Got this picture a few days ago on my way back home. It’s a sticker at the back of the seat in front of me. I didn’t know what it was, but the first impression came into my mind after I saw it was a Chinese character – 粪 . You wonder what that means? Copy and check it out on Google.
I just found out it’s actually the logo of a clothes and bags brand – Crumpler . Hmmmm….two things I’m sure! 1) the logo designer is definitely not Chinese, nor can read Chinese characters. 2) they don’t have any intension to enter Chinese market. But if they do, maybe not with that logo.
I had my Natwest account since the second day I arrived in the UK. Over the past five years, because I was a poor student and was too lazy to take care of my personal finance, I have been a very good customer – never bother them anything, always believed what they said they had offered me.
The other day I spotted a booklet for graduate account in their branch shelf while I was waiting in a long queue. So while I was flicked through, there was an offer of 25% discount on Young Person Railcard (YPR) for graduate account. Normally a YPR costs 20 pounds for a year, so it’s only 5 pounds off, not a big deal. But if they offered and I’m entitled to have, why not ask for it? I asked one of the staffs there, she didn’t know anything about that offer. After a few minutes consulting with her manager or whoever knows behind the wall, she gave me a number (0191-501-3806) to call. Very classic move! So I called right away. The lady on the line wasn’t sure about that offer neither, but she gave it a try anyway and entered my name in the system. However a few minutes later, she got back and said their system was upgrading, she was not able to enter my name. I was advised to call back in two weeks when the upgrade was completed. Don’t you just love what they said?! So I agreed, made a reminder in my phone to call back in two weeks time.
Last Wednesday, exactly two weeks later, I called the same number again.
– Hi, my name is XXX, how can I help you?
– Yes, I want to get the YPR discount you guys offer for graduate account.
– Oh, we only deal with first year students here, but I’ve a number here you can call, it’s 0800-761-033
– OK, sure! I will give a shot, thank you!
So now, guess what happened? After I called that 0800 number, the guy just gave me another number to try straight away, and that number was….0191-501-3806! I told him I just called that 0191 number but they gave me the 0800 one, then another classic reply: I’m sorry but there is nothing I can do from here.
To be honest, getting that £5 discount isn’t a big deal at all. But I’m just interested to see how far they could treat me like a ping-pong ball between the rackets from each department. If you don’t have those offers then don’t put it on a public booklet. Promising something you can’t give doesn’t give your customers a positive impression. Worse, angry customers like me may post a mark on the Internet and SEO it. So next time when people search for ‘Natwest Customer Services’, guess what they will see. Don’t treat your customer like a fool, please!
I opened a new account on another Bank on the first day of my job. It’s not very safe to put all your eggs into one basket, especially when it’s got holes. One of my colleagues went even further, he closed his Natwest account on the first day of his job.
Ps. if you are a Natwest Customer Representative and wish to get in contact with me, please leave your comment below and I will give you a number to call.
On my way to Liverpool street tonight, I saw a noticeable title on a Evening Stand – ‘Black Monday’. It’s quite black today, for the financial world. But it seems there are a lot other unfortunate things happened as well, on both personal and national level.
2) Ruby, Yuk and a few of their friends visit London. I met up with them for a dinner, which was very nice. But they had suffered from not being able to take hot showers from yesterday, and a fine in London Tube. The penalty was not because they didn’t pay for tickets, but they were not familiar with London’s tube system and bought a wrong ticket.
3) Some personal things that made me quite down today as well.
Oh well, I will just go to bed early and tomorrow will be a great day for me. I believe!
Last night when I was about to sleep around 12am, Jenn hit me a link of the above video. Then links after links, the more I watched the harder I laughed, so I ended up going to sleep at 2:30am. Here is the list of links that we sent to each other on Gtalk. I’ve got to share this too. Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)
