Employing idiots?

I had a similar experience when British gas rang to arrange for my annual boiler service. Of course, it's the usual 6 hour time slot (sigh) and I was anxious to make the point that I have hearing problems so the engineer should knock loudly and wait, not just tap quietly once and then drive off (previous saga). Just when I thought we were home and dry with the appointment booked, the caller asked me if there were problems with parking (no, there are not) and then if I have a dog!!! I was tempted to reply that there was no dog but I had a very aggressive goldfish. I guess the problem is that these poor call centre workers have to stick to a script or they get into trouble. Possibly, Movedalot your caller was trying to meet a target to fill up the 9th October flight.

The good news was that the engineer who came to do the service was a very polite and pleasant chap who couldn't have been nicer.

vegas annoying isn't it?

No, she wasn't filling a target for the flight, she had to contact another company to book it. What we are looking for is non-standard so they all have to put a package together especially for us. I'll probably book with The Holiday Place as they have been good to us a few times previously and I am talking to the same person I did before who I find very helpful. I just like to check I am getting the best deal before I book!

vegas I have my boiler serviced by BG, and if you make your appointment on line you can choose a 2 hour slot.
They always ring to say they're on the way, and you could then tell them to knock loudly and wait etc.

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I do not see the relevance of your final sentences Deserving - pity as for once ( at least in the first paragraph) I found much of what you had to say quite reasonable. Then it turned into another go at immigrant workers - WHY ON EARTH ???

I wrote to Capita about my teacher's pension asking them to pay it into a different account and , of course, gave them all my details and signed the letter. After several weeks, I got a letter back asking for the same details and saying they needed a signature. I pointed out that they were replying to a signed letter which had given all the details requested. After another month, they wrote to confirm that they had received my request and would be paying the pension into the same account which they were already using. I rang to ask why on earth they thought I would bother writing to them to ask them to carry on as usual. Apologies but no explanation.
My daughter has been told that HMRC are sending her a cheque for a rebate, which they will not honour if it paid into a NZ bank. She had put me down as her agent in the UK and given all my bank details. She had explained that they no longer have a UK bank account. This has been going on since I was last there in February. Her NZ bank are willing to cash the cheque, but HMRC won't allow it. Things have obviously gone downhill since I retired - and they got rid of most trained inspectors, to save money.

Movedalot - if you managed to deal with that level of idiocy without losing your temper, you are a saint!

Just deviation.You can converse, or in this case read, without being converted or contaminated,no need for capitals, these are just 'words in a box'. If there is evidence against my contention, I have no doubt it will be produced. Mark, I did say evidence not opinion or supposition.

Oh FFS!

I think it was the phrase 'difficult to get rid of them' referring to laws that allowed the fallback to the default position

I hope you're not right deserving.

This might belong in 'pedants corner' but seems relevant here. I phoned customer services for a certain company to ask if either of their soup makers sautéed onions. Reply -"Both of those those products don't sauté onions" so I replied "Do you mean that neither of the models sauté onions?" Yes, he said, "that's right". I replied- (he was English) - "When are you going to learn how to speak English?"
Who employs these people?
I bet I made his day

How do you know he was English, Reddevil?

Could just do without another emotive rant about "waves of immigrant romanies" - I thought the thread was about jobsworths, not an expression of anti-immigrant racist jibes. As for my use of capitals - just think of them as an indication of how I feel about xenophobic scaremongering. Good grief - how on earth would we have managed without Angles, Saxons and Jutes.

I had to read your post a couple of times, Reddevil! At first reading, I thought you had been asking soup manufacturers if their soup contained sautéed onions! I don't think I have heard of a soup maker, but I suppose it is some sort of blender?

I once asked my husband to arrange an ambulance for a patient who had broken his leg.
After he had been asked the name, address and what was wrong with patient, the next question was 'Can he walk?'
Reply by exasperated husband:- 'Not unless he walks on his hands!'

Greatnan I swear by mine. I don't use it for sautéing although it says it will! But I just chuck veg , stock cube and water in, set timer, let it bubble way, then turn to blend and abracacadabra, soup.

I do that, Galen,in a large saucepan, but I don't blend it because I like the vegetables to be whole. I have a slow cooker too, but it is not big enough to make enough soup or stew for three meals, which I find most economical. I just eat one portion and freeze two.

I like s,Lothian soups. It will also make sauces, throw in chunks of meat, tomatoes, celery , carrot. Cook, blend:- sphaggetti bolognese sauce.
Oh! Forgot stock cube and any herbs or wine or nutmeg you want to add!
Add coriander powder, cumin powder, fresh chillies or chilli powder, blend, then add the beans, simmer again and you have chilli con carne!

Lothian? Where did the scots come from?
I typed SMOOTH!

Graces totally with you!

I am neither racist or xenophobic. There are 5 different nationalities in my immediate family.
All I was pointing out was that if somebody is employed to give information about the firm's products, they should be able to express themselves correctly. And this lad was English, or rather he spoke as if it was his first language. I made an innocent remark and was jumped on for it.

Reddevil - I don't think anybody was referring to your post , but rather the one about waves of East European immigrants, which most of us chose to ignore!

I think it's rude to correct other people's grammar!