In an earlier post I wrote about Recruitment agencies, and some of the things that they get up to which isnt commonly known to candidates, and how it can affect them. Now if I'm honest, I feel so passionately about some of the underhanded & old school techniques that a lot of recruitment agencies use that I could probably write one post a day as there are so many.
This time I'm going to write about something that I commonly come across, and in fact its just happened to one of my candidates. Lack of feedback from an agency. This candidate was informed by an agency after her second interview with a client that she should expect an offer very soon. The candidate hasn't heard from the agency all week since this last conversation. She has tried to phone the agent, however she hasn't managed to get hold of them, and they haven't returned her call. This is shocking behaviour. All it would take is a two minute conversation to advise that they hadnt heard anything back or that the client wasnt interested, or the budget had been pulled. Instead they avoid the candidate. Unprofessional!
Its like some agencies dont understand that they're playing with peoples careers. This candidate could have turned down all other opportunities as she was expecting an offer. There could also be a situation where someone contacts her about a new role, however she turns it down as there is no point if she is expecting to already have a new role.
This is frankly shocking behaviour, and I cant condone it in any way. I will admit that the thing I hate the most about working in recruitment is giving my candidates the news that they were unsuccessful. I do however try to do this as quickly as possible as I dont want them to miss out on other opportunities.
I feel that a lot of recruitment agencies are so blinkered on making a placement & making money that they miss out on the long term picture, and this is something I & Digital Minds thrives on. Treat everyone with the same level of respect as more than likely a candidate will become a client one day, and you'll be more successful if you have a good reputation.
So agencies out there, if you want to be successful start treating your candidates with respect and it'll work out better for you in the long run. What goes around, comes around.
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
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Friday, 2 March 2012
Thursday, 1 December 2011
Budget Airlines, are we really saving anything?
I used to really enjoy flying when I was younger. My father used to travel in his job and as my parents wanted me to have an undisrupted education, I attended boarding school. Although I hated being away from my parents, I used to really enjoy the adventure of travelling to Hong Kong or Cyprus, which I did many times.
When I first started flying to Hong Kong I was 10 years old, and I used to fly by myself. I was dropped at the airport by my guardians, and they would hand me over to someone from British Caledonian and they put me into the Lion club, which was for young flyers. I used to feel so special, getting a pack to keep me entertained through the flight. Even as I got older the flights were enjoyable, it was still an adventure.
I realised today that all the enjoyment and adventure has gone, thanks mainly to budget airlines. I had the displeasure today of dealing with Jet2 for the first time, and hopefully the last. Not only has the enjoyment and excitement of booking your flight gone, its been replaced with frustration and anger.
I used the Skyscanner website to find a flight to Cyprus from Leeds / Bradford next year. Skyscanner found me a flight with Jet2 for £425.96. I thought that was a great price and so decided to book it.
I was forwarded to the Jet2 site, and asked to fill in some details. Now this is where I quickly figured out that the £425.96 was just bait to draw you into the site. Once in the costs would be added on.
Now the first thing you get hit with is baggage. It states that hand luggage is free, however if you want to take anything to go in the hold its going to cost you: £41.98 per 22kg bag. Lets be honest, who is going to go on a 2 week holiday without taking at least one suitcase. So there is definitely going to be that charge added on.
Next thing you're hit with is: Online Check-in or Airport Check-in. Now the Online Check-in is £10 extra (Not exactly sure why it costs anything, but there we go). However, if you want to Check-in at the airport it will cost you: £36 (Now that is just scandalous).
Once you click to move to the next page, you get a pop-up that asks you if you want to take anymore baggage as Jet2 are doing a special deal at the moment: 50% off baggage costs. Wow! Sign me up!
Its great to see a company giving something back, they're so generous. Enough of the sarcasm.
So I got to the next page, and I find a diagram of a plane and it asks me where I would like to sit. When I click on a seat it says its either £6.99 or £24.99. So basically I have pay for a seat. Not only that but I have to pay for it on the return flight also. Surely a seat would be a prerequisite of a flight. I mean I cant really fly without a seat, its not like its a bus. Pathetic!
Then we move onto the next page, the meal. Now I'm aware of meals on most flights cost extra these days, so its quite easy to skip this one. There's no way I'm going to pay £40 for 2 of us to have 2 meals outbound and 2 inbound. Also we're not going to buy Jet2's insurance at £19.54 per person, or their entertainment pack for £40 for 2 people for both flights.
So we're finally at the check-out, not bad so far. However once you select you want to pay with a Visa/Debit card, you then get hit with an £18.21 booking fee. Ouch! That however isnt the worst. You want to pay with PayPal that's: £10.21 on top of the booking fee. However on a Credit Card, you're looking at £18.87 on top of the booking fee.
Anyway, lets add all this up. Lets say I was going to pay with a Debit Card. Now the amount I was quoted on Skyscanner was: £425.96. The actual amount I was expected to pay was: £524.11
In the end I booked with Thomson and got it for £381 flying from Manchester.
Now the point of this blog was vent my anger at the so called budget airline industry. It seems like all the budget with none of the cost saving. Also to warn other people of the perils of using budget airlines.
Get rid of budget airlines they offer nothing. You're stressed when you've finally booked your flight due to the fact that its nearly £100 more than what you thought you would be paying. Or you end doing what I ended up doing, going through the whole process getting to the end and then going to look elsewhere having wasted about 45mins of your life.
So are we getting anything out of budget airlines? My personal opinion is no. Bring back all inclusive flights. I'd much rather just buy a ticket and know that its all included and I'm not going to get hit with a charge, like somewhere to bloody sit.
So for me the pleasure and adventure has gone from air travel. Please bring back all inclusive flights, I'm fed up of the poor service and hidden charges.
Please be aware when looking for flights, that the initial cost your quoted wont be the one you have to pay. Oh and just for the record, I think its quite funny how Jet2 have taken there Twitter account down. There was probably too many complaints about the hidden charges. That cant be good for their PR if everyone is complaining.
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
When I first started flying to Hong Kong I was 10 years old, and I used to fly by myself. I was dropped at the airport by my guardians, and they would hand me over to someone from British Caledonian and they put me into the Lion club, which was for young flyers. I used to feel so special, getting a pack to keep me entertained through the flight. Even as I got older the flights were enjoyable, it was still an adventure.
I realised today that all the enjoyment and adventure has gone, thanks mainly to budget airlines. I had the displeasure today of dealing with Jet2 for the first time, and hopefully the last. Not only has the enjoyment and excitement of booking your flight gone, its been replaced with frustration and anger.
I used the Skyscanner website to find a flight to Cyprus from Leeds / Bradford next year. Skyscanner found me a flight with Jet2 for £425.96. I thought that was a great price and so decided to book it.
I was forwarded to the Jet2 site, and asked to fill in some details. Now this is where I quickly figured out that the £425.96 was just bait to draw you into the site. Once in the costs would be added on.
Now the first thing you get hit with is baggage. It states that hand luggage is free, however if you want to take anything to go in the hold its going to cost you: £41.98 per 22kg bag. Lets be honest, who is going to go on a 2 week holiday without taking at least one suitcase. So there is definitely going to be that charge added on.
Next thing you're hit with is: Online Check-in or Airport Check-in. Now the Online Check-in is £10 extra (Not exactly sure why it costs anything, but there we go). However, if you want to Check-in at the airport it will cost you: £36 (Now that is just scandalous).
Once you click to move to the next page, you get a pop-up that asks you if you want to take anymore baggage as Jet2 are doing a special deal at the moment: 50% off baggage costs. Wow! Sign me up!
Its great to see a company giving something back, they're so generous. Enough of the sarcasm.
So I got to the next page, and I find a diagram of a plane and it asks me where I would like to sit. When I click on a seat it says its either £6.99 or £24.99. So basically I have pay for a seat. Not only that but I have to pay for it on the return flight also. Surely a seat would be a prerequisite of a flight. I mean I cant really fly without a seat, its not like its a bus. Pathetic!
Then we move onto the next page, the meal. Now I'm aware of meals on most flights cost extra these days, so its quite easy to skip this one. There's no way I'm going to pay £40 for 2 of us to have 2 meals outbound and 2 inbound. Also we're not going to buy Jet2's insurance at £19.54 per person, or their entertainment pack for £40 for 2 people for both flights.
So we're finally at the check-out, not bad so far. However once you select you want to pay with a Visa/Debit card, you then get hit with an £18.21 booking fee. Ouch! That however isnt the worst. You want to pay with PayPal that's: £10.21 on top of the booking fee. However on a Credit Card, you're looking at £18.87 on top of the booking fee.
Anyway, lets add all this up. Lets say I was going to pay with a Debit Card. Now the amount I was quoted on Skyscanner was: £425.96. The actual amount I was expected to pay was: £524.11
In the end I booked with Thomson and got it for £381 flying from Manchester.
Now the point of this blog was vent my anger at the so called budget airline industry. It seems like all the budget with none of the cost saving. Also to warn other people of the perils of using budget airlines.
Get rid of budget airlines they offer nothing. You're stressed when you've finally booked your flight due to the fact that its nearly £100 more than what you thought you would be paying. Or you end doing what I ended up doing, going through the whole process getting to the end and then going to look elsewhere having wasted about 45mins of your life.
So are we getting anything out of budget airlines? My personal opinion is no. Bring back all inclusive flights. I'd much rather just buy a ticket and know that its all included and I'm not going to get hit with a charge, like somewhere to bloody sit.
So for me the pleasure and adventure has gone from air travel. Please bring back all inclusive flights, I'm fed up of the poor service and hidden charges.
Please be aware when looking for flights, that the initial cost your quoted wont be the one you have to pay. Oh and just for the record, I think its quite funny how Jet2 have taken there Twitter account down. There was probably too many complaints about the hidden charges. That cant be good for their PR if everyone is complaining.
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
digital recruitment, digital agencies, digital jobs, media jobs, digital media jobs, digital media recruitment, digital agencies london, digital agencies Yorkshire, digital agencies Manchester, digital marketing recruitment, jobs in digital, seo jobs, seo optimisation, website seo, seo copywriting, local seo, seo search engine optimization, professional seo, what is seo, seo marketing, seo services, seo companies, pay per click, what is ppc, ppc pay per click, pay per click search engine, ppc, digital marketing, banner advertising, marketing company, google ads, viral marketing, online advertising, website promotion, recruitment agencies, marketing recruitment agency,digital marketing, what is digital marketing, media recruitment London, media recruitment Yorkshire, media recruitment Lancashire.
Friday, 28 October 2011
What candidates don't know about Recruitment agencies until its too late.
I have worked in the recruitment industry for over 10 years, and in that time I have worked for a number of companies. Most of the companies I have worked for have worked in a similar way, and as I have got more involved in social media I felt it was about time to write something about them, and maybe offer some advice to candidates over the pitfalls of using recruitment agencies. Unfortunately candidates usually only find out about this when its too late and by then the damage has been done.
Now, firstly lets get the information out of the way that most of you will know. Recruitment Consultants are sales people, they earn commission by making sales. Now comes the bit that you might not have been aware of, and that is that most agencies are very KPI (Key Performance Indicator) driven organisations. This means that the Consultant you're speaking to will be managed on different areas, and that's not just making placements. Now different agencies will have different KPI's but they usually revolve around: Number of candidates they have spoken to; number of clients again they've spoken to; number of CV's they've sent out; number of vacancies they have picked up; number of interviews they've set up, and then number of placements they've made.
Now when you have managers within recruitment agencies pressing their staff to hit these KPI's its going to lead to problems with the candidates and clients that they're working with, and over the last week or so this has been highlighted to me. This is why I decided to write this blog post. I felt that I wanted to make people aware of the pitfalls of working with many of the Recruitment Agencies operating today.
Most candidates when they decide to look for a new job, will post their CV onto some job boards, and may also send their CV's to a number of agencies. This I feel is where the first problem arises. Agencies scan the job boards and will contact the candidate. So where you went from having your CV with a couple of agencies, all of a sudden its with 5 or more and they all want to get your CV out to their clients ASAP. Usually with clients its a first come first serve basis, so whoever gets it there first wins, and also the agencies have a target for number of CV's to send out. So then you're in the situation where your CV is with a client and you've not even given permission for the agency to send it. Now the client is getting annoyed as they've received it 5 times and no longer see you as a viable option, your CV becomes blacklisted with that client.
If the above happens with multiple clients, you can see how it all of a sudden becomes increasingly difficult for you to get a new job, and the options open to you become extremely limited.
I'm not saying all recruitment agencies work this way, at Digital Minds we don't operate this way and the reason we set up the business was to show that recruitment can be done differently. We are certainly not the only ones either, there are plenty of good recruitment companies fighting against these draconian methods, however the majority of recruitment companies are set in their ways and focussed purely on quick profits and short term relationships.
So in conclusion there are some great forward thinking recruitment agencies out there and I'm sure you'll be impressed when you find them as they'll get you a new job, and one that'll you'll be happy with. But remember to put the time in at the beginning, you need to invest time in deciding which recruiters you want to represent you and which ones will provide you with the best service. Moving jobs is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make – ensure the people who are helping you are suitable and have your best interests at heart.
So in future be careful before sending your CV out, it may not be helping your career.
Feel free to contact me at any time and I would be happy to offer you some advice.
Now, firstly lets get the information out of the way that most of you will know. Recruitment Consultants are sales people, they earn commission by making sales. Now comes the bit that you might not have been aware of, and that is that most agencies are very KPI (Key Performance Indicator) driven organisations. This means that the Consultant you're speaking to will be managed on different areas, and that's not just making placements. Now different agencies will have different KPI's but they usually revolve around: Number of candidates they have spoken to; number of clients again they've spoken to; number of CV's they've sent out; number of vacancies they have picked up; number of interviews they've set up, and then number of placements they've made.
Now when you have managers within recruitment agencies pressing their staff to hit these KPI's its going to lead to problems with the candidates and clients that they're working with, and over the last week or so this has been highlighted to me. This is why I decided to write this blog post. I felt that I wanted to make people aware of the pitfalls of working with many of the Recruitment Agencies operating today.
Most candidates when they decide to look for a new job, will post their CV onto some job boards, and may also send their CV's to a number of agencies. This I feel is where the first problem arises. Agencies scan the job boards and will contact the candidate. So where you went from having your CV with a couple of agencies, all of a sudden its with 5 or more and they all want to get your CV out to their clients ASAP. Usually with clients its a first come first serve basis, so whoever gets it there first wins, and also the agencies have a target for number of CV's to send out. So then you're in the situation where your CV is with a client and you've not even given permission for the agency to send it. Now the client is getting annoyed as they've received it 5 times and no longer see you as a viable option, your CV becomes blacklisted with that client.
If the above happens with multiple clients, you can see how it all of a sudden becomes increasingly difficult for you to get a new job, and the options open to you become extremely limited.
I'm not saying all recruitment agencies work this way, at Digital Minds we don't operate this way and the reason we set up the business was to show that recruitment can be done differently. We are certainly not the only ones either, there are plenty of good recruitment companies fighting against these draconian methods, however the majority of recruitment companies are set in their ways and focussed purely on quick profits and short term relationships.
So in conclusion there are some great forward thinking recruitment agencies out there and I'm sure you'll be impressed when you find them as they'll get you a new job, and one that'll you'll be happy with. But remember to put the time in at the beginning, you need to invest time in deciding which recruiters you want to represent you and which ones will provide you with the best service. Moving jobs is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make – ensure the people who are helping you are suitable and have your best interests at heart.
So in future be careful before sending your CV out, it may not be helping your career.
Feel free to contact me at any time and I would be happy to offer you some advice.
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
digital recruitment, digital agencies, digital jobs, media jobs, digital media jobs, digital media recruitment, digital agencies london, digital agencies Yorkshire, digital agencies Manchester, digital marketing recruitment, jobs in digital, seo jobs, seo optimisation, website seo, seo copywriting, local seo, seo search engine optimization, professional seo, what is seo, seo marketing, seo services, seo companies, pay per click, what is ppc, ppc pay per click, pay per click search engine, ppc, digital marketing, banner advertising, marketing company, google ads, viral marketing, online advertising, website promotion, recruitment agencies, marketing recruitment agency,digital marketing, what is digital marketing, media recruitment London, media recruitment Yorkshire, media recruitment Lancashire.
Friday, 30 September 2011
eCommerce: Are we valued as a customer? Latest Update
I have made a couple of posts about the good and bad service I have received from varying companies over the past month. I was getting really disheartened by just how shockingly poor the level of service was and I had the impression that customers just weren't that important to companies these days.
I put this down to companies working in a niche market knowing that their customers were just coming back to them as they didn't really have anywhere else to go. The example I gave was Game, where I had got my product 5 days after its release and didn't really get a satisfactory response from their customer service team.
Well after posting my last blog, I was contacted directly by someone in their customer service team. She was really apologetic and explained that they did care about their customers, and to make up for the level of service I had received that I could chose a game from their website and I could have it for free.
Its a shame that it got to the stage of having to use social media before a company reacts to a problem, however the fact that they did respond is a big plus on my part as I do have that feeling of being a valued customer, and in the end that's all we want.
With regards to Carphone Warehouse on the other hand, we have a completely different outcome. They clearly don't care about their customers and I've had no response what-so-ever. My complaint with them is ongoing. All I would say is that if you're tempted on one of their cash back offers on Quidco, then don't be. You probably will receive cash back, however it will be considerably lower than you were thinking. Its a shame as the Quidco idea is great. I will certainly think twice before entering into a deal on Quidco, and I certainly wont be entering into anything involving Carphone Warehouse. They have conned me out of my money.
Dont use Carphone Warehouse, go direct to the phone companies you'll get a better level of service anyway.
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
I put this down to companies working in a niche market knowing that their customers were just coming back to them as they didn't really have anywhere else to go. The example I gave was Game, where I had got my product 5 days after its release and didn't really get a satisfactory response from their customer service team.
Well after posting my last blog, I was contacted directly by someone in their customer service team. She was really apologetic and explained that they did care about their customers, and to make up for the level of service I had received that I could chose a game from their website and I could have it for free.
Its a shame that it got to the stage of having to use social media before a company reacts to a problem, however the fact that they did respond is a big plus on my part as I do have that feeling of being a valued customer, and in the end that's all we want.
With regards to Carphone Warehouse on the other hand, we have a completely different outcome. They clearly don't care about their customers and I've had no response what-so-ever. My complaint with them is ongoing. All I would say is that if you're tempted on one of their cash back offers on Quidco, then don't be. You probably will receive cash back, however it will be considerably lower than you were thinking. Its a shame as the Quidco idea is great. I will certainly think twice before entering into a deal on Quidco, and I certainly wont be entering into anything involving Carphone Warehouse. They have conned me out of my money.
Dont use Carphone Warehouse, go direct to the phone companies you'll get a better level of service anyway.
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
Friday, 23 September 2011
Hope Restored!
Over the last couple of days I have posted about some negative experiences and some pretty bad service from some retailers. I'd pretty much given up hope that companies valued us as customers, and therefore didn't care about the service they offered. That is until last night, all hope has now been restored. Thanks to Pizza Express.
I know Pizza Express isnt an Online Retailer, however they do offer a service, and an exceptional one at that.
I was visiting the Albion Place Pizza Express in Leeds last night with my girlfriend Laura and it has to be one of the best experiences I have had with regards to service.
We made our order, Dough balls to share for starter, and we were discussing with waiter about the different types of chillies on an American Hot, as my girlfriend didnt want anything that would burn her mouth out. The waiter was quite knowledgeable and discussed each. Laura didnt want to take a risk and so decided to play it safe and order a Sloppy Giuseppe and I went with a Pollo ad Astra.
Our order came extremely quickly, however there wasnt any dough balls as they had brought our pizzas and instead of Laura's choice, they had an American Hot. We explained that we had ordered dough balls and the one of the pizzas wasnt right, the waitress was extremely apologetic and said that she would go and get them to rectify the order and remake the pizzas. Now as this was clearly an honest mistake, as we had been discussing the American Hot with the waiter, we just assumed he'd accidentally written it down.
We would have been happy with them just remaking the pizzas and bringing our dough balls. What happened afterwards was extremely unexpected and shocked both myself and Laura.
The manager came over to us and apologised for the mix up, he handed us a plate of dough balls each and said that they wouldn't be charged. He then said that we should save room for dessert as that would be on Pizza Express as well, and he was really sorry.
Now in my eyes, this went above and beyond what he needed to do. We didn't see this as a big mistake, it was a simple error. Laura and I left that restaurant feeling like we were really appreciated and valued as customers, and can honestly say we have never been made to feel like that anywhere else. That was my first time visiting that Pizza Express, however I can guarantee it certainly wont be the last.
If anyone else is fed up with poor service, or you're a business that wants to see how its done, I couldnt recommend the Pizza Express on Albion Place highly enough. Its second to none, and the staff are amazing.
Well done Pizza Express!
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
I know Pizza Express isnt an Online Retailer, however they do offer a service, and an exceptional one at that.
I was visiting the Albion Place Pizza Express in Leeds last night with my girlfriend Laura and it has to be one of the best experiences I have had with regards to service.
We made our order, Dough balls to share for starter, and we were discussing with waiter about the different types of chillies on an American Hot, as my girlfriend didnt want anything that would burn her mouth out. The waiter was quite knowledgeable and discussed each. Laura didnt want to take a risk and so decided to play it safe and order a Sloppy Giuseppe and I went with a Pollo ad Astra.
Our order came extremely quickly, however there wasnt any dough balls as they had brought our pizzas and instead of Laura's choice, they had an American Hot. We explained that we had ordered dough balls and the one of the pizzas wasnt right, the waitress was extremely apologetic and said that she would go and get them to rectify the order and remake the pizzas. Now as this was clearly an honest mistake, as we had been discussing the American Hot with the waiter, we just assumed he'd accidentally written it down.
We would have been happy with them just remaking the pizzas and bringing our dough balls. What happened afterwards was extremely unexpected and shocked both myself and Laura.
The manager came over to us and apologised for the mix up, he handed us a plate of dough balls each and said that they wouldn't be charged. He then said that we should save room for dessert as that would be on Pizza Express as well, and he was really sorry.
Now in my eyes, this went above and beyond what he needed to do. We didn't see this as a big mistake, it was a simple error. Laura and I left that restaurant feeling like we were really appreciated and valued as customers, and can honestly say we have never been made to feel like that anywhere else. That was my first time visiting that Pizza Express, however I can guarantee it certainly wont be the last.
If anyone else is fed up with poor service, or you're a business that wants to see how its done, I couldnt recommend the Pizza Express on Albion Place highly enough. Its second to none, and the staff are amazing.
Well done Pizza Express!
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
Thursday, 22 September 2011
eCommerce: Are we valued as a customer? Part 2
Yesterday I wrote about the shocking service I'd received from an Online retailer, and it got me thinking about another incident that happened to me when I used Quidco to get cash back on a mobile phone.
The offer I saw was £80 cash back when I ordered an HTC Incredible S through Carphone Warehouse on a contract with Vodafone. I thought this was a great deal as I was looking to get a new contract anyway and so thought I might as well earn some money back for doing it.
I signed up for the deal on the Carphone Warehouse site having been directed there through the Quidco site. I filled out all the details, and asked for the phone to be sent to my nearest store. Unknown to me this store was still being built. This is where all my problems seemed to start.
I got an email from Carphone Warehouse saying that my order was being processed and I would get sent an email once it had been confirmed. No email ever arrived, so I thought I would go into the store to check if the phone would be arriving. The store advised that the order was on its way, and even though the store that it was supposed to go to wasn't ready, it should be directed to them. It hadn't arrived yet though, so asked me to come back.
Eventually it arrived, and I went into the store to pick it up. I went in on my lunch break and was in there for over an hour as there was a problem with my order. There was a computer error that didn't allow them to close down my order. They spent most of the time I was in the store on the phone to head office trying to sort this problem out. It was left that they would try and sort it out and I should go back after work.
I went back into the store and they said that the only way they could do anything was to cancel my order and then put it through again. I was obviously concerned about this affecting my deal with Quidco and was advised that it should be ok.
They put the order through and I started using the phone, however as I was checking on Quidco to see how my cash back was tracking, I noticed it was only tracking at £20. I checked on Quidco to see if this was normal and it said that Carphone Warehouse deals did track at lower rates. I decided to contact Carphone Warehouse direct by email and they advised that they would give me a complimentary £20 due to the problems I had received. I wrote back asking if this was £20 instead of the £80 cash back as if this was the case then I didn't agree.
I heard nothing back from Carphone Warehouse. About 4 months after I saw on Quidco that my cash back had been rejected. On enquiring with Quidco they advised me that Carphone Warehouse had rejected it.
This is where the situation becomes laughable. I spoke to Customer Services at Carphone Warehouse and they advised me that Quidco had decided not to pay me as I hadn't passed their T&C's with regards to the deal and I should check it. I contacted Quidco and they asked me to send the order confirmation, as it had been Carphone Warehouse that had rejected it.
This is just a case of each one blaming the other, however I'm really not happy with Carphone Warehouse. I feel like I have been conned by them into getting a phone through them. They have tried to palm me off with £20 when I should have received £80. They have seriously got off lightly from serious mistakes they have made, and that's not acceptable. Why should I suffer for receiving poor service?
I hope to continue using Quidco, however this has left a bad taste in my mouth as am I going to go through this with other retailers?
I'm not expecting any response from Carphone Warehouse as they have palmed me off and ignored me all through the process.
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
The offer I saw was £80 cash back when I ordered an HTC Incredible S through Carphone Warehouse on a contract with Vodafone. I thought this was a great deal as I was looking to get a new contract anyway and so thought I might as well earn some money back for doing it.
I signed up for the deal on the Carphone Warehouse site having been directed there through the Quidco site. I filled out all the details, and asked for the phone to be sent to my nearest store. Unknown to me this store was still being built. This is where all my problems seemed to start.
I got an email from Carphone Warehouse saying that my order was being processed and I would get sent an email once it had been confirmed. No email ever arrived, so I thought I would go into the store to check if the phone would be arriving. The store advised that the order was on its way, and even though the store that it was supposed to go to wasn't ready, it should be directed to them. It hadn't arrived yet though, so asked me to come back.
Eventually it arrived, and I went into the store to pick it up. I went in on my lunch break and was in there for over an hour as there was a problem with my order. There was a computer error that didn't allow them to close down my order. They spent most of the time I was in the store on the phone to head office trying to sort this problem out. It was left that they would try and sort it out and I should go back after work.
I went back into the store and they said that the only way they could do anything was to cancel my order and then put it through again. I was obviously concerned about this affecting my deal with Quidco and was advised that it should be ok.
They put the order through and I started using the phone, however as I was checking on Quidco to see how my cash back was tracking, I noticed it was only tracking at £20. I checked on Quidco to see if this was normal and it said that Carphone Warehouse deals did track at lower rates. I decided to contact Carphone Warehouse direct by email and they advised that they would give me a complimentary £20 due to the problems I had received. I wrote back asking if this was £20 instead of the £80 cash back as if this was the case then I didn't agree.
I heard nothing back from Carphone Warehouse. About 4 months after I saw on Quidco that my cash back had been rejected. On enquiring with Quidco they advised me that Carphone Warehouse had rejected it.
This is where the situation becomes laughable. I spoke to Customer Services at Carphone Warehouse and they advised me that Quidco had decided not to pay me as I hadn't passed their T&C's with regards to the deal and I should check it. I contacted Quidco and they asked me to send the order confirmation, as it had been Carphone Warehouse that had rejected it.
This is just a case of each one blaming the other, however I'm really not happy with Carphone Warehouse. I feel like I have been conned by them into getting a phone through them. They have tried to palm me off with £20 when I should have received £80. They have seriously got off lightly from serious mistakes they have made, and that's not acceptable. Why should I suffer for receiving poor service?
I hope to continue using Quidco, however this has left a bad taste in my mouth as am I going to go through this with other retailers?
I'm not expecting any response from Carphone Warehouse as they have palmed me off and ignored me all through the process.
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
eCommerce: Are we valued as a customer?
I have recently been buying lots of things on-line, which I have been doing for quite a number of years. I'm a typical bloke and I hate shopping. I really detest the whole experience. I don't like people when I'm shopping, they get in my way, they infuriate me as they don't seem to know what they want and where they want to be. I don't like trying things on, as that's time out of my life I'm never going to see again. Due to the fact that I hate the experience so much means I'm not an enjoyable person to be around when shopping. My girlfriend will vouch for that. Anyway, I established many years ago that I would much prefer to purchase as many things as possible on-line, so its something I do regularly.
The reason for this post, is that I recruit for a lot of retailers and I like to understand how they work as a business, so explore their websites and see the comments people have made about them. This helps me understand my clients and enables me to offer advice to my candidates. I recently had two completely different experiences from two different sites and I wanted to discuss it, to see if anyone else has noticed this worrying trend. The two sites I used were Game.co.uk and Amazon.co.uk. One, the service was second to none, the other was absolutely disgusting, followed up with shocking customer service.
Firstly, lets talk about the positive. Amazon.co.uk. Admittedly I ordered from Amazon, however the products were dispatched by independent suppliers, but still the service was immense and I was felt to feel appreciated as a customer. Now the suppliers in question were Areema Limited and PJP Electronics. Both products I ordered were delivered well within the time stipulated and actually arrived on the first of the five day window they stated. Both companies deserved the 5 star rating that I gave them.
Now here is the reason that you'll find the service so good on Amazon. There is so much competition on Amazon from competing suppliers that there is a fear amongst them. If they do a bad job then they wont get any more business. Customer feedback is the key to getting better service. Its the best form of marketing for these companies, and its free. All they have to do is do a good job. This is how business used to be, and its how business should be. What happened to the customer is always right?
If we look at Game.co.uk on the other hand, this definitely doesn't apply. They clearly feel that they don't really have much competition, and therefore if they don't do what they say, it doesn't matter as the customers don't have anywhere else to go. This was made clear by the service that I received.
I pre-ordered a product well in advance of the release date, it was a massive release and was going to be in high demand. Game contacted me to advise that due to the amount of pre-orders they were going to take money from my account early, not a problem I thought. All I'll say is that the product eventually arrived 5 days after the release date, although I'd had to go out and buy it on the day of its release when it hadn't arrived. This is bad service in itself, but when you mix this with the fact that they were updating their website, and their phone system, so there was no way of contacting them, it makes it atrocious.
I eventually managed to find an email address on-line and contacted someone. A few days later I got an email from their customer service department with attached terms & conditions with regards to when a product doesn't arrive. Not the response I was expecting, no apology. I wrote back to advise that I have spent a lot of money with them in the past, and threatened to take my business elsewhere. I eventually got a response over a week later, from this I gathered they didn't actually care as they had enough customers even if they lost my custom.
When you look at these two examples it just goes to show that competition clearly leads to a better service. Game.co.uk clearly feels it can treat its customers any way it likes, as there isn't enough competition for them to go elsewhere. If this is the case, then someone needs to step up to the mark and show them how its done. I'm sure I'm not the only one that's been made to feel like this by Game.co.uk
I'm not saying the Amazon way will work for everyone, but if it means that retailers are scared into offering a good service then I'm all for it. Too long we have suffered from poor service. We're the customers and we're always right. Remember that!
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
The reason for this post, is that I recruit for a lot of retailers and I like to understand how they work as a business, so explore their websites and see the comments people have made about them. This helps me understand my clients and enables me to offer advice to my candidates. I recently had two completely different experiences from two different sites and I wanted to discuss it, to see if anyone else has noticed this worrying trend. The two sites I used were Game.co.uk and Amazon.co.uk. One, the service was second to none, the other was absolutely disgusting, followed up with shocking customer service.
Firstly, lets talk about the positive. Amazon.co.uk. Admittedly I ordered from Amazon, however the products were dispatched by independent suppliers, but still the service was immense and I was felt to feel appreciated as a customer. Now the suppliers in question were Areema Limited and PJP Electronics. Both products I ordered were delivered well within the time stipulated and actually arrived on the first of the five day window they stated. Both companies deserved the 5 star rating that I gave them.
Now here is the reason that you'll find the service so good on Amazon. There is so much competition on Amazon from competing suppliers that there is a fear amongst them. If they do a bad job then they wont get any more business. Customer feedback is the key to getting better service. Its the best form of marketing for these companies, and its free. All they have to do is do a good job. This is how business used to be, and its how business should be. What happened to the customer is always right?
If we look at Game.co.uk on the other hand, this definitely doesn't apply. They clearly feel that they don't really have much competition, and therefore if they don't do what they say, it doesn't matter as the customers don't have anywhere else to go. This was made clear by the service that I received.
I pre-ordered a product well in advance of the release date, it was a massive release and was going to be in high demand. Game contacted me to advise that due to the amount of pre-orders they were going to take money from my account early, not a problem I thought. All I'll say is that the product eventually arrived 5 days after the release date, although I'd had to go out and buy it on the day of its release when it hadn't arrived. This is bad service in itself, but when you mix this with the fact that they were updating their website, and their phone system, so there was no way of contacting them, it makes it atrocious.
I eventually managed to find an email address on-line and contacted someone. A few days later I got an email from their customer service department with attached terms & conditions with regards to when a product doesn't arrive. Not the response I was expecting, no apology. I wrote back to advise that I have spent a lot of money with them in the past, and threatened to take my business elsewhere. I eventually got a response over a week later, from this I gathered they didn't actually care as they had enough customers even if they lost my custom.
When you look at these two examples it just goes to show that competition clearly leads to a better service. Game.co.uk clearly feels it can treat its customers any way it likes, as there isn't enough competition for them to go elsewhere. If this is the case, then someone needs to step up to the mark and show them how its done. I'm sure I'm not the only one that's been made to feel like this by Game.co.uk
I'm not saying the Amazon way will work for everyone, but if it means that retailers are scared into offering a good service then I'm all for it. Too long we have suffered from poor service. We're the customers and we're always right. Remember that!
If you're looking for PPC jobs, SEO Jobs, SEM Jobs, Search Jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display Jobs, Digital Planning & Buying Jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital Jobs, just give me a shout. Or if you have any questions drop me a line on: dale@digital-minds.co.uk
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