Cosma's Life

Open Letter to Kwik-Fit

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:48:41 PST

To whom it may concern.

I just had a puncture fixed by Kwik-Fit. The price of £21.50! was excessive, but I had no choice at the time or else I would have gone elsewhere.

The experience started badly as the fitter just HAD to look at some amusing content on his colleagues iPhone before dealing with my tyre. I did point this out to the chaps in the office, but they were not interested and seemed to think that keeping a customer waiting was ok.

I was shocked when I got the bill to see the breakdown. I neither asked for nor wanted "Nitrogen inflation" or a "New Inflation Valve". That would have saved me £6.50. £15 is still steep for a puncture repair!

This just strikes me as gross profiteering. I know for a fact that my local tyre shop charges £10 for a puncture repair.

I am shocked and disappointed that you would take advantage of customers in this way. If you must add extra services to a simple request then you should inform the customer BEFORE so they can choose NOT to have them. As I said, I did not want "Nitrogen inflation" and there was nothing wrong with the valve (I have difficulty believing a valve costs more than £1).

I take it that you price promise your work. What documentation do you need in order to prove that other businesses charge a reasonable amount?

Regards

An annoyed customer

IT Knowledge

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:56:13 PST

Over the past few years, as computer technology has been invading it's way in to just about everybody's life, there has always been one thing that has never ceased to amaze me.

I cannot understand why it is still socially acceptable, in fact almost encouraged in some circles, for people to be proud of the fact that they are totally Technologically inept!

The has been a conversation on one of the Mensa lists I belong too, during which one lady was happy to declare that she did not know her own phone number and another (supposedly tech savvy) person did not know how a phone number should be formatted (trivial, but an indication of the lack of respect this kind of knowledge holds). I ask you, what other area do you find people proudly declaring their ignorance?

I have noticed, in my interactions with friends etc, that not many kids (in my social circle) are doing any form of technical subject. Those that are doing "Computers" seem to spend more time learning how to write a word document and make pretty pictures, than they do learning how to actually PROGRAM a computer. I am glad to see that the government is finely waking up to this http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jan/10/computer-skills-ed-vaizey the question is "Will the rest of us wake up, before we are left too far behind to catch up"?

The Empire and the UK's good times, were built on manufacturing. We have thrown that away and seem to be in the process of throwing the hi tech business. This country has had some great inventors in the past. Why are we not trying to train the inventors of the future? Why are kids at school not being told that programming is creative and "artistic". Designing and building a "thing" and then making it work, thus solving an issue or achieving a goal, is incredibly satisfying (and "creative").

This is an episode from a podcast I listen too about this subject. The guy starts by talking about a "Portable dog Killer" (don't panic, the name is more dramatic than the device) and then goes on to discuss the need to encourage innovation and development of new "stuff" http://media.grc.com/SN/sn-281-lq.mp3 it is well worth a listen.

After WW2 we threw away an early lead in Computing. Let's not let the rest of the world crush us in the stampede to the future, while we sit around twiddling our thumbs and drawing pretty pictures.

"There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what the heck happened". Philosopher Dr Friedrick Nietzsche.

</soap box mode>

________________________________

Cosma

www.papouis.net

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Save paper - do you really need to print this email?
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Windows 8 Developers Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:38:02 PDT

Well,

After much gnashing of teeth and hair pulling I have managed to get Windows 8 up on both an old laptop and a Virtual machine.

The installation was much helped after I found out that there have been download issues from the MS website and some people (me included) ended up with truncated .iso files!! I re-downloaded it an checked that it was the correct 2.8Gb, which is was second time.

After that….

It would not load on VMware workstation, but I am using V7 so I was only able to specify Windows 7 as the OS type not Win8, not sure if it makes any difference whatsoever.

I then tried Oracle Virtual box. When I started the App it immediately wanted me to update it, so I did (more out of habit than any belief that it would make a difference) and loe and behold it offered me a “Windows 8” OS type! Notable features. Well I noticed immediately that it set the memory requirement to 1Gb(for 32bit 2Gb for 64bit!) Which is much higher than the usual values for other OS’s.

My laptop only has 4Gb, 1Gb of that is used by the graphics card so I had to kill a few tasks to get it to a point where it would actually install. But it then went on to install and start working!

Initial comments.

My 1^st impression was “Very pretty, but nothing works”. Then I changed the screen resolution. It, by default, sets the resolution to 800x600 (on both the laptop and the virtual) but then you click on the tiles and nothing happens. I wound it up as far as I could, just to see what it looks like, and the tiles sprang into life.

Many (all??) of the tile apps that come pre-installed seem to want to be full screen. I will withhold judgement on that for the moment. IE looks totally different when launched as a tile, but can be put back in to “standard” mode. I like the apps I have played with (Facebook, Twitter) they are pretty, not revolutionary, but pretty. I think that if I can pin Word Excel, and a few other key business apps to the Metro interface it could actually be quite good for offices where you only what the staff to have the apps you authorise. I must remember that, being a techy, I am not like other users. I typically have several apps open at a time, and visible (maybe even on two or more screens). Most “normal” users tend to switch from app to app, using one at a time.

The active tiles are interesting, but I must admit the Facebook tile is very irritating as it scrolls through an ever changing selection of pictures from my friends. Very distracting, especially as, when I saw a picture that intrigued me, I clicked on it and it took me to the home screen rather than the picture in question. I think I would like it to scroll the news feed rather than pictures (this may be possible, but I have only been looking at it for a while and have not got that deep).

Another “odd” feature is the lack of “Exit” buttons on apps. The intention is that you just use the apps and don’t worry about managing them. When you want to move on you just go back to the “Start” screen (incidentally, alt + tab will take you back to the desktop not the start screen. This is a pain, but, again, I am assuming it is a tweakable feature) and select another app. Windows 8 will manage the open apps and will terminate the “oldest” when it needs more resources.

So far I quite like it. It will require slight mental shift and a change in my working practices, nothing dramatic, but still a change. I will have to take my own advice and stop fighting the system (to make it behave the way it always has) and try to go with it. The performance is not what I would call snappy, but I am not too upset about that as a, I am running it on a Virtual Machine and an aging laptop, b, It certainly is not bad, c, I have heard reports from people running it on better hardware that it is quite snappy and d, it is not released code so it probably does contain debug info, which will make it bigger and slower.

I will carry on experimenting and see where it takes me.

HP Customer Support

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:45:39 PDT

Is this the worst Customer Support I have ever experienced?

I have just spent a considerable amount of time on the phone to HP Support trying to get a simple bit of information about a device that HP produce and sell.

Initially they bounced me around their various departments as they could not decide who should assist me. Each time the wanted ME to call a different number, but relented and transferred me when I objected. Eventually, when they could not find reference to the product I wanted I got through to their complaints department.

They took all the details and then 24-hours later they called me back and said that they had found the info that I require, but they would not give it to me as I do not have a support contract!! They actually do not know if I have one or not as I have not given them the serial number of the device, just the Model number. They said if I paid £15 they would give me the info! How much trouble must they be in to be scratching about for £15????

All I need to know is the maximum supported resolution of the device. That could be read off a data sheet by a monkey!.

When I asked to escalate it I was told that I can't all I can do is write in, but that would go to the same department that I had just spoken too. The management will not talk to clients.

I think I now know why HP are coming out of the PC market! This is so far from my definition of customer service that I am lost for words.

If you want to talk to them you need Alex on DCVC_EMEA_EN@mail.support.hp.com if that is not an address that is designed so that it cannot be used then I don't know what is.

The final irony is that I actually found the info that I was looking for, just not on the HP website.

How is it that Dell keep records of all the PC's I have ever purchased? All I have to do is enter the TAG number and all the specs of the machine, as it was shipped, appear (even for some machines that are many years out of maintenance!!)

They world is rapidly becoming one where service is tops. Apparently HP don't know that, can't do it, or just don't care!

Guess this explains why HP are getting out of the PC market.....

Tick Tick Tick

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:47:49 PDT

Tick tick tick
the sound of my life ebbing away.

Daddy Daddy Daddy.
'Enjoy them while they are young', "they will soon stop asking"

Will there be any me me left by then?

Is there any of me left now?

Nokia Raise A Genius Call

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:47:07 PDT

Well on we go.

On Friday I get a call from the local expert. He has escalated the issue to “Nokia” I presume he means Finland. I waited till today to chase only to be told that though they have raised what they call a “Genius Call” it could take months to get a result.

Glad to know that the customers concerns are Nokia’s.

By the time they get back to me, which I very much doubt they will, I will have moved on to the next phone. I was quite looking forward to a Nokia Windows Phone 7 phone, but an HTC or Motorola Android phone could be in my future.

Such a shame.

Brave New World

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:47:21 PDT

The world is changing. There was a time that a phone was a phone. You made calls, maybe took pictures, and that was it.

Today a phone is a small computer. It has my diary, my pictures, my numbers. It syncs with various services, accesses many wireless networks and does a myriad of other things.

So what? Well So I do not want to do a factory restore! In my phone I have wireless keys for numerous hot spots I regularly use, but I do not have record of these keys. I have finally managed to settle down the syncing so that I do not get duplicates all over the place. My address book has settled down. Do I want to go though all that pain again? NO!

The does come a point at which I will just say sod it. I will ditch the so called smart phone and just use a dumb phone. Or maybe I will be like 90% of the rest of the population and will just use the phone for calling and pictures. When I upgrade the phone I will loose all my pictures and have to re-enter all the numbers by hand. Just like a friend of mine that has just posted on FaceBook “Please inbox (Grrrr.. she means email) me you number, my phone has gone and I have lost the lot!”. Yer right! I can really see me doing that!

Phone companies have to realise that their devices are now computers and they form and integral part of peoples lives. I cannot be without my phone for a week while you blow it away! I do not want weeks of agro setting it up again. You have to treat this things like what they are. When they fail your staff have to be skilled enough to get in to the guts and fix them! I was impressed when the tech in Manila remote controlled my phone, that is the way it SHOULD be done. I was not impressed when all he did was bugger up my access point priorities and reinstall the app I was trying to fix. Here’s the news. "I ALREADY DID THAT!”.

Nokia are already in trouble as they have dropped the ball with the N97 and the N8 (as it was basically obsolete before it was released). The N8 is a good phone. It has a great camera, a real flash and in general I like the way it works. The problem is that it is slow and the touch is not great.

I am looking forward to getting a Windows 7 based Nokia. Don’t get me wrong, I like Symbian. I have been using it since I hade a Psion 5! It is just a shame it has fallen behind, both in performance and in technology. I like Nokia engineering. The phone looks good and feels good. Now get the innards up to spec and we will all be happy.

But PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get the support people up to speed and change the mentality. A factory reset HAS to be the LAST thing you do when ALL else has failed. And there MUST be a way of imaging the phone so that when the factory reset has not fixed the issue I can at the very least get back EXACTLY where I was when we started (just restoring my data is NOT enough). At least that way I will not be in a worse off position than when I started.

Technorati Tags: Nokia,N8,Rant

ition.

Nokia Support Takes the Biscuit!

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:47:07 PDT

The story so far……

I made the fatal mistake of applying a Nokia update to my Nokia phone!

Result………

The social app will not work.

I called Nokia about this last week, and after some messing about was told that I would be called back.

Silence….

Yesterday I got annoyed and posted on the Nokia UK FaceBook page and lo and behold I get a call today. Coincidence?

So what’s the story?….

Well. After some messing about (using a great tool that allowed him to remote control my phone) I am told that I have to cold reset my phone and reinstall! I pointed out that I did not want to do that as it had taken me a while to get the phone the way I like it and I do not want to lose all my settings etc.

Cutting a long story short… It appears that applying the phone update tried to upgrade my phone to Social App version 1.3 but this failed. Now all they can give me is version 1.2, but this will not over write the scripts for version 1.3.

I cannot understand why they cannot either give me 1.3 to install or just the scripts I need for 1.2 to work so I can manually over write the damaged ones.

Well, would you believe it?…

In the space of 2 minutes I get a call from Nokia UK Complaints department and then at the same time from the Manila support department. He has found 1.3 for me and she wants' to talk. Well I have installed 1.3. No joy so I am about to call her to talk.

The Lady at the UK help desk is going to escalate to a UK based support person. This is good as Symbian originated in the UK with Psion in Milton Keynes. Is it beyond the wit of man to manually remove the elements of the social app or fix the defective scripts and reinstall it, without flashing the whole phone?

We will see. I have promises from The UK and Manila for a call back…

Nokia N8–Friend or Foe?

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:47:07 PDT

It’s now been a few week since I got my N8 and I am quite confident that I have been in to just about all of it’s nooks and crannies.

I am please to say that the only disappointment so far has been Nokia.

Lets start with the negative, to get it out of the way.

For some unexplained reason the device ships with no podcasting (podcatcher) software installed and despite my best efforts I have not managed to get one of the .sis files offered on the Nokia website to actually install. I have spoken to their help desk and been promised a call back but, as is their way, none has been forthcoming. It has been a couple of weeks since I last tried, and I will try again (as this is really the only fly in the ointment).

The only other thing that does not work is the Audible player (so I can listen to audio books) but I do not hold this against anyone (not even Nokia) as it is a very new phone and I am sure they will come up with a version that works asap.

So let’s move on to better things…

I manually copied some podcasts and music to the N8 and, as is my way, proceeded to delete them as I finished listening. Arrggghh!! an old N97 “feature” appeared. One of the podcasts refused to delete and kept on telling me that it was “in use”. This was not possible as I was playing other media in the player. I tried using the file manager to remove the file, but to no avail. Eventually I connected it to my laptop and delete the offending file (brute force and ignorance). I was expecting the file to still appear in the music player and clutter the place up for ever and a day, as it did in the N97, But NO!! When I went back in to the player it was gone. Joy!!

I have had a few syncing issues, duplicate calendar entries, addresses etc, but I suspect that was because I was using Goosync and the Nokia Ovi over-the-air Sync AND Ovi Suite. Since I stopped doing that and restricted myself to Goosync and the Ovi Suite things have settled down. I am syncing, via the PC to Google and Ovi, but can’t decide if their is any point to the Ovi stuff.

Other than that the Phone is great! Email syncing with Gmail and Live Mail works well. Why would you want a Blackberry? I have loaded a game or two, just as a test as I really am not a gamer, and the graphics are stunning. The Camera is beyond fantastic, although I currently have 2 stuck MMS’s that have gone but will not clear from the Queue. I suspect it is because I sent very high res images. Doh!

One bit of good news since I started writing this. I have found a site that has great Free Symbian applications http://www.drjukka.com/index.html I have loaded a podcatcher from here. It is a beta, and a little flaky, but does do the job and I am sure it will get better. I also have a file manager that makes the inbuilt one look like a bit of an embracement. The site has loads of other tools and apps that can really enhance your phone. Or bugger it up. So beware and load them at your own risk. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

One feature that I really like is the ability to lock the phone by sending a text message. One message with a secret code word in it and the phone locks itself, the SIM and the memory card. Fantastic if I ever leave the phone somewhere. It means that I know that it cannot be abused while I figure out what I have done with it.

Anyway, I will end now and may add some more comments later. Suffice to say that this is a major improvement by Nokia and it sounds like Symbian ^4 is on it’s way which should be a good thing.

Shame Nokia support is so poor.

Anyone know how I can get rid of the stuck messages?

Nokia N8 – First impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:47:07 PDT

After a long wait my new Nokia N8 has arrived. I will, over the next week or two give a bit of a review of it, but lets start here with some initial thoughts.

Looks – This phone looks great! unfortunately the camera lens sticks out of the back, but I am willing to live with that for 12mp camera with auto focus and real flash. On the back of the unit there is a logo that sticks out too, which is rather irritating. I would have preferred it if the back was covered in a non-slip coating like many of the Android phones out there.

Keyboard – There isn’t one. That is one thing I really will miss from my N97, except the hinge was starting to go so I wonder how much longer it would have been before it completely failed. The onscreen keyboard is actually quite usable, when you turn the phone sideways so you get the qwerty keyboard.

What am I expecting? Well, what I would like is the N97 that works!

So far that seems to be what I have. Alas it does not have the podcasting app installed as standard (why not!!????!!!) but I am working on that (as the ones I have found on the Nokia site do not work). Also the Audible player will not play! but it does install? Very strange, but again I am working on that. My laptop has decided that it does not want to see the phone in Ovi or PC Suite; strangely it does allow me to access the disk on the phone, so I am not too upset. I really need internet access on the move, but I have some alternative tethering tricks that I will be trying over the next few days, so all is not lost. I must say that I think that my laptop could probably do with a reinstall so I don’t blame the phone for the last 2 failures. Windows 7 also does not seem to have all the required Bluetooth drivers, this is probably due to the fact that the phone has not actually been released yet, so I am willing to give Nokia the benefit of the doubt for a week or 2.

I like the 3 home screens, and the onscreen widgets are great. I especially like the way it integrates with Gmail and gives me Blackberry like functionality buy checking mail on a schedule and buzzing when it finds some. Made doubly useful by allowing me to select a “Blackout” period (11pm-8am) when it will not bother me.

So far so good. I have not had that many calls since I got the phone so I have not yet had a chance to experience the worse failings of the N97 (i.e. missing calls because the pesky thing would not let me answer them and not giving me access to a dial pad so I can choose 1, 2 or 3 to control my auto attendant).

One feature that does seem missing (possibly because I have not looked hard enough) is the ability to lock the phone remotely by sending a text.

Anyway, enough for now and I will post some more in a few days when I have had more time to use the phone.

Quote from Edith Wharton

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:47:49 PDT

"Another unsettling element in modern art is that common symptom of immaturity, the dread of doing what has been done before."

View article...

Senna and the death of F1

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:21:43 PDT

This weeks Top Gear was a cracker.

The film celebrating Senna (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mj59) really brought it home that F1 has slowly been drowning under a sea of technology. (oh and, had Senna lived, that would have been one of the greatest F1 years ever!).

Don't get me wrong. I love technology and I think that for mere mortals it can be the difference between a nice fast drive in the country and a hospital ward. But there is nothing finer than watching a skilled driver tame an F1 car and drive on the ragged edge. Some of the shots of Senna controlling 1200 BHP as the car squirms it's way down the road are amazing. Even Mr Hamiliton (who is no mean driver himself) admitted that it was a totally different driving experience.

I know that F1 is a test bed for new car technology. But to survive as a spectator sport it needs to bring some of the "fun" back. Michael Schumachar, great driver that he is, is just boring to watch. Get him in a good car and he just wins, he is a machine. Well I have a Playstation if I want to watch a machine drive. All the races I have watched recently are just to clinical. The computer is controlling big bits of the car and preventing all the shimmies and squirms. Until the point the driver cocks up or something breaks, in which case it crashes. Where's the skill? (no I am not saying they are not skilled drivers, anyone that can can control a car at those speeds is clearly a skilled driver, and has nerves of steel) I want to see cars scrapping and duelling for position. Wheel to wheel combat. I want the guy at the front to have to fight for it and then defend it all the way to the line.

Currently, who ever has the best technology, gets the best grid position and wins. BOOORRRIINNNGGG!!!

How about randomising the grid? Just pull starting positions out of a hat? or reverse the grid so that the winner of the last race starts at the back? or have the drivers pull a car number out of a hat? (that would make the constructors and drivers championships really mean something!) or simply have a rota so that every driver drives every car (over the course of the year) not sure if the numbers work on that one, but you get the idea.

Get rid of the driver aids! I can see the argument for ABS but surly this level of driver can cope without traction control and launch control? I can see the point of flappy paddle gear box's but lets make them dumb. Press the button and the gear changes, do it at the wrong speed and the gearbox explodes!

Let's make the drives DRIVE not just be passengers is a glorified video game. Actually. We could take the drivers out of the car, make them drive by remote control and then take all the restrictions away so the cars can go as fast as technology (dam!) can make them go.... Hmmmm... Now I am being silly.... Or am I?

It's been said before... The 80's were a great decade. Let's wind F1 back a bit.

Weight Loss Using The Dog Food DIET

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:21:14 PDT

I was buying 2 large bags of Purina dog chow at Wal-Mart for my dogs, Winston, Chief, Gus, and Maximus. I was about to check out when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

Surprised by the question, I asked her:
"What do you think I have? A small elephant?

Since I had little else to do, on impulse, I told her: "NO, I didn't have a dog. I was starting the Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I ended up in the hospital last time I was on it. However, On the bright side though, I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of every hole in my body and IVs in both arms.

"I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry and that the food is nutritionally complete so I was going to try it again."

(I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was enthralled with my story by now.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food had poisoned me.

I told her:
"No. I had stopped in the middle of the parking lot to lick my butt and a car hit me."

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard!

WAL-MART won't let me shop in that store anymore.

Linux

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:21:14 PDT

Well it had to happen.

I have just spent the evening messing with a virtual Ubuntu 10.01. And I must say I quite like it.

Being as it is on a VM none of the visual effects (if there are any) work, but other than that it was easy enough to install and get working. Actually all I did was install it and it started working by itself. I did manage to break the network connection for a short while, but that was down to it being on a VM and it did not take long to fix.

Most of the pre-installed apps are ok, but the messaging tools are great. Being able to login to all my assorted messaging apps in one place is really handy.

Considering that it is running on a desktop PC that is also running a virtual XP and only has 512Mb allocated to it the performance is great.

I would like to give it a more extensive trial, but am not quite brave enough to make it my main platform yet. This is because by laptop is critical to my work and I am not au faix enough with Ubuntu to be 100% confident that I can get it to do everything I need in double quick time. This laptop is ageing and as soon as I can replace it I think I will make it 100% Ubuntu and run it in parallel to what ever new machine I get.

As I have said before, the platform is far less important that the tools (apps) that I need to use. Maybe I will be able to find free, Linux based, alternatives to all the tools I use. Alas there is no MS Office for Linux (Open office is just not compatible enough) <flame suit on>, Maybe XP (Win 7) in a VM ;)

Just My 2C worth.

Homebase Finally Respond

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:21:21 PDT

Well, Well, Well….

Finally got a response from Homebase.

They have basically totally failed to respond to any of my questions and comments, but have apologised for “inconveniencing” me.

They have also given me £30 worth of Homebase vouchers. That does not really cover the time I have wasted on this or address any of my issues, but I really don’t want to waste any more time on them.

A result of sorts….

Homebase Enquiries

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:25:44 PDT

Just spoken to Paul at Homebase.
He has promised to get back to me within 24 hours.

We will see....

Re: Your Appalling Service

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:26:43 PDT

The Arrogance of this firm is outstanding! The cannot even send me an email that is written in decent English!

Lets's not forget the fact that that they refuse to address my issue!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Homebase Enquiries <info@homebase.co.uk>
Date: 18 May 2010 15:17
Subject: re: Re: Your Appalling Service

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding Your Appalling Service parking fines.

I am sorry for the delay in responding to your e-mail, whilst we do aim to ensure that all e-mails are answered within 48 hours, due to the high number we receive this
may not always be possible.

Whilst we never like to hear that anyone less than satisfied with the service they receive we do appreciate knows where we need to make improvements.

I am sorry you received a parking fine while shopping in a Homebase Store, as you do not state which store, could I suggest you take your receipt and parking fine into this store and speak to the manager who will try and assist you.

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at info@homebase.co.uk or call us on 0845 077 8888.

Regards,

Carol Grace
Homebase E-Commerce Customer Service Team.

The Downing Street Siege

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:25:50 PDT

The Downing Street Siege ended peacefully this week when a fifty nine year old man (of no fixed address) was taken into custody to answer charges of impersonating a British Prime Minister, electoral fraud, and causing wilful damage to the economy. The accused reserved his plea, and was bound over to be on good behaviour until his next appearance.

The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher

Homebase

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Sun, 16 May 2010 11:54:42 PDT

Still no response from Homebase…

The sound of silence is deafening.

Is that what they think of their customers?

Think I will have to investigate the head office number and pursue it there.

Re: Your Appalling Service

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Wed, 12 May 2010 06:01:02 PDT

Sara,

On 12 May 2010 13:28, Homebase Enquiries <info@homebase.co.uk> wrote:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the service you have received.

I am sorry you have been unsatisfied with the service you have received.

Please forward us your complaint so we can investigate further.

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us at info@homebase.co.uk or call us on 0845 077 8888.

Regards,

Sarah Gate
Homebase E-Commerce Customer Service Team.

For your reference the above reply is in reference to your earlier email

Much though I hate to repeat myself....

I am dissatisfied with the following....

Wasting my time having to make several phone calls and send several emails just because we wanted some of your products and had the temerity to spend more than an arbitrary amount of time in your car park.
Receiving a demand for £95 that is made up to look like an official PCN. I am now led to believe that these documents are not legally valid and I should have just binned it! That is just extortion.
The fact that having made 3 phone calls to 3 different members of your staff, I was told 3 different things!
The fact that having made a formal complaint to you I receive no formal responce.
Repeating myself because you do not keep track of cutomer interactions.

Need I carry on?

Any Decent Company would have a manager contact me in order to resolve my issues.

Clearly Homebase does not care about it's clients!

Clear?

By the way http://cosmap.blogspot.com/

The "Conversation" Continues..

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Wed, 12 May 2010 05:30:29 PDT

From: Me
Sent: 12 May 2010 13:17
To: 'Samantha Stevens'

Yes, I read that in your 1^st message.

During the many conversations I have had with your company I have raised a number of specific complaints. These should be on the record.

I am formally requesting a response from Homebase to my questions.

And one more question,

You Say “However, we do also appreciate that there may be occasions when customers are shopping in our store longer than 90 minutes. Under these circumstances, the store does have the discretion to advise the car parking agent to ensure no penalty is issued.”

Your store staff do not seem to know that as they were adamant that there was nothing that they could do, when I called the store. What do you intend to do to ensure that your staff have the correct training on such matters.

I cannot believe that I am the only person to suffer from this situation that is nothing more than extortion.

By the way… http://cosmap.blogspot.com

Parking in Homebase

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Wed, 12 May 2010 05:29:27 PDT

This appears to be Homebases way of saying “Go away and annoy someone else!”

They really value their customers….

From: Samantha Stevens [mailto:Samantha.Stevens@homebase.co.uk]
Sent: 12 May 2010 13:05

A waiver letter was sent by G24 on the 6^th May.

If you haven’t received this I can arrange another copy.

Regards
Samantha Stevens

Retail Operations

My Reply to them

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Tue, 11 May 2010 09:42:53 PDT

Actually it does!

1. I would have though that you would have been pleased that people were spending time in your store, not penalising them and inconveniencing them! I have had to make several calls to clear up this mistake on your part.

2. You had better train your staff in store better. I spoke to them and was told that there was nothing they could do. Either they did not know what to do or were too lazy to do it!

I am totally lost for words by the poor level of service Homebase provide.

Homebase Finally Reply

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Tue, 11 May 2010 09:42:53 PDT

On 11 May 2010 17:31, Samantha Stevens <Samantha.Stevens@homebase.co.uk> wrote:

Thank you for your e-mail of 6th May and apologies that you have not previously received a response.

Car parking regulations have been installed at a number of our sites as a measure to ensure our customers have access to our store at all times. We would not wish to think this deters any of our loyal customers from shopping with us. Due consideration was made prior to this measure being taken and it was felt that 90 minutes would be adequate parking time. However, we do also appreciate that there may be occasions when customers are shopping in our store longer than 90 minutes. Under these circumstances, the store does have the discretion to advise the car parking agent to ensure no penalty is issued.

With regards to your own circumstances, having since consulted with G24 they have confirmed that you have been in contact with them directly and that your PCN has now been waivered. Therefore I trust this matter has now been resolved to your satisfaction.

I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you and I trust this incident does not deter you from shopping at Homebase in the future.

Regards

Samantha Stevens

Retail Operations

Your Appalling Service

noreply@blogger.com (Cosma Papouis) — Sat, 08 May 2010 13:13:53 PDT

FYI – The world is now aware of what you think of your customers!

Update on Homebase's rubbish Customer Service http://bit.ly/4e3EI

Update on Homebase's rubbish Customer Service

Can I request a reply!!!!!!

I have made a formal complaint to customer services!!!!