How a big corporation can really screw you up

The advertising slogan for BT once read

"It's good to talk."

Well you need a telephone line to make that slogan come true and four weeks after entering my new office I'm still waiting on BT to send out an engineer to switch on the lines for me. Four weeks, twenty working days. I know Dalmarnock isn't the centre of the universe but this has gone beyond a joke. I'm told they're coming next Tuesday but I won't hold my breath.

First of all I failed their initial credit check because I hadn't been in business for long enough. Well very sorry for being a new business mate. I also failed the second credit check on my home address, because funnily enough, that address has me down as the user of the line not Think Different Events, well there's a friggin surprise. So then I get a form sent to me to fill in. Guess what? I had to fax it back to them!! Well if I had a telephone line I might be able to do that but as I haven't........ Who's being stupid here. Me or a company that's making millions out of people like you and me?

OK maybe not the end of the world you think as there are also mobile phones that people can contact me and Laura on and vice versa. But what about Internet access, networking etc. Fortunately one of the other tenants in the business centre has an unsecured wifi network and I've been able to park onto that. But Laura and I have had to use a memory stick to transfer information to each other rather than resort to sending everything by email.

A foresee a letter of complaint winging its way to BT, but only after I get the lines up and running. But what good will it really do? Does BT really give a monkeys about a two person organisation which isn't even going to use its broadband service? I think not.

I spoke with a guy today who used to work with BT and he claimed that the business group within BT are a shambles with the sales guys getting huge bonuses signed off by their bosses, read pals, on a regular basis. I'm sure I can't be alone in this so why do we have to put up with it?

Two things I've learn since the start of the new year. Don't change bank to Lloyds TSB and don't rely on BT. If you're reading this please pass this advice on to ten other people and ask them to pass it on to ten others too. Maybe that way someone in one or other of these organisations will finally take the hint about what customer service really means.