It's not often I rant but feel the need to today as it's something that has been frustrating me for quite a while, and others too I'm sure! I've noticed recently that a great deal of companies these days don't want to hold on to loyal paying customers and also on the other side retain hard-working loyal staff! I thought I would give a couple of recent examples but there are endless other companies I could mention too....
My family have had Sky TV installed when it was first launched in the UK 14 years ago, they have been very loyal customers: always had the top package which hasn't been the best value for money. My dad has the attitude that if you get what you pay for and thinks if you pay more money for something it's going to be the best, which I have proven him wrong on so many occasions he hates to admit! He is probably a salesman 'dream' - he doesn't shop around, takes the companies word for it, is easily persuaded, rush buys and doesn't often barter for a good deal or discount and would definitely never ring up to cancel something!
My Mum was getting really annoyed that we were paying for so many sky channels but there was never anything on worth watching, or playing the same repeats over and over, yet the monthly sky bills were getting more and more expensive! I have rang up a few times Sky on their behalf over the last few years to get them a better deal, which nothing was ever offered apart from taking off certain Chanels we weren't watching to make it slightly cheaper each month.
After speaking to quite a few friends in the same position and who had left Sky for the same reason they decided to switch the TV to Virgin Media to have a package deal as we already have phone line and internet with them which made more sense and we ended up getting a good price and saving almost £80 a month! When I rang up Sky to cancel (which wasn't easy as it sounds!) took almost three hours would you believe and we were offered free internet and phone line for a year! I mean why was that amazing deal not offered to them before now?! In any case we declined as even with that offer we would of been paying more a month than what we would get with Virgin Media! Why do companies not want to hold onto loyal paying customers and not offering them competitive deals like they do new customers?
My Dad has been with Swinton Car Insurance for 20+ years and I've been telling my dad for years to compare his car insurance to get a better deal... He couldn't tell me how much he pays as it renews automatically each year and comes out Direct Debit and said he's happy sticking with them! When I was going through my mum's bank statements with her last week I was surprised to see that my Dad pays more car insurance than me and I've only had my licence 3 years! I quickly did a comparison and showed him he could be saving more than double what he's currently paying and with him being such a loyal customer Swinton should be giving him a better deal for staying! My dad was actually taken aback with the difference and is definitely going to leave Swinton after seeing how much he could be saving - just think of how much he has 'overpaid' over the years!
My iPhone 4 has stopped working, it's stuck on a continuous reboot loop and I spent hours yesterday and today trying to fix it, trying resetting it and putting into DFU Mode and re-installing the software and re-stalling it but failed. My only option now is to take it to an Apple Store (which is a 2 hour round-trip) to get a 'Genius' to look at it and try to repair it apparently it's faulty hardware problem. I'm gutted as have lost all my data, contacts, photos and videos that I haven't backed up. But hey ho nothing I can do so no point dwelling on it these things happen but I'll be making sure I back up weekly with iCloud from now! I have been a loyal customer of 3 mobile for a number of years, believe it or not I've not really ever had an issue with poor phone signal, in fact it's been very reliable my only issue has been with their crap customer service! My current 24 month contract runs out in July so I due an upgrade....so you would think they would offer me a good deal to stay with them yes? Nope they offered a higher price of what I'm currently paying monthly, then £140 for the new handset and an added £60 fee for upgrading a month early! That isn't an upgrade deal - I could get a better deal logging on as a new customer on their website pffftttt!
Not sure if this is just a London 'thing' but I've noticed that people seem to switch jobs much more frequently down there - sometimes within 6-12 months! The majority of people I know up North have worked for the same company for years - maybe not the same role but definitely stay loyal to the company. Not saying this is a bad thing to move jobs frequently, if your unhappy with a company or your job then of course you are going to look to make a move or feeling underpaid and overworked then will look for more money! But do companies not want to keep hold of hard-working staff and make them feel appreciated these days?
I hear stories from friends that are unhappy and not treat well at work, no support or guidance, they have no work/life balance and expected to work 16+ hour days and get paid peanuts - I find it very sad. Of course there are times when there are tight deadlines and you don't mind working overtime and long hours but not every day - it's not healthy! I see people frequently tweeting at nearly midnight saying they are still working in the office and I think your joking right?! Any respectable company working staff to the ground like that, do they not realise that their staff won't be happy in their job, word of mouth travels fast, you will get a bad reputation and staff will be off sick - which in turn costs money. Anyone in that situation your health is more important than any job or company!
I have had my own bad experiences of being treat disgustingly in the work place over the past year and it makes me very disheartened and baffled to how companies run a business in all honesty! In the long run it ends up costing money & time - recruitment process, training, investment. Does it always come down to money or are businesses lacking in morals and values?
I'm sure some people will disagree with me on this subject but it also makes me so angry that so many companies are taking advantage of people by getting them to work unpaid - if you're 16 and still at school then this is acceptable but not if you already have work experience, a degree or you have already proven yourself that you are capable of being employed! I have heard in some cases of 'interns' working for a company for over a year and there is no job at the end as they will simply ship in another intern to replace them! Very unfair and disgraceful if you ask me, I did my two weeks unpaid works experience at school, but since I've worked hard on my studies and yes had some really crappy (paid) jobs along the way but always enjoyed earning my own money and not having to rely on support from parents!
I am job hunting at the moment which is very frustrating but I am keeping positive that the right role will come along soon for me. But seriously the amount of job roles I have applied for recently and it's quite clear that I'm over 25, have a first degree, a masters, management and life experience and I get a reply asking if I would be interested in an internship?! I know times are hard but come on this is really taking the p*ss and quite frankly it's impossible for anyone to survive on £0 income living in London or anywhere for that matter... As Alan Sugar says if you pay peanuts...then you get monkeys!
In my applications I have been very clear on what I can offer and what I am looking for - one of the things is I'm honest and loyal and want to join a company whereby there is room to grow and develop. I want to stick with a company for years, not just looking to jump ship after 6 months and hope that they will treat me well in return. Especially with the double dip recession and people spending less money you would be thinking that companies would be doing everything possible to retain customers (money) and good workers surely!?
