M. Bonaparte described Britain thus.
I have a mate, who has a slightly-more-than-average budget [owns an area about the size of Cornwall, populated with a lot of game, etc] , and is incredibly keen on high-performance motor vehicles.
He wrote thus:
I have, for the last 4 weeks, been trying to source a set of AP racing brakes from the UK, the experience with a number of big and pretty reputable "tuning shops" has been horrendous.
Firstly, they set up a huge fancy website, with "E-mail us for more details" plastered all over the place, if they ever reply to their e-mails that is!! Some of the places replied to me after 2-3 weeks, some didn`t reply with the info that i was looking for, most do not even bother
Secondly, tried phoning. First there is the language issue, my schooling was in english and I am pretty fluent except for the odd Italo/afrikaans accent. But well I can communicate in the language. Alas in 99% of the cases I couldn`t understand a word they spoke.
The attitude of the salespeople was awful to put it mildly. I e-mailed one of these places about 3 weeks ago, tried again and again, no reply.
So today i had the crazy idea of phoning them. The guy i spoke to blew his lid as soon as I told him that I was phoning because I couldnt get a reply to my e-mail. He said that I shouldnt phone if I already e-mailed and if I didnt e-mail I should phone, but never to do both as I was wasting their resources!!
Thirdly, you cannot get a simple confirmation on anything, today they tell you that they have a set of AP`s in stock, ready for shipment, tomorrow I e-mail/phone them to confirm that I am effecting payment and inevitably I get the "We will order the brakes as soon as we received payment" WTF [don't ask - Ian], you told me that you had them in stock yesterday!!
Fourthly and lastly, they do not perceive the meaning of urgency. I need to sort this thing out ASAP "we will e-mail you the banking details within the day" That was a week ago, still waiting......
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We may have been a nation of shopkeepers, may still be, but it doesn't necessarily mean you can get served......
A few weeks back I spent the weekend in London with some friends, they commented how much better the service was in the hotel and the restaurants and bars than the last time they were in London five years ago. I then pointed out that we had been served, bar one one occasion, all weekend by, French, Italian and Swedish waiters, German, Australian, Chinese and Polish bar staff and Filipino, Indonesian, Asian and Spanish hotel staff. The service levels only appear to have improved because the peolple now in the roles actually seem to want to be in the Uk and don't see serving customers as beneath them.
In the more traditional areas many retail staff couldn't be bothered.
Cockle
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Depends where you go.
My headlight bulb blew on a cold dark winter morning so I rolled onto the forecourt of the next BMW main dealer that I went past, with the intention of picking up a replacement to fit later. I hadnt even reached the service desk when the bloke behind it stood up and asked me if I wanted a new bulb (he had a clear view of the approach). I said yes and he took the keys, fitted a bulb, gave me the keys back and charged me a trivial amount for the bulb only (no labour). I was impressed!
At a different BMW dealership some years later when asking a salesman a specific and detailed question about the trim of the new car I was condiering buying, I made the terrible mistake of asking on a Saturday morning with the two little patentlys in tow. Got a not very subtle brush off. (well, something "off", anyway). Am now driving that model of car - can you guess which dealership supplied it?
And don't even get me started on the attitude of Mercedes dealers!
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