| The will to live…. 14:17 - Aug 22 with 3661 views | colinallcars |
…..sometimes I think I'm losing it.
Just spent the better part of a morning on the phone to Hammersmith council, TFL and the Bank of Scotland with no outcome.
Has it got worse with WFH ?
Apologies to anyone on here WFH. but things were never this like this. |  | | |  |
| The will to live…. on 14:22 - Aug 22 with 3597 views | EastR |
you know none of those deliver pizzas, right?
 |  |
| |
| The will to live…. on 14:30 - Aug 22 with 3547 views | Rs_Holy |
I came to the conclusion a while back that nothing is as good as it used to be! ... I'm sure companies no longer employ technical people to help you anymore... just people who read pre-prepared answers from a list of bullet points... then transfer you to the next person who has a different set of bullet points to refer to.
The best solution to this is to look up the highest ranking officials email address in the organization and email them (every day if you dont get an answer).
I was going mad with my tinternet cutting out intermintantly and was going round in circles until I emailed the CEO ... problem was properly sorted within 48 hours. |  | | |
| The will to live…. on 17:37 - Aug 22 with 3251 views | numptydumpty |
| The will to live…. on 14:30 - Aug 22 by Rs_Holy |
I came to the conclusion a while back that nothing is as good as it used to be! ... I'm sure companies no longer employ technical people to help you anymore... just people who read pre-prepared answers from a list of bullet points... then transfer you to the next person who has a different set of bullet points to refer to.
The best solution to this is to look up the highest ranking officials email address in the organization and email them (every day if you dont get an answer).
I was going mad with my tinternet cutting out intermintantly and was going round in circles until I emailed the CEO ... problem was properly sorted within 48 hours. |
There used to be a quick way to get to the right person without going through endless menus pressing numbers and obviously mainly the wrong numbers so you get to the end and you still dont get your query answered and it then says good bye to you.
The old way was press "0" on the first menu option and you speak to a person immediately. Was the old trick.
Got to say "emails" and "customer service calls" are the bane of most people's lives today.
Not just for work, but personal ones for personal finances etc, they are such a pain.
Old days - ring a number speak to someone straightaway, get put through to person and department you need.
You then discuss your query in detail. The person on the end of the line knows every minutae of the detail of all your potential queries and it gets sorted within a 15 minute maximum call and that person then personally writes you a letter, sent first class and problem solved.
Now
Ring service number
Speak to six different people - waiting 15 minutes in between each one - and just about when you about to resolve it - the phone runs out of battery or you inadvertently get cut off or the person on the other end says their system is on the blink !!!
Sleep, Rest and repeat for the next six days and on day seven lo and behold you make progress !!!
In meantime, blood pressure increases so much so you ring your surgery to make an appointment, you are told you are number 87 in the queue, two hours 12 minutes later, you speak to a receptionist who suggest you go on the NHS App for information.
Your blood pressure increases more and you say you have done that so the receptionist books you in for the next available appointment which is 7 weeks and 5 days away and isnt at your surgery or doctor but at so called sister surgery which is a 15 mile drive away and the day before your appointment some one crashes into back of your car so you have make an insurance claim and via the fantastic phone service you pass through 7 menu otions wait 55 minutes listening to chalk on a chalk board at high volume to tell you the terms and conditions of your insurance only cover you for10% of the repair costs. etc etc etc
Offices are silent, emails sent to people on next three desks to you - paranoia ensues - and you know when you gone through five eight hour days of this - you still need to sort your car insurance , your doctors appointment etc etc !!!!
Thats the modern world - is that progress !!!!!!
BRILLIANT !!!
Makes watching QPR seem painless by way of comparison !! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 [Post edited 22 Aug 2023 17:38]
|  |
| |
| The will to live…. on 17:41 - Aug 22 with 3223 views | vanrrrr |
Was at an AI conference week before last and speakers were clear that this was the first / biggest area of impact generative AI would have on our day to day and that within a relatively short period a majority of people would prefer AI based assistance to human…. We can but hope. | | | |
| The will to live…. on 18:01 - Aug 22 with 3169 views | numptydumpty |
| The will to live…. on 17:41 - Aug 22 by vanrrrr |
Was at an AI conference week before last and speakers were clear that this was the first / biggest area of impact generative AI would have on our day to day and that within a relatively short period a majority of people would prefer AI based assistance to human…. We can but hope. |
The speed of progress with AI is scarey.
Some of it will be amazing but some is open to massive abuse, more ways to scam vulnerable people and almost anyone could fall for more elaborate scams.
Will reduce many jobs to nothing and massive percentage of jobs that exist today simply wont be needed.
The effects on the economy, the leisure time of people etc will be massive.
Is Rishi Sunak the first automaton to fool the human race. Seems like chatbot to me !!!
And am I the only one that gets the squares in the pictures that traffic lights or lamposts are in consistently wrong therefore not proving I am a human or a robot !!!! [Post edited 22 Aug 2023 18:03]
| |
| |
| The will to live…. on 18:45 - Aug 22 with 3064 views | dmm |
Sunak can't really be an AI robot. Artificial - well yes. Intelligence - definitely no. |  | | |
| The will to live…. on 19:08 - Aug 22 with 2958 views | Benny_the_Ball |
I had a situation where I wanted to open digital banking on my old bank account. Their process was to call a particular number to make the arrangement. On calling, I was routed through to an automated message which asked me to enter my unique identity number. As I didn't have this, I went online to find out how to acquire one. The answer? Ring up the same number to register for one! There begun an endless loop where I needed to enter a unique identity number in order to register for a unique identity number. |  | | |
| The will to live…. on 19:12 - Aug 22 with 2953 views | ted_hendrix |
Last Thursday 17th August I joined the queue at the local health centre and when I got to the receptionist she said in a voice that resembled a fed up camel, "can I help"? I replied " Yes I'd like to see a Doctor please or make an appointment" after she finished manicuring her nails she repilied "The doctor will call you next Wednesday morning 23rd August, NEXT"
Tomorrow morning assuming I'm still alive said Doctor will hopefully call me and ask "can I help" and I'll reply "good morning my left Knee that I smashed up two Years ago Is causing me much discomfort and blood flow issues" he will reply "can you send me a picture?" and I'll reply "no I dont know how because I'm old, tired and basically I have absolutely no patience left, all I have left Is a wonky and painful left leg"
He will then say "shall I send you a link, you can use that link to send me a picture of your wonky and painful left leg"
I'll reply "that would be fabulous, having said that should my wonky and painful left leg suddenly depart from the rest of my body with a dull thud I'll pick my wonky and painful left leg up and hand deliver It to you personally assuming I can get a delivery slot, goodbye" |  |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
| |
Login to get fewer ads
| The will to live…. on 19:22 - Aug 22 with 2912 views | TomS |
| The will to live…. on 17:41 - Aug 22 by vanrrrr |
Was at an AI conference week before last and speakers were clear that this was the first / biggest area of impact generative AI would have on our day to day and that within a relatively short period a majority of people would prefer AI based assistance to human…. We can but hope. |
I read the first few responses and was going to post something similar.
AI will soon be used to engage with customers in call centre environments and address their issues over the phone. In the future, you may not even realise that you are talking to a bot rather than a human. The fear within industry is that unless you embrace AI, you may get left behind.
AI is doing kids homework right now, writing newspaper articles, etc. It'll be replacing a lot of roles in society. |  | | |
| The will to live…. on 19:27 - Aug 22 with 2883 views | kensalriser |
Welcome to modern customer service. In pursuit of a few pennies more, capitalism demands we be treated like total c***s . |  |
| |
| The will to live…. on 19:42 - Aug 22 with 2844 views | enfieldargh |
getting to the point of throwing all my tech away.
Had it with 2/3 part identification, going online to do stuff, not being able to speak with a human that has an ounce of intelect bewteen their ears.
Holding on pressing several numbers only to get cut off or to be given another number that doesnt exist.
You cant use cash much in any place in fact I've had £1.37 sloshing around in coins in my pocket for months.
Just back from Japan, me thinking its techno all the way, only to find cash used for almost everything.
Never had so many coins in my pocket.
Yes, you can use cc/cashless but it seemed to me many places wanted cash, even the dog cafe. (petting not eating).
Getting to loathe this country, dare I say only qpr keeping me here......
Embrace it my kids say, well grumpy old man me it can all feck off |  |
| |
| The will to live…. on 20:18 - Aug 22 with 2769 views | qpr_1968 |
whats WFH. | |
| |
| The will to live…. on 20:45 - Aug 22 with 2693 views | BucksRanger |
| The will to live…. on 20:18 - Aug 22 by qpr_1968 |
whats WFH. |
Wimmy Floyd Hasselbaink...
or working from home. |  | | |
| The will to live…. on 02:20 - Aug 23 with 2389 views | Boston |
| The will to live…. on 20:18 - Aug 22 by qpr_1968 |
whats WFH. |
What working class people don't do. | |
| |
| The will to live…. on 08:56 - Aug 23 with 2146 views | PlanetHonneywood |
| The will to live…. on 19:27 - Aug 22 by kensalriser |
Welcome to modern customer service. In pursuit of a few pennies more, capitalism demands we be treated like total c***s . |
...and not just customer service jobs!
I'm not remotely techie, but I've been following the development of AI over the last decade or so. At the last organisation I worked at before saying, 'f..k it, I've had enough', I could receive a daily compendium of news articles from around the world about the world of work. One of the topics I chose was AI.
From late-2018, I had a daily feed of global articles. I'd say 80% spoke of the impending negative impacts that will come. However, by then, the AI train was already unstoppable, but then alone came Covid and overnight, not an AI sausage for the remainder of my time with the organisation.
Suddenly, it's everywhere! I suspect that those in power are so far behind the knowledge-curve on this, that it would frighten us to know how unprepared the world is. The call for a universal income is something many do not know about, because what is the world going to do when so many people lose their jobs? How will we survive on every level imaginable?
However, it's not just customer service jobs going, it will be across the board. Operations can be performed by AI, there are already advancements in AIing the judiciary and legal profession, and accountancy must be at even more peril. Right across the spectrum of work, AI will impact to such significant degrees, that predictions about this fourth industrial revolution having consequences of previously unimaginable depths are not necessarily scare mongering for the sake of it.
The world is going to look significantly different by 2030. Throw in the expeditious effects of global warming, and frankly I am glad I am out of it. I am genuinely fearful for the generations behind me who, right now, are slogging away in schools/universities and will leave with huge debts and no certainties about future job prospects.
There will be other posters along shortly to shoot what I have said down and I'll be more than happy to the point of being delighted if in 7 years time the state of the world is not as I fear it will be. |  |
| |
| The will to live…. on 13:01 - Aug 23 with 1959 views | E17hoop |
You only have to look at the Government's fouling up of the Online Safety Bill to recognise they don't have a clue how tech works and how it is integrated into so much of the world now.
AI won't take over the world but it will absorb some jobs, mostly those of a transactional information sharing kind.
*sweeping generalisation alert*
For many orgs, 80% of their general queries could be answered by effective chatbot technology.
However, these technologies need to be trained in to be effective and we are behind the curve in NLP - this is why Chat GPT, Bard, et al are seen as being 'game changing'.
Job design will change. It has to since location and work hours are changing. Before Covid, 80% of office space in the UK was occupied. In Q1 this year, the West End had 50% occupancy, the City 45%, and nationally 35%. People expect different things from work now and to work at hours which suit them. Jobs will need to be redesigned to meet these changes and that will involve the use of technology to automate transactional processes. You can't, however, automate nuance. This is where people with critical thinking and creative thinking skills will find a space to work. |  |
| |
| The will to live…. on 14:16 - Aug 23 with 1828 views | Sonofpugwash |
Rrrrrrrrrrinnngggggg....
"Is that the Chelsea Supporters' Mental Hospital?"
"Yes but we're not on the phone". |  |
| |
| The will to live…. on 15:02 - Aug 23 with 1770 views | Metallica_Hoop |
I called Sky for my mate a few years ago as she couldn't get her new laptop to connect to the web. I got through to the call center in India a presume and the girl started to run through the bumf when I told her that's the Wrong opperating system this is the new one (may have been 7 cant remember I'd just got one and had the prior one so I knew the difference) she wouldn't have it.
It was really warm and I'm sweating onto my mates new laptop getting a tad irate when eventually she said let me talk to a manager... 5 mins later "oh yes you have the new one!" Was connected in 10 mins, I was polite I wasn't nasty but felt like saying I told you that 25 mins ago! LISTEN *Mike Reid voice*
I got some beer for my trouble though so all's well that ends well. |  |
| Beer and Beef has made us what we are - The Prince Regent |
| |
| The will to live…. on 17:45 - Aug 23 with 1572 views | colinallcars |
When I spoke to Bank of Scotland yesterday, I'm more amd more convinced I was speaking to a robot.
The “lady” had a Scottish accent but it sounded like a “stage” Scottish accent. There was always a 5 second delay in answering. I lost my temper a bit at one point and then spent some time apologising. No reaction from the voice. | | | |
| The will to live…. on 17:54 - Aug 23 with 1543 views | Juzzie |
| The will to live…. on 17:45 - Aug 23 by colinallcars |
When I spoke to Bank of Scotland yesterday, I'm more amd more convinced I was speaking to a robot.
The “lady” had a Scottish accent but it sounded like a “stage” Scottish accent. There was always a 5 second delay in answering. I lost my temper a bit at one point and then spent some time apologising. No reaction from the voice. |
. [Post edited 23 Aug 2023 18:01]
|  | | |
| The will to live…. on 18:00 - Aug 23 with 1526 views | Juzzie |
On my way back from 12 days in Kos at a family resort and was never more than 6ft away from a Leeds fan.
That and the fact people are litter cnts despite bins being everywhere made me lose the will to live. | | | |
| The will to live…. on 18:25 - Aug 23 with 1477 views | Mick_S |
| The will to live…. on 18:00 - Aug 23 by Juzzie |
On my way back from 12 days in Kos at a family resort and was never more than 6ft away from a Leeds fan.
That and the fact people are litter cnts despite bins being everywhere made me lose the will to live. |
F uck that. I’d die. |  |
| Did I ever mention that I was in Minder? |
| |
| The will to live…. on 21:25 - Aug 23 with 1351 views | baz_qpr |
Bottom line is if you want a better service, better council, human beings delivering customer service etc then you have to be prepared to pay for it through higher prices, higher taxes etc and you can only change that by voting for it either at the ballot box or with your walle / moving your business. We've been fed the illusion of being richer by driving prices down, and inflating property prices when the reality is this country is getting poorer and soon to be overtaken by the likes of Poland |  | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
