martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
Corner of Hook Lane. I already can't remember what it used to be, building society possibly
Customer 'service' rant #93 .....
- Thread starter Fab Foodie
- Start date
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mybike
Grumblin at Garmin on the Granny Gear
- Location
- Not 'emel 'empstead
Ah, Hook Lane, where the Infants & Juniors school used to be and is now houses. Google shows a Taekwondo Academy in what looks like an old bank. It certainly isn't the Telephone Exchange 'cos that's in Bexleyheath but maybe it was a Post Office. A closer look reveals a GR set into the wall.
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I remember an old guy in a neighbouring village who ran a post office/small grocery shop/newsagents/petrol station. He wasn't rude or anything, in fact he was a very intelligent and interesting man but his incredible meanness spoiled the shopping experience ever so slightly.
He refused to employ staff. He used to do things like put people out of the shop and lock the door while he served someone with petrol. On pension day when the PO was busy you could easily wait an hour to get service for anything else.
He was always trying to save electricity so never switched on any lights. A woman I know who bought stamps on a dark winter's evening and wanted to address the envelope before posting the letter complained she couldn't see to write at the PO counter and was told to go outside and write under the street lamp.
He used to leave yellowed magazines which where years out of date sitting on the shelves in the hope that someone would buy them by mistake.
When one of the shop windows got broken he boarded it up and stayed like that for about 5 years before he replaced the glass making the shop even darker.
He used to give his regulars freebies such as rotten fruit or two month old newspapers.
He scratched the best before dates of food packaging with a coin and put them back on the shelf.
On the plus side if you bought petrol he used to clean your windscreen and check your tyre pressures
It was also a good source for obscure bits and pieces as he never dumped anything.
He refused to employ staff. He used to do things like put people out of the shop and lock the door while he served someone with petrol. On pension day when the PO was busy you could easily wait an hour to get service for anything else.
He was always trying to save electricity so never switched on any lights. A woman I know who bought stamps on a dark winter's evening and wanted to address the envelope before posting the letter complained she couldn't see to write at the PO counter and was told to go outside and write under the street lamp.
He used to leave yellowed magazines which where years out of date sitting on the shelves in the hope that someone would buy them by mistake.
When one of the shop windows got broken he boarded it up and stayed like that for about 5 years before he replaced the glass making the shop even darker.
He used to give his regulars freebies such as rotten fruit or two month old newspapers.
He scratched the best before dates of food packaging with a coin and put them back on the shelf.
On the plus side if you bought petrol he used to clean your windscreen and check your tyre pressures
It was also a good source for obscure bits and pieces as he never dumped anything.
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
The cafe is further around than that. On streetview it's showing with whitewashed windows next door to the pawnbroker.
keithmac
Guru
We had similar a few years back in York, I'd booked a Mexican Restaurant for our Chrismas do (instead of the usual curry).
We were seated and supplied a round of drinks, half an hour later they took our order; an hour after that still no food (not even starter) had been produced.
We were all ravenous at that point and decided enough was enough, complained to the manager who didn't know his ar$e from his elbow and refused to pay for the drinks.
Needless to say next stop was our favourite Indian Restaurant where we had starters within 20 minutes!.
We were seated and supplied a round of drinks, half an hour later they took our order; an hour after that still no food (not even starter) had been produced.
We were all ravenous at that point and decided enough was enough, complained to the manager who didn't know his ar$e from his elbow and refused to pay for the drinks.
Needless to say next stop was our favourite Indian Restaurant where we had starters within 20 minutes!.
swee'pea99
Squire
I paid the bill in an Indian once having subtracted the service charge. The waiter protested that I hadn't paid enough. I said I wasn't paying for service because the service had been appalling. He went to fetch the manager, who insisted that we had to pay. I insisted that I WASN'T PAYING FOR SERVICE BECAUSE THE SERVICE HAD BEEN APPALLING. And I can say it again even louder if you like, just in case some of the people at the back haven't heard. That didn't prove necessary...
classic33
Leg End Member
I only said it once, loud enough for them to hear.
I felt sorry for the lass they'd reduced to tears. We paid what we owed and left.
[QUOTE 4455808, member: 259"]You do not pay tips in Belgium. The waiting staff are usually pretty well paid and Belgians think it's weird when foreigners want to tip. Naturally this causes many light hearted misunderstandings if they ever go to the US.[/QUOTE]
On the flipside of that tipping coin.
I have a Canadian customer who visits us a couple of times a year. he likes to be taken round the pubs of London Town. 10 years later he still tries to tip barstaff despite me explaining the 'and one for yourself rule'.
On the flipside of that tipping coin.
I have a Canadian customer who visits us a couple of times a year. he likes to be taken round the pubs of London Town. 10 years later he still tries to tip barstaff despite me explaining the 'and one for yourself rule'.
Brandane
The Costa Clyde rain magnet.
Anyone else use Trip Advisor?
I do occasionally, whether good or bad. Cherwell Valley services were particularly bad.
I do occasionally, whether good or bad. Cherwell Valley services were particularly bad.
I sometimes wonder about online reviews.
I had left reviews for all the places I stayed on a recent tour, all hostels apart from one night in a b&b in an area I couldn't find a hostel.
I would have described that b&b as excellent and one of the best I'd ever stayed in and said so but looked back over what other people had said. Mostly positive but one described it as terrible because the toilet made a noise when flushed (don't they all?), another marked it down because there was no shelf above the bathroom sink and someone else because the bulb in the bedside light wasn't bright enough! First world problems I think.
I had left reviews for all the places I stayed on a recent tour, all hostels apart from one night in a b&b in an area I couldn't find a hostel.
I would have described that b&b as excellent and one of the best I'd ever stayed in and said so but looked back over what other people had said. Mostly positive but one described it as terrible because the toilet made a noise when flushed (don't they all?), another marked it down because there was no shelf above the bathroom sink and someone else because the bulb in the bedside light wasn't bright enough! First world problems I think.
Spinney
Bimbleur extraordinaire
- Location
- Back up north
Always worth reading what is actually said for the low-star reviews. I review places that I think have been particularly good (to thank them) or particularly bad (to warn others!)
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
There was an article in one of the Sunday papers about online reviews. Someone had written a review complaining about things like a lamp being in a different place in a cottage when they arrived than where it was in the online photo etc. The owner's response was held up as the kind of thing you have to get you used to if you're in that business. Basically he apologised profusely, said the guest was free to move things around but assured them that next time all would look as it did in the photo.
mybike
Grumblin at Garmin on the Granny Gear
- Location
- Not 'emel 'empstead
Seems to me that motorway services quality has declined in recent years. There was an effort to improve them but that seems to have been abandoned.
swee'pea99
Squire
I recently decided to buy an old-style Walkman, so spent some time checking out ebay candidates. One had three reviews, and an overall rating of 3/5. Two of the reviews were five star, and said how it was a really good machine, for x, y & z reasons. The other was zero stars, because you could only listen to it through headphones, and her nana, for whom she'd bought it, didn't like wearing headphones. So, it's a crap Walkman because...it's a Walkman.
Starchivore
I don't know much about Cinco de Mayo
- Location
- Halifax, West Yorkshire
The best on Amazon are:
2 stars
Good product but delivery took ages not happy!!!
(When there are several merchants selling the product....)
