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!?
I think the reason companies are getting away with taking advantage of employees is because there are so few work opportunities available, which means that employees can't take the 'screw this, I'm leaving' attitude that they could before the economy started failing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of what you said; I've regularly witnessed very competent, educated and experienced people struggle to get work, especially if they're trying to diversify as companies aren't willing to take risks considering the current climate.
It's very much a rich person's world at the moment; those who have money are in total control and can do and act as they so see fit. Without getting too political about it, I think the arrival of a Tory government hasn't helped matters at all!
I know what you mean, you would think loyalty is really important in companys but its not,
ReplyDeleteI had the same prob with sky but they promised us one price with a letter to Say how much we had to pay each month on some sort of package but they took more out of our account than they should of when we rang up and asked about this they said they sent the letter by mistake and refused to give any refund or offer (no offer because we wasn't an exsisting customer) even the man on the phone stated "if you cancell your sky and come back to us as a new customer we can give u a deal) what a cheek! We are now planning to switch to virgin
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I agree with so much of what you have said! And it's true about companies not keeping hold of loyal staff. I worked at Next for 6 months up until last month and 70% of the staff at my store were temporary on a 4 hour contract - except we all worked way more than our 4 hours. It's just a way for them to limit our holidays, limit any sick pay, and be able to get rid of you within 2 weeks notice. I agree with the above commenter - few work opportunities mean people end up putting up with it.
ReplyDeleteNothing much to add to your rant: you are totally right! I hope the job hunting goes better soon!
ReplyDeleteI do understand exactly where you're coming from! I have a Blackberry on Orange and I'm on my 4th BB and have had to pay the excess on my insurance to get it replaced every single time, despite the fact that only 1 time was it even vaguely my fault. I lost signal for three days last month and despite calling repeatedly to complain I never received anything close to an apology. I have had multiple issues with an order I placed from Next which they are still trying to charge me for, despite having returned the goods. I work for a firm who pay the most junior people peanuts on the grounds that they are "training" them while the partners take home a minimum of £250k and then expect us to be grateful we have jobs. Companies do get away with treating customers and employees like crap these days because they don't want to make waves in case it causes a problem. Such a shame...
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with everything you said - it is indeed very very hard to find a reasonable job nowadays, also here in the Netherlands. I have a bachelor and three master degrees and have been actively job/PhD position hunting since 2010. I am currently working as a secretary with low pay (since the economy is bad they know that they can get away with the pay because if I would leave they would find someone else who is just as desperate for any kind of job) for about 34 hours a week and have a volunteer position at an NGO for 8-16 hours a week. Haven't stop the hunt obviously. But it is easy to get hopeless, especially when you have a huge study debt hanging over your head. Good luck to you!
ReplyDeleteTrue! Big companies hire big lawyers and they will get away with treating people unfairly. They bully and victimize and lie by saying they are customer focused but they are just consumed with greed and how much profit they can make.
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