Rebuttal for whinge posted under Red Rooster complaint.

In response to the comment left by “anonymous” on my Red Rooster “epic” complaint, whoever it may be. I guess I should start off by saying thankyou for reading and posting a whinge on our blog, but I won’t. What I will start off by saying is that the one thing that irritates me the most, even more than my harrowing experience at Red Rooster that day, is someone speaking about something they clearly know NOTHING about. But, before I continue, let me be the first to point out that “moswell” is not a word and if you were not aware, the word “their” has a counter part such as “there”, so maybe you might care to take notice of this next time you post a whinge so the rest of us literate people my read it without it being more excruciating than it already is. Structure of sentences and commas might help take some of the edge off as well.

So, may I begin by talking about what you “seem” to think and “believe”. To put it in laymen’s terms, YOU WERE NOT THERE! In case you are having trouble understanding this, it is not going a “little over the top”. The point of the complaint is that it is a “complaint”, not a love letter. The point of the complaint is to make a point and have it recognised, not rap it up in cotton wool and stick a nice little ribbon on top as you would seem to have it. For the record, and your offensive lack of understanding, the events that occurred on the day in question are 100% accurate, not that I need to justify or defend. I will do this simply so you may be able to follow. I hope we have that clear.

To bring the first part of your insignificant whinge apart, your frivolous comments about Simon and what he is capable of investigating or proving were nothing short of ridiculous and obviously lacked general intelligence. If one would employ just a small part of [their] (and as you can see I have used the correct spelling here, for future reference) grey matter, one may quite simply come to the conclusion that if you checked the security tapes on that day from the drive through, one could identify how long each and every car sat at the serving windows. Amazing! Also, as an added bonus, you would not even need to time it yourself as it would most likely have a timer on the screen already! Welcome to the 21st century!

Secondly, I am not a moron. I do realise, that sometimes at a drive-thru the service is speedy and efficient and makes your dining experience that much more of a pleasure. It is disgustingly clear by this comment you have made, that you do not understand this blog and complaints system whatsoever. The complaint, if you could actually comprehend, is about the entire CUSTOMER SERVICE experience. What is even more disturbing is that you ask me, or “tell” me not to blame the cashiers. If one is employed to do a job and they do not do that job, the onus is on them. But just to make it completely translucent for you, the direction of my blame was for the cashier, manager and Red Rooster as a company. There was complete failure from the cashier, (as they are point of sale) they should have at least a basic understanding of customer service, the manager was even worse to the point of being extremely rude, and Red Rooster itself for employing these totally inept people and not training them correctly.

Your next comment refers to the “new and friendly” staff you encountered. If I may pose a question, did it ever occur to you that the reason your encounter with these wonderful new staff was because someone actually alerted the right people and let them know what type of unacceptable service the old staff were delivering? Do you think it is possible that they made some well needed executive decisions and replaced these obviously unqualified and uncaring workers because of the comments that I took time to signify? If you have forgotten, you did actually state this at the end of your comment when realising they did obviously respond with action. This would indicate that my “aggressiveness” as you put it, was needed and justified in my complaint as it did incite action. Unfortunately, what you deem to be aggressive I clearly do not. This would of course depend on your own inadequate perception.

As for the rest of your comments, let me squash the relevance right out of them now and not waste any more time. 1. As for the renovation and Red Rooster’s budget, not once did I refer or complain about this whatsoever. (Please, stop here and re-read the complaint before proceeding if confusion is setting in). 2. Your reference to some employees that actually care about their job. This particular comment made me laugh in bewilderment as the entire complaint was about the people or staff who were physically there. THEY did not care about their work regardless if these other super friendly and caring staff actually exist somewhere else. HENCE THE COMPLAINT! The 3rd comment I wish to make reference to is the one where you feel it necessary to point out how much you enjoy eating there. I have one word for you, IRRELEVANT! As much as you may find this hard to believe, this situation is not about you or your daughter for that matter, which brings me to point number 4. I am sure your daughter is a wonderful young lady, not to mention the most outstanding, customer service orientated staff member Red Rooster has ever had the privilege of having on their books who copped her fair share of difficult customers. However, for the record, once again, the place was not busy as we were the only people there and I do not need to spare a thought for anyone who does not spare a thought for me and who’s choice it is to do that particular line of work, unless of course you feel it fair to put that line of guilt on me for all the difficult or rude customers your precious daughter had to serve.

In future before posting a whinge about certain complaints may I suggest that you take this little experience and use it as learning one. Just so there is no confusion from this point on, this blog was designed for specifically these types of complaints for people such as my partners and myself, to express the feelings of so many disgruntled patrons of many services, who are fed up with what seems to be the dying art of providing decent and acceptable customer service. If you find these types of complaints too abrasive for your tender touch, might I suggest you visit a less confronting blog. Maybe one where you can all pretend to sit around and give each other hugs. If you wish to continue visiting our blog however, if you are not aware, the “whinge” section is to leave a “comment” not a thesis on your irrelevant thoughts and utterly pointless remarks. So if I may suggest, please refrain from this in the future so I do not have to write another one of these letters. The mere fact I have to do this and explain these things to you is draining to say the least.

The Hulk

Ponting's Heros

Complaint posted for Nice1bruva in response to this article in The Age:

Dear Michael,

I would like to give some feedback for your article on The Age website January 9th 2008 titled “Why Ponting’s heroes just don’t appeal to me”.

I’m sure you only wrote this article in the spirit of enraging passionate Australians, but I thought I’d email my feedback regardless. It is also clear that this article is written undoubtedly from the perspective of a person who has never played a decent level of cricket in their entire life, but is happy to sit at home in their Lazy Boy and criticise anybody and everybody with no basis of comparison.

If you took the time Michael to actually play the sport you may understand the complexities of umpiring and playing it. Even in our great game today the umpire has little more than a couple of milliseconds to see and make a decision. It’s all well and good that you have the benefit of 15 angles, snicko, hot spot, and super slow mo to make your decision but I challenge you think about REAL time. In “real” time the umpire has to look down at the crease to see if the bowler’s foot is behind the line and then quickly look up at the delivery. Now I know this is hard for you to understand or even grasp but sometimes when the ball knicks the pad it certainly can (without the aid of 2000 different TV help tools) sound like it hit the bat, which would cause the players to appeal and the umpire to make his decision.

I think what is needed to ease your mind is perhaps playing cricket or watching it without the aid of TV. Go and watch your local District or Sub District competition and see if you can be so definite then. Players are always going to appeal when there is ANY doubt. That’s why we employ umpires, to make those tough calls. If you can just as easily judge decisions at local level then perhaps you should sign up and register yourself as an official ‘A’ grade umpire, and then we wouldn’t need any of the technology we currently employ because you’d NEVER make any mistakes.

Be grateful that you have the privilege of watching such a magnificent cricket side as the one we have today. Stop siding with the cry baby Indians who are more interested in playing for draws, racially abusing the big Roy Roy, and setting the most ridiculous field placements. Stop condoning Tendulker and his comments to incite military action on the decision to ban Singh.

Michael Epis, grow up and stop whinging like a spoilt Pom. If you don’t like cricket or the spirit it’s played in then write some commentary on lawn bowls (which is perhaps a sport closer to your era). If all else fails….move back to Moscow, I’m sure The Moscow Times readers are missing your rubbish opinions.

Regards,

Cameron Davidson

Official readibility rating: Undergraduate

Well, I thought it was just my other blog, but that clinches it.

I want this blog lifted to "Genius" level, people. Failing that, "Postgraduate" will probably also be acceptable.

I'm lifting my game. I hope that I'm not the only one.

Answer for Cameron's complaint

Hi,
Despite the fact the ad was wrong and any reference to a detachable frame should not have been made, BIG W should have offered to honour the ad and sold you the $130 item for $98. Apologies for what you experienced. I have passed your comments on to the relevant Area Mgr.

Complaint Posted for Cameron

I recently visited your QV store after reading your latest (15th Nov – 21st Nov) catalogue. I wanted to buy the digital photo frame on Page 19. In the colourful advertisement it says that the frame is made by AWA and is 7” with MP3 player and an extra photo of the detachable fame “included”. It says that it’s at the “everyday low price” of $98.

Now I thought it was too good to be true as it would be the perfect present for my friend…and guess what?! I was right. After making the trek from work on this 37 degree Monday 19th November, and looking around the store for this mirage of a product I finally approached the help desk to be greeted by a young lady by the name of Annette.

Annette let me know that that product did not exist and that if I wanted that exact product ADVERTISED in your catalogue I’d have to fork out around $130. Now, what got me to eventually write this email is the fact that there is no sign anywhere in the store mentioning the slip up, and directing customers to an equally good brand digital frame for $98, and to top it off there was no manager on duty.

The apparent manager Paul Harris hadn’t bothered to turn up to work on this fine Monday (he was probably at the beach, where I would have gone to on this HOT day), and there was no one else on to replace him. Pathetic!

It’s no wonder you can keep the prices so low on all of your products….You only have one manager for each area, and no back up replacements, plus products that don’t exist, thus no sales get done, and therefore you can’t pay for another manager…It’s a vicious cycle!

If you are going to advertise, at least have the brains to proof read your ads. You may not care but your customers do. In fact, if you can’t create a catalogue of 32 pages, you might as well give up, and start up a hot dog stand franchise.

Nacho's Mexican Cantina/Mexicali Rose

We had dinner last Saturday night at Nacho's Mexican Cantina or Mexicali Rose in Lower Plenty. We think that it's in the process of changing names and/or management, cause the signage outside said one thing, but the menus said something completely different.

That of course was no excuse:

To whom it may concern,

Do you know how there are times when you drive past a restaurant all the time and you say to your driving companion, "We really should try that restaurant out"?

That's how we were with your Lower Plenty restaurant.

So finally, last Saturday night, we thought we'd give your establishment a go with a few friends.

Melbourne is, of course, the eating out capital of Australia. However, Mexican food is one area that Melbourne's restaurants can clean up their act.

But based on our experience on Saturday night, it's not going to be your Lower Plenty restaurant that does it.

We arrived at the restaurant at 7pm. It was busy, I'll give it that. We ordered drinks.

They took a little while to arrive. And in the meantime, we ordered food.

Our entree was dips for the whole table - two serves. It took 45 minutes for these to arrive, and when they did, only one was forthcoming.

We asked the waitress where the other one was, only to be greeted by, "They've run out of the dips."

Fortunately, another one was able to be scraped together with a cheese dip and something else, arriving at our table no less than ten minutes later.

So we sat and chatted while we waited for our mains to arrive. At about the hour and a half mark from when we placed our order, we started getting antsy, as you do. We looked around but there was no waiting staff in sight. And when they did appear, it was to serve people who appeared well after us.

We took turns to go up to the front counter to ask where our mains were, but to be honest, your waiting staff should have come and informed us that there was a delay, and the reasons for the delay.

Slowly, our table got more and more frustrated with the lack of service.

Seriously, this is the one time when I wish that there were mice in the kitchen, because you needed Speedy Gonzalez to shake things up. I had to be physically restrained from running into the kitchen and yelling, "¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!"

By this time, we were going up at ten minute intervals. One of our party was greeted with, "Yes we already have your complaint. Could you please wait."

Talk about pouring tequila onto a burning fire. How would you feel if someone said this to you?

Finally, when our mains came out, some of us were in danger of falling asleep. This was now 9pm and there was barely anyone left in the restaurant.

TWO HOURS, PEOPLE!

I didn't hear a complaint about the food, except that my Chili Colorado was as tough as leather.

Our whole evening was a disgraceful exhibition of shameful amateurism. It will be a long time before we return, if we ever do. You need to wake up to yourselves.

Yours sincerely,

Dikkii.

And that was very satisfying.

Qantas? JetStar? Who the f@$%... Part 2

This is Part 2.

Part 1 is here.

Took them a while, but Qantas eventually replied to my complaint:

Dear Dikkii


Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your first hand experience of our codeshare flights to Bangkok and back to Melbourne, operated by Jetstar.

Qantas is committed to acting on what our customers tell us and although I can't answer you in detail, I can assure you that I have logged your feedback in our database. We run a continuous improvement program, which uses this feedback to help resolve problems and improve our product and service. Your feedback will be an invaluable input to that improvement process.

Although I can not respond to you with any further information, please be assured that I have provided your feedback to the management of the area responsible, so that they too can learn from your experience.

We value your support as a Frequent Flyer member and I hope you will give us the opportunity to show you Qantas at its best by flying with us again soon.


Yours sincerely


Brigitte Anttilla
Customer Care Executive
Qantas Airways Ltd

Fairly standard stuff - I wouldn't be surprised if Brigitte just cut and pasted from a form letter. I'm not really interested in pursuing this unless I hear from a lot of people who've had the same thing happen to them

In which case it could be a job for the trashy current affairs shows. I've always wanted to meet Anna Coren.

But I will go on record to say that I have no confidence in Qantas' code-sharing arrangements. Nor anyone else's for that matter, especially where a budget airline is used in place of a full-service one.

Disclosure: This blogger owns shares in Qantas.