The old left, right again

A smidge of excitement mounts as it's time for a new mobile phone ... excellent, it's like a mini birthday present.

So I decide to go with Vodafone. Virgin, my current provider, obviously think it's better to spend £100+ to get a new customer than spend less than that to keep me.

So look on the web, find what I want and then give Vodafone a call ... good so far, offer is still remains the same between the two channels. Onto delivery ... they won't deliver to my office; for security reasons they have to deliver to my home. But I have to work so I have to wait a week and stay in next Saturday for delivery.

Bang has just gone the 'honeymoon' period. So why can't I pick up the phone in one of their stores, local to my office?

"Oh no Sir, I'm sure you appreciate that we have our security precautions."

Not when it's inconvenient and I could take proof of residence like bills or passport, credit cards etc. into of their stores. They seem to be OK security measures for other companies.

C'mon, let's not have the left hand and the right hand not connecting! This is not exactly new news as I covered another instance on my company's blog.

Get rid of these silos and think about the customer journey. 'Cos I'm almost thinking ... might cancel and go with comparable O2 offer.

British Gas: oh dear, oh dear

Rather than repeat coverage like that in the Mirror of the recent price drop, this is more of a case of how not to treat a customer ... when it would have been so easy to create an advocate rather than a detractor. It's an edited version of a recent blog I did on the Geronimo website (where I work, by the way).

Most of you will recognise this tale. Get first winter utility bill and say “How much? The thieving little … (sound of bleeps)”. So immediately onto the price comparison sites. Actually find out that I would save most with British Gas … slightly unusual as I am BG dual fuel customer!!! Apparently I am on the wrong tariff – which is confirmed by their call centre.

C’mon people, if this information is in the public domain … then how long do you think it’s gonna take for your customers to find out! And guess what …“ Taxi”. I’m off to someone else … even if it costs me a little more.

A thought on how they could have created an advocate:

What about BG approaching me in November offering to do a tariff review … so “go on-line and let’s see if we can ensure you’re on the right tariff” – even if it’s done on a test size to prove/disprove business case. So they’re proactive, customer-centric, and pre-empt the inevitable price comparison search ... but with more control rather reacting to an ill-tempered customer.