# Researching customer service experiences



## Hilanne (18 Sep 2008)

I am a researcher with the current affairs TV section in RTE and we are hoping to make a programme on customer service issues looking at how service providers interact with the public and how problems are managed. I would be interested in hearing from anyone with experiences in this regard - good or bad. You can either post on this thread or send me a private message. Thanks!


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## damson (18 Sep 2008)

Calling ...!


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## NOAH (19 Sep 2008)

look at a site about broadband providers and you will have enough material to make a complete series - oops they advertise on Tv so thats a no go subject.

naoh


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## Ris (20 Sep 2008)

For new business - Press 1
To pay arrears - Press 2
To pay a current bill - Press 3 
To check the status of your account - press 4
To register a complaint please dial 009111xxxxxxxx
To speak to a customer service agent please hold the line and we will be back to you in six days......



Seriously though.... the very best of luck with the programme...your post is important to us


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## Hilanne (22 Sep 2008)

NOAH said:


> look at a site about broadband providers and you will have enough material to make a complete series - oops they advertise on Tv so thats a no go subject.
> 
> naoh


We are looking at all service areas at this point, including broadband and mobiles ... I have picked up the thread on the broadband stuff so thanks for the heads up.


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## ClubMan (22 Sep 2008)

Hilanne said:


> I am a researcher with the current affairs TV section in RTE and we are hoping to make a programme on customer service issues looking at how service providers interact with the public and how problems are managed.


Service providers or goods providers also?
What sort of service providers?
If any then the focus seems very diffuse and it's difficult to see what such a programme might achieve.


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## dtlyn (22 Sep 2008)

Hilanne said:


> I am a researcher with the current affairs TV section in RTE and we are hoping to make a programme on customer service issues looking at how service providers interact with the public and how problems are managed. I would be interested in hearing from anyone with experiences in this regard - good or bad. You can either post on this thread or send me a private message. Thanks!


 
I had a terrible experience with three mobile customer service ( outsourced to india I think ) that resulted in a) a mobile phone contract being renewed I hadn't authorised b) a letter posted to their offices in Dublin being completely ignored, dispite the accompanying cheque being cashed as settlement c) dealing with 3 or 4 different people who refused to take ownership of my problem d) When I refused to conduct any further business until I could speak to a manager who's idea of compromise was to say everything was fine and send me to a collection agency.

It was a disgusting experience that treated the customer with the highest form of contempt and I would never use the company in any of its forms again.


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## superdrog (22 Sep 2008)

Try getting through to Ryanair , that'll cover a few episopes.


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## aircobra19 (22 Sep 2008)

Look at the broadband forum over on Boards.ie. 
You can add to that any thread about main dealers either their or here.


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## Hilanne (22 Sep 2008)

ClubMan said:


> Service providers or goods providers also?
> What sort of service providers?
> If any then the focus seems very diffuse and it's difficult to see what such a programme might achieve.


We are currently at the first step of this programme, the research phase, so we are doing a general trawl to see what experiences are out there. This obviously will become more focused over time as we talk to people about their stories, check them out etc. 

Everything is in the pot for the moment but the programme will hinge on customer service - the point where the customer interfaces with the service (or goods) provider, their experience of that interaction and, where an experience has not been all that positive, what recourse is available to them.

Keep the stories coming and thanks for the pointers.


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## Rois (22 Sep 2008)

May I suggest you consider looking at the "extended warranties" sold by many large companies such as Dell, Curry's, etc.  In my experience, they sell you a complete no-nonsense support and back-up service, but as soon as you need to use the service it's nothing like the promise. Have spent hours on the phone to Dell support in India and still nothing resolved. These warranties are expensive and the service provided does not warrant the cost IMHO.


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## Purple (22 Sep 2008)

If This post will be deleted if not edited immediately Christ appeared at my front door with the Chairman of Eircom offering free phone and broadband for life and the secret of eternal youth I would not take them up on the offer. That’s how bad their customer service is. (I spent 6 weeks asking them to fix a line fault and in the end they put a big hole in my front wall, wrecked the plaster on the inside, and left me with a stand-alone line which was not connected to any of the existing phones in the house) 

If I had an alternative to the ESB (even if it was more expensive) I would move in the morning.

I moved from NTL to Sky because of customer service (Sky are excellent). After 11 weeks trying to get NTL to come out and fix a fault I gave up and moved to Sky. They came out on time within three days of contacting them. Over the next week NTL arrived out three times to fix the fault despite being told that I was moving to Sky.

Vodafone are excellent.

Bord Gais are not bad.

BT are just about OK (but in a different league to Eircom)


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## superdrog (22 Sep 2008)

Add to that mobile phone insurance , in some cases charging €8 a month (€96 a year) for a phone that can be bought for as little as €70. Try making a claim and they make it all but impossible to get something back.


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## aircobra19 (22 Sep 2008)

Just thought of a couple.

Eircom won't fix a line fault if its for Broadband. They'll only fix it if you can't receive a voice call. So effectively denying you access to approx 80% of the Broadband providers. If you order a new line they won't guarantee it for data. Hows that for service. what makes it worse is they hound you with telemarketing for services they can't give you, or to switch to phone service which are more expensive then what you're on. 

NTL/UPC won't accept an email for support queries. They send you back an email to ring them. Only you can never get through to them. If this was a high street shop, you'd be a little surprised, but when its a Internet Provider, promising "greater access to the new digital world" its unbelieveable. Though admittedly it seems to be a bit easier to get through to them lately. Maybe they're trying to stem the tide of customers leaving  to Sky and others.


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## truthseeker (22 Sep 2008)

NTL gets my vote.
Got broadband installed, asked for 6MB, was told he could only hook up 4MB on the day and would switch me over to 6MB back at 'the office'.
Never got changed over but I was charged for the 6MB connection from that moment on. Thus ensued 8 weeks of me phoning them, approximately 15 hours on the phone, I dont know if they have Joe the Toilet Cleaner answering the phones there but they managed to send out no less than 3 engineers, despite me explaining to Joe in his many guises that all I wanted was to be either switched to 6MB 'back at the office' and refunded what I was incorrectly charged for or left at 4MB and billed accordingly.
The whole sorry sage ended with me sending a letter and an email on the same day explaining in no uncertain terms how dissatisfied I was and how I was considering cancelling the entire contract and suing for the cost of my 15 odd hours of phonecalls. 
Within 20 mins of sending the email a nice lady phoned from NTL and sorted out the mess in 3 minutes, yes, 3 minutes. Clearly it wasnt such a complicated ordeal when you got to speak to Mary the accounts lady and not whatever fool they have manning the support calls.


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## ClubMan (22 Sep 2008)

Purple said:


> If This post will be deleted if not edited immediately Christ appeared at my front door with the Chairman of Eircom offering free phone and broadband for life and the secret of eternal youth I would not take them up on the offer


Yeah - I'd never buy a phone and broadband package from a carpenter either.


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## j26 (23 Sep 2008)

How about something comparing public sector to private sector?

It's a mantra of some people that there is no customer service in the public sector.  It would be interesting to see if the evidence bears that out.


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## aircobra19 (23 Sep 2008)

ClubMan said:


> Yeah - I'd never buy a phone and broadband package from a carpenter either.


 
Its not that unlikely in the current market.


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## aircobra19 (23 Sep 2008)

j26 said:


> How about something comparing public sector to private sector?
> 
> It's a mantra of some people that there is no customer service in the public sector. It would be interesting to see if the evidence bears that out.


 
I found most Govt depts ok. Depends who you get tbh as I'e had good experience and bad in the same office. Some people are great others, the grumpiest people I've ever met.


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## Hilanne (23 Sep 2008)

superdrog said:


> Add to that mobile phone insurance , in some cases charging €8 a month (€96 a year) for a phone that can be bought for as little as €70. Try making a claim and they make it all but impossible to get something back.


This seems to be a common problem - does anyone have any specific experiences of this happening to them ie. taking out insurance (for whatever) and then having a nightmare when submitting a claim?


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## PM1234 (23 Sep 2008)

Re mobile phone insurance - they cover themselves off in their T&Cs as I found when I tried to claim on my first phone (years ago and I don't remember all the details). I suppose they're right when they advise its up to owners to read before they sign up for it 

The solution simply cancel the insurance.

i wonder if many people even take it now these days as (standard) phones are a lot cheaper?  If its bill pay and in the event of a stolen phone being used to call internationally, I guess once its reported stolen, the owner isn't liable?


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## Jack2008 (23 Sep 2008)

Re: Insurance Companies
We booked an expensive honeymoon (Approx €4000) to Barbados through a travel agent. We took out the standard travel insurance as offered by the travel agent.
Two weeks before the wedding our then 7year old son got very ill with a kidney problem that landed him in hospital until the day before the wedding. We had to bring him to Crumlin the Monday after the wedding so we had to cancel our honeymoon. Did'nt really think about it too much at the time - Son was sick and we were more concerned that he would receive the treatment he needed. 
Son recovered and we went about contacting the insurance company to get a refund on our cancelled honeymoon.

Obviously we did'nt get paid - insurance in this country been the joke it is! Son had suffered from several kidney infections aged approx 3-9mths therefore it was a pre-existing condition and they would not pay out.
My GP at the time wrote to the insurance company, we also sent a solicitors letter and no joy.

I argued that if I was to list every childhood complaint my son had in the first year of his life it would take forever. I mean he had a chest infection, ear infections etc etc - normal childhood illnesses. GP said that the doctors would have had no way of knowing that this issue would return again in the future - It is highly unlikely. My GP argued that if you have cancer and are five years free of it you are considered cured by the medical profession. 

But like all insurance companies - they employ the experts to work out how to get out of paying out on an insurance claim and leave ordinary Joe soaps like ourselves devastated.


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## annette mac (23 Sep 2008)

The worst company I have ever had to deal with is undoubtedly NTL.  As far as I'm concerned they treat the customer as the enemy!  Getting through to them is almost impossible, one one occasion last June it took 4 days and 140 minutes of holding on to get a human on the end of the line and that human sounded like he'd been taking lessons from the machine.  They sent a total of 5 technicians (3 outdoor and 2 indoor) over a period of 3 months, all of the outdoor technicians agreed on the source of my problem i.e. that the cabling on the outside of my house was over 20 years old, not of a type they use now and needed to be replaced urgently, despite that they replaced the indoor cable on two separate occasions to two separate rooms.  Eventually they replaced about 1 metre of cable and that solved the problem temporarily.  Never once in that period did they take on board what I told them, each time I rang I was treated like I was making a new complaint, never once did they make an appointment even though I told them it was essential because I work.  Never once did they call my mobile number which I gave them on every occasion, the frustration of coming home to yet another message on the answering machine on my home phone nearly drove me to distraction.  I finally got some satisfaction (after 5 months) when I got the name and direct number of the one person in the organisation who seemed to give a damn.  The problem has just come back and I rang the general 1908 number this morning to be told that my problem was 'because I was on the same line as' and then he named an area at list 20 minutes by car away from where I live but which is in the same post code.  I told him again that my problem was the cableing on the row of houses I live in and was told that they wouldn't do anything about it because 'there was a general problem in the area'.  In other words, he totally ignored yet again everything I had to say.  I rang my contact number who confirmed that the general fault was not on my line and has no connection with my problem!  I'm awaiting developments but am so angry at this stage that I feel like taking out the ladder and an axe and simply removing the offending cables 'cos they won't!  I'm paying 700 euro for a service that I haven't had properly for the past 6 months.


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## Caveat (23 Sep 2008)

aircobra19 said:


> I found most Govt depts ok. Depends who you get tbh as I'e had good experience and bad in the same office. Some people are great others, the grumpiest people I've ever met.


 
In my personal & professional life I've been dealing with govt. depts almost every working day for the last 9 years and my experience has been that most are very poor with regard to customer service. Some are just OK and a small handful I would regard as good.

General apathy, lack of basic manners and "confusion" as to where responsibility lies are the main problems as far as I can see.


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## rmelly (23 Sep 2008)

NOT aircobra19 said:
			
		

> I found most Govt depts ok. Depends who you get tbh as I'e had good experience and bad in the same office. Some people are great others, the grumpiest people I've ever met.


 
They'd probably be alright to deal with if you didn't call them on their tea break(s), their lunch break, their cigarette break(s), before 10:30 or after 15:30...that's all assuming the person who should be answering the phone isn't on career break, flexi-time or a stress management course.


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## aircobra19 (23 Sep 2008)

Why are ye quoting me. Pick your own horror stories.


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## j26 (23 Sep 2008)

Caveat said:


> In my personal & professional life I've been dealing with govt. depts almost every working day for the last 9 years and my experience has been that most are very poor with regard to customer service. Some are just OK and a small handful I would regard as good.
> 
> General apathy, lack of basic manners and "confusion" as to where responsibility lies are the main problems as far as I can see.



Which is why it would be interesting to do a comparison with the private sector.  Is the private sector much better?  My experience with most companies suggests no.


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## aircobra19 (23 Sep 2008)

As with most things in life it often depends on the specific people themselves. Not the sector they work in. I'm surprised after dealing with the same people for years that some sort of rapport hasn't developed.


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## DavyJones (23 Sep 2008)

aircobra19 said:


> As with most things in life it often depends on the specific people themselves. Not the sector they work in. I'm surprised after dealing with the same people for years that some sort of rapport hasn't developed.




Maybe it's you


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## rmelly (23 Sep 2008)

j26 said:


> Which is why it would be interesting to do a comparison with the private sector. Is the private sector much better? My experience with most companies suggests no.


 
Maybe not, but I personally see 2 main differences:

1. Choice - generally I can choose my broadband supplier, who I fly with, my mobile supplier, my bank etc. I can switch when I am on the receiving end of private sector poor service. Yes there are exceptions for monopolies e.g. Eircom, UPC (in certain areas, in apartment blocks etc), but in most cases there is choice.

2. My tax is directly paying for the public sector, including the benefits such as pension, job security etc. As such I feel I have a right to expect a higher level of service than private sector equivalent. As of the last round of benchmarking we know they have better overall packages than their private sector equivalent (even more so now given drop in DC pension values, job security etc). Given this lets have them earn the money.


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## Caveat (23 Sep 2008)

j26 said:


> Which is why it would be interesting to do a comparison with the private sector. Is the private sector much better? My experience with most companies suggests no.


 
I deal with the private sector every day too and of course, sometimes experience poor service but in general, nowhere near as poor as Govt depts/Co Councils/HSE etc. 

Mostly, I'm sure, because of rmelly's first point - broadly speaking, the private sector are hungry for business and it is in their interests to provide good or at least acceptable service. Broadly speaking, the public sector are not actively 'looking for business' and there is no incentive for good customer service - no carrot, and often it seems, no stick either.


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## Hilanne (24 Sep 2008)

Interesting discussion ... mind you, most of the stories pouring in are about private sector companies. It would be good to hear if anyone has had any personal experience (good/bad) with the customer service side of the public sector.


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## rmelly (24 Sep 2008)

One other private sector complaint - O2 have just changed their upgrade policy meaning people previously eligible for upgrades are no longer eligible etc - try reading the thread linked below - the posts from 'O2 Guru' and 'O2 Agent' users are (official?) O2 responses - some of them are laughable, like:



> Obviously, we wouldn't like to see you leave the network. As I said in my previous post, all was ask is that you stick with us for a while and not throw away the loyalty you've shown.


 
[broken link removed]


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## Username99 (30 Sep 2008)

*Researching customer service experiences: Digiweb*

I have had and am having a very poor interaction with Digiweb which I have taken the time to document, log and kept call recordings of.  It is without a doubt the worst customer service (neglect), experience of my life.


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## mell61 (30 Sep 2008)

Worst customer service I ever encountered was with a hospital. 
I had what my doctor, (consultant and all the many staff I encountered through the diagnostic process) referred to as a 'mass'. 
A date was set up for this 'mass' to be removed, and i was advised I would be 6-8 weeks off work to recover. So at this point all well and good...
I was told to call the hospital the day before just to confirm what time to book in, and was put in contact with the most 'jobs worth' difficult person i've ever come across. Firstly she wouldn't confirm that there would be a bed available the next day, that i'd just have to turn up and see! I'm like 'eh, i'm going in for surgery, what do you mean there might not be a bed?', she was like, if we have an emergency you are not a priority, serious injuries are more important! 
I was a bit miffed, i'd had to book time off work, I'd spent a lot of money going through various tests, none of which VHI were paying for, and they weren't able to confirm a room! I challenged her as to what the situation was like bed wise that day, so was it likely to be available!!!
At this point she got really stroppy, and finally pulled out my file (i'm assuming ESP was being used in the call up to this point). The she goes 'Ohhh, you're the cancer one! They'll probably consider you a priority, so you might just get a bed'.
At no point was that big C mentioned throughout my consulations, but some ignorant cow with no medical training decides to tell me then I had it! I knew it was a possibility, but if my doc was waiting for the 'mass' to be checked by the lab, so could I.
I got a bed, and the next day surgery....
Coming around after the surgery, in waltzes this middle aged woman, who goes 'see I got you a bed, because of your cancer'. I'm really not sure what she wanted, did she think I'd go down on bended knee and thank her for doing her BLOODY JOB!
Thankfully the 'mass' was benign, but that cow most definitively wasnt!
That was about 5-6 years ago so not really current, but still makes my blood boil.


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## Hilanne (1 Oct 2008)

mell61 said:


> Worst customer service I ever encountered was with a hospital.
> I had what my doctor, (consultant and all the many staff I encountered through the diagnostic process) referred to as a 'mass'.
> A date was set up for this 'mass' to be removed, and i was advised I would be 6-8 weeks off work to recover. So at this point all well and good...
> I was told to call the hospital the day before just to confirm what time to book in, and was put in contact with the most 'jobs worth' difficult person i've ever come across. Firstly she wouldn't confirm that there would be a bed available the next day, that i'd just have to turn up and see! I'm like 'eh, i'm going in for surgery, what do you mean there might not be a bed?', she was like, if we have an emergency you are not a priority, serious injuries are more important!
> ...


What a nightmare! This kind of 'customer service' is what we want to highlight in the programme along with other type of experiences. As you say, your story was a while back so no doubt the powers that be would say that all has changed now in the health service and that could never happen again .... is this true? Let me know! And Mell61, really glad that there was nothing seriously wrong.


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## rmelly (1 Oct 2008)

mell61 said:


> Thankfully the 'mass' was benign, but that cow most definitively wasnt!


 
No wonder the hospitals are in such a state with MRSA etc, if they let farm yard animals parade around. Ridiculous.


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## parsi (1 Oct 2008)

I'd like information on exactly how RTE spends the licence fee. I'd like a breakdown on how much is spent on Pat Kenny.


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## Henny Penny (1 Oct 2008)

Worst customer service has got to be directory enquiries - both 11850 and 11811 ... I have often been given the wrong number - connected to fax lines - etc. 
No recourse - you have already paid for the call ...


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## D8Lady (1 Oct 2008)

Hi Hilanne, 
If you looking for health related comments, you might want to check out the comments on [broken link removed]. All the comments are dated.

I knew of a 90 year old man who had fallen, broke his arm and was released from James hospital on a Friday evening. No-one bothered to check if he had any help when he went home. No social workers available after hours. He managed to make his way to our local day care centre on the following Monday. He had not eaten a proper meal in two days and was distressed about his personal care. 

James hospital has had some community meetings where situations like this have been pointed out. I think they are trying to improve but don't know what exactly they are doing. 

Try calling the HSE, Drugs payment scheme. No-one in before 10am, after that its a bit hit and miss.  

And I agree that NTL are a disaster. Had a friend who stop payments and waited until the collections team phoned him.

And never, ever, try to phone Revenue-PAYE Dublin before 11am any morning.


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## rmelly (1 Oct 2008)

I had reason to be in a fast food outlet recently for lunch, the guy queuing beside me ordered a chicken burger meal, got his food went off to sit down, then returned a minute later to say there was no chicken in the burger.

He handed the box over to the girl, she starts talking to a colleague then [with a straight face] asks the guy why he took the chicken out of the burger. They replaced it after more consultation, but I was a bit surprised at her attitude.

I guess she had complete faith in the skills & memory of the 'chef'.


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## dmv (2 Oct 2008)

Hilanne said:


> Interesting discussion ... mind you, most of the stories pouring in are about private sector companies. It would be good to hear if anyone has had any personal experience (good/bad) with the customer service side of the public sector.



i have a great story, thought i woed tax but ehwn I rang the revenue they said dont worry about it now thats service!


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## Hilanne (9 Oct 2008)

Thanks for all the stories and pointers to date - building up a pretty good story bank at this stage. Keep them coming - all experiences (good and bad) welcome. Thanks!


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## Bluebells (16 Oct 2008)

Can I second a previous poster who described NTL as " the worst ".


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## Lollix (16 Oct 2008)

Why don't you do a programme on good customer service, it would be a lot easier!
My best (worst) one was also quite funny, happened a couple of weeks ago. Had a call from a guy from Calor Gas, they were surveying customers to see if they had their details right (or something like that). The guy was from Norn Iron, working in a call centre, but he wasn't foreign, just thick. Asked me the name of the town where my supply was, then asked me to spell it. Then asked the county (one of the easy ones) and again asked me to spell it. I had to repeat the spelling a few times; he was getting it wrong. When I said to him that he didn't seem too well up on the names of Irish counties, he told me he never heard of it. Checked him on another county, another easy one, he never heard of it either. I hung up at that stage.
Peanuts and monkeys, that's why we have problems.


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