HMRC: thanks for the good service

I often use this blog to criticise companies with poor customer service. It makes me feel better, helps identify if there are customers in a similar position and I like finding out whether companies monitor their online reputation. Today, I hope that HMRC is monitoring its reputation.

I had to speak to the tax office today to reduce the bit of my tax bill on account and to reschedule payment of my last return. Ok, so I was on hold for a bit but that's my fault for leaving it so late. But by the time I got through, my tax bill on account had already been reduced (I filed my return last week). And my proposal for rescheduling payments was accepted with minimal fuss.

The whole process took about 15 minutes, was reasonable, well-explained and not in the least patronising. Thank you, HMRC.

Dyson's - they're great when they break

I got a Dyson a couple of years ago. We needed a new vacuum cleaner, my wife was not thinking about the cost properly and I persuaded her to get a Dyson because they look cool and are as manly as you can hope for from a vacuum cleaner.

Recently, I wondered why we bothered. It stopped working after less than two years. That's when I realised how great Dyson's really are. Why? Because:

1. They come with a five year guarantee

2. The helpline is really well run, with long opening hours and staff who seem to know what they're talking about

3. The Dyson is so well designed with colour coordinated parts that you can take it apart yourself (with instruction from the aforementioned helpline) to find out what's wrong and fix it. It's so good that even the individual components have diagrams so you don't need to resort to an instruction manual.

Now I would always by a Dyson, not just because they're the Apples of their field but because they are so well built.

UK2 - thanks

I had a problem with UK2 recently. (The next paragraph is boring).

I registered a domain that I no longer needed. I received automated emails warning me of renewal which I ignored, because the card that I used to pay for the domain was no longer valid. I then received an email warning me that the payment would be processed anyway unless I cancelled the order. I replied to the email and received no response. I then got an email saying it had been renewed and I had to pay some sort of fine. They had no record of my email but waived the payment; a truly decent thing to do as I hadn't complied with their procedure.

UK2 thanks - and if you monitor your online reputation - I recommend you to anyone thinking of buying a domain name.

EDF Energy customer service

There was a power cut on our side of the street yesterday evening at about 5.30pm. In the old days we would have just gone out for dinner but with a baby we had a mad dash for food supplies and sterilising tablets. I've written before about how EDF provide a decent service, but the customer care could be better. This time, EDF dealt with it ok, but a bit of customer service would have been nice.

When the power went off, I stepped outside to find out the extent of the problem. I was reassured to see an EDF Energy van parked on our street - although on reflection, it was surprising that it was already there. Unfortunately, there was no telephone number on the van as far as I could see.

Eventually we got through to customer services on the phone who said that it was being treated as an emergency and should be fixed by 9.30pm. I was delighted when the power came back on shortly after 7pm.

What would have been even better is if EDF Energy had called us to explain what was happening. Instead, angry residents gathered around the van hoping to get some news and becoming more agitated the less visible the engineers were.

Had the engineers had knocked on every door (or every other and asked us to tell a neighbour) we would have been able to plan accordingly - and known who to thank when the problem was sorted.