What is your biggest consumer gripe?

[tintinthegingertomcat]

I can think of plenty to moan about!!!!

Personally my biggest consumer gripe is when you try to telephone company and all you get is the automated voice saying press 1 for this and 3 for that....you know what I mean. ALL I WANT TO DO IS SPEAK TO A HUMAN BEING - NOT DIFFICULT!!!

I have tried to get through to the HMRC on several occasions and to be perfectly honest none of the options given actually related to my gripe so I try one route and end up having to put the phone down and try another route as I have never, never, never actually managed to speak to a real life person.

I would much rather the phone kept ringing until it was answered by a human being rather than going round the houses...getting nowhere...and all the time I am doing this I AM BEING CHARGED.

Rant over ladies.....what gets your goat?????????

[fishpieface]

Oh me too, I can't stand that being automatically passed around in circles on

the phone, then invariably being cut off.

When I park coaches in London I use pay by phone parking which usually

works very well.  It is automated but easy to use but occasionally when

I have to park a different coach from the ones on my account, it goes into

a frenzy and cuts me off, or it says the code on back of card registered

doesn't match the one they've got.  Then it says it's putting me through to

an operator, then it cuts me off!

Last night I stayed longer than I'd booked for as the coach broke down

and couldn't be moved.  I could not get through to a real person to explain

and I just had to hope I didn't get a ticket.

It's all very well unless there is something unusual then you have to ring

umpteen times on a mobile before being able to sort it, which I do resent

a bit.

[fishpieface]

Another gripe, something I really can't stand is being out shopping or

whatever and being forever accosted by people doing surveys/charity

people trying to get you to sign up a direct debit/and all manner of other

people trying basically to get money out of you.  They knock on the door

to do it too.

Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy to give to charity and

already do give all I can, I'm happy to do the odd survey but it's just

ridiculous sometimes especially when the door knockers are

quite out and sometimes even rude when I say it isn't a convenient

time.  Had two knock yesterday just as I was about to get changed

to go to work, I told them it wasn't a convenient time and they got all

offended and I shut the door.  They then stood at the end of the drive

for half an hour as if just to be annoying and in the end I told them to

go away

When we want something done we source somebody to do it, not

give the work to any old person that comes knocking on the door

at inconvenient times, accost you in the street or ring you up at

inconvenient times.

[ed_blackadder_1]

Quite agree about the charity thing.

Both me and Hubby donate through our work, we sponsor 3 dogs, do a charity lottery, are members of 3 other charities and give at various times by putting money in buckets, I buy things in charity shops also,  so I think we do our bit and hate being made to think we are bad people because we don't sign up in the street or at the front door.

Automated call centres drive me nuts, especially as Hubby always hands me the phone when he is trying to speak to someone.

[bitsnknots]

What really annoys me is when you go to pay for something in a shop and all the staff want to do is have a chat about where they are going that night and who with. Why they can't get on with what they are paid to do and that is serve the customer who just happens to help to pay their wages.

[hotrodasaurus]

Consumer gripes! Anything coming from China.

For thousends of years they produced some brilliant inventions. But! The last decent thing they made were Kung Fu films staring Bruce Lee. 

When the USA got hold of the action they tried to fool the world he could jump backwards into a tree[Enter The Dragon] Ever since then they have tried to cheat the world with inferior products and look like they have succeded.

I cannot think of any consumer goods that I have not had to have repaired or replaced within 5 years, many, repeat many, have become faulty within the warrenty periods.

China! I will give you a piece of advice. Please dissapear and take your ecconomy with you and vanish into your own smog filled world and leave the rest of the modern world to produce quality goods as we used to, even if we have to pay a bit more for them.

China, The benchmark for poor quality and unreliability(as well as torture, imprisonment without trial, lack of human rights and fried insects on sticks)

[hotrodasaurus]

I never give cash but I do buy from charity shops. My last purchase was a coat for £25 from a Cancer charity and another coat for £10 from the RSPCA shop. So thats £35 donation, much more than I would give to a collector and a **bleep** sight more reliable and safer than buying something from eBay

[ed_blackadder_1]

That annoys me too and I work in a shop, get on with your work leave the chat till you finish, argh!

[carolyorkie2010]

When you write to a company with a complaint and they can't even be bothered to answer your letter. I have been shopping with A**a online for a few weeks and each week there have been damaged goods. The last time, I had 5 items damaged, including a tub of yogurt which was totally squashed and there was yogurt over several of my other items. I wrote to their head office over a week ago and have not had a reply yet. Needless to say, I have gone back to good old T**co and shall remain with them.

[ilove2patch]

I always ring the number on the delivery note Carol. They are always very helpful & often give a free delivery voucher as well as your money back.

[carolyorkie2010]

Yes that's what I've been doing, and had refunds; but the last  time I only received one refund instead of two; thought it was time the management knew how my items were arriving. Couldn't fault the delivery drivers, always very pleasant, or the call centre staff. At least with T**co I get my points, LOL

[xtf70]

I choose the charities I want to support, so tin wavers and clipboard-wielding accosters get very short shrift; similarly I never respond to cold-callers either on the doorstep or the phone - if I want a service I'll go out and source it myself not take their word for how good they are

The last time I had a visit from some evangelists of whatever persuasion (they might even have been politicians, I didn't look too closely) I simply told them I though religion was a personal matter, and not something to be prostituted by dragging it around people's doorsteps - that shup them up  very quickly

[peteryola]

Shrinking pack sizes.

[bitsnknots]

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@peteryola wrote:

Shrinking pack sizes.

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Couldn't agree more.  Two weeks ago, in one of the supermarkets we go to, there were packs of 7 apples for £1.  Last Sunday the apples were still £1 but there were only 6 in the pack so that pushed the price of the apples.  That's just one example of many I could quote.

[rose2008-2008]

I must admit the phoning up one infuriates me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Every BLOOMIN company is doing it now ,you cannot hardly get to speak to a real person at all. Or making appointments that way is MADDENING as if you go wrong you have to start all over again!!!!!!!!!!. I tend to shout down the phone even though no one is listening to me aaaaaarggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

[ed_blackadder_1]

Some one who advertises overnight despatch and a week later still hasn't posted.  We ordered a harness for our hooligan of a dog last Sunday (not on Ebay) the web site said delivery 2-3 days and would email when despatched, they still haven't emailed. We were counting on it this weekend. Aaaaaarrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh. Wasn't cheap either £59. Good job they were not on Ebay would have messed up their stars.

[guardpig]

Customer service from Civil servants who quite obviously are not there to serve you or be civil just collect the wages!

Had to renew an insurance recently.  Was so not looking forward to it as had already rung the car insurance, dwp and Atos that day.  Phone answered by a real person for a change, when I commented she said we did a survey and our customers hated the automated service so we have removed it!.

[bitsnknots]

I hate the automated thing when you ring an organisation.  Thankfully, from what you've said Guardpig, at least one company have listened to what their customers have said.  Another thing I hate is the piped music when you are holding on.

[notgrumpyreally]

A little while ago I was on hold to Southern Electric long enough to listen to the song twice, like it, google the lyrics, find the singer, log onto Itunes and buy the album before someone came back.

[ed_blackadder_1]

I think the power companies are the worst for holding customers on the phone, it's not like they don't have any money to pay for real staff is it.