Bring back human beings

Sago

I feel your pain Lucca I had to get rid of Sky once on behalf of my demented mother, it was a trial.
When I finally spoke to someone they insisted it was better that my mother kept her package and transferred everything to the nursing home, eventually I lied and said she had lost her sight?.
I will burn for that I’m sure.

What a dreadful thing to say ?

Couldn’t agree more. We became so fed up with our “well known bank” we decided to try a local building society bank. So glad we did. We can speak to a real person who is locally based. Made our online banking such a lot easier.

The ones I really don't like are the ones where you have to give your postcode - mine ends in an 'a' and no matter how clearly I try to say 'a' the bot on the phone hears 'e' . They obviously can't take accents into account.
And don't get me started on trying to use my mobile to pay for parking at the local railway station ?? My previous car reg had an 'f' in it. I spoke clearly (I thought ) but the acknowledgement text would come through with an 's'. After 20 minutes of this, and trying 'f for foxtrot' and 'f' for something way stronger I finally managed.
Give me humans every time!

Humans are too expensive and require managing! Also, they often don't know the answer and don't care.

I was thinking of using Vinted but perhaps not!

When I was studying for 'A' levels in late 60s I was taken to an old cotton mill where a computer was being built. It was one of those factories with a long floor where you could hardly see from one end to the other. people were running around with large magnetic reels clutched to their chests and valves as large as a milk bottle. It only did what a desk top calculator would do. I am typing this on my little lap top
I have also had occasion to ring for technical help to Utility Warehouse. When I say "imagine you are explaining to your grandmother and tell me simply" They are very helpful and not at all condescending or patronising. (Which I wouldn't tolerate)

I spent hours upon hours recently trying to SPEAK to someone at Virgin Atlantic customer services.
In the end I went through to their “Upper class” ticket sales line -I guess they answered because they thought I was going to buy a ticket at £5K etc.
I explained my real reason for calling only to be told quite politely but firmly the “customer services are NOT customer facing and it’s impossible to speak to anyone directly,send in an email”.
My reaction was that that’s not very customer friendly and my best course of action would be to spend my holiday money elsewhere.

I had to phone my energy supplier, Eon-next recently with a query. My problem was dealt with brilliantly by a really helpful customer service advisor who went out of her way to provide an excellent service.

My visa card has stopped working on tap & pay & via chip and pin. On the phone for ages and being told (automated voice) quicker on line, but if my card doesn't work surely the pin won't work in my card reader so how can I do this on line?

eazybee

I made two phone calls yesterday, one to Open University and one to the small local office of the Council. Both problems were sorted out by very helpful officials, hugely polite, in minimum time, and I could hear every word they said, not always the case.

Not the same Council as ours, I take it, eazybee!!

I'm sure some computer tick box application forms would be fairer and more compassionate than some human beings.

Sandigold
With respect there are a lot of older folk on this site who are very tech savvy.
Let’s say 20 yrs ago. Those now 60+ were 40+, did they not see what was coming, what a wonderful thing it was going to be.

Full marks to Scottish Power today. I tried online to cancel my fixed rate account & transfer back to the standard tariff but was unable to do so. Tried emailing but Scottish Power no longer using this, so I had to phone them. Despite a message saying there was a 30 minute wait to speak to a customer advisor, I was soon put through, once I had pressed the correct button. She couldn't transfer me back herself so I was put on hold for a few minutes while she consulted her support team. When she came back it was sorted.

Much prefer to talk to a real person, but it's not always plain sailing. My DH was patiently trying to sort out an issue recently and the customer service agent was a lady with a very strong foreign accent who spoke very quickly. As my DH struggled to understand what she was saying, she asked in a frustrated voice whether there was anyone at our end who could speak English! Needless to say, a complaint was submitted and, thankfully, we did eventually get things sorted out.

Some weeks ago I had my wallet stolen. Among other things it contained my staff discount card for Waitrose and my staff discount card for M&S. A phone call to Waitrose, lasting about 10 minutes, got my new card sorted and I received my new card a few days later. The M&S one has been an on going nightmare. I've been directed to various web sites which have offered conflicting advice and had one or two surreal phone calls to people who seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. At one point it seemed to be working - then it stopped again and I was given more instructions - still no luck and it's going to have to be more phone calls!

It really is incumbent on us to try to keep up to date, Sandigold. Your suggestion of 60+ is a bit worrying - many of us are still working full time and coping with technology in our 60s and beyond. I was one of them! I don't like to think that people of 60+ are 'older folk', either!

I had discussion on this very topic with a young man I know... I suggested Sky etc should some customer service agents who specialise in helping the older folk who aren't so tech savvy. His reply was that "they" should catch up and he was surprisingly adamant that this was a reasonable expectation. I found it a rather disturbing exchange. And he's not a horrible person but in his mid twenties he can't comprehend how different it is for those of us who are 60 +

I made two phone calls yesterday, one to Open University and one to the small local office of the Council. Both problems were sorted out by very helpful officials, hugely polite, in minimum time, and I could hear every word they said, not always the case.

And they wonder why their CEO or Chairman’s inboxes are bursting. Sometimes it’s the only way to get a live human on the phone to fix a previously intractable problem….

Just saying.

I was transferred over to OVO earlier this year. When I tried to access my account online, I couldn’t. I tried a couple of times, eventually phoned, spoke to a lovely woman who, from her accent, was from the north-east of England. Turned out, when my account was transferred, several details were erroneously changed. Ovo assistant was very patient, sorted everything out and was very apologetic for the mix-up. She really couldn’t have been more pleasant or helpful.

I don’t mind computerised systems when they work, but I’ve been going round in circles trying to find the correct claim form online from Staysure insurance. The phone line just says ‘We’re currently experiencing a high volume of calls’ - as does every other customer service phone number.?
I must give a shout for Dunelm though - we reported a missing part on some chairs and spoke to a very helpful lady, who arranged for a speedy replacement. ??

I must give a shout out to LG. We had a problem setting up our new tv. More or less straight through to a human who instructed us in words of one syllable. ???

I spoke to a human yesterday at Shell energy. There’s nothing wrong with my hearing but I literally couldn’t understand most of what she said. The amount of times I asked her to repeat herself was embarrassing ??‍♀️

I must speak up for Worcester / Bosch. I had a problem with my boiler controls. I spoke to a LADY in the technical department. She agreed with me what the problem was and put the right part in the engineers van. Work would be done next day although she couldn't say am or pm. I was woken at 7.55 am. and the engineer had finished and gone by 8 30 am.
Personal service at its best.

I have just had an appointment confirmation from the hospital, all by computer, very confusing details and the only contact available was 'press one to repeat this message'. To make it worse, recorded with a foreign accent.

Very surprised that some have had difficulty with OVO. I have been with them for over three years and never had a problem. At one pointI had quite a lot of cash just sitting in my account, asked them to refund £200 and it was in my bank account two days later.