A bit of a rant today. Here we go…

I recently got a taste of how dependent people are on modern technology and the associated lack of customer service one would previously have expected to get.

I was in transit at Heathrow and my British Airways flight was finally aborted, after hours of delay, on the runway around 10 p.m. We were given to understand on board the plane that, when we returned to the airport, staff at the BA helpdesk in the baggage reclaim hall would rebook our flights and help us find a hotel. Well, that was somewhat of an overstatement. When we got there, we were simply told to rebook our flights ourselves, that BA could not book us into hotels as all the hotels they worked with were fully booked and handed a leaflet with details of how much BA might reimburse us and a few phone numbers of international hotel groups (e.g. Sheraton, Radisson, Marriott etc.).

Problem was that I don't have a smartphone, just a basic mobile. So not able to rebook flights online. When I informed the helpdesk staff and asked if they could rebook for me, I was told they had no facility to do that (sic). When I called the BA booking number, I got a recorded message saying they were inundated with calls and couldn't respond (same message all that evening and the next morning). When I tried the hotel group numbers, I found that some of the numbers didn't work, others produced recorded messages, one someone in India. I finally had success with Marriott, speaking to someone evidently in the US, who said their only vacancies near Heathrow were in a luxury hotel costing 450 pounds a night (more than double what BA claims to reimburse). This made me ring off and contemplate just sitting in Heathrow overnight, but I bit the bullet and called back when a beggar started doing the rounds of myself and others sitting in the arrivals hall. I arrived at the hotel around 1 a.m., got around 3 hours sleep (very comfortable country house hotel, but I was there so briefly, I only took advantage of the bed and the shower) and returned to the airport at 6 a.m. There I was told that BA had not arranged a replacement flight and that both scheduled BA flights that day to my destination were fully booked. But they said that I might be able to scrape onto the first scheduled BA flight that morning once the gate closed if there were any "no-shows". Otherwise, I'd get a seat on a flight with another airline from another airport the following day. I didn't hold out much hope for the first option, but by sheer luck did get a last-minute seat on the scheduled BA flight, as did five other people in the same position, two of whom, a mother and daughter, had sat it out all night at Heathrow.

I was quite surprised and disappointed at the minimal assistance from BA and at their failure to lay on a separate flight to carry passengers from the aborted flight.

The whole experience got me wondering about the advance of technology and the associated deterioration in customer service. People seem permanently attached to and enthralled by (in thrall to?) their smartphones - in the street, on public transport, at the airport, etc. - as if it has become a part of them and they have become "cyborgs". And it looks as if the likes of BA is counting on that to reduce any customer service they might otherwise have provided. As a solicitous member of staff at the hotel carried my suitcase to my room, I wondered if this is the future of personal customer service: only available to those paying luxury prices, with the plebs left to their own devices (and electronic devices) on the assumption that they're connected 24/7 to the internet.

Sorry to hear that saga.

There's no doubt that large service organisations are now placing the onus on customers - to use modern technology to solve problems, not of their making.

Banks are rapidly closing branches (significantly reducing their costs) - as people are encouraged to go online.

And conversely, High street retailers have been decimated by online shopping.


In the modern world, two items are virtual necessities.

A credit card and a smartphone.

Because they provide instant access to travel, accommodation, food/drink, medication and all lifestyle requirements.


If you can't beat them - join them...

Thanks for the sympathy, Barney, and, yes, I suppose it's time to get a smart phone - though I'm loath to pay for a clunky thing I'll hardly use and that will probably have a shorter lifespan than my … ahem… 2006 Nokia phone.

Yes Jo - you're well overdue a smartphone!

In mine, I store my credit card details (so that I don't even have to carry the card around) - and only need to insert the card's three digit code on the back (which I've memorised), when purchasing something.

And when in the pub here - when buying my pint of lager - I just tap my phone against their payment device, and my card is debited by the automatic cardless/bluetooth system.


Some things have become easier...

I understand completely about been in a situation that only a smartphone and hopefully a debit card, which I do have not a credit card, will give any chance of solving the immediate problem. Agree Barney that "join them" is the right choice but regrettably one I can not afford at this point in time.

So last time in Laos a couple of months ago, two occasions arose where I desperately needed to connect to the internet and guess what! The hotel did not have a computer and at the Thai consulate, I could not call the Thai language school when I was turned down for a Thai language education visa. . At the hotel I discovered in course of trying to find the hotel I had lost the booking confirmation I had carefully printed at home and I could not show or print another copy.

So I realized on searching for an internet cafe in the city that they no longer existed. Everyone was using a smartphone except me. How times have changed!!!

Barney wrote:
In mine, I store my credit card details (so that I don't even have to carry the card around) - and only need to insert the card's three digit code on the back (which I've memorised), when purchasing something.

And when in the pub here - when buying my pint of lager - I just tap my phone against their payment device, and my card is debited by the automatic cardless/bluetooth system.


wjl made me rethink my above post.

The first example is correct - and, if your credit card is paid off on schedule, there's absolutely no charge.

However, some retail outlets and pubs wish to be paid specifically by debit card.

And the smartphone will accommodate both types of cards.

I have a smartphone and too be honest it's all a hassel. I don't have any apps installed and F- me it's easier just to have a debit card in my wallet and Contactless takes seconds. I don't hardly carry cash these days.

If you travel as much as I do, cash is essential (many overseas WiFi contacts are dodgy).

Take your cash point¡

But secure mobile connections are everywhere

Google Maps gets me around new places

Even with pictures of where I'm looking for


And you can ask Google 'where's the best/nearest restaurant'

You will then say 'too much information...

Filed a claim for compensation and a complaint today. We'll see what happens.

I can see that modern technology has its advantages and do find online shopping very convenient but find it disturbing that people are now expected in cases like this to have a smartphone almost like an extra body part. And what happens if it suddenly breaks down or if the battery runs out and you can't recharge it? I also agree that online security, e.g. Wifi, is an important issue and so far have avoided any online banking for that reason.

Noticed on the news the other day a report about a robots being used in Japan to look after small children in a kindergarten, with the prognosis being that they will replace human carers within 15 years. I find that quite disturbing. What kind of creatures will these children become if they're looked after by machines?

It seems to me that the best solution, rather than technology gradually eroding all personal service and human interaction, is to achieve a happy medium between technology and human service, without the former ruling out or eliminating the latter.