BT Nightmare Before Christmas!

How Rubbish Are BT? Are They a Christmas Present You Wouldn’t Give To Your Worst Enemy?

Am I the only one who is astounded at the total lack of competence from British Telecom?

Since we moved into our new head office in Lichfield in October, BT have been quite spectacularly, amazingly, bad.

It is almost like they have a flow chart for business that is the satanic mirror image of the one you’d expect.

You know, the one where the company does everything it can to make sure their customer is treated well and gets what they need, when they need it, especially when their client is a business, relying on the service they’re “providing”. 

In the BT version, everything possible is done to curtail service, obfusticate, prevaricate and lie. Does this sound familiar? 

In due course we will be suing these idiots for a high 5 figure sum as a result of the unbelievable treatment we have received and consequent loss of business and reputation. 

(It is like they haven’t noticed they are screwing around with a law firm! I figure if they’re doing this to us, what chance does anyone else have...!) 

In the meantime, I wondered if we might be able to spread a little Christmas cheer: along the lines of “You laugh or else you cry” – by sharing stories of BT’s biggest screw ups. 

I’ll go first! 

After missing their own installation date guarantee (leaving us without phones/internet for 2 days after opening), a really surly engineer turned up and after much persuasion (because the job involved running a little cable) installed broadband at our new office. 

The router supplied (which we are stuck with for now – another story again) has had to be replaced 5 times! In less than 2 months! It takes 48 hours to send a replacement. Is this a minor inconvenience in a 21st century law firm…? 

Just a little… 

(Obviously if you’ve dealt with them you’ll know every time you call it is a lengthy litany of frustration too!) 

The router has been almost the least of our frequent (almost daily) problems, so far… 

As far as our actual telephones go, it feels like BT think telephony is some new technology of the 21^st century – not something for which a patent was awarded in 1876… (That’s just 135 years ago BT!!) 

Am I alone in feeling like I am about to “go postal” on this epitome of corporate ineptitude? 

How about you?? 

(Oh, and Merry Christmas to All! Apart from BT, obviously…)

Horn Dance with a Solicitor in Sutton Coldfield

Getting Horny in Abbots Bromley!

The annual Horn Dance, involving ancient reindeer antlers, is held at Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire and is the oldest English folk dance still performed although its roots are shrouded in the mists of times long past.

The dance takes place on Wakes Monday every year. This is the first Monday after the first Sunday after the 4^th September.

According to the abbotsbromley.com website, the ritual has taken place every year since 1226, and the Fair that also takes place on the village green on Wakes Monday began in 1221. Despite some debate about precise dates, there are written references confirmed from 1532, and the antlers used in the ritual which give it such a distinctive name have been carbon dated to around 1065.

Strong speculation suggests that the dance has a pagan origin and is closely connected to the ancient Mercian kingdom, with the magic ritual performed to give thanks for harvest time and to ensure a plentiful harvest the following year.

The day begins at 8.00 am at St. Nicholas Church in the centre of Abbots Bromley, with a service of blessing, and the horns are removed from their display in the church as the dancers then start to make their way around the parish. They will cover many miles before they return to the village in mid afternoon, and proceed beyond it again, finally returning at around 8.00pm.

With all that in mind, Harvey McKibbin solicitors set out to watch the 12 dancers on 12^th September, 2011 as they made their way through the village around 3.30pm.

Hundreds of people from far and wide watched with us as the 6 principal dancers carrying the antlers (or horns) were accompanied by an accordion player, a Maid Marion, a Hobby Horse, a Jester, and two youngsters, one with a bow and arrow and one with a musical triangle.

In the village itself the procession stops at each of the 5 pubs along the main street (The Bagot Arms, The Royal Oak, The Crown, The Goat’s Head and the Coach and Horses) and performs the dance before being rewarded with well-earned liquid refreshments at each stop! However, the dancers cover around 20 miles during the 12 hour ritual and also take in a number of local farms as well as the stately home at Blithfield Hall, where they perform a semi-private dance for Lady Bagot.

At the centre of the village the Butter Cross on the green stood host to a variety of stalls selling everything from cakes and jewellery to watercolours and Morris dancing memorabilia. The Goat’s Head pub even had two resident reindeer on hand which happily posed for photos with excited onlookers – bringing out the kid in people of all ages.

It really made for a charming scene and we felt truly privileged to be a part of it as we shot some video – which we’ll be uploading to youtube soon. In the meantime, however, there’s a good flavour of events to be had in the embedded video above.

After dancing from dawn until dusk, the weary procession returns to St. Nicholas Church behind the village green, where the antlers are returned to be displayed, safe and sound, for the remaining 364 days until it is time to start the dance again.

Ends.

© GetPR, 2011

New Jaguar XE – WOW!

Video For The Concept Prelude The New Small Jag Coupe

This isn’t one of my usual posts – but I saw this earlier and thought “Wow!”

I must say that after we finish our office move to Market Street in Lichfield next month I must start saving my pennies to see if I can put one of these beauties on the drive next year!

Enjoy! (And if you need any legal advice you can help to contribute to my New Jag Fund! I promise to take you for a spin when I take delivery – now there’s a win-win, eh? Don’t be shy – just visit Harvey McKibbin Solicitors in Sutton Coldfield or call 0121 240 9115 (24/7) and we’ll be glad to help!)

“Brand On the Run – for a great cause” says Solicitor in Sutton Coldfield

Answer-4u is one of our Harvey McKibbin clients and we thought you’d like to know about a really superb effort they’re making for charity this weekend.

Here’s their press release

Answer-4u: Brand On The Run To Fight Prostate Cancer

In 2010, approximately 37,000 men in the UK were diagnosed with prostate cancer. This year another 37,000 will find their world shattered, and changed forever in a similar way.

McDonalds Customer Service Leaves a Bad Taste

Not-So-Fast-Food

I read about the grim customer service experience Nancy Atkinson-Turner had at Tesco yesterday, as reported by the Daily Mail here, and it prompted me to test the customer service skills of McDonalds after a similarly disappointing experience this morning.

I reached the drive through branch at Lichfield at 8.58 this morning, and seeing the huge line at the drive through, decided it’d be much quicker to go to the counter so we could get our food quickly as takeaway items and be on our way as fast as possible. We had an important meeting to get to, you see.

Bounding into the restaurant, pleased to be first in line, we ordered a tea, a coffee, a sausage and egg muffin, a pancakes and sausage, and an oat-so-simple, and told the server that we were in a hurry and wanted this to go. And waited….

And waited….

And waited…

Meanwhile dozens of the items we ordered went into brown paper bags and onto trays while we watched in disbelief. A queue had formed while we ordered and every one of the fifteen or so people behind us got served (along with a slew of cars at the drive thru) while we watched…

I tried several times to interest our “helpful” server.

Finally I tried to collar the “manager” who was equally disinterested. On the second attempt he rolled his eyes and said: “The oat-so-simple is holding things up. It needs the microwave. We only have one microwave and we have to prioritise!”

More than 18 minutes had now passed and the till area of the restaurant was now completely empty, save for me and my wife.

At long last I saw our server finally walk over to the drive through service hatch, and come back a minute of so later with the oat-so-complicated!

So we finally made it out of the place 21 minutes after we ordered with our incredibly difficult order of a couple of meals and the offending Oat-So-Complicated…

Now…

A few things spring to mind – and I know it isn’t as bad as Tesco accusing Nancy of shoplifting (which, incidentally according to her account was actual assault – and our firm would be happy to act pro bono for her if she’d like to explore that: www.harveymckibbin.co.uk) but it beggars belief for a “fast food” restaurant.

So – do McDonalds only have one microwave in these stores? (Hard to believe in any case – but particularly so when I saw our server heat the Oat-So-Complicated at the drive thru service window.)

Does the carefully designed fast food system they employ – which is famous for delivering everything quickly and predictably – break down every time someone has the temerity to order an Oat-So-Complicated?

If this is the case, should the menu not carry a warning along the lines of:

“Oat-So-Simple – You’d think the clue was in the name (just ping for a few seconds in the microwave and you’re done), but at McDonalds, apparently we only have one microwave and view this item as the very lowest priority on the menu. So if you do order it at busy times please be prepared to wait for around 20 minutes before we can be arsed to nuke it for you… You HAVE been warned!”

Is it okay to ignore the customer so shabbily for 20 minutes, and serve approximately 30 (by my count) customers behind us in priority?

Penultimately, is it fine to offer no apology and send us out with two cold items (bagged about 12 minutes into our wait and left to cool, pending the arrival of the Oat-So-Complicated)?

And finally, will McDonalds do a better job at customer service – and I am giving them every chance here to respond as I know they monitor facebook comments closely – than Tesco…?

I’m waiting.

I wonder how long it’ll be before McDonalds manage to satisfy me this time…

Rickrolling with a Solicitor in Sutton Coldfield

“If the White House can do it, so can we…” say Harvey McKibbin Solicitors

UK Divorce Record!

Solicitor in Sutton Coldfield Drinks Cat Poo Coffee

“Would You Like Some Coffee, Sir? It’s From A Cat’s Bottom…”

I wonder how many of us, if faced with this question, would respond with a huge grin and the words “Yes please!”

I myself had my doubts.

However, on trip to Bali with my wife we found ourselves at a delightful little place called the Orchid Garden where amongst other things floral they sell tea and coffee. Not so remarkable you may say…

However, their speciality is Luwak Coffee, otherwise known as Civet Coffee, which they make on the premises.

If you are not familiar with Paradoxurus Hermaphroditus (otherwise known as the Civet Cat) it is related to your domestic moggy, but from a branch of the family that includes the mongoose.

The Civet is a tree climbing cat that likes the tropical jungles of Bali – and it has a peculiar talent (or rather appetite) that is akin to alchemy. In this instance, though, we’re talking about turning base coffee beans into gold.

If we put it delicately, the Civet loves to eat coffee beans. It is extremely discerning and only imbibes the finest and best ripe coffee with the most appealing cherry-like coating. These beans then pass through our coffee-loving cat and the cherry-like coating is digested, but the beans emerge intact in its droppings… The beans are then collected by some redoubtable worker at the plantation and, naturally enough, they are washed and carefully cleansed before they are – yes! – made into coffee for consumption!

(It is actually thought that although the beans themselves are for the very most part completely undigested in this process, an enzyme breaks down some of the proteins in the coffee bean which results in a much less bitter, velvety smooth beverage!)

Luwak Coffee is the world’s most expensive and sought after – for example, you can get yourself a cup in Peter Jones in London for just £50. A snip, I’m sure you’ll agree!

So, if you will, picture the scene…

Harvinder and I sat in the shade at the delightful Orchid Garden, relaxing in the tropical heat and we looked very hard at the expensive cup of coffee (around $6 locally) steaming gently in front of us… We summoned our courage and then we took a sip and…. Mmmmmm! Revelatory! Exceptionally smooth and velvety and quite unlike any other coffee we’d ever tasted. Phew!

So – a thumbs up from Sutton Coldfield Solicitors then!

But you don’t need to take my word for it. We brought some Luwak Coffee home and gave it to our friend, a renowned national newspaper journalist and internet marketing expert. You can even watch while Patrick Griffin takes his first sip of Cat Poo Coffee here…

And if you come and see us at Harvey McKibbin Solicitors in Sutton Coldfield, we’ll certainly be glad to make you a delicious cup of coffee, even if it probably won’t be Luwak!

Ends

© GetPR 2011

Solicitor in Sutton Coldfield Drinks Cat Poo Coffee

“Would You Like Some More Coffee, Sir? It’s From A Cat’s Bottom…”

I wonder how many of us, if faced with this question, would respond with a huge grin and the words “Yes please!”

I myself had my doubts.

However, on trip to Bali with my wife we found ourselves at a delightful little place called the Orchid Garden where amongst other things floral they sell tea and coffee. Not so remarkable you may say…

However, their speciality is Luwak Coffee, otherwise known as Civet Coffee, which they make on the premises.

If you are not familiar with Paradoxurus Hermaphroditus (otherwise known as the Civet Cat) it is related to your domestic moggy, but from a branch of the family that includes the mongoose.

The Civet is a tree climbing cat that likes the tropical jungles of Bali – and it has a peculiar talent (or rather appetite) that is akin to alchemy. In this instance, though, we’re talking about turning base coffee beans into gold.

If we put it delicately, the Civet loves to eat coffee beans. It is extremely discerning and only imbibes the finest and best ripe coffee with the most appealing cherry-like coating. These beans then pass through our coffee-loving cat and the cherry-like coating is digested, but the beans emerge intact in its droppings… The beans are then collected by some redoubtable worker at the plantation and, naturally enough, they are washed and carefully cleansed before they are – yes! – made into coffee for consumption!

(It is actually thought that although the beans themselves are for the very most part completely undigested in this process, an enzyme breaks down some of the proteins in the coffee bean which results in a much less bitter, velvety smooth beverage!)

Luwak Coffee is the world’s most expensive and sought after – for example, you can get yourself a cup in Peter Jones in London for just £50. A snip, I’m sure you’ll agree!

So, if you will, picture the scene…

Harvinder and I sat in the shade at the delightful Orchid Garden, relaxing in the tropical heat and we looked very hard at the expensive cup of coffee (around $6 locally) steaming gently in front of us… We summoned our courage and then we took a sip and…. Mmmmmm! Revelatory! Exceptionally smooth and velvety and quite unlike any other coffee we’d ever tasted. Phew!

So – a thumbs up from Sutton Coldfield Solicitors then!

But you don’t need to take my word for it. We brought some Luwak Coffee home and gave it to our friend, a renowned national newspaper journalist and internet marketing expert. You can watch while Patrick Griffin takes his first sip of Cat Poo Coffee here…

And if you come and see us at Harvey McKibbin Solicitors in Sutton Coldfield, we’ll certainly be glad to make you a delicious cup of coffee, even if it probably won’t be Luwak!

Ends

© GetPR 2011

Solicitors Are To Marketing What Julian Clary Is To Cage Fighting!

GetSolicitors welcomes another new firm with DWT

GetSolicitors is going from strength to strength and signing up new law firms at speed as it promotes the mantra “More Business | Made Easy”.

The new network bills itself as “The Multi-Media Marketing Machine For Law Firms” and seeks to solve all the problems a typical practice encounters in marketing and responding to the digital challenge whilst allowing lawyers to concentrate on fee-earning and legal advice.

That there has been so much interest in the concept comes as no surprise given that GetSolicitors guarantees that member firms will make a profit on their membership, and will refund the cost of membership if they do not. Firms pay a simple monthly fee, and unlike other networks there is no additional requirement to allocate referral fees or share fee income.

GetSolicitors also offers territorial exclusively, and Managing Partner Brian McKibbin estimated that “there will be around 500 areas up for grabs across the UK.” Firms of between three to five partners at the lower end and upwards to around 20 partners are the main target for the network.

Kidderminster practice DWT Solicitors is one of the first GetSolicitors firms. Partner Gareth Thompson says that they investigated all the various options open to solicitors at the moment, having decided to “embrace the challenges ahead rather than run for cover”. It was also a recognition that “solicitors are to marketing what Julian Clary is to cage fighting”.

Gareth said that DWT had done extensive research before concluding there were a variety of drawbacks in the existing national networks, such as the impact on the brand of problems caused by other firms and the restrictions imposed by membership, while they were also sceptical as to whether a law firm network could compete with the awareness and resources of a brand such as Tesco or Virgin if they chose to enter the legal market.

“Why respond to alternative business structures by just creating another weak, supposedly national, umbrella brand?” he asked. “Why not build your own and become the local champion?”

The advantage of GetSolicitors’ approach was that “it’s nice to know that someone’s efforts are 100% focused on adding to your brand rather than theirs”, he said.

Mr Thompson said the problem for law firms is distinguishing themselves from one another, meaning a common response is to reduce fees so as to be the cheapest. “Lawyers make a good job of crucifying themselves,” he said.

Gareth continued “Firms should maintain their fee levels and concentrate on high-value service – because there’s often a reverse effect where higher prices bring in clients who are prepared to pay for higher quality.”

DWT’s focus is on communication and accessibility, meaning they either go out to clients or “make ourselves available in places convenient to them” – the firm has a network of serviced offices across the region – while they are seeking to become “truly the ‘GoTo’ local firm, the local business champions”, the solicitor explained.

Brian agreed, saying “GetSolicitors is all about creating “Local Super-brands” out of the best firms, not attempting to establish one homogenous national brand. This is what the savvy business client wants – and we know because they’ve told us!”

Solicitors who could benefit from membership can contact Brian direct at brian.mckibbin@getsolicitors.com – “I’d love to hear from switched-on lawyers who want to thrive in the future instead of struggling to survive,” said Brian. GetSolicitors is also available 24 hours a day on 0844 544 8880.

© CopyWriteGuru