akbray
0
A comment on another thread got me thinking about some of the best (or worst) examples of incompetence I have suffered at the hands of various companies (not necessaarily ISP related).
I thought it might be a fun to hear some of the stories of incompetence we have all experienced at some point or other. Below are my entries - some were very stressful, others quite funny, but all are the result of companies incapable of joined-up thinking or gormless automatons seemingly following and equally gormless script.
Nationwide BS (now I know what ther BS stands for)
Having to go through 8 iterations of my mortgage, because the lender (Nationwide) kept screwing up (to be fair, one iteration wasn't their fault). They refused to fax copies to me, so every version took anything from 1 to 2 weeks to be processed and sent out via snail mail. It took so long that if there had been a chain, the whole deal would have collapsed.
I am 33 years old, and the stress this saga caused resulted in the one and only time I have ever genuinely lost my temper.
OFSTED
My partner has taken over 7 months (so far) to jump through all of the hoops demanded by OFSTED to become a registered childminder, because their "support" system seems designed to make sure no-one has any ownership over problems, no-one knows what to do or what the rules are (different response every call), and their attitude stinks (with one or two exceptions).
The really stupid thing is the biggest issue was a delay in applying for CRB checks. My partner has been a nursery nurse or manager for over 10 years therefore has been CRB registered for a long time, but they insisted on going through the process again for the childminding. FFS.
O2 mobile
"Thank you for for sending your account details, but I can't pull up your account on my computer. Please can you send me your account details...."
Perhaps the daftest email I've recieved in some time. For the record I duly sent exactly the same details again, and my query was then answered.
Be Unlimited support
No connectivity for a week, different story every time I called them (at one point they tried to blame the issue on me and wanted to charge me a second connection fee, despite the fact I had only been connected for about 3 hours). The problem was with BT, but Be's support was useless, and often unintelligble.
Every call started with the usual "have you checked the cable/plug/interplanetary interference bullsh*t they always make you go through.
They also charged me for not returning their router when I left. I had to call them and point out I had proof of delivery, though I did recieve a refund quickly. The daft thing is I was moving to O2 (same company, same network) so I could have just kept using it and saved the the cost of sending out a new router.
When its working, Be is great. When there is a problem, it is not.
Microsoft Xbox support
"my wired headset isn't working, its less than 1 week old, please can I have a replacement"
"please give me your Xbox serial number....ok, your Xbox is out of warranty"
"I know, and its working fine, its my headset that doesn't work"
"I'm sorry but your Xbox is out of warranty"
"I know, the headset is the problem"
"I'm sorry but your Xbox is out of warranty"
"If your are reading from a script, now would be a good time to skip to the next page"
"I'm sorry but your Xbox is out of warranty"
"please stop saying that"
I thought it might be a fun to hear some of the stories of incompetence we have all experienced at some point or other. Below are my entries - some were very stressful, others quite funny, but all are the result of companies incapable of joined-up thinking or gormless automatons seemingly following and equally gormless script.
Nationwide BS (now I know what ther BS stands for)
Having to go through 8 iterations of my mortgage, because the lender (Nationwide) kept screwing up (to be fair, one iteration wasn't their fault). They refused to fax copies to me, so every version took anything from 1 to 2 weeks to be processed and sent out via snail mail. It took so long that if there had been a chain, the whole deal would have collapsed.
I am 33 years old, and the stress this saga caused resulted in the one and only time I have ever genuinely lost my temper.
OFSTED
My partner has taken over 7 months (so far) to jump through all of the hoops demanded by OFSTED to become a registered childminder, because their "support" system seems designed to make sure no-one has any ownership over problems, no-one knows what to do or what the rules are (different response every call), and their attitude stinks (with one or two exceptions).
The really stupid thing is the biggest issue was a delay in applying for CRB checks. My partner has been a nursery nurse or manager for over 10 years therefore has been CRB registered for a long time, but they insisted on going through the process again for the childminding. FFS.
O2 mobile
"Thank you for for sending your account details, but I can't pull up your account on my computer. Please can you send me your account details...."
Perhaps the daftest email I've recieved in some time. For the record I duly sent exactly the same details again, and my query was then answered.
Be Unlimited support
No connectivity for a week, different story every time I called them (at one point they tried to blame the issue on me and wanted to charge me a second connection fee, despite the fact I had only been connected for about 3 hours). The problem was with BT, but Be's support was useless, and often unintelligble.
Every call started with the usual "have you checked the cable/plug/interplanetary interference bullsh*t they always make you go through.
They also charged me for not returning their router when I left. I had to call them and point out I had proof of delivery, though I did recieve a refund quickly. The daft thing is I was moving to O2 (same company, same network) so I could have just kept using it and saved the the cost of sending out a new router.
When its working, Be is great. When there is a problem, it is not.
Microsoft Xbox support
"my wired headset isn't working, its less than 1 week old, please can I have a replacement"
"please give me your Xbox serial number....ok, your Xbox is out of warranty"
"I know, and its working fine, its my headset that doesn't work"
"I'm sorry but your Xbox is out of warranty"
"I know, the headset is the problem"
"I'm sorry but your Xbox is out of warranty"
"If your are reading from a script, now would be a good time to skip to the next page"
"I'm sorry but your Xbox is out of warranty"
"please stop saying that"
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