Author: magnoliasnowdonsays

Parkinson’s UK

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Parkinson’s UK

 

Do Charities really want volunteers or are they just after our money? That is the question!

 

My father died from Parkinson’s Disease in June 2017 and in his memory I contacted Parkinson’s UK to offer my services as a volunteer. I was told that they had enough and that I should call them again in early 2018.

I wasn’t happy with this response so I wrote to the Chairman  and below is his response.

 

Over eight months have gone by  and to this day I have not heard from the supposed Head of Volunteering.  However, soon after receiving this letter I started receiving periodic mailshots from the charity asking for donations. Is this how they treat potential volunteers?  They are obviously only interested in our money.

 

After this experience I would rather support small more obscure charities that appreciate every minute and penny that is donated to their worthwhile causes than waste my time with these big charities.

 

Please beware!

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The Benefits of Stretching

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I don’t know about you, but as I get older (I’m in my early 50’s) I now appreciate the benefits of stretching.  I used to think that all those people who stretch in the gym or the parks after their workouts were wasting their time, little did I know.  As a person who spends so many hours a day sitting, be it driving (I do thousands of miles each year, and no, I’m not an Uber driver!) or sitting at a desk, or table in my case, penning my  letters of disgust to Chairmen of PLCs and the like, we become stiff and rigid. We all need to do some exercise to keep mobile. I take my dogs for walks, but that is not enough.  Stretching on a daily basis is crucial.

 

Top Six benefits of Stretching

 

Relieves stress

 

Improves posture

 

Improves circulation

 

Increased flexibility

 

Enhanced coordination

 

Streamlines  muscle

 

My letter to the Chairman of BT

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I don’t know about you, but I am getting quite fed up with not being able to speak to someone in the UK anymore when I call up any Customer Service Call Centre!

Surely it defeats the object of the exercise of providing good customer service when you end up speaking  to someone at the other end of the world whose grasp of English is less that perfect and who has no authority in any case, as is evident from my latest post, which resulted in me having to write to the Chairman of BT on this occasion.

Letter to the Chairman of BT

Dear Sir Michael

I am writing to express my utter disgust with the way I have been treated by British Telecom. I have a small shop in the Home Counties and unfortunately I had to close it. I called your colleagues one month before to warn them that I would no longer need the line after Saturday 11th November 2017 as it was my last day of trading.  When I

went to the shop on Friday 10th November, to my horror I discovered that I had no phone line and therefore no way of taking credit card payments.

When I finally got through to someone in the Philippines I was told that you do  not disconnect lines on a Saturday so it could be done on either the Friday or Monday.  Obviously no initiative was taken as some idiot decided to terminate my line on the Friday  ie two business days before I closed my shop. To add salt to the wound I was not told about any of this until I called on the Friday to find out what had happened to my line.

I therefore lost sales opportunities as the majority of my sales  are via credit card and the nearest ATM to my shop is nearly a mile away.

I know that I am David to your Goliath, but I would like an explanation as to why you should treat small enterprises in such a despicable way?

In addition, i seek compensation for the incompetence of your colleagues resulting in my loss of earnings.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Your sincerely

 

 

Magnolia Snowdon

My Top Five Tips For Letters Of Complaint

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My Top Five Tips For Letters of Complaint

 

  1. Handwrite the letter.  This personal touch shows that you have taken the time to convey your grievance.
  2. Find the name of the Chief Executive Officer or Chairman and address your letter to them.  You can usually Google this information. It is always best to aim at the top honcho.
  3. Ideally you should find their home address, the impact is greater if you send your letter of complaint to their home.  Unfortunately in this day and age with more data protection regulation it is harder to find but Companies House is a good place to start.
  4. Before you write your letter make a chronology so you know the order of events to provide the context to your grievance.
  5. Keep a copy of your letter and send it Recorded Delivery.  This way you know someone has had to sign for it.

 

Good luck with your complaint!

 

Who Is Conway?

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Who Is Conway?

 

I don’t know about you, but it seems that everywhere I turn there is something Conway related on our London streets, be they diggers, lorries, road signs and even huge monstrosities I can’t even figure out their purpose.  At first seeing a few Conway vehicles / plant did not bother me, however now it has become beyond a joke, it’s like an obstacle course even trying to get in to John Lewis Oxford Street! It seems that they have a monopoly over all the works going on in London and beyond. I even spotted a huge Conway lorry just off Exit 12 of the M4 Motorway  a couple of weeks ago.

 

According to their website

“FM Conway is a leading infrastructure services company delivering vital services in transportation, the built environment and open spaces for communities and business.”

  

Their logo says Great People, Great Work.

I am sure they have great people working for them and they do great work  although some of the projects they have done in my neighbourhood could have been done better.

This is not my gripe…. What I am more concerned about is why does this contractor have such a monopoly?  Surely both local and national governments should have learnt from previous gigantic mistakes of putting all their eggs in  one basket? Eg Carillion! As tax- payers shouldn’t we have the right to know?

What would happen God forbid if Conway went bust???????    

THe 21st Century Good Samaritan

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It was around 8pm on a Sunday evening in February and I was driving home after visiting friends in the countryside, when one of dearest friends called in a panic to say she had just got off the Circle Line  train at King’s Cross and realised her handbag was still on the seat as it pulled away from the station. She was lucky enough to have her phone with her as she had been speaking to her son as she disembarked.

 I asked my husband to find the number for TFL so we could enquire about any bags that may have been handed in. Just as we were about to dial, my business phone rang, very unusual for a Sunday evening! My husband answered and there was a gentleman on the end of the phone asking if we were XYZ company?  Of course my husband said yes and the gentleman went on to explain that he had noticed a dubious youth about to take the bag so he intercepted it and took it with him. The only contact details he could find in the bag were a batch of my business cards which my friend had taken to distribute at a party she was going to later that week. We found out his name was Simon and he offered to deliver it to my friend’s  home. We thanked him so much, but had to explain that my friend would not be returning until much later as she was on babysitting duties for her grandson. Instead we went to Simon’s house in Paddington  on our way home and collected the bag. We were so grateful that he had picked it up . He was certainly my friend’s 21st Century Samaritan.  Tyere 

Letter to Carphone warehouse

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Letter to Carphone warehouse

Dear Mr Baldock I am writing to you to express my fury with the way I have been treated by Carphone Warehouse. My complaint stems from last May when I asked for an upgrade which I was entitled to.

After some consideration I decided that it was not suitable for me and CPWH said I could revert back to my original contract. The handset was returned in October 2017 to the Oxford Street Branch. The lady manager said that it would take two weeks to process the reversal with O2. It is now My 2018 and the issue has still not been resolved and I am still being charged for an upgrade which I do not have. The enclosed emails are quite self explanatory stating that you agree to reverse the upgrade. I reiterate the fact that we were told we could cancel within fourteen days however, due to the dishonesty or incompetence or both of your staff I still await a reversal of the upgrade. After further communication with CPWH last month I was told the O2 had to amend the contract. They said that as CPWH is the third party it is your responsibility to reverse the contract and reimburse me for the year’s fees etc which I have been charged for a service which I have not received. Is this the way you treat loyal customers of over twenty years standing? I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours sincerely

MS

Lost and Found

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170410-M-RO214-686

The story of Toby the Tortoise

There are good tenants, bad tenants and eccentric tenants.  Jasper our tenant definitely fits in to the third category.

Jasper was introduced to us by one of London’s most prestigious estate agents a couple of years ago as he wanted an apartment in Notting Hill to be near his children who lived nearby.  It was agreed and he moved in alone with his children able to visit periodically, not on a daily basis which became the norm.

A couple of years went by with the occasional request from Jasper which was nothing too unusual.  It was only when he decided to leave early, that the strangest request was made. I received an email from his PA asking that when Toby the Tortoise comes out of hibernation could I contact them so they could collect him.

At first  I wasn’t certain whether I  should take this request seriously or not.  Where could the tortoise be hibernating? The property has a terrace with a bed of plants and shrubs.  Surely Toby wasn’t somewhere deep in the earth?

After Jasper had left leaving the apartment as if a tornado had hit it ,I went about tidying and cleaning it ready for the next tenants.  I searched everywhere for Toby, to no avail.

A few weeks later in the Spring I returned to the property to plant some flowers as the new tenants were moving in imminently. To my amazement there in the corner of the bed near a laurel bush was a small tortoise shell  the size of a saucer. I was not expecting to see such a small one. At first I was afraid whether it was alive or not so I gave him a gentle nudge and lo and behold he moved his back leg, albeit it very slowly. I was so relieved that we had found him alive and well!  I went inside and quickly sent a message to Jasper’s PA “LOST and FOUND TOBY is ALIVE!” She was very grateful and arranged for him to be collected the following morning.

When I went back outside Toby had disappeared I thought oh no where is he? .  He had circumvented the flowers which I had newly planted and had made his way to the other side of the terrace.  I had no idea that tortoises could move so fast. I quickly found a shoe box and deposited him in it after making holes in the lid  and putting some leaves in it. I had to make sure he would not escape again and be returned to his rightful owners the following morning.

The lengths good landlords go to for their tenants!!!!!

Waitrose

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20180521_184732.jpgDear Mr Collins.

I am writing to you express my utter revulsion with the way I was treated by your Rickmansworth Branch .

My grievance all transpires from a delivery booked by my husband on Friday 2nd March to be executed on Saturday 3rd March between 7-8am.  The delivery of essentials was for my mother an eighty-one year old recently widowed lady who had been housebound for four days due to the cold.

On Friday evening at approximately 7pm a Mr X supposedly the manager of your store called to say that they were cancelling my mother’s order and that deliveries would not be starting until 11 am on that Saturday.  I fully appreciate that the adverse weather conditions caused difficulties, however I asked Mr X if my mother’s delivery could be made later in the day. He gave me a categoric “No” claiming that all the slots had been taken.  Surely you can still accommodate the first in line? I explained that the delivery was for an old lady which he simply ignored. I even suggested that he could arrange for a taxi service to collect and deliver. Again he said “No”.  

It seemed that he did not care and just wanted to get me off the phone.  I have been a very loyal Waitrose customer for over twenty years which I declared to Mr X which he simlpy ignored.   After my frustrating conversation with Mr X who in my opinion has not one ounce of customer service acumen, I reluctantly finished the call.  However, unbeknown to Mr X I had not quite hung up and the final straw was hearing him and a female colleague laughing and ridiculing me following our conversation.  When I called back to confront him, he blatantly lied and denied it and continued to be disingenous and dismissive with his dialogue. If he is an ambassador for Waitrose then God help you!

In the current hostile retail climate a bad customer service reputation is something no retailer wants be they large or small.

This episode has most definitely left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

What happened to good will and good customer service?

I look forward to receiving an explanation.

Yours sincerely

MS