Things take forever here!

Ok, so this is my experience and I don't know if any of you would agree but I just get so irritated sometimes. Things take forever here. First of all we had to wait 4 weeks to receive internet and cable at our flat. Also, just my job search experience itself has taken forever... people say they will post things or email things or phone back later and then many times I've had to call back and remind them that I am still waiting for whatever it was they were going to send. This hasn't happened with everything but lately it's been happening a lot. Just needed to vent a little bit and see if anyone else agrees.

I remember a few years ago when the traditionally "slow" industries in the USA (i.e. utility companies, the department of motor vehicles, places like that) started putting customer service policies into practice and doing a better job of providing quality service quickly.  (I know they're not all there, but I definitely noticed the trend.)

In the UK, I've seen evidence of the same trend, but it's not yet as widespread, so depending on what entity you're dealing with, they may not have the level of urgency about fixing your problem that you'd like.  Some of them are good (I've had great service from Orange) and some of them are terrible (I've had awful service from Sky).

Things take forever here. First of all we had to wait 4 weeks to receive internet and cable at our flat.

I had to wait 4 weeks for internet and cable to be installed in the US last year (despite them telling me that it would be done the next day, it actually took over a month because they told me the wrong date!), so it's not just a UK thing .

Also, just my job search experience itself has taken forever... people say they will post things or email things or phone back later and then many times I've had to call back and remind them that I am still waiting for whatever it was they were going to send

I have to agree with this though - I was given a job offer in July for a job starting in 2010 and was told that I would get an official employment letter as soon as the pre-employment checks were done. I was expecting to get this letter in October, but when I emailed them early November, they told me they still didn't have one of my references! Then I got an email on the 18th Nov saying the contracts would be sent out in the next couple of weeks... it's now been 3 weeks and still no employment letter. I wouldn't be too worried about it except I'm trying to book flights to the US and to South America for a trip before the job starts and really need to have confirmation of the job before I book them. Also, my manager at work has been after a leaving date from me so she can start arranging a replacement for my job and I still can't give her one!

I think as Americans, we tend to live in an instant/on demand society.  I don't think things like hooking up your internet is talking any longer than any other person in your same situation, but because you're used to things being instantaneous, it feels like a long wait.

When I first came back, BT (GPO then) said it would be at least 3 months to connect your phone line. My roommate called them and said we worked for the MOD (technically speaking the military base was owned by the MOD), we had the phone installed that week.

I'm not sure about you but I find things that annoy me seem to come in waves. Almost to the point, you start to wonder if it exude some sort come annoy me pheromone.

Well you can include me on this...

We've been dealing with the ramifications of the car accident on Tuesday and were initially told that it would be dealt with quickly and we could potentially have our car back today...

WRONG, same day they told us that they called DH at work and said they couldn't arrange for recovery of the car until FRIDAY (TODAY) and it would be sometime between 9 & 5...we had the car looked at and the suspension and wheels were deemed OK to drive so he's been driving it back & forth to work the past 3 days, but we were supposed to go to Cornwall last night and couldn't because we had to wait for recovery of the car and the courtesy car.

Long story short, we hoped that they'd show early this morning so we could still go to Cornwall but, alas, they didn't show until 6pm, an HOUR after the time window we were given.

The other thing is that we were told that now it will take a minimum of 10 business days for the car to be repaired and returned to us. So we MIGHT have it back in time for Christmas but I'm not holding my breath.

Can you tell I have unresolved issues about this whole thing? 

The strangest part for me is having to wait 3 days for checks to clear.  In America I could give my bank a check and get the cash from it instantly, regardless of which bank the check came from.

I also feel like many things take a lot longer here. Anything to do with banks, for example -- I remember going to open a bank account back home and walking out the door with a starter checkbook, whereas here it took weeks to set up.

Needing a medical appointment and waiting for them to notify you of the date by letter. I will never understand this.

When I started my MA course here, I wasn't even told what classes I had been given until three weeks into term.

I do try to see the plus side of this -- not with specific examples, but in the broader sense of living in a society that is not so "on demand." It is frustrating in individual cases but overall I think life is a bit more relaxing here.

I also think there can be a bit more flexibility than I was used to at home. At my uni, for example, as both student and staff I've had any number of things that I know back home would have turned into bureaucratic nightmares, but here were taken care of easily -- I think in part because things are more relaxed.

But I'm sure this positive thinking will not survive my trip to the Job Centre next month!

We had to wait more than 12 weeks for our sofa and chair to be delivered, meanwhile we sat on the floor for a few weeks, then borrowed a teeny tiny loveseat from someone that we could never get comfortable on. It was the longest and most uncomfortable 12 weeks of my life and put a slight damper on my experience of moving here. Then we moved to a place with no built-in wardrobes and had to leave all of our clothes on the floor for 12 weeks while we waited for them to deliver the wardrobe and dresser.  It also took several weeks to get internet installed.
So yeah, I totally understand your frustration. There are some things here that do appear to take forever!

Another thing that takes awhile... I applied for a job on November 13th and just heard back from them yesterday! I know other people have had that experience here and America but it is just odd to me.

Another thing that takes awhile... I applied for a job on November 13th and just heard back from them yesterday! I know other people have had that experience here and America but it is just odd to me.

Not unusual for government jobs though. It took me 7 months to get my first Government job in the US.

Needing a medical appointment and waiting for them to notify you of the date by letter. I will never understand this.

Change GPs. By now most decent surgeries should be using the choose & book system which means in theory the GP should be able to book the referral appointment right then and there - though some don't like to eat in to consultation time to do this so they give the referrals to the secretary to book. There are very few things that should still be requiring the old postal system....

My surgery is trying out a policy where they make an appointment to call you within 24 to do a consultation if it's not urgent.  If you insist (and they believe you), they will book you an appointment for serious issues.

My first reaction was WTF, but I now like the idea of just getting a phone call (home/mobile - whatever number you give them) instead of having to take time off/travel for things that aren't potentially serious.  I'll be interested to see if they implement changes after the trial period is over.

If I weren't relatively new to the NHS, I might have had a stronger reaction.  But it's good to see an overburdened system try to relieve pressure where it can. 

Having worked in customer satisfaction research in the UK, I can say that some of the slowness has to do with the fact that customer service here often operates under Service Level Agreements, which means that customer service people have to fulfill agreements to do X% of tasks in Y number  of days.

For example, if a department sets up accounts, they may have to fulfill an agreement to set up 90% of accounts within 10 days.

So rather than try to get your account set up as quickly as possible, they just try to get it done within about 10 days, even if they might be able to get it done faster. And if you are within the 10% that take them longer 10 days, they don't care because they've still reached their goal.

Their goal is to fulfill their Service Level Agreement, not to be as fast and efficient as possible.