Customer Service Gripes.Businesses couldn't give a stuff so long as they've got your cash.

Why have companies seemingly got so much contempt for their paying customers these days?

Dealing with energy suppliers,financial services firms,sports betting firms etc is like pulling teeth. The customer services staff often give incorrect information,take ages to respond to queries and greet mistakes with vacuous apologies and on occasion blind indifference.

I am tempted to name and shame but for the time being I will focus on purely ranting without specifics to serve as a brainstorming session before undertaking further in depth analysis in further blog posts. Actually forget that,let us name and shame,that's exactly what ranting is about.

What I do not understand about poor customer service is that we pay our money to these firms and they often behave as if they are doing us a favour,in return for our pound notes and loyalty we often get treated like mugs or worse still an afterthought for some firms.

The obvious response to this incompetence is to vote with your feet and take your business elsewhere but after a while you run out of options or find that all these firms are under the same umbrella like the awful Betfred/Totesport organisation or Paddy Power and Betfair.Sports betting is a great example of this where all the big firms are roughly just as bad as each other.Betfair have a very good exchange but the customer service on its Sportsbook is useless,slow bet settling,long response times to emails and a cold corporate attitude to accountability and dispute resolution.

British Gas are an absolute disgrace.They spend millions on advertising to succour in new custom and then bombard you day and night with junkmail ,phone calls and emails selling you various forms of household 'cover' that you do not need in the hope of draining your bank balsnce and giving you sweet FA om return.

Edf Energy are a joke with their foreign based callcentre and clueless staff who leave you wishing you lived off grid with no need for electricity such is the level of hassle you have to go through to get a correctly itemised bill or have a query answered coherently.

Tesco Bank are the worst financial firm in business,no email address contact and a policy of dealing with finance related queries over Twitter and Facebook,are they completely  stupid? Then they wonder why they get hacked exposing cistiners to fraud which happened to them just months ago. The answer given for no email contact was that they do not have a secure messaging centre.If they cared so much about secure messaging would they be asking customers to DM and tweet problems with they chip and pin issues? Unbelievable.

Having said all this the one firm that seems to be rated highly by all is Amazon who seem to have the customer service side of things fully covered,why more companies do not bother to match such high levels of service is beyond me.

The answer as usual probably leads to money.Big firms do the bare minimum that they have to,if the money is rolling in why should they care? Foxtons Estate Agents is a great example of this,despite a reputation for sharp practice and contempt for buyers and tenants they continue to prosper. Perhaps bad customer service is a feature of a sociopathic society devoid of compassion and consumed by the profit principle.

Z-List Celebrities: Talentless but Making Money. Bad Role Models for Youngsters.

In the UK we are 'blessed' with a plethora of non-entities who exhibit no real specific talent but still enjoy a huge presence in the media. I hate to pick people out for stick but for the purposes of this article I will have to! Imogen Thomas is a former Big Brother Housemate who has enjoyed massive media coverage since having an affair with footballer Ryan Giggs. Now Imogen is hot, granted but the money and fame coming her way as a result of an immoral sexual act, is way outweighing the merits of her 'talents' which are amply displayed in the picture above. Reports say she has landed a job at 'This Morning' in a supporting presenter role, I bet Fern Britton is fuming and that Phillip Schofield is licking his lips!What sort of message does Imogen's success send to young girls? Sleep with a married footballer and you are quids in!It is quite depressing really.

We also have Katie Price who has milked every possible way of earning a living by showing every intimate detail of her life in fly on the wall TV shows and tell all books. Price's looks are starting to fade as was seen by her desperate attempts to latch onto the young,gorgeous girls of The Only way is Essex,while on Holiday in Marbella this year. Yes and before you say it the TOWIE cast are also an example of money and fame for no talent,but I'm sure the fad of watching the Essex lifestyle will begin to grate after another season or two.

Other talentless moneymakers include Mike 'The Situation' Sorrentino of Jersey Shore in the USA, Kerry Katona, whose 'singing' career ended years ago and Peter Andre,who has never been able to sing despite a decent hit with Mysterious Girl about a billion years ago.

To be deserving of wealth and fame a person ought to be a talented person:
a thinker,an actor, a comedian,a successful businessperson,a sports person,an entertainer or a unique person, neither of the names mentioned above are any of these and need not spend a second longer in the public eye,besides they've earned enough to retire anyway!

Nick Clegg: Out of Touch Public Figures

Nick Clegg has been the subject of much derision for his obvious subservient relationship with David Cameron in the top tier of Government, has made things worse for himself with an outrageous illustration of his unfamiliarity with life in the real world. While Clegg moans that the school run is 'killing him' when considered alongside the 'workload' of his ministerial duties,millions of working parents across Britain are shaking their heads at a man who rakes in (and will rake in post ministerial career) hundreds of thousands and millions of tax payer funded pounds for his non existent contribution to society. How does Clegg think that other people's kids get to school? School runs and work are balanced by everyone. I even seem to remember a story about him sending his kids to a school miles form his Putney based home,the phrase,'take responsibility for your decisions' springs to mind,something he has never done as a member of the non-elected mish,mash quasi-Conservative Government of which he is allegedly a pivotal part.

Normally I qualify my rants on prominent figures with a sound bite,promoting their positive features but this guy will get no such applause. Gifted with the skills of empty rhetoric and hypocrisy (as the televised election debates so concisely illustrated),this man is a disgrace. Just another compelling piece of evidence for the school of thought that decrees that MPs should tough it out in the real world before being elected.

#Follow Back Twitter BS

Anyone who uses Twitter will know about these #followback accounts that constantly tweet for more followers, telling you to 'retweet if you love music','retweet if you love Justin Bieber','retweet if you love life',etc,etc If you follow these numerous followback accounts you are promised hundreds and thousands of followers that never materialise. Apart from being annoying and cluttering up your stream of tweets,it spawns a host of liars. There are liars all over the world with #followback on their profile descriptions,suggesting that if you follow them,they will return the gesture. Having taken people up on their followback promise I have found that about 10-20% of people are true to their word while the other 80-90% accept the boost to their follower numbers and laugh at those stupid enough to go against the logic of human nature and accept their empty promise.

Another thing I have noticed is that most of the people that put #followback in their description are a bunch of  brain dead, music career wannabes hawking their crappy music in a vain attempt to raise their profile. A lot of the #followback brigade are attention junkies looking for people to listen to their stupid,ill thought out ramblings and occasional Youtube videos showing their awful singing/rapping or MCing.

If you go down the #followback route of follower acquisition,beware and make sure you use the numerous 'unfollowed me' apps that allow you to get rid of those that are not following you. Nobody minds not being followed by the rich and famous but it grates a bit when teenage,feckless,talentless individuals try to insult your intelligence and take advantage of your good nature.Oh yeah one more thing.........#FOLLOWBACK!!!!!

Harper Seven? Beckham's lose the plot

Recent reports suggest David and Victoria Beckham have decided to name their new child 'Harper Seven'. Before I rant on this topic let me just say that I am a great admirer of David Beckham, a man who has captained his country and scored some of the greatest free kicks I have ever seen. Victoria is also a pop icon as a member of the Spice Girls and has now re-invented herself as a Fashion Designer which is worthy of respect.

Now for the rant............Harper Seven? Ridiculous name full stop. It is obvious that the Beckham's have gone for style over substance and followed other Hollywood names in calling their children an obtuse fashion brand name rather than a traditional,wholesome British Moniker such as Katherine, Rebecca or Elizabeth. As a parent you have the right to name your child whatever you want,but when your child is likely to be subject to unprecedented levels of attention, the task of naming your child takes on extra significance.

The Beckhams are above all,a brand and are watched by millions of people around the world. The Beckhams are copied, idolised and respected in many quarters and as a result have a responsibility to set an example. Some say,'Oh he's just a footballer,she's just a former popstar,they are role-models for noone' but that just simply is not the case. Mothers and Fathers from Council Estates in Newcastle to the mansions of the  Hollywood Hills, watch and mimic the behaviour of this superbrand.

What next? Addidas Beckham? Gillette Beckham? In a world where people are ever influenced by media, Harper Seven will spawn a number of Harper FOURS,FIVES and SIXES. What is going on in the world? I do not envy teachers having to read out these vacuous names every morning,'Apple, Bluebell Madonna, Destry,Harper Seven, Pheonix, Satchel.' DO ME A FAVOUR!

As I would say on Twitter another illustration of #thedumbingdownofsociety.