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May 16, 2005
Once upon a time etc.
Once upon a time, I lived in a land where all the trains, buses, and trams ran on time, where the shops never closed, where the telephone always worked, where my broadband internet connection never went down, where the gas and electricity companies never overcharged, where all the primary school children could read and write, where I could go and see a specialist hospital doctor without an appointment, and indeed many other good things.
However, I am here now and this week I lost my internet connection four times. Three times due to my ISP allegedly using ‘rogue’, i.e. dead, IPs (although the real rogue is probably the fake Surrey-served Dumfries ISP), and once, but for much longer, through the BT line going down.
If I want to communicate with my ISP I have to call a special line either costing 50p, or 1 pound, a minute. To report a BT fault I also have to pay. The logic appears to be that because complaints are annoying to the company, the customer should have to pay extra for them. I suppose almost all large British companies have arrangements to frustrate complaints.
I try to avoid all large English-based companies whenever possible. (I have changed my gas and electricity from Scottish Gas (another front, this time for British Gas) to Scottish Hydro in Perth who answer the phone promptly and try to solve problems. Scottish companies are invariably better.)
Unfortunately BT are unavoidable. They still have an effective monopoly as they are still allowed to own the wires and exchanges. My first BT call (by mobile) was apparently to Leicester. They told me there was a fault on the telephone pole outside our house, which would be affecting our neighbours. This turned out to be untrue. They refused to give me any contact details for my local BT engineering office,and I still don’t know whether it is in Stirling or Edinburgh. In the end I had to wait more than 51 hours for an engineer to come and fix the fault.
Meanwhile, our major politicians talk up Britain and its economic achievements. Michael Howard said during the election that we live in the fourth richest country in the world, although calculated in the normal way by GDP per capita the United Kingdom is nowhere near the top ten.
Tony Blair (or Gordon Brown? or both?) was also taking about Britain being the fourth largest economy. This claim is only true if you suspend common sense, ignore the over-valuation of sterling in terms of the dollar, and overlook the fact that economic activity in the largest countries (China, India, Indonesia, Brazil etc.) is barely measured. It’s also worth noting that France and Italy each have economies of almost exactly the same size as the UK and the smallest currency realignment can affect the order in which we are listed.
Why do politicians indulge in this ‘feel-good’ flattery tactic? Labour obviously want to persuade people that they are doing a good job. Any government that has been in power for eight years would do the same, but why should the Conservatives and the other parties join in? Arguably the Conservatives lost the election for lack of an economic policy. Did the Liberal Democrats ever have one?
Britain suffers from abysmally bad services, poor environment, poor education, poor food. There is some growth in the economy which is good, but productivity and general standards are still much lower than in many economies that currently have none.
Economic growth does not necessarily bring a good standard of life. People in Britain have low expectations. They expect hospitals to be dirty and disorganized, motorways blocked, trains and buses late, phones broken, city centres vandalized, streets dirty, children rebellious. They don’t expect to know what is happening. They don’t expect to be consulted. They don’t expect to participate.
The problem is essentially low productivity (related to poor education) and this brings me back to where I started - the bad service which is symptomatic of the problems of the economy.
Basta! Enough for now!
Posted by Simon Holledge at May 16, 2005 11:32 PM
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Comments
- "Basta!
You couldn't possibly be referring to the Italians when you describe this mythically efficient land in your first paragraph, could you?
Much as I love Italy, the Italians, Italian architecture, Italian food, Italian landscapes, Italian history, and (above all) the Giro D'Italia I would never set it up on a pedestal as a model to be copied.
For a start, Italy is uniquely "uncopiable" (I think I just made up that word) and for seconds... aw, forget it... you're probably right.
Posted by: Stuart Dickson at May 17, 2005 05:59 PM
Ah! I shouldn't have written 'basta'. It wasn't intended to be a clue!
Italy is wonderful, but my description (if it had been of Italy) would have been completely different, more about quality of life than efficiency.
No, I was writing about Japan - and maybe Hong Kong to some extent as well.
Incidentally the efficiency is not a myth!
Posted by: Simon Holledge at May 17, 2005 06:34 PM
"Scottish companies are invariably better"
You're verging on delusion if not racism. BT is called BT to hide the fact it HAD British origins it is a worldwide company mainly based in the US now. The same applies to BP. Companies like these make descisions based on share holder value not irrelevant nationalist concerns. Globalisation not English competion is what we have to contend with. I suggest you take your blinkers off as we approach the Independent Scottish Utopia.
Posted by: Iain at June 2, 2005 03:27 PM
Iain,
Thank you for your comment. Please note that I am a BT customer not a shareholder.
Having lived half my life outside Britain, my experience is that the customer service provided by large English companies is about as bad as it can possibly get. Not only are the companies unreliable, but they have erected sophisticated barriers to frustrate anyone who complains (or wants a refund).
Globalization is not the problem. It might eventually be the answer if Britain can raise standards.
Posted by: Simon Holledge at June 10, 2005 12:25 PM