Jobs is a right pleb. Urgh.
However, I'm sure a large majority of the staff at Apple work hard (I know, in fact) and the CS side of it is a nightmare, with regards to how well trained/informed they are to deal with problems/enquiries. I can't speak for all departments in all places, of course, just from my own experience.
Anyway - a little OT.


I'd give Alton a few days to get back to you. Maybe get something sent over in writing as they will probably ask you to anyway if they do reply in email. You must remember they get a huge volume of comments via the website etc...

"Mr Hyde" wrote:

But this doesn't answer the question of why you think it is un-acceptable :P

Considering Alton Towers happily take well in excess of £100 from every average sized family that visits. I feel it is unacceptable for them to ignore guests who did not enjoy their day for whatever reason. You pay for a service, you should get that service. If you feel you didn't, the park should be respond - not just take your money and run.

"Mr Hyde" wrote:

Everyone is, of course different but there is a common level where I would suggest the majority of people would say a complaint subject isn't worth moaning about.

That is where the park, or any customer service organisation needs to be establishing the difference between an expression of dissatisfaction and a complaint. They're two completely different things, but are still very important to both the company and customer.

For example. I'm not happy that Apple don't offer Blu-Ray on their Mac's yet I wouldn't exactly complain about it. Though, Apple could improve customer satisfaction by offering this extra. Obviously, there are reasons they don't - it doesn't mean I can't be unhappy with it.

"Mr Hyde" wrote:

However, my gripe is with those who complain about silly things.

Again, silly by whose definition? Yours, or the customer whose complaining?

Also the examples you use again, inadequate parking, fewer seats unless near revenue generating outlets, may seem trivial things to complain about, but could be addressed if those responsible wanted to. The fact a theme park chooses not to provide adequate parking for the number of guests it's attracts, or seats across the park due to logistical or financial incentives does not make complaints about the matter any less valid.

You may also want to try telling Watchdog that wasps are not worth complaining about.

It's clear we have very different views on this subject but I do feel strongly that you should not discount someones complaint just be you think it's trivial.

"damos1" wrote:

Oh, and removing seats is a simply encouragement for you to go and spend food in a food outlet to sit down. I agree there should be more benches around, especially in the gardens for summer.

I do not mind about the benches too much eg a table, Yet they have removed most of what was already near to none seats, and a lot of people do need a sit down, often regular, some people cannot stand on the spot for longer than 10 minutes.

Why go to AT if you can't stand still for 10 minutes? :roll:

There are such a thing as unreasonable complaints.

I work in the NHS we get them all the time

"i have been here an hour and you havn't seen me" letsput aside the fact you turned up two hours BEFORE your appointment time

"You have refused to see me" lets put aside the fact you have turned up 40 minutes late for your appointment and we have no time to see you

these are just two from my experience.

What about the hundreds of people i saw queue for guest services to complain about the power cut... was that towers fault.

Or the woman who complained because the single rider queue was more than 5 minutes... there are signs telling you it isn't a guarenteed walk on!

when you work in service areas you soon see the nature of the idiotic complaint.

But all complaints should recieve a reply if only to say YOUR A COMPLETE AND UTTER IDIOT... thankyou for your letter now drop dead.

7 years in the NHS and my compassion remains :D

I worked on the customer service desk at M&S in Meadowhall for 9 months and that pretty much showed me that 90% of all people who I served were liers, idiots thick, thiefs or just needed to get out! Of course being customer service I was kind and had a smile :D until I turned around :P

But let's not forget that some people do have very reasonable and legitimate complaints to make.

I'd also like to add that although some people do complain about the most ridiculous things, it doesn't give those of us who work in services the right to scoff at them. Sometimes it is just a case of them needing to get something off their chest.

Alton probably recieve a lot of 'complaints' from people who don't really expect a reply, they just feel it's important for them to have their say. hich is completely fair enough, really.

Alot of people like to make complaints and I sure to that person they feel very strongly about the complaint. What I think people are getting at is, is there anything a company can do to resolve it.

If not, depending on how you made you complaint, you will get a generic response or no response at all. This is pretty common practice for all major companies. The company will normally apologise and then offer to look into the problem. An example of such complaint will be when a product is not in stock during an unexpected increase in sales. The company can offer to try and get the product back in stock soon, but at the time of the complaint, there is nothing they can do.

On the other hand, a serious complaint will need a more in depth answer. The company will normally contact you on several occasions and will keep you informed. An example would be someone getting hurt or exceptionally rude staff.

In Alton Towers' case, they CANNOT reply to ever last email, letter and phone call as they must get thousands. Thats is why I feel that sending them an email is pointless as they never seem to reply, probably due to the high amount of junk messages they get off people saying "ZOMG Nemesis is the shiz"!

Write to them or even better make the complaint on the day you are there. That way you are much more likely to get a response. Dont go crazy at them, but explain you are not happy with the service and want the matter looking into. If you are still not happy, ask to see a senior member of the management team. Remember that rides do breakdown and that from time to time things may not run as smoothly as they should. Complaining about these things will, like I said earlier, result in a generic response of just giving you a pass to go on the ride later.

To sum up, in an ideal world only people with genuine complaints would actually complain to the park, but this simply does not happen making people with genuine complaints have to wait for a complaint to get dealt with. Try to get the problem resolved on the day or write to them. Keep it short and to the point and dont go mental at them. If no reply, then send them another letter and see if they get that one. Sometimes phoning or sending a complaint be recorded delivery might be better as someone will have to sign for it.

"Big Dave" wrote:

Write to them or even better make the complaint on the day you are there. That way you are much more likely to get a response. Dont go crazy at them, but explain you are not happy with the service and want the matter looking into.

To sum up, in an ideal world only people with genuine complaints would actually complain to the park, but this simply does not happen making people with genuine complaints have to wait for a complaint to get dealt with.

I agree generally.

To be fair to Alton, when I made my complaint (which would fall into the 'genuine' and 'serious' folder), it wasn't on the actual day. In fact, it was around 4 days later, and they replied to me very quickly.

Everything else you've said is basically what I'd say. With exception to those of us customer services who fall into the habit of loathing the genral public for their complaints. I was just saying that. with exception to the genuine self-important fools who just like a good whinge, much of the time a complaint from someone over something minor is just them airing their gripe, and once they've unloaded they're usually satisfied and don't always mind if the response is minimal. Or so I've found.