Press for disaster!
Posted by MalcM in Bad journalism, The Modern World on June 11th, 2010
If it’s not going to bring the country / government / a public figure / a sports team down, is it really worth reporting? It seems to me that the main criterion for ‘a good story’ nowadays is that it could – with the right headlines – be turned into a disaster. Our media seem determined – come hell or high water (they hope) – to highlight everything and anything negative in our British world. And make sure that it causes us the maximum possible chaos and discomfort. It’s pathetic. Read the rest of this entry »
Volcanic Bulldust…
Posted by MalcM in The Modern World on April 20th, 2010
A jet engine is a complex bit of machinery. And it carries a huge responsibility in transporting people safely, at high speed, many thousands of feet off the ground. So you’d think that they’d at least have a little filter of some sort to stop dust getting in and clogging them up. Wouldn’t you? Even my coffee pot’s got one. Read the rest of this entry »
The wonders of ‘customer services’…
Posted by MalcM in Customer Service, Noooo!, The Modern World on January 8th, 2010
This astonishes me.
I have an insurance policy, pushed/backed by Severn Trent, called ‘Homeserve’, which covers all manner of household disasters from gas explosions to leaking taps and wasp nests. Probably costs over the odds, but it’s convenient. Anyway… when the quarterly debit payment went through in December, I thought it looked pretty high compared to last year. Too busy, though, to check it out. With some spare time today I found my old, last year’s, policy and compared the two. They had raised the premium by approx. 15p/day, which is substantial for no increase in benefits. So… I rang the freephone number. Read the rest of this entry »
“BBC standards near rock-bottom” moans blogger.
Posted by MalcM in Bad journalism, The Modern World on October 10th, 2009
OK, it’s one of my pet hates – I know I bang on about shoddy, shabby, misleading journalism all the time. But something I heard on Radio 5 Live yesterday made my blood boil afresh. Read the rest of this entry »
Britain’s Got Talent (??!)
Posted by MalcM in People, Politics, The Modern World on September 16th, 2009
I heard on the radio this morning that the TUC – as part of their annual ‘jolly’ by the seaside – were busily considering/debating the ethics of so-called talent shows on TV (like ‘Britain’s Got Talent’). Have they really got nothing better to do?
Surely it’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? If you put your name forward for a show like this, you know what’s likely to happen. Read the rest of this entry »
Another triumph for British education!
Posted by MalcM in Political Correctness, The Modern World on August 20th, 2009
Fantastic! A-level results are out today and – for the 27th year in a row – they’ve improved again.
Government View: Clearly our kids are just getting cleverer and cleverer, and working harder and harder. And the teachers are all getting better and better. Isn’t it wonderful? Before long we will have achieved our goal: every child in Britain will have the degree to which they are all are entitled in a fair society.
My View: Obviously our kids ARE much more intelligent than we ever were. They appear to have mastered a mode of speech that enables them to question everything absolutely automatically? I find it , like, really hard to do an’ stuff? It means they can, like, find the answers to everything? I’d like to give a big “Well done!” to our education system an’ stuff… but I can’t, y’know?
Because we now have the University of Burton Joyce requiring two ‘A’s and a ‘B’ at A-level to read Advanced Cake-making with Particle Hoovering. And students acquiring qualifications in ‘Bus Catching’. It would obviously be wonderful for everyone to have a degree. Indeed, why shouldn’t they? It’s so unfair to have people thinking that they might be in any sense ‘a failure’, academically. Anything other than degrees for all is simply elitist, which is clearly wrong. The very thought that Albert Einstein might actually be brighter than me is plainly ridiculous!
My solution: Why not just award EVERYONE a Nobel Prize?
1st Class postage, 4th rate trick…
Posted by MalcM in Customer Service, Noooo! on June 30th, 2009
Wow. I just thought I’d found a great bargain on the net from MEMORY EXPRESS Ltd. An i-Pod Classic latex cover – with screen protector and arm-band – for only £3.37. The closest competitor was ‘reduced to £19.95′ (from £25). Fantastic, I thought, I’ll add it to my basket…
Upon checking out, I notice that Royal Mail 1st Class postage is now, apparently, a tidy £11.45 making for a VAT inc. total of £14.82! OK, it was still £5 cheaper than my other option, but this is a childish, naive, cheaper-than-cheap marketing ‘trick’ that simply leaves a sour taste. Yes, the product is OK (now fitted), but I won’t be recommending Memory Express to anyone: I find their approach tackier than the backing of my screen guard. How much more custom will this ruse lose them, I wonder? Sadly, they probably think it’s really clever and never been tried before…
3 Mobile phone network
Posted by MalcM in Customer Service, Noooo! on June 25th, 2009
I have recently been plagued by mystery calls – all from the same number and all at highly inconvenient times (in the dentist’s chair, in a business meeting, in a busy shop). I eventually answered to find that it was my 3 network, kindly enquiring whether or not I had upgraded/updated my 3 contract yet. Well I would have thought that it was kind of them, but for the following:
- The lady couldn’t pronounce my name correctly. It is not spelled “MORE-TIMER”.
- I could hardly understand a word that she was saying to me as – ironically – the line was awful.
- I am no racist, but she was of Chinese or similar denomination and spoke (in a dodgy accent) too fast, too ‘mechanically’ and too pushily for me to take anything in.
- I had already renewed my contract 3 weeks earlier. Don’t these organisations share ANY data between departments? Can their admin really be so unutterably crap and still permit them to keep trading and (presumably) making profits?
So, thank you 3, but please get your act together and don’t bother me all the time. Let me bother you if I want something. Or send me a quick, polite e-mail if I might need reminding of something. And please, do it in a language that I can understand!!
Lakeland shop, Nottingham
Posted by MalcM in Customer Service, Excellence on June 25th, 2009
On June 23rd, 2009 a delightful lady really brightened up my day. Over a year ago I had bought a “Fizz Keeper” widget thing (a small plastic/rubber gadget you screw onto plastic drink bottles to keep the pressure in) from Lakeland. The design could have been a little more robust, but for £2.50 or so I couldn’t really complain when a hinge broke after 12 months’ continuous use. However, I took it with me to see if they still stocked the item, explaining that I needed to replace the thing if possible. I had no receipt or any other proof of purchase, and no real intention of complaining. The lady took one look at it, said “Ooh – it shouldn’t do that. Would a replacement be OK?”. Amazing! So I got a replacement AND bought a second one, and walked out thinking that the world was a better place…
Another load of rubbish!
Posted by MalcM in Political Correctness, The Modern World on June 2nd, 2009
Hands up who hates recycling!
I suppose I don’t actually mind doing it, but I’ve just been barked at by The Boss for trying to put a (thoroughly washed up) butter tub into the Greeny Bin. If it was all plastic, I would have been legal. But as it was plastic lid and waxed paper tub, I might have been arrested and heavily fined… Read the rest of this entry »