Credit where it's due (2)

Simple Stories from everyday life in capitalist civilisation …  

Nearly two years ago I dished out the ‘C@W Probate Awards‘ – a ranking of organisations in terms of their bureaucratic efficiency, based on one person’s experiences.  Here’s another personal tale.

A couple of weeks ago I lost my wallet.  Argghh.  Turned out it was probably ‘mislaid for me’ by a young family member during a game of hide-and-seek, because it turned up in a very odd place around the house.  Well, there ya go, all part of life’s rich tapestry.  Anyhow, as a reflex security measure I promptly cancelled all the cards etc & had them reissued.  Here’s the resulting ranking.

“No more than what I’d expect“ award  -  ‘Sentinel’ card protection scheme.  One call did it all, as regards getting the process started.  And, very promptly, they called back with a status / next-steps-with-helpful-details report from each of the relevant companies.

“Quickest off the mark“ award – Amex.  This required a ‘phonecall on top of Sentinel’s actions, but the replacement card was in my hand and activated in less than 24 hours.  OK, Amex fees are relatively high, but boy, the service reflects it.

“Dealing with complexity“ award – Barclays.  This isn’t the first time I’ve praised B for this (see earlier story), though BTL on that post somebody gave us a very different tale.  To be fair, this time around only B really had anything complex to deal with, but anyhow they rose to the occasion.

“Sluggard“ award: jointly to Santander and Transport for London (my ‘BorisPass’).  Each took a full week – and plainly, these things don’t need to take that long.  It has to be said, though, that the lady in branch at S was the most pleasant person I’ve had to deal with in quite a while, and showed initiative, too.  So I’m generously marking it down as “not her fault”!

One final thing:  in the past I had sometimes mused, in the abstract: which would be worse – losing wallet, or mobile ‘phone?  Based on this fairly satisfactory experience, I’d say: deffo the ‘phone.  I needed it so many times to sort out the wallet thing (making temporary alternative dispositions, 2FA, etc), I have to believe it would be significantly more incapacitating to lose the ‘phone.  An important learning experience.

Learning the hard way is always often tough, but hey, that’s how we (well, the survivors, anyhow) move forward.  Any other stories that aren’t too painful to dredge up?  

ND