BT Care: do they?

So, it was time to replace my five year old Dell PC at home. I was now on my third Dell and had also purchased laptops from the company for one of my sons and my mother-in-law. Service from Dell has always been spot on, even when my machine and accessories have been out of warranty.

I ordered my new PC - without monitor as that still works well - by a combination of on-line selection and telephone confirmation. A delivery date of 4 November was given. Dell being Dell deliver way ahead of that. Nothing like under-promise over-deliver for customer delight. Their third party delivery partner company phones me to find out a suitable time for drop-off.

My new PC comes with Windows 7 pre-installed - I was fortunate to miss Windows Vista altogether by the sounds of it. I connect everything up and all is fine. My Internet connection works but I'm a bit bemused as to where my BT Broadband icons are and if I'm covered by the integrated McAfeee package that I pay BT for.

I can't figure this last bit out and whilst I have a free month trial of McAfee virus suite with my new PC I want to make sure I'm still able to access the virus software I'm paying BT for. So I spend some time searching BT's web site to no avail about Windows 7 and BT's virus package. Their "Ask Emma" area just sends me round in circles. Exasperated I resort to a phone call to BT. Priya, obviously based somewhere in the Indian sub-continent, answers.

It transpires that it is not recommended to download the McAfee I am already paying for because of compatibility issues. First of all she blames McAfee then Microsoft for this. Priya has no concept that I am working with a new PC and keeps suggesting I revert back to Vista (which I don't have).

Ten minutes and I get nowhere with her and she cannot pass me onto anyone else. I write something in BTs web pages but they don't answer direct questions. I moan about the frustrations of my experience.

My Facebook rant sees friends say I should be buying an Apple Mac anyway, another slates BT and a third states that McAfee is useless and I should go for the free suite by AVG. So no sympathy there.

My Twitter entry returns something a little more interesting; a direct message from BT Care with a link to a web page in BT's help area. No use - I've been on these pages before. I respond back to BT Care and they reply stating the problem has been fixed. Not a direct message mind you just one in the stream of my Twitter feeds.

If BT Care do care then a more direct and sympathetic approach for a long-standing customer would go some way to alleviating this. Word of mouth is such a powerful force these days and whoops I've just tweeted the link to this blog.... Ignore customers at your peril.

GIVe give up on that idea

Followers of this blog will know I have reported on the launch of George Davies's latest venture - GIVe. (You will find early entries lower down in this blog -13 October). One of the layout techniques being used was that of setting product out by size*. Well it looks as though this technique has been ditched already. My good friend Mrs Mole an admirer, and indeed purchaser, of GIVe product reports on her recent trip:

"While passing through Boothroyds this afternoon I noticed that the Roman numeral signs have been removed from the display stands. Queried it with the department manager who explained that the garments are now laid out by style rather than size but they are sticking with the I, II, III & IV sizing system. Apparently, although generally doing very well, larger sizes were not selling well because ladies showed resistance to browsing through the IV racks."

* One of the innovations was to introduce a new sizing system. Size 8 is a I; 10 is II, and so on.

I wanna be close to you

Bridal wear shop and cake decoration shop in Bold Street, Southport.
On a recent shopping journey I was rather taken by the clever siting of these two shops where a certain complementary approach can be discerned. No doubt that bridal wear shops are sought out. The next shop in the parade is a jewellers, which makes this somewhat secondary location a destination in its own right. This means that retailers can operate from here without incurring the high costs of a much more prominent location.


Spot the difference: Hampsons (part of Lyndale) and Greggs - both bakers.
This is a rather unusual set of adjacencies made all the more peculiar by the almost identical use of colours in the fascias. Odd that convenience goods retailers offering almost identical goods would locate so close together.

GIVe Part 2

Well my good friend "Mrs Mole" has returned to her local GIVe concession to collect her free altered garment, as I wrote in yesterday's blog. This is what Mrs M had to say:

"I bought the top & it was sent for alteration on the 6th. Told it would take about a week and sure enough it arrived back yesterday (13th). Beautifully done."

Enough said.

GIVe hits the high street

Retail supremo George Davies has come up with yet another retail concept. Following on from Next, George at Asda and Per Una this living legend has launched a women's chain across Britain. Affordable luxury is the thinking behind the concept.

But there are a couple of added value elements such as free alterations, and a new approach to sizing and layout. No longer are ladies categorised in the normal UK sizing system but a size 8 is now I; 10 is II and so on. Product is laid out by size and not style. So, ladies go to a stand labelled with a large roman numeral with the UK system in smaller typeface underneath. Cunning plan.

However, these two concepts of setting out products by size and giving free alterations are not new ones. Ralph Slater, the menswear retailer who started in a disused warehouse in Glasgow, has been doing both these things for over thirty years. A major challenge is ensuring that the free alterations live up to the excellent standard already inherent in the products. One of my contacts has already purchased an item and is awaiting the return of the altered garment. I will report back on her experience.

Another interesting development has been in the taking of space in Beales' department stores (http://www.beales.co.uk/). This has a ready-made client base and should suit both the host store and Davies. Alongside this GIVe is represented in a number of standalone higher order centres. Davies has certainly learned about the importance of location from his days at Next when he lamented:

"The day got off to a bad start, and somewhat discouraged, we motored on down to Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire. My first thought as we arrived was, 'This is not a Next town'. And sure enough, we entered the shop to discover that although it was gone midday, total takings were a mere £16".

Davies, G. and Davies J. (1991) What Next? Arrow Books page 65.

Given that Davies has reportedly put in a lot of his own money this is a venture that I would not bet against. It will be interesting to see if fortune has favoured the brave as Davies has entered the market when things have never been tougher. No doubt he has secured some good deals on his locations to help the launch of George's Fourth Enterprise ( G IVe).

You can read more about the planning and launch of GIVe at the following sites:
http://www.give.co.uk/

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article6832158.ece

http://www.drapersonline.com/news/multiples/news/george-davies-kicks-off-give-retail-roll/5005117.article

http://www.drapersonline.com/news/womenswear/george-davies-revives-give-plans/5003552.article

How to entice customers?

Window displays - the silent salesperson of retailing - can play an important part in grabbing potential customers' attention. So I was struck by these two contrasting examples of how two retail companies are using their windows.

The first window shown is that of the charity retailer, the British Heart Foundation in Cleveleys just outside Blackpool in the north west of England. The window shows a good use of colour to tie the whole theme together.

The second example is that of fashion retailer All Saints, in Manchester. No evidence of the merchandise sold is on show in the windows. However, the use of a large number of sewing machines certainly is eye catching and, dare one say it, thought provoking?

To the left or to the right?

I was interested in this article in today's Guardian about fridge doors in supermarkets http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/oct/01/greenwash-supermarkets-fridges. Only this week I posed the question to my first year students about freezer cabinet doors: "Are the doors hinged on the right or on the left?"



My observation of customers opening freezer cabinet doors is that there is a difference in the way people hold open the door and in some cases may prop the door open against their backs. If they have to open the door with their stronger right hand and try to grab goods with their weaker left hand they sometimes prop the door against their backs and end up with a cold back. Alternatively they cannot grasp as many goods with their weaker left hand.



It is clear that cabinet doors do create a barrier between customer and product, and can sometimes get a bit steamy. So it's a classic trade-off between sales and costs. As The Guardian article points out the doors are fairly cheap and would lower the carbon footprint but at what cost to sales given my rudimentary observations?