Comments on: These are important http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/ Science fiction, science fact, and all that's in between ... Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:49:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: soubriquet http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/comment-page-1/#comment-982 soubriquet Sun, 20 Aug 2006 14:45:05 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/#comment-982 I was that locksmith... Well, not actually THAT one. but I worked for several years on call-out, as a self employed locksmith/plumber/heating engineer. I contracted to several insurance and home/commercial 'one call' help centres. I would regularly arrive at jobs to be faced with an irate customer yelling 'Where the hell have you been, I've been waiting for three hours, they said you'd be here in twenty minutes!' Call centre people are muppets. They tell the customer an engineer is on his way. then they call someone in the area...... or maybe 80 miles away, they're not good at geography. But he's on his way to another call... Water cascading through the ceiling of a shop, maybe. The shop manager doesn't have a key to the upper floors. and doesn't have a clue as to where the stop valve is......so the job takes a couple of hours.... Call centre muppet rings, says what about the bloke who's locked out 80 miles away? engineer says... as sooon as I've fixed this, maybe another hour, then it'll be rush hour. maybe 2 and a half or three hours? So the muppet rings the next guy on the list. He's me. I've been working through the night, hotel with a failed sewage pump, and a flooded basement. I've then been called to fix a dripping tap sixty miles away, made it home, had a shower and am looking forward to a meal. The phone rings "Guy locked out of his house, I told him you'll be there in twenty minutes. " I am there in fifteen. He is red faced and ready for a fight. "Where the hell have you been?!" he yells. I resist the temptation to smack him in the mouth with a pipe-wrench, fiddle open his ridiculously easy door lock, and present him with the bill from the relevant call centre company. He foams at the mouth at this , thinks that as I opened the door in under a minute, I should probably not charge at all, it was so easy. He thinks I work 40 hours a week and get a hundred pounds an hour. I wish that was true. Meanwhile, my meal is growing cold at home, and I'm dog tired. I'll receive about twenty-five pounds for this job, in about sixty days from the end of this month. The call-centre muppet will probably be selling upvc windows by the end of the month, as she's fed up with the pressure and minimum wage at this company, she'll dive straight into another where she reads from a script and knows nothing of what she is selling. It's a sad world Deep breath. Visit the call centre. hide in the shrubbery. maybe, once every two weeks or so a guy in a Ferrari and a slick suits calls by, for an hour or so. He's the one. You bought that Ferrari. And the suit. And the life style. Don't hate the muppet on the phone, don't hate the guy who does the job, don't hate the supervisor, who deflects your complaints into the waste bin, He's the one. Ferrari man. I've met him. Bastard. I was that locksmith…
Well, not actually THAT one. but I worked for several years on call-out, as a self employed locksmith/plumber/heating engineer. I contracted to several insurance and home/commercial ‘one call’ help centres.
I would regularly arrive at jobs to be faced with an irate customer yelling ‘Where the hell have you been, I’ve been waiting for three hours, they said you’d be here in twenty minutes!’
Call centre people are muppets.
They tell the customer an engineer is on his way. then they call someone in the area…… or maybe 80 miles away, they’re not good at geography. But he’s on his way to another call… Water cascading through the ceiling of a shop, maybe. The shop manager doesn’t have a key to the upper floors. and doesn’t have a clue as to where the stop valve is……so the job takes a couple of hours…. Call centre muppet rings, says what about the bloke who’s locked out 80 miles away? engineer says… as sooon as I’ve fixed this, maybe another hour, then it’ll be rush hour. maybe 2 and a half or three hours? So the muppet rings the next guy on the list. He’s me. I’ve been working through the night, hotel with a failed sewage pump, and a flooded basement. I’ve then been called to fix a dripping tap sixty miles away, made it home, had a shower and am looking forward to a meal. The phone rings “Guy locked out of his house, I told him you’ll be there in twenty minutes. ” I am there in fifteen. He is red faced and ready for a fight. “Where the hell have you been?!” he yells. I resist the temptation to smack him in the mouth with a pipe-wrench, fiddle open his ridiculously easy door lock, and present him with the bill from the relevant call centre company. He foams at the mouth at this , thinks that as I opened the door in under a minute, I should probably not charge at all, it was so easy. He thinks I work 40 hours a week and get a hundred pounds an hour.
I wish that was true.
Meanwhile, my meal is growing cold at home, and I’m dog tired. I’ll receive about twenty-five pounds for this job, in about sixty days from the end of this month.
The call-centre muppet will probably be selling upvc windows by the end of the month, as she’s fed up with the pressure and minimum wage at this company, she’ll dive straight into another where she reads from a script and knows nothing of what she is selling.
It’s a sad world
Deep breath. Visit the call centre. hide in the shrubbery. maybe, once every two weeks or so a guy in a Ferrari and a slick suits calls by, for an hour or so. He’s the one. You bought that Ferrari. And the suit. And the life style. Don’t hate the muppet on the phone, don’t hate the guy who does the job, don’t hate the supervisor, who deflects your complaints into the waste bin, He’s the one. Ferrari man. I’ve met him. Bastard.

]]> By: Velcro City Tourist Board » Blog Archive » Friday Plant Blogging! New kid in town http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/comment-page-1/#comment-975 Velcro City Tourist Board » Blog Archive » Friday Plant Blogging! New kid in town Fri, 18 Aug 2006 17:36:34 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/#comment-975 [...] It’s been a week of ups and downs, I think it’s fair to say. Mostly ups, to be honest, but the serious financial downer of the key-forgetting incident on Tuesday has cast a bit of a shadow over what would otherwise be a decent week. But hey, we’re all about the positive news during Friday Plant Blogging, so let’s not talk of locksmiths and call centres…at least, not until my calm-but-furious letter to their customer services manager gets an answer. [...] [...] It’s been a week of ups and downs, I think it’s fair to say. Mostly ups, to be honest, but the serious financial downer of the key-forgetting incident on Tuesday has cast a bit of a shadow over what would otherwise be a decent week. But hey, we’re all about the positive news during Friday Plant Blogging, so let’s not talk of locksmiths and call centres…at least, not until my calm-but-furious letter to their customer services manager gets an answer. [...]

]]> By: Udy http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/comment-page-1/#comment-964 Udy Wed, 16 Aug 2006 21:36:55 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/#comment-964 Luckily my estate agent has a set of keys for my house. This is only useful during ofice hours though. Luckily my estate agent has a set of keys for my house. This is only useful during ofice hours though.

]]> By: Jonathan Shaw http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/comment-page-1/#comment-963 Jonathan Shaw Wed, 16 Aug 2006 16:24:56 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/#comment-963 Aye, the frustration! I can definitely empathize. I once waited six hours in front of my apartment building for my building manager to come and let me in. Muppetude -- nice neologism! Or, I guess it's not a neologism...it yields 76 Google hits. ;) Aye, the frustration! I can definitely empathize. I once waited six hours in front of my apartment building for my building manager to come and let me in.

Muppetude — nice neologism! Or, I guess it’s not a neologism…it yields 76 Google hits. ;)

]]> By: Balykins http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/comment-page-1/#comment-961 Balykins Wed, 16 Aug 2006 15:33:02 +0000 http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/these-are-important/#comment-961 'Can ‘Can

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