottish government's Covid plans, large events can take place with some fans from 17 May, but it now seems unlikely there will be any football test events before Scotland kick off in their first major tournament since 1998.

Disinfection pods and vaccine passports are not expected to be used for the matches at Hampden, Scotland's national clinical director has said.

However, while Professor Jason Leitch stressed that "the detail has still to be worked out", he said: "I think there will be some what we call non-pharmaceutical interventions in place.

"I imagine there will be distanced queuing, I imagine we will control public transport differently from how we do it and people will be distanced in the stadium, so tickets will be distributed in groups if we manage to get to that point where we've got 12,000 people in the stadium."

Prof Leitch said decisions about face coverings are still to be made and that Uefa rules as well as Scottish regulations must be considered.

 

[duncanp]

Yesterday afternoon it was announced that there will be no fans at Hampden Park for this year's Scottish Cup final on May 22nd, as UEFA take control of the stadium on May 14th to prepare for the European Championship games the next month. As many people have pointed out on social media, Hampden was unavailable in 2014 as it was being prepared for the Commonwealth Games so the final was moved to Parkhead instead. Apparently a similar arrangement can't be made this year - presumably "due to COVID".

No fan return for Scottish Cup final

There will be no fans inside Hampden Park for next month's Scottish Cup final because Uefa will have started work ahead of the Euro 2020 finals.

www.bbc.co.uk

I can't help thinking that the Scottish government had something to do with this, given their coronaphobic attitude and policies.

Given that there would have been a limited number of fans inside, there are plenty of stadiums that could be used.

 

[LAX54]

More and more Companies seem to be using the 'it will take longer to reply to your query due to staff working from home' or 'I am working from home I do not have access right now to the information'

If that is the case, and you cannot deal with the customers promptly, get back into the offices, or is it they just want to save a few quid ?

 

[scotrail158713]

More and more Companies seem to be using the 'it will take longer to reply to your query due to staff working from home' or 'I am working from home I do not have access right now to the information'

If that is the case, and you cannot deal with the customers promptly, get back into the offices, or is it they just want to save a few quid ?

Yep. I’ve had that a few times when contacting companies. The guidance/rules/laws (whatever they are) specifically state to work from home wherever possible. To me, that suggests that such companies should not have employees working from home.

 

[galwhv69]

TfL are refusing to answer some FOI requests due to Covid as well, either they can't get access to the info or are telling you to consider whether the request is absolutely essential at this time.

 

[Journeyman]

TfL are refusing to answer some FOI requests due to Covid as well, either they can't get access to the info or are telling you to consider whether the request is absolutely essential at this time.

Considering that loads of FOIs seem to be vexatious, I can't say I blame them.

 

[VauxhallandI]

TfL are refusing to answer some FOI requests due to Covid as well, either they can't get access to the info or are telling you to consider whether the request is absolutely essential at this time.

Well I can tell you my establishment has not used that excuse so I’ve no idea why TfL think they can

Considering that loads of FOIs seem to be vexatious, I can't say I blame them.

Most of ours are cranks or salesmen but that’s the price we pay for the necessary cases I guess

 

[bramling]

Considering that loads of FOIs seem to be vexatious, I can't say I blame them.

Whether or not that’s the case, were I employed in a FOI team at the moment I would be doing everything possible to be as productive and helpful as possible, not trying to bat away every request - which looking through it seems to be what’s going on there.

 

[LAX54]

Well a fair size of people still use a 'real' Bank, otherwise they would not have the longest line of people waiting to get in on the High St !

The shops that are currently open in our local Town, have no line of people waiting to get in, but nearly all of the Banks have at least 7 or 8, sometimes more waiting to get in !

 

[py_megapixel]

Would be very surprised if this hasn't already been mentioned, but I was on a Stagecoach bus (ADL Enviro 400) last week, and apparently the on-board Wi-Fi has been switched off for Covid reasons.

Can anyone explain how reading something on the internet on one's own personal device increases the transmission risk?

 

[duncanp]

Would be very surprised if this hasn't already been mentioned, but I was on a Stagecoach bus (ADL Enviro 400) last week, and apparently the on-board Wi-Fi has been switched off for Covid reasons.

Can anyone explain how reading something on the internet on one's own personal device increases the transmission risk?

I suppose on board wi-fi encourages more people to use the bus, which increases the transmission risk.

Or people who use their phones to surf the internet are less likely to wear a mask properly.

I can't think of any more ridiculous excuses with a tenuous connection to COVID-19.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Was speaking to an elderly relative recently, and she was telling me about how one Tesco delivery driver downright refused to help carry four crates of heavy shopping upstairs to her first floor flat "because of COVID". She has been receiving home deliveries all throughout the pandemic and every other driver has been more than happy to help. I don't know what the delivery driver was thinking at the time, but I find it really disgusting to just dump a frail, elderly woman's shopping on the doorstep and leave her to struggle carrying it upstairs to her flat...

 

[ls2270]

I suppose on board wi-fi encourages more people to use the bus, which increases the transmission risk.

Or people who use their phones to surf the internet are less likely to wear a mask properly.

I can't think of any more ridiculous excuses with a tenuous connection to COVID-19.

I seem to recall that some time last year Stagecoach publicly announced that it was switching off wi-fi on its buses as it was being little used and is very expensive to provide.

 

[Journeyman]

I seem to recall that some time last year Stagecoach publicly announced that it was switching off wi-fi on its buses as it was being little used and is very expensive to provide.

Most companies now are realising that WiFi just isn't worth the expense and hassle to provide. Data tariffs are getting cheaper all the time, and there's no way WiFi is going to be a dealbreaker for people on many routes. There's no way it's going to bring in enough business to pay for itself these days.

 

[nlogax]

Most companies now are realising that WiFi just isn't worth the expense and hassle to provide. Data tariffs are getting cheaper all the time, and there's no way WiFi is going to be a dealbreaker for people on many routes. There's no way it's going to bring in enough business to pay for itself these days.

Exactly this. USB charging is all that's vaguely desirable on buses these days, and even then only for longer routes.

 

[Journeyman]

Exactly this. USB charging is all that's vaguely desirable on buses these days, and even then only for longer routes.

Completely agree. I've never found on-bus WiFi to be much good anyway.

 

[island]

Was speaking to an elderly relative recently, and she was telling me about how one Tesco delivery driver downright refused to help carry four crates of heavy shopping upstairs to her first floor flat "because of COVID". She has been receiving home deliveries all throughout the pandemic and every other driver has been more than happy to help. I don't know what the delivery driver was thinking at the time, but I find it really disgusting to just dump a frail, elderly woman's shopping on the doorstep and leave her to struggle carrying it upstairs to her flat...

A couple of months ago a Sainsbury's driver told me I can no longer carry the crates into the house to empty them nearer the fridge/cupboard and bring them straight back, and this is "because of COVID". They also don't offer the option to purchase carrier bags. Apparently I am meant to have my own shopping bags by the front door and decant the crates into them, carry them the 10 metres through the house, and empty them again.

I now order from Tesco.

 

[packermac]

A couple of months ago a Sainsbury's driver told me I can no longer carry the crates into the house to empty them nearer the fridge/cupboard and bring them straight back, and this is "because of COVID". They also don't offer the option to purchase carrier bags. Apparently I am meant to have my own shopping bags by the front door and decant the crates into them, carry them the 10 metres through the house, and empty them again.

I now order from Tesco.

Who have recently (last 2 weeks) removed tray liner option (and bags I believe) to reduce single use plastic, and want you to do the same at the door. Although Tesco will still carry into the house if you want them to as long as you are not self isolating.
Of course this all makes deliveries take longer so drivers either have to rush or less slots are available.

 

[island]

Yes, my last 3 Tesco deliveries have all sent me the “we are running late” text, although 2 of the 3 did wind up arriving just at the end of the slot.

 

[RuralRambler]

I can theoretically take photos of cheques using the Lloyds banking app and pay them in like that. I have never successfully done that, as you seem to need a professional photographer's lighting rig for the image to be accepted. Every time I end up doing the 25 mile round trip to the branch.

On the subject of boilers, just tell British Gas you suspect it may be leaking carbon monoxide. That'll get them round.

I use Halifax and "paying in" cheques on line is easy. Just a quick photo and it's deposited. Been doing it for 2 or 3 years.

A couple of months ago a Sainsbury's driver told me I can no longer carry the crates into the house to empty them nearer the fridge/cupboard and bring them straight back, and this is "because of COVID". They also don't offer the option to purchase carrier bags. Apparently I am meant to have my own shopping bags by the front door and decant the crates into them, carry them the 10 metres through the house, and empty them again.

I now order from Tesco.

We just use Iceland for home deliveries now as they still provide carrier bags which makes the delivery a lot quicker. The bags are really good quality so we keep them and use them multiple times, mainly when we go in person to shop at other supermarkets.