Thumping the staff...

...is always wrong, but why is it that the only places you see signs that say "Please don't punch our staff - we always prosecute" are where the customer service is crap to begin with. Examples include:

• Railway stations


• Onboard trains


• Airports


• GP surgeries


• Post Offices

and of course Royal Mail sorting offices. I had a parcel to collect from the main sorting office in Birmingham today, and saw no fewer than three signs saying "don't thump the staff". Fat chance - can hardly find the buggers. Twas a long queue and no-one serving. Eventually some shabby looking character in a high vis jacket (don't they all wear these now) turned up. Not the best advert for the dear old Royal Mail... anyone would think that they had become sloppy through lack of competition.



But this sign really made me laugh - even the bloody trade unions have to get their oar in! Clearly it's always wrong to thump someone, but if they wear the union tie, it's a whole lot worse!










Funnily enough, I've never seen a sign like that (the punching one, not the Wilkommen one) in John Lewis or Marks & Spencer. Perhaps people don't thump the staff there as the customer service is much better. Funny that.

The limitations of the Ryanair model

My girlfriend has pointed out, not incorrectly, that my blog is "a bit angry". So I will strive to be more positive! But this post is added at her behest:

Last night she and I visited a branch of a chain restuarant whose name I will not mention in the interests of privacy. Let's call it Pizza H...no, that's too obvious, let's just say P Hut.

When we were being served our pizza, my girlfriend asked for tomato and barbeque sauce to go with it. The waiter suggested that we could have a third sauce...all for just 99p!

So said chain (P Hut) now charges you if you want some sauce to go on your plate! It's a bit much!!! She wasn't impressed (and neither was I) - someone else asked how we were getting on, and she gave them the benefit of her views on charging for a small portion of sauce. The girl explained that they had previously given them out 'on the sly' but that management were watching.

The Ryanair approach (low cost for the core business activity, charges for add-ons) might have helped make make flying more accessible to those who'd never have dreamt of it just 30 years ago. But here it grated a bit.

I'm a capitalist; I staunchly believe that the first duty of every business is to make a return for the owners of capital (its shareholders). But in a free market, people vote with their feet when they feel they're being ripped off. It's a bit like shops charging for carrier bags (WH Smith, M&S food) - when you elevate 'twerpism' over customer service, people get a bit hacked off.