I was just beginning to wonder how large the difference between customer service expectations are between the UK and the US. For instance, you generally don’t get near the attention from servers in a restaurant here as in the US.
But beyond that I had quite a time with Virgin’s internet service, and the problems with British Gas are still not resolved. Supposedly they resolved the 2 accounts problem, but now I’ve recieved two separate bills for closing out my account with them one for £236 (by paper) and the other £86 (by email). I saw on the news the other night that they put in a new billing system, and they have had a huge number of issues. Customer complaints have tripled for them in the past year. I just wish they would be upfront with you about it on the phone. At least now I know it’s not just me.
I had an office chair that I purchased a few months ago from Argos that broke. Of course I couldn’t find a receipt, so I expected that I’d get stone-walled like with Virgin and BG. That was no issue to them because they just looked up the transaction through my debit card, and gave me all the details I needed. It was quick and friendly. This interchange restored my confidence in the British.
Saturday, 21 April 2007 at 7:50 pm
Hi Ben. I expect that things are the same the world over since I’ve had an equal mix of good and bad experiences here in the US. The main difficulty I have is with customer service on the telephone because they often cannot understand what I am saying, and that can get quite frustrating. I think these things are sharply focused for Brits in the US and Americans in the UK, because we assume that communication will be more straightforward than it is because we speak the same language, but underestimate the nuances and subtleties in language that can lead to real difficulties.