I have been greatly impressed by the BBC’s impartiality over the years and applaud the Corporation’s continuing efforts to be impartial. However, I am horrified that the Corporation can consider the DEC’s Gaza appeal to have any partial political aims. People in that area, who have no means of leaving, are dying. This despicable decision of the BBC’s is perhaps the strongest argument in years for the abolition of a compulsory licence fee.
I am heartened that MPs are today acting by tabling the following EDM:

That this House is astonished by the refusal of the BBC and other broadcasters not to broadcast the Disasters Emergency Committee Gaza Crisis Appeal; notes the unconvincing and incoherent explanations given by BBC spokespeople for the decision; and draws attention to the fact that people wishing to contribute to the Gaza appeal can contact the DEC by calling 0370 60 60 900, writing to DEC Gaza Crisis, PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA or visiting www.dec.org.uk.

I trust that the BBC will reconsider.
Yours sincerely, Luke Bosman

It’s time for a return to— or a formalisation of— good manners. Here’s how we do it:

1. Smile. Not all the time. Not at everybody. They’ll lock you up. But smile at the person who sells you your ticket at the station. Smile at the person behind the counter at the newsagent, even if, like the man who sometimes serves me at mine, he’s a miserable, sour-faced sod. That’s no reason to spread the gloom.

2. Say please and thank you. I’d like a medium decaff soya latte, please. Even if you insist, for whatever arcane reason, on using the phrase, “Can I get?”, suffix it with the p-word. It feels good coming out of your mouth. Combined with a smile (see: 1), it actually takes the edge off the sheer ritualistic, mechanical joylessness of an everyday transaction. When a man or woman in a brightly-coloured kagoule offers you a free newspaper, the very existence of which makes your blood boil, remember that it’s not his or her fault – they’re just trying to earn an honest crust, like you – so smile and say, “No, thanks.” It takes a second. You don’t even have to stop walking.

3. Let that car in. Driving is a nightmare, especially in the cities, and you want to get home, or to the shops. Of course you do. It’s only natural. But so does that person ahead of you, indicating that he/she wants to cross the lane that you’re in, to make a right turn. Why not flash them through? It’s one of those maddening high streets that starts at the traffic lights with two lanes then almost immediately bottlenecks into one because of a bus lane, or a parked lorry. Come on: one at a time. You can keep edging forward to keep them out, but they’ve got to come in at some point. Why not now? And if someone lets you in, give them a friendly wave in the rear-view mirror.

4. Be friendly to strangers. We were brought up to be terrified of strangers, but we’re all strangers until someone introduces us, and only a very tiny percentage of the people you pass in the street will be paedophiles or murderers. Most will be just like you, except with a different coat on, or a different bone structure, or with a few more miles on the clock. So if someone asks you directions, don’t run away, or pretend that you’re in a hurry, try to help them. Make them feel less like a stranger.

5. Help old people off or on the bus. There’s an etiquette here, so let’s use our discretion. Not all old people consider themselves old, and might look frail and in need of a seat, or a leg-up, but if you barge in there, they get embarrassed. It’s a minefield, but better to be the first person on a bus or in a carriage to offer your seat to someone with grey hair than to sit there, not knowing, willing someone else to do it first.

6. Buy the Big Issue and give some change to the homeless. I have put this one because I never, ever buy the Big Issue. I smile and say no thanks to Big Issue sellers, which is better than looking at the floor, or regarding them with contempt for slowing down your walk to the bus stop with their untidy appearance, but they’d rather you didn’t do any that and did still buy a Big Issue.

7. Be polite to Jehovah’s Witnesses. Yes, I do object to people knocking on my door after dark, as I always think of the old lady I used to live next door to in Streatham, who would have been terrified of a knock after dark, even if it was from an accredited British Gas salesman hawking for her electricity business. I think it’s OK to pretend you’re not at home if the doorbell goes after dark. You’re doing it on behalf of the old people. But if you do answer the door and it’s a young lad with a case full of inferior cleaning products, or two smartly dressed men asking if you ever think about Jesus Christ (or at least getting to that key question after luring you into small talk about non-religious matters), just politely tell them that you are not interested or that you are busy and smile as you close the door.

8. Never swear at people on the other end of helplines. They are just doing their job. If they cannot help you, ask to speak to their supervisor. During my telecommunication problems last summer, I reached the point of no return and calmly informed the Scottish gentleman on the other end of the line that I was about to swear, but not at him, only through frustration, and that he should not take it personally. Then I swore.

9. Never, ever drop litter. This may seem to be outside the remit of manners, but it’s not. It’s about respecting the space we share. It’s an extension of smiling and being nice. I’ve seen grown adults eat the last crisp in a packet and literally let the packet drop from their hand to the pavement below, without even a look back. Putting a Starbucks cup neatly on the pavement is no better than chucking it, overarm. Put it in a bin. If the nearest bin is full, take it to the next one.

10. Leaving bags of stuff outside charity shops when they’re closed? Come on! The signs are clear enough. Just because you’re a superhero for giving an old jigsaw and some jumpers to charity it doesn’t mean you can just dump bin bags by night with a clear conscience. Yes, the old ladies who work in there are volunteers, but does that mean they can think of nothing nicer at the start of a working day than sorting through your rain-sodden rubbish before they can even get in the door?

11. Talk to people at the check-out. You don’t have to say much. Even something inane like, “Busy in here, today, isn’t it?” or “Not as busy as usual in here, today, is it?” might put us on the road to peace in the Middle East. Carrying on grumping around and spreading those grump vibes certainly isn’t going to help.

12. Don’t swear when there are kids about. I do, occasionally, if I’m in a family-friendly eaterie, and it’s not nice. Reel those swear words in.

Currys appear to have almost utterly inflexible systems. We suggested that they might wish to look in the Yellow Pages for a CORGI-registered installer but, even though they had let us down five or six times over the last three weeks already, this would not be possible. The best Currys could offer was to send an installer next Wednesday, by which time it would be almost one month since we had placed our order.
So we did it ourselves. One hour later, we had a working gas cooker. Thank you to Newton’s of Plungington Road, Preston. The friendly installer charged us ten pounds less than Currys. He can be contacted on 01772 717200 or 07831 484730.

We now need to write to Currys in order to reclaim the money we had so foolishly paid them. Would anyone like to guess how long it will take them to pay us back?

Technorati Tags: Currys, CORGI

They didn’t.

We rang them this morning and were told that the delivery would be between 2.15 and 6.15 pm today. Much to our surprise, the cooker arrived at 1.50.

Perhaps less surprisingly Currys forgot to organise the installation for which we have paid £74.95.

Truly, this is one of the most incompetent businesses I’ve ever had the displeasure of dealing with.

Technorati Tags: Currys, cooker, installation

• “We don’t have any managers.”
• “We don’t have a customer services department.”
• “Head Office are useless.”
• “Who do you think you are? The Managing Director?”
• “No. I will not let you speak to a supervisor.”
• “I am sorry.”
• “I do believe you are entitled to some compensation.”
• “I will not speak to you. You are not the customer.” (!)
• “I will not put you through. It’s the policy.”

Which of the above demonstrate a true commitment to customer service and a desire to retain my custom?

Technorati Tags: freephone, Currys, after-sales, customer service

On Monday, Marie assured me that we would be contacted on Tuesday. I said at the time that I did not believe her but was reassured that this was a firm date.

On Tuesday, having not been contacted by 6.30 pm, I rang. Matt told me that he would pass my message on to management. It was hard work getting to that point. I had to continue repeating that I was aware of my legal rights.

On Wednesday, I spoke to Tim. I was speaking to him for 14 minutes before he would let me speak to management. In fairness, he was enforcing his own understanding of the Data Protection Act. Kate’s name was on the order and not mine. After he had checked that the payment was made using my payment card, I was put through to Andy. This was the breakthrough.

I was promised nothing, but Andy looked at the by now lengthy notes on the order and stated that he personally believed that we were entitled to some compensation.

I had taken to asking for either the cooker we had originally ordered or an equivalent model of equal or greater value. Andy was receptive to this suggestion. He said that we should ask to speak to him by name in future and rang back suggesting the possibility of a white G756. He told us that this would be put through to Head Office as “urgent” and “top priority” and that we would be contacted on the following day, Thursday.

I rang back the following evening. Iain put the phone down on me so I rang straight back, demanding to speak to a supervisor. I spoke to Peter who noted my complaint about Iain’s methods and passed me through to Alex. It took a little while for him to read through the copious notes on this matter. Head Office were now closed so he asked that, in the event of difficulties, we should ring back well before five o’clock the following day.

Kate was kept busy on Friday afternoon. No-one rang in the morning so, at 1.30, she rang the alleged purveyors of white goods and got through to Rochelle.

Rochelle was helpful. She said that it would take 48 hours for Head Office to respond; 72 hours for them to contact us and then arrange a delivery. Immediately that she was asked to do so, Rochelle put Kate through to Tina, another supervisor. Tina said that Andy would call us back by 3.30.

Andy didn’t, for the perfectly good reason that he was not in. At 4.10, Kate got through to Emma. “Emma deserves a medal,” says Kate. Emma phoned Head Office while Kate was on hold and spoke to Ross. Ross said that he would deal with it that day and that we would be rung as soon as he had had the chance to look through the notes.

So, at 4.45, when we had not received a phone call, Kate rang back and queued for 10 minutes. Emma was on another call and would call back straight away.

At 5.25, Kate rang back and spoke to Dave. Emma had finished but had passed the case on to Val. Val rang back as promised and at the appointed time.

Head Office was by now shut. Val said she would ring before 10 on Saturday morning. She rang this morning at 9.15, saying that either she or H.O. would ring by 12 o’clock.

At 12.15, Val was very sorry as she had been stuck on another call and was just about to contact Head Office.

A few minutes later, she rang back. There had been no answer from Head Office. It was thought that they were on their lunch break and she would keep trying.

We rang back just before 2 o’clock. Val was still chasing up Head Office.

Val rang back again.

Finally, we have been given a delivery date. This Thursday we should be receiving a Belling G756ando cooker. Thank you to Val in after-sales at Currys for your help. Thank you to Andy. Thank you to Emma. You three tried.

Technorati Tags: breakthrough, cooker, after-sales, Currys

We have an apology. We are told that the advisors gave us correct information. This is odd as the information is demonstrably wrong. We were promised several phone calls and had received only one.

We are told that they did everything possible. This, too, is odd. The two advisors to whom we spoke last weekend did everything they could to prevent us communicating with people who actually had the power to make decisions.

In fairness, we have now got through to some helpful people in after-sales. The story of how we got to that point will appear in the next post.

Technorati Tags: Currys, Customer Services, helpful, after-sales

By three o’clock on the afternoon of Saturday, 2nd September we had not been
contacted. Kate spoke to Neil in After-sales. He informed us that stocks would definitely arrive later that day and we should ring the following day for a delivery date. Kate asked why a delivery date could not be arranged there and then. Neil repeated what he had said before. We asked for a good will gesture to compensate us for the inconvenience we were being caused. This was refused.

I noticed, while Kate was on the phone, that our card had been debited for the purchase. We asked why this had happened despite assurances to the contrary. Neil was unable to give us any explanation.

Concluding that Neil was unable to help, Kate asked to be put in touch with someone who could. Neil refused.

We asked to be put through to customer services. Initially Neil refused to supply any information. Eventually, he gave an address and refused to supply a phone number. I noticed later that we could have spoken to customer services on Saturday by phone but it is shut on a Sunday. Even later, we learnt that customer services and after-sales are, in actual fact, one and the same.

We visited the Blackpool Road store in Preston, hoping that we might be able to speak to someone who was interested in helping us. We noticed that the cooker was in stock at that store. There we spoke to Steve. Steve could not have been more helpful and I believe he deserves recognition for his efforts. He informed us that the Currys which operates online is actually a different company and that he would not be able to provide us with the cooker, for which we have already paid. However, he spoke to his manager who agreed that he would meet us half way (in store, the cooker would cost £299, online it was £214.14, with a discount voucher).

Although this would be better than having no cooker at all (this is our current situation), this would leave us paying an extra £42.43 (not including delivery and installation) for an ex-display item of a different colour.

Last Sunday, 3rd September we rang and spoke to Phil. The cooker is still not in stock. We are let down for the third time.

We asked for a good will gesture, such as the supply of the cooker in stock at the Preston store at the price we have already paid. Phil was unable to authorise this.

We asked to speak to a manager. Phil explained that management would be unable to help as we had reached a call centre and not a part of Currys at all. We asked to speak to head office. Phil explained that they would be of no use and would simply send us back to speak to him.

We were left with the situation where Currys has our money for an item which it will not deliver. We are unable to buy the cooker from the Preston store as the company already has the money. As they have the money, we do not.

Under consumer law, we have the right to expect Currys to fulfil the terms of the contract to which they agreed by debiting my payment card. This must be done to a reasonable standard and within a reasonable time if price and timing haven’t been made explicit. We have paid Currys to the supply us with a cooker, to deliver it and to install the item.

The price has been made explicit— Currys have have debited my card. The timing was made explicit when they stated that they would contact us on Saturday 2nd to arrange delivery.

We believe that we have found a suitable alternative.

Technorati Tags: Belling, G755, cooker, After-sales, delivery, customer services, Currys

Incidentally, 08000 682868 is the freephone number for Currys After-sales. After-sales are the people you want to speak to in the event of difficulties with web orders. Be firm. Be assertive. Write down names and extension numbers. Keep records of every person you deal with. Tell the helpful people (there are some, and they appear to be real treasures) that you will praise them in writing. Tell the clueless and obstructive droids that you must be put through to a supervisor if they are unable to help.

Oh, and you may find it helpful to keep stating that you are aware of your rights under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.

Technorati Tags: Currys, cooker, Customer Services, complaints, freephone, After-sales, clueless, obstructive

We bit the bullet and started looking around the local shops. As is so often the case, we found the right cooker in the first shop we visited. Sadly, we didn’t realise this until several hours later, by which time Apollo 2000 had sold out. They didn’t expect any new deliveries for a little while.

That evening, I saw that we could buy the cooker from Currys’ website for £230: seventy pounds cheaper than in their shops and almost the same as it would have cost at Apollo 2000. The item was out of stock so I tried for a few days, eventually being able to place my order on Monday, 28^th August. We were asked to state our three preferred delivery dates and chose the following Saturday, Sunday and Monday, those being the earliest available dates.

A couple of days later we received a phone call from Currys After-Sales (as will become clear later, Currys do not have a Customer Services department for web orders): there had been a glitch on the system and the cooker was not, in fact, in stock. However, a delivery was coming in on Thursday and we would be contacted either on Friday or Saturday when a new delivery date would be arranged.

Friday happened. We did not receive a phone call. On Saturday, we were again not contacted.

Our problems had begun.

Technorati Tags: cooker, Currys, After-Sales, Customer Services