Why is service in the UK so poor?????

[John]

I don't spend less living but I've become far more fussy about who gets my hard earned and it's got to the stage if I don't have to spend with a poor customer focused business, I'll very happily do without - more times than not, I actually feel far better off, saving the money is just a bonus.

I'm the same actually - in work and at home.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I think that service in the UK has gone downhill but it's because no one wants to pay full price anymore as we have become a throwaway society and as someone said earlier, everyone wants it cheaper!
When the cost goes down something has to give!!

Thank you, you've just saved me typing exactly the same.

 

[John Jones Jr]

I'm the same actually - in work and at home.

Well, when it comes to home I put my foot down (I'm brave ), we've no Sky, UPC etc and we're still in the land of the living!

 

[flango]

I think that service in the UK has gone downhill but it's because no one wants to pay full price anymore as we have become a throwaway society and as someone said earlier, everyone wants it cheaper! When the cost goes down something has to give!!

What about those of us that don't mind paying a fair price for a fair service ?

Not everyone wants it cheaper in this life I always find you get what you pay for, pay cheap and you get a cheap job with cheap parts but that doesn't mean pay expensive and you get a top job either there are exceptions to every rule

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

 

[John Jones Jr]

I think that service in the UK has gone downhill but it's because no one wants to pay full price anymore as we have become a throwaway society and as someone said earlier, everyone wants it cheaper!
When the cost goes down something has to give!!

Good customer service to my knowledge has little to do with the actual cost of the goods or services, but there is a balance to be struck. For example, if I spend £3200 on insurance, I expect to be able to talk straight away to someone that can assist, if I spend a few quid in the local pound shop I expect the staff to be helpful & polite.

As for not wanting to pay ''full price'', everywhere I go I always seem to be paying full price, well the marked price. Since that's the case why should customer service suffer, all I think of is plain poor management.

 

[BlackC55]

I try and respond to my emails daily. Sometimes I cant as I am so busy in the workshop.

My emails from the weekend, Monday and Tuesday were responded to last night as I popped back to work to attend to them. I was at work until 9:00. I could not fully answer all of them as some of them needed me to call suppliers etc. I never do my emails at home. Home is home. Work is work. Bear in mind, some emails will take and hour or so to prepare.

As I am flat out right now I am just getting to my emails now.

 

[johnsco]

Ian.
Rodley Motors ... Approx £180 + VAT
He asked for the reg no.
Apparently there is more than one fuel pressure regular and this goes with different oil filters, which are different prices.
Can't really see it making much difference !

 

[sjmaxwell]

Good customer service to my knowledge has little to do with the actual cost of the goods or services, but there is a balance to be struck. For example, if I spend £3200 on insurance, I expect to be able to talk straight away to someone that can assist, if I spend a few quid in the local pound shop I expect the staff to be helpful & polite. As for not wanting to pay ''full price'', everywhere I go I always seem to be paying full price, well the marked price. Since that's the case why should customer service suffer, all I think of is plain poor management.

This is where the throw away society part comes in as I don't believe we pay nearly as much in value terms for our goods as we did say twenty years ago as servicing my car now seems to be a similar price to then but with more electronic systems to check and less items to replace (points, distributor caps etc - who remembers them) and just allowing for inflation and value of the pound, it should be far higher but in the market place the customer won't pay those sort of prices so it's kept low because less people in a call centre or on a help line mean lower costs.
The other aspect that businesses can and do save on is training, it costs them money so the less they have to do and the more "trained" people they bring in, the lower the cost to the business, even if they don't know the product fully. My local dealer has Audi and BMW people working there and I'm sure that given time they will learn the product but initially they don't know it and will get limited training in this day and age IMHO.

 

[Peter T]

Ordered a MAF for my BMW this morning from Euro Car Parts. No problem, I was told, a genuine Bosch part will be here by 2:00 pm.

Went to collect at 3:00. "Not here mate" said the counter man.
"Why not" I said.
"How should I know" he said.

So much for customer service!

 

[flango]

Ordered a MAF for my BMW this morning from Euro Car Parts. No problem, I was told, a genuine Bosch part will be here by 2:00 pm. Went to collect at 3:00. "Not here mate" said the counter man. "Why not" I said. "How should I know" he said. So much for customer service!

That's just normal for ECP sad but true I've stopped using them because of all the promises they fail to deliver on switched to GSF so far so good

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

 

[st13phil]

Not everyone wants it cheaper in this life I always find you get what you pay for, pay cheap and you get a cheap job with cheap parts but that doesn't mean pay expensive and you get a top job either there are exceptions to every rule

Unfortunately, the UK consumer over the last few years has become fixated on what they call value, but in reality what they mean is the lowest price.

The automotive sector isn't unique in this respect. Where I live, until the beginning of this month we had a great family-run TV and audio retailer who had a great town-centre showroom, offered good advice, free installation and superb after sales service. A couple of years ago I bought a Panasonic Plasma TV and a top-end BluRay/HD recorder from them. When it came to negotiating the deal (which I will always attempt to do) one of the owners said "I suppose you're going to ask me to match an internet price, aren't you?". He nearly keeled over when I said I wasn't, and that I just wanted a bit of recognition for spending a fairly substantial sum for relatively little effort on his part as I'd told him what I was interested in at the start of the transaction. We quickly agreed a price that was some way above the cheapest I could find on the net, but that he was happy with too.

Three months ago I had a letter from him saying that they're finally conceded defeat as, with the exception of their repair business which they are continuing, they'd effectively become an unpaid product showroom for online retailers.

On the whole , the UK consumer gets the service that they deserve. Pay peanuts, get monkeys. That said, if I pay top dollar for something (e.g. MB Main Dealer service) I expect top class service in return. Trouble is, many of the people who work in those organisations are poorly valued and provide commensurate levels of customer care.

 

[John]

Well, when it comes to home I put my foot down (I'm brave ), we've no Sky, UPC etc and we're still in the land of the living!

Nope, we don't do them either. We're quite good at spending money on the core things we enjoy and are a lot tougher on the stuff we are indifferent about.

 

[sjmaxwell]

Ordered a MAF for my BMW this morning from Euro Car Parts. No problem, I was told, a genuine Bosch part will be here by 2:00 pm.

Went to collect at 3:00. "Not here mate" said the counter man.
"Why not" I said.
"How should I know" he said.

So much for customer service!

Got to ask but did you pay full BMW price for it or was it cheaper!?

 

[Peter T]

That's just normal for ECP sad but true I've stopped using them because of all the promises they fail to deliver on switched to GSF so far so good

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

Hear what you say but I wonder if carp service is normal for all these organisations?

The last time I bought from GSF it was for an ABS sensor for the BMW, which proved to be DOA after spending a fun couple of hours grovelling under the car!

I suppose the £25 price tag, as opposed to £75 for OEM, should have been a warning. At the time I remember I was more concerned with the imminent MOT!

 

[Peter T]

Got to ask but did you pay full BMW price for it or was it cheaper!?

BMW quoted £300 + vat, ECP was £170 + vat.

To be honest the price wasn't the first consideration, within reason. I wanted an OEM replacement, which means a Bosch unit. BMW said delivery would be 5/7 days, ECP said they could get one today.

Clearly they were fibbing!

 

[grober]

Telephone call = plausible deniability.
Email= evidence in writing.

 

[st13phil]

I try and respond to my emails daily. Sometimes I cant as I am so busy in the workshop. My emails from the weekend, Monday and Tuesday were responded to last night as I popped back to work to attend to them. I was at work until 9:00. I could not fully answer all of them as some of them needed me to call suppliers etc. I never do my emails at home. Home is home. Work is work. Bear in mind, some emails will take and hour or so to prepare. As I am flat out right now I am just getting to my emails now.

Olly, we all know that you're one of the good guys

However...

At some stage (you may have reached it already) you'll need someone to provide some admin assistance too so that you can do what you do best without running yourself ragged. Think of it like a good restaurant: it works because they have a great chef (you) and great front of house staff too (your receptionist/admin person). Get the right person on board and you'll earn much more than they cost

 

[John Jones Jr]

Get the right person on board and you'll earn much more than they cost

^^^This, without a shadow of doubt.

 

[st13phil]

^^^This, without a shadow of doubt.

Bearing in mind that Accountants are the Masters of the Universe, I'm surprised that the majority that I've met don't understand that cost <> value.

 

[sjmaxwell]

Bearing in mind that Accountants are the Masters of the Universe, I'm surprised that the majority that I've met don't understand that cost <> value.

Amen to that!!