Uber eats - is your technical support operated by robots?

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You'd think that the popular delivery companies such as Uber Eats, Just Eat, Deliveroo etc. would all be in the successful place they are because they provide a good service. I decided to make use of one of UberEats' introductory discounts in June last year during the first few months of the pandemic. Unfortunately the order never arrived, and I did not receive any update via email or SMS as to why so I posted on twitter:

SXA: Not impressed with @ubereats_uk - order showed on the web page but after waiting an hour from the delivery time I go to the help section, selected the order and it's showing as canceled. No email, no text. Shambolic waste of time ...

SXA: And @ubereats_uk said "Ask the restaurant" when I contacted them. No, I'm sorry, while the restaurant may have triggered the cancellation you as my provider needed to notify me that it had occurred and you did not. I stand by my "shambolic" comment @UberUKsupport

So let's see how the conversation went after this

Uber: "We appreciate you taking the time to let us know your concerns, and want you to know that we are constantly aiming to improve our services to you. Rest assured that we take every feedback quite seriously, so your concern has not gone unnoticed."

SXA: Three times @Uber_Support has given me a link. I've given them a screenshot showing that they did not give me a sensible response after I contacted them on the link. Unwilling to engage and just parrots "We are happy to help". Total #CustomerServiceFail

About five months later someone else I know posted about a similar experience (although they did get a message saying their order had been canceled) and I replied with this:

SXA: My first attempt with @UberEats  was a similar disaster. Same apparently happened but they didn't bother telling me. It just didn't show up so I had to contact them to ask why ... Unapologetic. So annoying.  Never tried using them again after that.

Now bear in mind at this point that it was several months after my original problem and I was just replying to someone else's posr, my money had been refunded but they never seemed to accept any responsibility for the error. Despite the fact it was several months ago, they still seemed to engage and fix my problem - the rest of the interaction would have been laughable if it wasn't for the fact it wasted my time - I even started the interaction by saying I felt their customer service had been terrible ... Enjoy!

Uber: Hi Stewart, we are happy to help. Please follow our support page: https://ubr.to/??????? so our UberEats support team can assist you.

SXA: I'm not going there again. I did repeatedly when it happened and you refused to take any responsibility for not notifying me that the order had been cancelled, leaving me without food with no warning. You were most definitely not "happy to help" despite what you say

Uber: Hi Stewart, In order for us to resolve your concern kindly provide us with the number or email that is linked to your account, along with the order ID so that we can assist ASAP.

SXA: It was in June. My account does not show the order ID but lists "2 items for £0.00 - 19 Jun at 20:00" ?????????? at ????? (obviously, there is no other order on a/c) Feel free to prove to me that you wish to take this seriously, as you did not take any responsibility at the time

Uber: Hi Stewart, we can look into this for you. Can you send us a DM with your mobile number, email address and more information please? We'll look out for your reply.

I did and the DM conversation went like this:

SXA: As requested - email address XXXXXXX@gmail.com, phone XXXXXXX

Uber: Hi Stewart, happy to help. Kindly send us the order ID which you are referring to, so that we can assist you better. You can look for the order ID in the recent orders that you have placed through the Uber Eats app.

SXA: READ THE MESSAGE I SENT YOU BEFORE WE MOVED TO DMS. I do not have the order ID as it's no longer showing on my account.

Uber: Hi Stewart, in order to assist you in a better way kindly provide us
  — Name of the restaurant
  — Time and date of the order placed
SXA: I will repeat "READ THE MESSAGE I SENT YOU BEFORE WE MOVED TO DMS" I've already given you the time and date in the tweet at https://twitter.com/sxaTech/status/1362834794850242560. And as I said there is only one order on my account so I'm sure you can find it, but I've just logged back in and it was from XXXXXXX in XXXXXXX. Over to you - please don't waste my time with this.
UE: Hi Stewart, happy to help. Please send us some additional details about your issue so that we can assist you better.
SXA: What else do you need? I've given you everything. You picked up on a tweet I made replying to someone else in reference something I mentioned six months after a problem and asked me to DM you. I put in an order. It didn't arrive. You did not notify me that it had been cancelled and declined to take any responsibility so I never used you again. I'm not sure why I'm repeating myself here but this interaction is frustrating. If it wasn't for the delays in responding Is assume you were a bot)
Uber: Hi Stewart, please provide us with the order ID, so that we can assist ASAP.
SXA: OK you are useless. I have repeatedly stayed that the account is not showing the order ID, but there is only one order on my account. You are clearly not listening and wasting my time with non existent customer service.
Uber: Hi ‍‍Stewart‍,
   We're sorry to hear about this experience. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a refund for your order as it was placed more than 48 hours ago.
   In future, if you experience any issues with an order, please notify us within this time frame and we would be happy to help.
   We know this isn't the answer you were hoping for but thank you for taking the time to let us know.
SXA: Why have we been going backwards and forwards on this in DMs when I was at the start it was in June? You have completely vindicated my decision not to try you again since.

Somehow my twitter ended up with a second conversation (I presume this is something twitter offer:

Uber: How would you rate your experience on Twitter with Uber Support?

Uber: Hi ‍‍Stewart‍, as mentioned above, we're sorry to hear about this experience. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a refund for your order as it was placed more than 48 hours ago. In future, if you experience any issues with an order, please notify us within this time frame, and we would be happy to help. We know this isn't the answer you were hoping for but thank you for taking the time to let us know.

So basically the sum total of Uber's customer support is zero. They don't read the information you've provided, ask you to provide information you say you can't and then say "I can't do anything" despite me starting the interaction with "I'm not going there again. I did repeatedly when it happened and you refused to take any responsibility for not notifying me that the order had been cancelled, leaving me without food with no warning. You were most definitely not "happy to help" despite what you say"

Every message had some variant of "We are happy to help". All words, zero actions. I prefer to choose companies to use which care about their customers, with whom I can have reasonable interactions, and know that they will take responsibility when things go wrong. Uber Eats failed on all three of those points and "We're sorry" words in themselves don't count for anything. It's as believable as every company who says "We take security very seriously" once they've had a breach or been outed as having poor security practices. Sometimes I find it embarrassing to be part of the technology industry ...

Tesco and not allowing social distancing in a pandemic

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I drafted this months ago but having just received an email from Tesco regarding their request to customers to keep using masks even after the government relaxes almost all COVID restrictions rules tomorrow (Which I think is a terrible idea...)

You would thing that in a pandemic situations the shops that are allowed to open would be taking every precaution possible to llok after the safety of the customers. I had an experience with Tesco that suggested they weren't as keen to look after the safety of their customers than others. I was doing a fairly large shopping trip, and found that at around 2230 when I was heading to the checkouts there were no staffed tills available - only the (fairly narrow) self-scan area with tills the scan areas on both sides of the scanning aisle. Ignoring the fact that with such a large amount of shopping it's hard to scan and bag it all in the small self-scan checkouts, it was also notable that people coming into the self-scan area (and it was quite full) had to go less than a metre from where the people using the checkouts were. So I make a comment on twitter - here's how the interaction went (Note: In the interactions below I've removed specific identifiable information from the DMs with *******):

SXA: Deeply unimpressed with @tesco tonight. Only self scan checkouts available and when your have £180 of shopping there isn't really space, and slower, and we have to touch screens ourselves. To would expect one real checkout to be open
SXA: And then of course there were the thrre "help is coming" overrides that were needed despite everything scanning OK ... And getting the assistant over at the end again to remove security tags. Needs manneded counters. Great as for online shopping @tesco! #socialDistanxeShopping
SXA: And to top it off we've just found one item of clothing with a security tag still attached so I'll need to go back and explain this tomorrow and ask for removal! (it didn't trigger alarm) ... Grr @tesco

Tesco didn't react to this so I specifically directed this question at them, and this time it did generate a response:

SXA: @Tesco So I can do a decent shop in a COVID safe socially-distanced manner, can you confirm at what time your (large) stores stop having manned checkouts?
Tesco: Hi Stewart, thanks for getting in touch. This may be different depending on the individual store. Can you please send me a DM with the store you're looking to visit? I'd be happy to try and give them a call for you. Thanks, R*******

Sounded fair ... I still don't know why companies insist on going to DMs but they all do ...

Tesco: Please click "Get Started" to connect with Tesco via DM.
SXA: Hi R******* it was the one on ******* Road in *******. As per earlier messages in the thread (from a couple of weeks a back) it wasn't a good experience trying to put a large shop through self scan
Tesco: Hi Stewart ◢ ◤ Addison , if you can please let us know what you're contacting us about, we'll put you through to a colleague who can help.
SXA: You asked me to message you!
Tesco: Thanks, we'll put you through to a colleague who can help.
Tesco: Hi Stewart, I have just spoken with a colleague in ******* Store there and they have advised that the manned tills close at midnight. :) Thanks - A*******
SXA: Hmmm as you can see from me tweets sent when I returned home I was doing my shopping before 2300 and there seemed no manned tills. I did mention it to the colleague who came over several times but they seemed ... disinterested ...
Tesco: `I am sorry this is the case Stewart, it may have been at the time they were short staffed however this is what the store has advised. I believe they also confirmed this with a manager. Thanks - A*******

As mentioned in the introduction you'd think that with the importance the government is constantly putting on social distancing, not breaking the rules, and ensuring we're all safe and "protect the NHS" that they would be clear as to why when things aren't happening as expected, so to say the responses given were disappoining is a bit of an understement. It's worth saying that at other supermarket's I've been to in the evening (not necessarily quite as late) there have either been tills open or the staff have been very accomodating - Sainsburys for example saw me with a large trolley of shopping and immediately opened another till for me. Another friend who went to another Tesco store with staffed tills which were available was seemingly asked to stay further away from the perspex screens where the checkout assistant was working (Thus moving them closer to the customer in the adjacent lane since they back onto each other) which again seems to be something that increases the risks to customers in the current situation.

It's disappointing that the leader in UK supermarket shopping is happy to treat it's customers this way, and its competitors (from my anecdotal experience) treat this situation a bit more seriously and are willing to help.

ON that basis I though "OK - maybe it was a one-off problem on that day so I assumed the information was in good faith so went back to the store the next evening:

SXA: Once again same store no one on manned checkouts tonight at 2230. Do not feel safe with that many people close and walking by and having to use your touch screens!
Tesco: Thanks for your selection Stewart ◢ ◤ Addison. If you're contacting us about a store, can you please let us know which store it is? Thanks, we'll then put you through to a colleague who can help.
SXA: *******
Tesco: Thanks, we'll put you through to a colleague who can help.
Tesco: I'm really sorry this is the case Stewart after the information I provided to you last time. I'm unsure why the store would have told me they were on until midnight if they are off before then. I have ensured to get this passed onto the management team to look into this and sort it out and make sure the times are right. Thanks - Aiden

At this point I felt I should continue with a follow up to the earlier DM conversation ...

Tesco: Please click "Get Started" to connect with Tesco via DM.
SXA: Hi, can you confirm to me if the staffed till times have been updated our of there is any other explanation why the previous information was incorrect at the store?
Tesco: Hi Stewart, thank you for your message. I cannot confirm if staff will be operating manned tills when you visit the store as this is information I do not have access to. My colleague has fed this back but if you do not feel safe using the self service tills, you can always ask my colleagues if they can open a till for you. I hope this helps. Regards - Liam

I think that answer tells you how seriously they take social distancing in their stores. I expressed disappointment at not having a manned till open and the staff member didn't sqeem to care. I witnessed someone else explicitly ask for a till to be opened and it did feel like a large inconvenience to have to find another member of staff for that ... They need to do better, and I hope someone from Tesco reads this and makes a decent effort to resolve it .... Jason Terry - you know where I am.

ParcelForce: I'm trying to help you fix your site ...

[Short link to this article if you need it - http://goo.gl/Cwkz7F - or retweet me]

[NOTE: Executive summary is in the  "Problem determination" and "Key Summary Points" at the end]

I recently had an exchange with ParcelForce (A dividion of the UK Royal Mail Group) regarding a package I was due to receive from them. I received an email from "PARCELFORCE WORLDWIDE <notifications@parcelforce.co.uk>" saying that my item was dispatched by "Express 24" and providing a tracking number and link. While this is far from the worst customer service example I've seen, it does warrant a post because of all the information and evidence required regarding the issues involved.

The tracking link is where the problems started. I clicked the link, and it directed me to tracking.parcelforce.net and prompted me to display a popup window. I've no idea why they need a popup given that the landing page is completely blank - why can't it just be inlined? I thought legitimate popups had died years ago! As normal, these are the options you get for popups (the exact look of this menu depends on your browser of course):

Now, as a security savvy person I tend to err on the side of caution, so I pucked the last option "Show 'http://tracking...'" to allow this one popup to appear. The popup duly appeared, but what I got was a spinning logo in the popup. The tracking information never appeared:

(Source image is actually the one at http://tracking.parcelforce.net/Pfw/patientez.gif - I don't normally like leaving animations in web pages but it annoyed me so I hope you can feel my pain!)

I tried with both Firefox and Chrome and hit the same issue, on both Linux (RHEL) and Windows 10. Here's a screenshot showing all three browsers with the spinning popup along with the version numbers:

At this point I posted the above animated GIF on my twitter account tagging @parcelforce. Here's how the conversation went when ParcelForce started replying:

SXA: Dear @parcelforce why on earth are you using a near-blank page with a popup which most browsers will block for your tracking links?
SXA: Of course now that I've allowed the @Parcelforce popup it's just displaying a spinning icon and not actually showing me any tracking info
SXA: If this parcel arrives and I haven't been able to find out in advance to ensure I'm at home I will not be amused @parcelforce
PF: @sxa555 I'm sorry to hear that, could you DM your tracking number please and I'll take a look for you. - Matty
SXA: @parcelforce It's now showing up between my tweet and your reply :-) Being sent by "Parcelforce 24" means it'll arrive tomorrow I assume?
PF: Could you send me the number? I'll check it out for you. - Matty
SXA: Broken again (spinning image in popup) while I check for updates. Has anyone found @parcelforce tracking reliable?
SXA: Once yesterday out of about 10 times @parcelforce tracking worked. Every other time this is what I get. It's a joke [spinning image from above included in this tweet]
PF: You should be tracking the parcel at parcelforce.com - Jonnny
SXA: Then why does your tracking email send me to parcelforce.net Jonny?
SXA: Take a look at the email Jonny @parcelforce - the URL at the bottom is from the blurred out tracking link from you

At this point it got a bit strange. I gave them a screenshot of the email along with the last message:

But it was the response that surprised me as it looks like the emails aren't quite sent by ParcelForce themselves, despite the parcelforce.co.uk domain it's sent from, and the ParcelForce logos ...

PF: This is because the company who sent this game us your email address to send you the details but this is our contract customers...
PF: tracking page he email with the details would usually be sent to the sender) - Jonny.
SXA: @parcelforce I can't understand what "contract customers" means. But surely on a parcelforce domain it's not a reference thte sender?
SXA: @parcelforce Bottom line - tell me who is responsible for the broken page at parcelforce.net that I was pointed to so I can complain
SXA: @parcelforce Thanks for the parcelforce.com link though - it worked but doesn't give me any more than out for delivery before 6)
PF: @sxa555 It's not broken Stewart, I can used this page fine and see the full tracking?
PF: Contract customers are customers who sent the parcel who have a contract with us
PF: @sxa555 The tracking will not give you any further information than this? We do not offer live tracking. - Jonny
SXA: @parcelforce Which page works for you? I did tell you the .com works for me - who do I contact about issues with the .net which still spins
PF:@sxa555 .net and .com both work for me. No spinning they just load up. - Jonny
SXA: @parcelforce I've sent my tracking link via DM. Can you tell me which browser version + OS you're using. Fails on all four of mine

I then had a brief exchange via DM where I gave them my direct tracking link from the email. The assistant said it loaded find on Google Chrome. I asked which version and OS and they said "Not sure to be honest. But I can advise this is the first time that anyone have complained about .net in all the years I have been working on Twitter. - Jonny"

SXA: I'm going to have to give up on @Parcelforce. Their assistants can't even figure out which OS and browser version they're using. Hopeless

[At some point around the time I posted that tweet another DM came through telling me the chrome version and verifying that it also worked on IE11 for them]

PF: @sxa555  I have supplied this information to you. Sorry but we do have to assist people with parcel enquiries. - Jonny

From the last response it was clear that there was no real interest in working with me to diagnose the problem with their site, so I gave up and decided to write this blog post instead.

PROBLEM DETERMINATION

I subsequently did some further investigation. If I tell me browser to permanently accept popups from the site then the information displays correctly (I'm guessing that at some point when I got it to work I'd done this in a private browsing session as I couldn't get it to work again on the day) However from my experimentation it seems slightly worse than that: Even when you say "always allow" the popup doesn't always work first time - you need to shut it down and reload for it to show the details. All of which is a complete usability nightmare.

If you look at the source for the popup page it's using HTML frames. One of which is called  SNP_mod_popup and is the one that starts with the spinning logo and should get refreshed with the correct information. I haven't gone any further into debugging why the popup doesn't work without the "always accept" option - I figured I'd leave something for the ParcelForce techies to do ...

KEY SUMMARY POINTS:

1. Don't use popups. Saying that, the fact that ParcelForce's .net page is listed as "© 2007"might go some way to explaining if it hasn't been updated in 9 years.
2. Don't have allow people to send out emails via your own domain which point to sites that aren't the ones you recommend (the whole "contract customer" thing was bizarre. Why does a customer/vendor-supplied email need to come from one of parcelforce's domains? Yes it has the sender reference on .net (see screenshots below), but couldn't that be combined somehow? If not, your IT infrastructure needs some work.
3. Don't say "You should be using parcelforce.com" and give the impression that parcelforce.net isn't something that you support if that's what the links in emails received by customers are being sent to. If there's an issue with your vendors, stop them from using it. When I started pushing for a contact for the .net domain, that was when they started responding to my regarding that site instead of pushing me away from it.
4. Stick to one domain. I had to take it on faith that parcelforce.co.uk, parcelforce.net and parcelforce.com were all legitimate and all were seen during this exchange
5. Why do you need two different sites to perform the same function anyway? Duplication of resources - although each is slightly different.
   
6.  Is it really true that no-one else has ever run into this problem? If so, I'm staggered as it's fairly easy to reproduce. Or is it the case that as with many online retailers, if a site doesn't work first time people just give up? Probably, although if a vendor has sent via Parcelforce they're a bit stuck and can't go elsewhere 
7. If you have the choice of courier, use DPD instead as their stuff just works and you can track your delivery far more accurately. This is 2016, the age of IoT. Not being able to say more than "It'll arrive sometime today" isn't really excusable.

(For completeness, the image on the left below is the tracking information from parcelforce.com, the one on the right from the popup at parcelforce.net - broadly similar information presented differently.)

ParcelForce: I'm trying to help you fix your site ...

[Short link to this article if you need it - http://goo.gl/Cwkz7F - or retweet me]

[NOTE: Executive summary is in the  "Problem determination" and "Key Summary Points" at the end]

I recently had an exchange with ParcelForce (A dividion of the UK Royal Mail Group) regarding a package I was due to receive from them. I received an email from "PARCELFORCE WORLDWIDE <notifications@parcelforce.co.uk>" saying that my item was dispatched by "Express 24" and providing a tracking number and link. While this is far from the worst customer service example I've seen, it does warrant a post because of all the information and evidence required regarding the issues involved.

The tracking link is where the problems started. I clicked the link, and it directed me to tracking.parcelforce.net and prompted me to display a popup window. I've no idea why they need a popup given that the landing page is completely blank - why can't it just be inlined? I thought legitimate popups had died years ago! As normal, these are the options you get for popups (the exact look of this menu depends on your browser of course):

Now, as a security savvy person I tend to err on the side of caution, so I pucked the last option "Show 'http://tracking...'" to allow this one popup to appear. The popup duly appeared, but what I got was a spinning logo in the popup. The tracking information never appeared:

(Source image is actually the one at http://tracking.parcelforce.net/Pfw/patientez.gif - I don't normally like leaving animations in web pages but it annoyed me so I hope you can feel my pain!)

I tried with both Firefox and Chrome and hit the same issue, on both Linux (RHEL) and Windows 10. Here's a screenshot showing all three browsers with the spinning popup along with the version numbers:

At this point I posted the above animated GIF on my twitter account tagging @parcelforce. Here's how the conversation went when ParcelForce started replying:

SXA: Dear @parcelforce why on earth are you using a near-blank page with a popup which most browsers will block for your tracking links?
SXA: Of course now that I've allowed the @Parcelforce popup it's just displaying a spinning icon and not actually showing me any tracking info
SXA: If this parcel arrives and I haven't been able to find out in advance to ensure I'm at home I will not be amused @parcelforce
PF: @sxa555 I'm sorry to hear that, could you DM your tracking number please and I'll take a look for you. - Matty
SXA: @parcelforce It's now showing up between my tweet and your reply :-) Being sent by "Parcelforce 24" means it'll arrive tomorrow I assume?
PF: Could you send me the number? I'll check it out for you. - Matty
SXA: Broken again (spinning image in popup) while I check for updates. Has anyone found @parcelforce tracking reliable?
SXA: Once yesterday out of about 10 times @parcelforce tracking worked. Every other time this is what I get. It's a joke [spinning image from above included in this tweet]
PF: You should be tracking the parcel at parcelforce.com - Jonnny
SXA: Then why does your tracking email send me to parcelforce.net Jonny?
SXA: Take a look at the email Jonny @parcelforce - the URL at the bottom is from the blurred out tracking link from you

At this point it got a bit strange. I gave them a screenshot of the email along with the last message:

But it was the response that surprised me as it looks like the emails aren't quite sent by ParcelForce themselves, despite the parcelforce.co.uk domain it's sent from, and the ParcelForce logos ...

PF: This is because the company who sent this game us your email address to send you the details but this is our contract customers...
PF: tracking page he email with the details would usually be sent to the sender) - Jonny.
SXA: @parcelforce I can't understand what "contract customers" means. But surely on a parcelforce domain it's not a reference thte sender?
SXA: @parcelforce Bottom line - tell me who is responsible for the broken page at parcelforce.net that I was pointed to so I can complain
SXA: @parcelforce Thanks for the parcelforce.com link though - it worked but doesn't give me any more than out for delivery before 6)
PF: @sxa555 It's not broken Stewart, I can used this page fine and see the full tracking?
PF: Contract customers are customers who sent the parcel who have a contract with us
PF: @sxa555 The tracking will not give you any further information than this? We do not offer live tracking. - Jonny
SXA: @parcelforce Which page works for you? I did tell you the .com works for me - who do I contact about issues with the .net which still spins
PF:@sxa555 .net and .com both work for me. No spinning they just load up. - Jonny
SXA: @parcelforce I've sent my tracking link via DM. Can you tell me which browser version + OS you're using. Fails on all four of mine

I then had a brief exchange via DM where I gave them my direct tracking link from the email. The assistant said it loaded find on Google Chrome. I asked which version and OS and they said "Not sure to be honest. But I can advise this is the first time that anyone have complained about .net in all the years I have been working on Twitter. - Jonny

SXA: I'm going to have to give up on @Parcelforce. Their assistants can't even figure out which OS and browser version they're using. Hopeless

[At some point around the time I posted that tweet another DM came through telling me the chrome version and verifying that it also worked on IE11 for them]

PF: @sxa555  I have supplied this information to you. Sorry but we do have to assist people with parcel enquiries. - Jonny

From the last response it was clear that there was no real interest in working with me to diagnose the problem, so I gave up and decided to write this blog post instead.

PROBLEM DETERMINATION

I did some further investigation. If I tell me browser to permanently accept popups from the site then the information displays correctly (I'm guessing that at some point when I got it to work I'd done this in a private browsing session as I couldn't subsequently get it to work) Except it seems slightly worse than that: Even when you say "always allow" the popup doesn't always work first time - you need to shut it down and reload for it to show the details. All of which is a complete usability nightmare.

If you look at the source for the popup page it's using HTML frames. One of which is called  SNP_mod_popup and is the one that starts with the spinning logo and should get refreshed with the correct information. I haven't gone any further into debugging why the popup doesn't work without the "always accept" option - I figured I'd leave something for the ParcelForce techies to do ...



KEY SUMMARY POINTS:

1. Don't use popups. Although the fact the.net page is listed as "© 2007"might go some way to explaining if it hasn't been updated in 9 years.
2. Don't have allow people to send out emails via your own domain which point to sites that aren't the ones you recommend (the whole "contract customer" thing was bizarre. Why does a customer/vendor-supplied email need to come from one of parcelforce's domains? Yes it has the sender reference on .net, but couldn't that be combined somehow? If not, your IT infrastructure needs some work.
3. Don't say "You should be using parcelforce.com" and give the impression that parcelforce.net isn't something that's supported if that's what the links in emails received by customers are being sent to. If there's an issue with your vendors, stop them using it. When I started pushing for a contact for the .net domain, that was when they started responding to the issue on there.
4. Stick to one domain. I had to take it on faith that parcelforce.co.uk, parcelforce.net and parcelforce.com were all legitimate and all were seen during this exchange
5. Why do you need two different sites to perform the same function anyway? Duplication of resources - although each is slightly different.
   
6.  Is it really true that no-one else has ever run into this problem? If so, I'm staggered as it's fairly easy to reproduce. Or is it the case that as with many online retailers, if a site doesn't work first time people just give up? Probably, although if a vendor has sent via Parcelforce they're a bit stuck and can't go elsewhere 
7. If you have the choice of courier, use DPD instead as their stuff just works and you can track your delivery far more accurately. This is 2016, the age of IoT. Not being able to say more than "It'll arrive sometime today" isn't really excusable.

(For completeness, the image on the left below is the tracking information from parcelforce.com, the one on the right from the popup at parcelforce.net - broadly similar information presented differently.)

Subway - why don't you care when your staff rip us off?

[Short link to this article if you need it - http://goo.gl/fDAozN - or retweet me!]

The most important thing about what I write in this blog isn't so much the fact that companies get it wrong in the first place. It's how they deal with things when they go wrong. An example I saw recently was this from KFC, where a member of staff had been fired by a store manager seemingly in a discrimanatory fashion, but the appropriate action was taken and the manager was fired and the employee offered another job.

Doing the right thing to compensate for their staff doing the wrong thing.

Now admittedly my experience with Subway doesn't count as discrimination, but in terms of doing the right thing when a staff member does something inappropriate (in this case misleading a customer) the experience of their service was not what I'd have liked...
I went into one of their branches in Southampton and enquired about the £5 "footlong sub and a drink" offer that many branches of Subway had - in fact it's still on their website (although it worries me that the "Veggie Delite" says "We do not guarantee a vegetarian product" especially when the same disclaimer doesn't appear on their product page (Links correct at the time of posting):

WTF? @SUBWAYUKIreland "VEGGIE DELITE" not vegetarian https://t.co/TUpvIRZABZ No disclaimer @ https://t.co/cOhy653xiH pic.twitter.com/8KS8cFyrMx

— Stewart X Addison (@sxa555) January 25, 2016

The response I got from the assistant regarding the £5 offer was "No, we don't do that any more". Fair enough - it wasn't up on the boards as it often is so I accepted that. I was in a bit of a hurry without time to go elsewhere so I ordered and paid the higher "non-offer" price. As I was leaving I spotted some leaflets offering what I'd asked for at £4.99. And that was an offer that seemed specific to the franchisee. So why didn't they inform me of that? Here's the leaflet:

The offer is listed on there as available after 8pm. I arrived a few minutes past 8 (I'm certain of this as I was trying and failing, to get somewhere else by 8, but needed to eat more than getting to my destination on time) and yet the assistant didn't offer me that deal, despite me enquiring about such an offer at the start. By the time I'd seen this leaflet the only staff member had disappeared into the back store out of site and since I was short of time I didn't chase him down. I did however, complain online at their request:

@sxa555 Hi Stewart, please get in touch with our customer service team directly on 08000855058 or https://t.co/q7K3SezO5Q thank you

— SUBWAY® UK & Ireland (@SUBWAYUKIreland) January 26, 2016

SXA> I visited the Shirley store at 2005 last night. I specifically 
SXA> enquired about the £5 deal for a footlong sub and drink that 
SXA> most of your stores offer only to be told "We don't do that
SXA> any more". I ordered anyway, was charged I think it was £6.99 
SXA> and paid with cash. I wasn't given a receipt.
SXA> SXA> While filling up my drink I saw some leaflets talking about a 
SXA> £4.99 offer of a footlong sub and drink, available from
SXA> 2000-0200 each day. See
SXA> https://twitter.com/sxa555/status/692007240870555648. I was 
SXA> in a bit of a hurry (running late which is in fact the only 
SXA> reason I arrived after 8pm)
SXA> and the assistant had disappeared into the back of the store
SXA> so I couldn't quickly speak to him. So the assistant seemingly 
SXA> chose to rip me off instead of giving me that offer when I'd 
SXA> specifically enquired. It is extremely disappointing to feel 
SXA> lied to and I think someone needs to have a word with
SXA> the franchise owner. I can also be contacted me on twitter 
SXA> @sxa555 - it was your account that pointed me at this form.


A reasonable reply was forthcoming:

SO> Dear Mr Addison,

SO>

SO> Thank you for submitting your comments regarding the Subway® 

SO> Store in Southampton, Shirley High Street.   

SO>

SO> I would like to thank you for bringing this incident to our 

SO> attention. Comments such as yours are very valuable to us as 

SO> they enable us to monitor the stores performances closely and

SO> we thank you for taking the time to write to us.

SO>  

SO> Due to the fact that the Stores belong to Franchisees we, as 

SO> the Development Office for the East & West Sussex, Hampshire

SO> and Isle of Wight region, do not operate the stores ourselves. 

SO> We do however, play a supervisory role to ensure that all

SO> stores are operated strictly according to Subway® standards. I 

SO> have therefore forwarded your comments to the owner of the

SO> store in question with the request to investigate the matter 

SO> immediately. The franchisee or a representative of the store 

SO> will contact you directly within the next 3 days.

SO> 

SO> I would like to thank you once again for bringing the matter
SO> to our attention. Once the Franchisee has been in contact with 
SO> you I will be glad to receive your feedback. Please let me know 
SO> if you need any further assistance or information in the
SO> meantime.

I felt quite pleased with this response - I had a contact that seemed keen to ensure the franchisee was behaving themselves and was willing to take feeback. All good so far. Then I got the response from the franchisee ...

SF> Dear Customer,

SF>

SF> Thank you for your email.

SF> 

SF> Let me begin by saying that I am deeply sorry for your 

SF> experience in this Subway store and I will do everything

SF> in my power to ensure this event does not repeat itself.

SF> 

SF>  Plan of action

SF> Due to the fact customer service, hygiene and quality are 

SF> Subways key focus, I have decided to ask management to

SF> re-train this individual via Subway University as i want to 

SF> ensure Subways high standards are demonstrated in every

SF> store in the UK.

SF> 

SF> I would again like to apologise for this matter and hope

SF> this experience has not provided you with a permanent

SF> negative perception of Subways products & services.

SF>             

SF> If you have any other issues you would like to discuss please 

SF> phone me on my business mobile

Where do I start? There is nothing in that reply that leads me to believe it wasn't a standard "cut & pasted" reply from a franchisee who doesn't care enough to respond to the specific issue - even the "Dear customer" at the start says they couldn't even be bothered replacing it with my name. Retraining a member of staff at the centralised "subway university" would appear to serve no useful purpose when the issue was the staff member not making an offer available that was franchise-specific, so the blame lies firmly on the door of the franchise owner, or the employee. "I'm sorry that my staff member misled you. I hope this hasn't given you a permanent negative perception". Well I'm sorry, but yes it has.

But the person in the Subway Development Office for the region would be interested in this behaviour from its franchisee, right?

SXA> Hi <name withheld>

SXA> You've said you'd be glad to receive my feedback once I 

SXA> received a reply. I'm sure you've had the chance to read the 

SXA> response I got from the franchisee.  So I would be very 

SXA> interested in hearing what your opinion of it is?

SXA> From my perspective, what I've received is very obviously a 

SXA> blatant "cut & pasted" answer that has been crafted in such a 

SXA> way that it has presumably been given exactly as-is many times 

SXA> before. And If it's been needed many times before so as to 

SXA> warrant having such a generic response available than that's a 

SXA> concern in itself. It therefore gives me very little faith 

SXA> that the individual will actually be retrained at Subway 

SXA> University as a result of my complaint, and even if I did 

SXA> believe it it would serve no useful purpose because the issue 

SXA> was them misinforming me about an offer which was specific to 

SXA> their franchise, not something that central training would 

SXA> address, therefore the "everything in my power" comment is 

SXA> utter drivel. The issue is purely the franchise owners 

SXA> responsibility, but since they've given a cut & pasted answer 

SXA> they probably didn't read my complaint enough to realise that. 

SXA> It's really quite insulting.

SXA>

SXA> I do appreciate that your branches are franchised but I would 

SXA> be very surprised if you considered what was said to be an 

SXA> acceptable response. If I was in your position I would be 

SXA> extremely disappointed. I would like one more piece of 

SXA> information from you if possible. Is the following a complete 

SXA> list of stores that the franchise that Sunny Khaira has any 

SXA> investment in as I wish to make sure I avoid dealing with him 

SXA> in the future, and will be actively disuadding others from 

SXA> doing so:
SXA>

SXA> 136 Porswood Road, Southampton

SXA> 109 Shirley High Street, Southampton

SXA> Central Train Station, Southampton

SXA> 165 High Street, Winchester

SXA> 4 Black Swan Building, Winchester.

SXA>

SXA> I presume the store in Eastleigh has nothing whatsoever to do 
SXA> with him (it seems more modern too, although that's probably 
SXA> because it is a relatively new store). I have regularly 
SXA> visited the Winchester High Street store and having acquired a 
SXA> subway loyalty card I was considering using that one a lot 
SXA> more. But I'll be heading to KFC or McDonalds instead now.

I received no response to this email. I have therefore avoided Subway since. I suggest you do the same, particularly for this franchise (addresses in the last email which I believe is complete although as I said I never got a reply confirming).

AA roadside breakdown: Why can't you give sensible personalised renewal quotes?

[Short link to this article if you need it - http://goo.gl/VJQcsJ - or retweet me]

I'm a long standing member of AA ... Before anyone says it, I don't have an alcohol problem - I'm referring to the Automobile Association which provides vehicle breakdown cover in the UK. With most insurance policies for standard vehicle insurance and the like you'll be given a "reasonable" renewal quote based on your history and personal circumstances. But it seems the AA are completely incapable of doing the same. Every year they send me a standard renewal quote which is vastly higher than the prices on their web site, and every year I call them up and they drop it by about a third - often matching (or getting very close to) the prices on the web site. I got fed up and contacted the president of the AA:

@sxa555 If you like to email your username, details and ref 4364 to chat@theaa.com, we'll look into this for you. evk — Edmund King (@AAPresident) February 19, 2012

Thanks Mr.President - not actually acknowledging any problem, just telling me to call up again and sort it out. But you have to wonder why I would choose to do that when I could just call up your competitor and get a better price. Don't get me wrong - I'm very happy with the AA service, it's just the renewals process I have an issue with. This yeah I renewed my motorcycle insurance and was sorely tempted to take out the insurer's optional breakdown cover and then sign up to my bank's "extra" account which included breakdown cover for the car. But I'm going to write this blog post and see if they'll show any signs of changing it. "Big Data" is a big buzzword in the computing industry just now in terms of analysing vast quantities of data, but insurance companies have been doing this sort of thing for a long time to set premiums. It's inexcusable that AA's renewal prices are vastly higher than the ones on their web site - and I also claim that what's on their website is blatantly misleading ...

To give an example, at the time of writing this blog the basic level of cover on http://www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/ as I write this is listed as £74.99 with a special £10 discount bringing it to £64.99 as per the image on the right. So what is the £10 discount for? Here's the small print:

* The £10 discount is available to new customers purchasing vehicle cover and national recovery using an annual payment method.

So the £10 discount appears to be for new customers, and therefore you'd naturally assume that the standard price for existing customers renewing would be £74.99. That's the level of cover I have. Last year the renewal came through at almost double that. So what does the £74.99 apply to if "new customers" are only getting a £10 discount off that? If anyone manages to find AA's "real" (not introductory) prices listed anywhere on their site then you're doing better than I managed when I alst looked.

@sxa555 If there is anything you'd like to address, please email chat@theaa.com with ref 65013.
— The AA (@TheAA_Help) March 4, 2014

It's made worse by the fact that the AA don't seem to have an option not to auto-renew each year (at least they are notify you before renewal date, avoiding nonsense list this  from 2012). So by default you'll suddenly get completely screwed by a massive price hike from what you're expecting (The send you a letter, but unless you verify it with last year, or the web prices, you might miss it) This is what happened last year for me:

Renewal came in at £145.42. 5 minutes waiting on hold but then managed to get down to £91.50 @TheAA_UK @TheAA_Help #customerServiceFail

— Stewart X Addison (@sxa555) March 4, 2014

So now we've covered the background, here's my standard "full disclosure" conversation with the AA (Note that this conversation was about a year ago so the offers mentioned are different from what's currently available)

SXA> Hi - I've been an AA member since I was on my father's membership, other than a 

SXA> short period when it lapsed for a couple of months (I initially had a card that 

SXA> showed my "member since" date as 1966). Over the last few years it seems my

SXA> renewal has always come in at a price significantly higher than the old price, 

SXA> and since you're keeping my details on file, you will auto-renew at the above price.

SXA> 

SXA> For the last few years or so I've called you each year and you've knocked it down

SXA> to a level comparable with the price on your web site. Each year I am told that it's 

SXA> because that's a "new policyholder" introductory discount. There are several issues 

SXA> with this:

SXA> 

SXA> 1) Despite you're auto-renewal policy I don't consider AA breakdown do be a 

SXA> subscription service (in the same way I don't with my car insurance policy) unlike 

SXA> something like music streaming or a TV subscription would be. I'm paying for one 

SXA> year of service. For this reason any "introductory discount" (as your assistants 

SXA> point out, that's what's on your web site) seems less relevant. And even though 

SXA> you've dropped the price for me to a comparable level, you still have scope for an 

SXA> introductory bonus for true new customers of the Amazon vouchers (I don't have such 

SXA> a problem with that)

SXA> 

SXA> 2) Last year I paid £85. This year my renewal came in at £145. Even if I was a new 

SXA> customer last year an increase of 70% is something that most people would choke at. 

SXA> If it wasn't so extreme then people would be more likely to accept it.

SXA> 

SXA> 3) If I just "trusted" your renewal quote then you are actively encouraging loyal 

SXA> customers such as myself to look elsewhere. In fact to avoid calling your call 

SXA> centre every year to beat the price back down it'd be less hassle for me to just 

SXA> toggle between the AA and RAC each year. That's nonsensical from a business point of 

SXA> view from your company. (For the record, a big chunk of the reason I don't do this 

SXA> was because I also need motorcycle cover which several of the providers don't have - 

SXA> but the RAC includes it as you do)

SXA> 

SXA> 4) I haven't given my membership number in this email but your records would show 

SXA> that I've made this call for several consecutive years. Surely given that you have a 

SXA> record of me doing this, it would be preferable from a "Don't annoy the customer" 

SXA> perspective to offer a more sensible renewal price for people who you know are not 

SXA> going to accept the default renewal price. Unless of course you don't care about 

SXA> customer loyalty. I understand some people will just accept the renewal, and that's 

SXA> their own fault that they don't know better (as is the case for many financial 

SXA> services) But as someone who you know won't put up with it, you're not encouraging 

SXA> loyalty.

SXA> 

SXA> I'm interested to see a considered response from you on this - even better if you're 

SXA> able to forward to Edmund King as a "case study". I hope you can use this 

SXA> information to improve your services.

AA> Dear Mr Addison,

AA>  

AA> Thank you for taking the time to email The AA Social Media Team.

AA> 

AA> This is something we would like to look into for you.

AA> 

AA> I have liaised with the relevant department and have passed your details over for 

AA> investigation.

AA> 

AA> You will be contacted as soon as possible.

AA> 

AA> Kind Regards

AA> [name removed for this blog]

AA> The AA Social Media Team

22 days later I received a reply

AA> To: Mr S Addison

AA> From: The Automobile Association

AA> 

AA>   

AA> Dear Mr Addison

AA>   

AA> Thank you for contacting us about your AA membership renewal. I was sorry to learn 

AA> that you are unhappy that you have to call each year to obtain a discount for your 

AA> renewal.

AA> 

AA> The AA, like many companies, operates a standard pricing structure for existing 

AA> members. We are unable to offer automatic and continuous discounts so we send the 

AA> standard quote for renewing at the level of cover held and give the member the 

AA> opportunity to contact us if they are unhappy.

AA>   

AA> It is difficult to personally price cover for over 4.5 million members so it is only 

AA> when we are contacted that we can look at each membership on an individual basis. We 

AA> review the cover held, service usage and membership tenure in order to see if a 

AA> discount is available.

AA>   

AA> As a long standing member I can see a discount has been honoured again for you this 

AA> year as it has in the past. I hope you will be happy with the new price that has been 

AA> arranged.

AA>   

AA> In closing, I would like to thank you for taking the trouble to make us aware of your 

AA> feelings. It is through valuable feedback, such as yours, that we are able to learn 

AA> and improve the service we provide. Finally, I would like to apologise again for 

AA> failing to meet your expectations.

So they claim to have a "standard pricing structure" (as per my opening paragraphs, I don't see where this is published - it certainly isn't made clear that it's way above the prices on their front page) and their assertion that "it is difficult to personally quote for 4.5 million members" is just crazy. I'm not expecting an individual quote like I'd get for my main vehicle insurance cover - there aren't that many cases for breakdown cover. So I went back to them:

  

SXA> Ref: "It is difficult to personally price cover for over 4.5 million members so it 

SXA> is only when we are contacted that we can look at each membership on an individual 

SXA> basis."

SXA> 

SXA> Are you honestly saying your systems don't have algorithms that can figure that out 

SXA> in far less time than it takes someone on the phone to look at a screen and make an 

SXA> assessment? I work in the computer industry and the concept of that not being an 

SXA> obvious thing to have automated is astonishing to me - it's NOT difficult to put an 

SXA> initial sensible personal discount together automatically. Even if this was only 

SXA> triggered for people like myself who you know will call every year. Also, if you 

SXA> offered a sensible renewal price in the first place your customers would almost 

SXA> certainly be less likely to "haggle" on the phone to bring it down even further. The 

SXA> only reason for not automating this is the hope on your part that people won't 

SXA> bother to call.

SXA> 

SXA> I am happy with the new price, but I am struggling to see why I would remain with 

SXA> you next year when you force me to do this every year (especially in light of your 

SXA> odd comments on difficulty of automation). Unless of course you don't genuinely care 

SXA> about customer loyalty and satisfaction. Also, ref your "standard pricing structure 

SXA> for existing members" - where are those prices publicised - I couldn't find them on 

SXA> your web site.

At this point I received no further reply via email but did receive a letter from them:

Nonsense. Can they not afford a competent IT division, or do they just like ripping people off? Until I see evidence to the contrary I'm going with the latter.  I assume the "official complaint" mentioned in that letter is logged in there and then been chucked in the "Your call is important to us" bucket. And since they were floated on the stock market last year I'm not holding out much hope that they have an interest in anything but making more money for the shareholders. I'm happy to discuss further with the AA if they wish to talk to me to convince me otherwise. Or make a comment in the blog publicly, or to me on twitter.

EDIT 25/2/2015 : Two days after I posted this article I got a renewal notice through the mail - £138.04. Can I be bothered calling them up again, or is it time to vote with my credit card and leave them?

EDIT 3/2/2015: Adding a few random tweets from others on the subject:

So I paid £100 for AA Breakdown cover the last 2 years. Renewal comes in for £212, I think not! Bye bye AA 👊👋
— Ellie Summers (@ellie_summers) February 7, 2015

worksco

@TheAA_Help Thanks, I've done that. But I think someone at AA needs to look at sending out massively inflated renewals to start with.
— Paul Townsend (@ShineOnDetail) January 8, 2015

to join the AA Breakdown cover would cost me £151 as a valued customer my 2nd year they will automatically collect £249 I don't think so
— Tell (@terry_borlase) February 27, 2015

@cathy_magenta Cannot stand auto-renewals. My AA membership is prime example. Covered through bank account add on and AA now.
— Chris Lovell (@ChrisLovellGB) February 13, 2014

On the basis of the above, I feel sorry for the poor individual who decides to take up this job  ...

Customer Service Administrator - Renewals Admin - Annesley - AA Training and Recruitment http://t.co/IY9fJfsOIB
— Jobs In Nottingham (@NottmPostJobs) February 20, 2015