More on Mystery Shopping

It's been interesting to see how British retailers have measured up over one short month, just going about my daily existence. The good have been very good. Even the bad have been polite. I've had no really terrible experiences so far, although there are clearly retailers who need to sharpen up and deliver better value for money. The old adage of caveat emptor, let the buyer beware, is still as potent as ever. Always shop around.

Wherever the internet is involved, the quality of service and the value for money has improved perceptibly, even among offline retailers. But so many trades are still mainly offline. I approach all such with trepidation!

Let's see what happens in July! I'm doing some work in Harlow at the moment, so expect some posts about Harlow retailers.

SpecSavers (Harlow)

You know, I don't seem to see as well as I did. Those number plates are getting harder to read. I sit in a meeting, with a spreadsheet flashed up on a big plasma screen, and I can't read what it says. Maybe I need to get my eyes checked, hey?

Opticians are funny guys. They can't do any business with me unless they do an eye-test first. You'd have thought that they would fall over themselves to offer these. But not a bit of it. I traipse around. I go into Dolland and Aitcheson in Ipswich, which stinks to high heaven of mould and damp. Luckily for me the staff tell me that they can't test me.

So here I am in Harlow, and I go into the SpecSavers there. The shop is empty. They can do a test for me, so I tell them to. It's £18, which they don't mention until I ask. They do a test. It doesn't seem too bad. Yes, I need new glasses.

But I have a very nice set of frames now. So I ask for just new lenses. Problem!!! PROBLEM!!!

They won't sell me lenses. I have to buy complete frames and lenses from them. I query this. The girl who tested my eyes leads me to some manager woman who sits there, scowling. She asks. I don't get a reply; just a tightening of the mouth and a shake of the head. Then she says "Company policy." That's all I get. She looks like she's dying to rip into me. So I leave. I don't need or want any new frames. I don't need or want a fight. I didn't need to spend £18 on an eye-test if I can't get lenses.

But have I just been diddled here? OK, I have a prescription. But if I take it elsewhere, and there's a problem, the dispenser is going to blame the prescription, right? Then where am I? Glasses cost a lot. So I pretty much have to get the eye-test at the people I buy the lenses from. That means, surely, that I am £18 down?

Couldn't they have mentioned this little policy of theirs before they did business with me? Given the attitude, I suspect that they are getting flak -- and no surprise there.

I go into Dolland and Aitcheson in Harlow and ask if they could make me up some lenses. They tell me they can, but my glasses have to go away for a week or two (why?). I ask what the cheapest pair of frames and lenses would be, to tide me over while I wait. £65 they say. That's real money for something I'll use only once.

But I did find one thing to do with the prescription. I found LowCostSpex, an online dispenser. They'll do me a pair of lenses and frames for £15, if I type in the prescription. For that much, I'm willing to take a punt. Let's see what comes back! It's a lot cheaper than £65.

Glasses have gone up massively in the last 10-15 years. Looks like profits have too.

PS: Two days later I get a call from LowCostSpex. They aren't sure that what I entered in their form is correct, and want to make sure. For £15 they are certainly working hard. I tell them that they deserve to make a fortune. Meanwhile I go around 3 opticians in Ipswich, asking about new lenses -- known as 'reglazing' in the trade. One quote for £110, another for £150; just for the lenses. My, these people aren't losing money!

Abacus Fire and Security of Hadleigh

These lads did a job for me back in 2006, but I came across their invoice recently and thought I would recommend them.

When I bought my house, it came with an unmaintained burglar alarm system. After it went off unexpectedly a couple of times, I wanted it disabled. Over the years I tried various firms. The response was always the same -- a long and endless argument against doing so from whoever I rang. Half an hour of argument was not exceptional; and I didn't invite argument -- I just got argued with whether I wanted it or not. Of course I didn't want to hear why a burglar alarm was a good idea; I just wanted the one I had disabled. I was never actually able to get any of these gentry to take my money, so cussed were they.

Many thanks to Abacus, then, who I rang last year after the last set of misbehaviour. After checking that I really did want this done, out they came, and they did the job. Ah the relief!

Marshall Vauxhall of Ipswich servicing (part 2)

There was one loose end from my experience of Marshall Vauxhall. The Vauxhall Corsa has two lights on the petrol gauge. The first tells you "prepare to fill up" and appears when you are about three quarters empty. The next indicates "prepare to walk"! -- you have almost no petrol left. The first of these was not working so I asked for it to be done when I booked the car in.

On arrival, they had no record of that request. I made it again, and ensured that it was logged on the sheet. I was told that to fix this would involve removing the whole dashboard, take an hour and would cost £60; "would I prefer to just live with it"? I said go ahead; being marooned by the roadside has nearly happened twice already.

I got a call mid-morning to say that it wasn't a bulb, and that this wouldn't need to happen after all; the fitter was doing something with the connections.

That was the last I heard of it, and I presumed that it had been fixed. Today I found otherwise.

Lunchtime I rang Marshall Vauxhall. The man who answered the phone knew nothing but promised to ask around and ring back. He rang back shortly after to say that everyone was at a funeral, but that he would get back to me after 2pm. No call came back.

Around 4pm I was returning to Ipswich, so I went in to the showroom in person. None of the staff seemed to know what it was about. One started fiddling slowly with a computer system. Another came off the phone and stood by, watching his colleague interestedly. This seemed absurd, so I asked all of them openly whether they knew about it -- the watcher promptly admitted it was him! I expected an apology for the failure to ring back, but it did not come.

I was told that on the day of the servicing the fitter had decided that the defective light could only be fixed by replacing the complete dashboard, at a price of £200. No-one had called me. No-one apparently knew. They merely ignored it and carried on.

This seemed incredible, so I spoke with the foreman of the garage and verified that this was the story that they were telling me. They one and all seemed to take it for granted that I wouldn't want the problem fixed. Nor did I wish to put my car in yet again just then.

I am left with a problem, and some uncomfortable reflections. If it really does cost this much to fix a trivial problem, then why on earth are they so uninterested in fixing it? Fundamentally for them it's money for old rope. Yet all along I have met resistance. The original request mysteriously being omitted from the job sheet; attempts on check-in to get me to abandon the job; an ambiguous phone call which concealed that the fault was being left; failure to return calls; utter uninterest in getting the car in.

This is a business. Standard retail markup is 50%, so this cannot be less than £130 profit, surely? Why don't they want the money? Is there something I am not being told?

Aerial-tech

My neighbours have a pet door. The little doggie shoots out of it at dawn, and it goes bang-bang-bang. When dawn is at 5am, this means a rude awakening for me.

Except that my neighbours have moved. The doggie has gone, and the pet door too. But the bang-bang-bang continues. Whatever can it be?

Looking on the roof, I see aerials. Could one be banging against another, or on the roof? How can I find out? I get vertigo going up stairs, never mind ladders!

Friday morning, and I ring a couple of firms. I tell them that I want someone to go up on the roof and see if an aerial is loose. "That will be £80 for a new bracket, and £120 for a new aerial" a smooth voice tells me. I thank him and put the phone down.

Then I talk to Aerial-Tech. His name is Neil, and yes, he can come out late this afternoon, depending on whether a job gets done. He'll charge £25 for half an hour, and then we'll see.

I get home mid-afternoon, and I get a call soon after that he's on his way. He arrives as rain is falling. The roof is mossy, and slippery. But up he goes onto the roof. He waggles one aerial -- no problem. He waggles the other -- and it moves! Indeed it moves too and fro a lot. Clearly this is the problem, and birds roosting on it overnight set it moving when they take off. What to do?

Neil shrugs. It's loose because it isn't put on properly. It's held on by a couple of bolts too close to the top, and going into a softwood fascia. He'll stick a few more bolts in there and it will be fine.

I look down the road, where the houses are lower, and see some substantial aerials attached to walls by big bits of metal and rising high over the house. I explore with Neil whether something similar is needed here. But he says no. He doesn't try to take me for something I don't need.

As he tries to go up again, the ladder shifts. It's really treacherous. But he gets it up somehow, and does the job. He charges me £25. And off he goes, leaving me happy and astonished.

One day I will want to replace that aerial, certainly when digital reception is actually possible here. He explains that my aerial simply can't receive the ITV channels on digital -- it has a yellow knob on the end indicating the wavelengths it can get, and ITV is outside that. But when the changeover comes, local boosters will change also. When that day comes, Neil will be my first choice for the business.

Aerial-Tech aerial and satellite services. Neil Wingar, 32 Westholme Road, Ipswich IP1 4HH. Mob. 07818-018510. Tel. 01473-425622. Email: aerial_tech@hotmail.com.

UPDATE 2011: Neil has now sold the company, which is therefore out of business.

Marshall Vauxhall -- and Anglian Auto Assist

My little Vauxhall Corsa needs an oil change. And every time I start it, the mileometer displays a cryptic symbol for several seconds, which is irritating. And the low petrol indicator light doesn't come on, which gave me a nervous time recently. It's 3 years old; time for a service.

I live within walking distance of Marshall's so I took it there. They want £180 for a service. This doesn't include changing spark plugs, or most of the filters. I pay up, and afterwards ask for a list of what it does include. It's not available, it seems. In fact, as far as I can see, all they are doing is changing the oil and checking various things are working. The latter is good, but can hardly take a lot of time. Anyway, that checklist gives them to the chance to sell me more services.

And they do! Brake pads and discs are worn -- that's another £120. They check my tires, and one is worn. Luckily for me, they don't have a tyre that size. They don't check the pressure in my air-conditioning system. I happen to know that National do this as a free check. But Marshalls tell me that there is no way to do this. Perhaps I misunderstand; but any system involving a liquid and a gas can be tested. That's common sense, isn't it?

They do change the screen-wash. They change a windscreen wiper; likewise. They give me some 'free' oil and cleaning materials. Thus I go forth, £324 lighter. That is a phenomenal sum; yet what do I have to show for this?

But I still need a tyre. So I ring around. Anglian Auto Assist -- who appear as a Hi-Q franchise in the phone book -- they have a Pirelli of the kind that I want, at a price that is not too out of line with the web. Down I go, and they do it while I wait -- £65. But on the wall I see servicing sheets, listing what they do. All of them include oil, spark plugs, filters. I ask for prices. The cheapest ('bronze') is £80; the next one ('silver') £140. The top one ('gold') isn't even mentioned. I ask about the little nag feature, if I don't take it to a main dealer. They laugh and say that they have the tool to turn that off themselves. So long as the book is stamped, the full service history stands. I ask how much notice they need; they say about 2-3 days for a service. They can do the job in a morning. They work Saturdays, so it's possible to leave the car with them, walk into town, and pick it up after lunch.

I come away, feeling that I didn't get much from Marshalls for my £180. In fact I feel that I got about £60 of value. Is it too much to ask for filters and spark plugs changed?

One thing tends to reinforce this impression. Marshall's charged me £10 to dispose of the old oil -- an 'environmental' tax. But Auto Assist charge half that, according to their price list. Are Marshall's inflating that appalling bit of government interference? Can it be so?

Moral: I must resolve not to deal with Marshalls, however convenient they are, because I feel that I do not get value for money. I will go to Anglian Auto Assist instead. If I go in a few months time, then I can get the filters and spark plugs done before winter comes on, and an oil change too.

Details: Anglian Auto Assist. Ipswich Tyre Centre. 37-41 Holywells Road (at the bottom of Landseer Road). (01473) 256321.

Ryan Insurance Brokers

Ryan Insurance Brokers have just lost my business for buildings and contents. This year they sent me a renewal quotation for around £170, plus £10 fee. Looking at it, the quotation was from exactly the same firm -- Legal and General -- that they had insured me with the previous year, and the year before that. I recall that last year I rang them up and asked if that was really the best quote. They assured me that it was.

I couldn't believe that they had really gone out and searched; not this time. The renewal notice arrived very shortly before the renewal was due, which meant that busy people were under pressure to just renew. This didn't feel very good to me.

This time I used google, and got some quotes from MoneySupermarket.com. These beat the Ryan Insurance quote substantially. But the terms and conditions did not quite match my needs. I read these carefully, and saw that premiums get pumped up by accidental damage cover (which I didn't need or want) and legal cover.

The best quote was from the Halifax. These I rang, and after listening carefully and asking them to remove various extras such as the above, got a quote of ca. £130. I accepted. They guaranteed that premium for three years, no less.

So what were Ryan Insurance doing? I don't know, of course; but I can certainly guess. They took £10 from me to find me the cheapest quote. But insurance companies pay commission. Is it possible that L&G were the 'best' quote -- best in terms of paying Ryan Insurance commission? What were Ryan Insurance doing for the £10? Anything? Just offering the renewal, and collecting the commission?

There was a time when everyone went to a broker for home and motor insurance. That disappeared rapidly once telephone organisations like Direct Line got going, and the internet has made this happen even more. The reason for this was the poor customer experience; that very often the broker, supposedly being paid by you, just didn't bother to look after you. It is sad to see a firm still ploughing this futile furrow.

I intend to try to avoid doing business with Ryan Insurance again. An internet search is always going to be a better option, it seems.

The mystery shopper

Don't you often find yourself thinking that you wish you had never gone to some merchant, or plumber, or whoever?

A few such things have happened to me recently, and I thought that I would blog about them. I live in Ipswich in Suffolk, in the UK. Local firms often don't have web sites.

In each case I hope to indicate, not just the failings of a particular firm, but what I intend to do instead.

I hope that this will be of interest to others also. After all, bad customer service thrives on silence. I also hope to report instances of excellent service and value.