A Final Good Bye TO EDF Energy – Hopefully!
When I Bought This house the electricity and gas supplier was EDF Energy. At the time I thought it would be a good idea to stick with them, as it might be less hassle to get them to continue to do the supply than change.
But after trying to get sense from EDF Energy, I signed up with nPower, as I detailed here. I set up Direct Debits too, soon after they changed the meter on the day they said they would, and at the time precisely.
In my original post, I did imply that Thames Water, tried to get aggressive in trying to sell me things I didn’t need. But I’ll forgive them that, as when I needed to read the water meter, the lady in the call centre told me in detail how to do it. They also gave me a free tour of Abbey Mills and the sewers with very good food afterwards.
Over the six months or so, I’ve got a lot of writs for the previous owners tenants. The biggest of which was for several hundred pounds from a company collecting on behalf of EDF Energy. It was from an agency in Glasgow, so I suspected someone from Alex Ferguson’s charm school to give me some form of hair-drying, when I phoned them. But I got a nice guy, who told me to forget the bill and shred it, after asking a few questions in a polite manner.
Nothing much happened until about two months ago, except for a series of mysterious calls on my mobile phone, which might be linked to EDF Energy.
I then got a bill from EDF Energy of £180.83, which on querying with them, they said was for the time whilst they were swapping everything over to nPower. I immediately queried it on the phone and I then got a reduced bill of £70.46, but I thought this was still too high as it ran from the 1st December 2010, when I didn’t move in until the 12th.
I was now dealing with them by e-mail and the e-mail said this.
If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me via my email.
So I did. Several times, in an attempt to get the bill adjusted to the 12th of December or full explanation of their calculations. Let’s face it there comes a point, where you don’t fight a bill of seventy quid any longer, as it just isn’t worth the effort. I also put it in a letter to them.
That point came on Thursday, when I sent them the money by bank transfer. But even that wasn’t as simple as paying other companies, as their bank, doesn’t accept the faster payments system, that virtually all others do. This excellent system means you get a certified receipt for a payment within a few minutes. Read about them here in the Guardian. If ever there was a reason for Internet banking, it’s this payment system.
It’s been debited from my bank account, so it’s somewhere in the system. It’s probably being processed in some overseas department of France, if they use a French bank.
I should say that their automated system phoned my mobile phone number, despite the fact that I told them I always deal with people over my landline. This automated system had no way getting a realperson and expected me to type in the twelve digits of my debit card number without making a mistake. I can do that easily on my large button landline phone, but not on my Nokia 6310i. Their automated system is about as customer friendly to someone with a small disability like me, as a unicycle. So in the end I hung up on them. They didn’t ring again. Surely that is wrong, as some other companies, will ring you back with a real person if the person accepting the call doesn’t seem to be responding properly.
Let’s hope that’s the end of it. I shall certainly not be recommending EDF Energy to any of my friends. As they say on Eurovision, they have earned nil points for Customer Service.
Any more calls from them and I’ll use the famous Sun headline from the 1970s or so.
Frock Horror
As a man, this is a problem I don’t have!
I suspect though that the two women cared!
Although one might have cared more than the other, as she actually paid for the dress.
But who are Bar Refaeli and Victoria Silvstedt anyway?
A Project Management Approach to Better Justice
The whole justice system from victims, families on the brink of divorce and criminals, to the courts and ultimately prison is very much like an enormous project, such as building a new railway line or refurbishing a fleet of airliners.
The objectives are very similar.
- Complete everything on-time and as close to the budget as possible.
- Get a high satisfaction rating from customers, who in this case are victims, their families and in the civil courts those that litigate and seek redress.
- Do all this within strict resource constraints, such as numbers of police, courts, judges and other legal staff.
So how would a good project manager build his railway line to meet the objectives?
There is an old phrase that Time is Money and I believe that this is something that the justice system in all its manifestation doesn’t address.
I can remember C coming home one day and saying that she’d finally got the details of a divorce settled, ten years after she first took on the case.
And yesterday we had the news that a new trial in the saga of Stephen Lawrence would start in November.
I doubt I could find more than a handful of people, if any, who thought either of these examples acceptable.
A good project manager would analyse why various jobs took a long time and take action to make sure that the delays were not repeated.
C often said these long times in divorce were often down to plain vindictiveness on the part of both parties and she would often ponder how they ever stopped rowing long enough to get married. There is even a story, I’ve heard of two barristers, who when they divorced managed to blow all their money on other lawyers. Somehow those that waste time in the divorce system, should be made to pay more, so that those who need help can get it.
With criminal trials it has often puzzled me, how supposedly similar trials take a very much variable time to get to court. This timeline of the Ipswich murders shows how a quite complicated case, was brought to court in just 14 months. Other much less complicated cases take a lot longer to get to court, with all that entails in terms of costs of remand and stress for the witnesses.
We must not cut corners, as quality of justice is paramount, but surely some analysis will lead to ways to improve the speed of the courts.
With all the fuss about Ken Clarke’s comments on rape, it seems to me that emotion has got the better of a decent analysis, which might indicate a few simple procedural changes, that will ensure a less stressful time for the victim and more cases coming to a result where the guilty is rightly convicted.
I remember seeing an article some years ago, where when there was a cot death, one police force tried to send an officer, who had suffered a similar experience. This simple change to procedure, showed a degree of compassion and care and removed a lot of bad emotion and accusations from the system. In my view it showed how if police respond to an incident properly in the first place they might save a lot of problems later on. First response seems to be getting better, but I’ve only reported a couple of crimes in my 63 years. Two were in France and if the French system hasn’t changed, we have nothing to learn there.
To summarise.
- A project manager calculates the resources they need.
- They then look at the systems to get each task done in the most efficient way.
- Analysis is always performed to see if speed and quality can be improved and costs can be better controlled.
In my view, with forty years experience of project mangement, it is getting better as some of the rail projects like the Western Curve at Dalston and the improvements to container routes have been done on time and under budget.
Let’s hope that those who administer the justice system are prepared to learn from management successes elsewhere!
How To Manage Dormant Accounts
This afternoon, I got an e-mail from William Hill, the bookmakers.
It said that I hadn’t used the account for some time and would I like to use some of the money there to have a bet.
Quite frankly, I’d clearly forgotten I had the account and I think the last time I used it was well before 2007, as I know C was still alive. I think she had asked me to put money on a horse in the Grand National.
They said there was about £50 in the account, which let’s face it, buys a reasonable meal around here for two.
On trying to login, the site told me the account was locked and would I contact them through the on-line chat button.
I did this and after about an hour of patient chat, I got a new password and they unlocked the account so I could log in.
I then updated the account with my new address, phone number and credit card and then duly withdrew the balance.
Perhaps after the good service I’d got, that was a bit mean.
But it does show how if you manage your customer support well, you can get customers pleased with your company.
So thanks to William Hill, I’m now going to have a free meal.
How many other betting companies or financial institutions would have left the money there earning them interest?
I should also contrast this episode with the service, I’ve received from a well-known energy company (Not nPower or British Gas!) who supplied electricity and gas to the tenants of this house, before I bought it.
When I took over the house, I felt that it might be easier to stay with this company. But after waiting on the phone for twenty minutes or so to contact them, I gave up and went elsewhere.
I did owe them a small amount for when they supplied me until nPower took over, but they did try it on a bit and I still haven’t received what I consider to be a properly audited bill. E-mails to the company are unanswered and I have spent quite some time trying to phone them. I have spoken to friends and most feel that this company has a miserable standard of cutomer support at best.
So if I haven’t heard by Friday, I’ll probably pay the bill in a manner that A P Herbert would have approved of.
I of course advise anybody who uses the company to seriously think about getting an alternative supplier.
Scottish Devolution
They are debating this old chestnut on Radio 5 Live at the moment.
Apparently there has been a poll in The Sun, which says that those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are more in favour of devolution than the Scots.
If they do leave the Union, then can they please take the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers and its debts with them. And they can keep that banker, Fred the Shred too!
The question has to be asked as to whether the EU would admit Scotland. After all Spain has regions that would like independence and may vote against, as it doesn’t want Spain to split.
An IKEA Linen Bin
My current bedroom is not as large as my previous one, so space in some ways is at a premium. I have given away some of my larger furniture and replaced my bedroom chests and dressing table with Expedit ones from IKEA, mainly with Branas baskets.
A Branas Basket as a Laundry Bin
For a single man living alone, the one next to my bathroom makes an excellent linen bin.
Incidentally, I’ve put my old laundry bins on eBay. They are stainless steel and wood by Miller of Sweden and are in very good condition.
Iconic Photos
They’ve just announced the route of the Olympic Torch Relay before the 2012 Olympics.
I know Britain pretty well, but what has surprised me is how many of the stops of the torch on the route, aren’t really that recognisable from the iconic photographs published alongside the interactve map. Obviously, for many cities they have used the cathedral, the castle or an iconic building and for Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Bristol they have used bridges. Liverpool has been indicated by two of the Three Graces. Some though, like Bolton, Hull and Luton have struggled, as they show what looks to be the town hall or some other unworthy Victorian pile that could be anywhere.
The worst is probably Ipswich, which shows an anonymous modern waterfront, that could be anywhere and is easily confused with London Docklands.
Ipswich has three iconic buildings all of which are Grade One listed buildings; Norman Foster’s Willis Building, Christchurch Mansion and the Ancient House.
I’d have shown the Willis Building, as it is one of the few truly great buildings from the 1970s, we have in this country.
Annoyances In Sainsburys
This morning, I had to show friends, where to park their car, whilst they did a day’s business in London and then get them organised with a Travelcard at Dalston Junction.
So this meant, as I wasn’t near my usual paper shop, I had to go to Sainsbury’s to get one, as I have a pre-paid voucher and not all shops accept them.
I also needed some toilet rolls, but unlike Waitrose who do them with handles so they are easy to carry, Sainsburys don’t do this. The only one with a handle was a nine of Andrex.
And then to pay for my two items, I had to wait, as no tills were open and vouchers aren’t accepted in the self-service machines. Eventually, I used the tobacco kiosk, but had to use a card, which didn’t work too well, because of my gammy fingers. It’s funny but I never have trouble with cards except in Sainsburys.
So I doubt I’ll be visiting that Sainsburys early in the morning again.
We’re Really In It Now
I was also given a tour of part of the Northern Outfall Sewer at Hackney Wick.
These pictures were not taken by me, as you can see I was rather protected again the effluent from half of London’s drains and toilets.
Note the quality of the brickwork, which is over a hundred years old, with some nearly fifty years older than that!
It should also be noted, that I was breathing a lot better in the sewer. I suppose there isn’t much pollen down there!
I also didn’t have any problems walking in the almost thigh high water. You have to feel your way with your feet, but then I was taught to do this in industrial environments that may be dangerous, by Health and Safety when I worked for ICI in the 1960s. The only problem I had was that when I first got down there it took a couple of minutes for my eyes to be able to see things properly.
But I survived it with ease and the only thing I couldn’t do was take the photos. The photos incidentally were taken by Daniel, who has his own blog called The Sewerman’s Log. It’s an excellent well-written insight into the day-to-day happenings in London’s sewers and what it is really like to work up-to-your-waist in things that polite society doesn’t talk about. This post is a good place to start in his blog, as it gives a good summary of the problems and also gives an insight into how Dan Snow was kitted up for his recent television series.
A Visit To Abbey Mills
This week is Sewer Week and I had an invite to visit the pumping station at Abbey Mills.
These pictures were taken of the outside and inside of this cathedral of sewage.
Formula One Meets Victorian Technology
A few years ago, Thames Water had a problem. Under the pumping station are Victorian centrifugal pumps that pump raw sewage to Beckton works for treatment. These are connected to 1930s electric motors in Dalek-like structures on the ground floor, using heavy steel shafts. The motors are controlled from the control panel in the last image.
The shafts were showing signs of their age and needed replacement.
So Thames Water turned to the experts in high-power transmission at high speed – Formula One.
The pumps are now connected to the electric motors, using high-strength, lower-weight carbon-fibre shafts.
It was a fascinating visit and thanks to Thames Water, who made it all possible.
The Anonymous Widower 