The best explanation yet of how the Celtic Tiger turned into a Tigger...
Monday, 13 December 2010
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Orange out of order
"Orange is committed to providing excellent customer service so your call may be recorded for training purposes". So says the automated message when you ring with a query for the mobile phone group's over-worked call centre. But can it really back that up? For days now, that message has been followed by customers being immediately disconnected from the call centre queue - and the glitch is still happening. This is, of course, an insoluble telecommunications problem for the UK's, er, largest mobile telecommunications company. Amateurs.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Fancy that!
"When companies or people go about publishing this data without ensuring it won’t injure others, it’s a violation of our terms of service, and folks need to go operate elsewhere." - Amazon Web Services statement after it stopped hosting the WikiLeaks website, December 2, 2010.
"Mein Kampf is historically important. You can't restrict free speech." - Amazon boss Jeff Bezos defends his website's stock list, October 10, 2002.
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
The future's not Orange
Mobile phone group Orange is spending a fortune trumpeting its new iPad offer, but sadly it seems to have got over excited and rushed the promotion out. The Apple gizmo is arriving with punters nicely enough, but then start the problems.
Users are asked to register the gadget's SIM card either online ("Sorry. We're having some technical problems processing your activation") or by phone (a message tells callers how serious they are about customer service, before cutting them off).
A call to the usual Orange help desk will then glean an alternative number to call. The result? Another recorded message telling frustrated users that "due to unforeseen circumstances" the office is now closed.
Still, once that's all done, you can find somebody to register the SIM and you're (almost) ready to go. All you need to do is insert the SIM by following the instructions in the handy booklet, telling you to "use the SIM eject tool to access the SIM tray". Sadly, Orange has forgotten to include one of those. Just brilliant!
Monday, 6 December 2010
Murray Pru bound
Congratulations to the Prudential, which has managed to secure the mighty John Murray as its, I am told, "interim" communications honcho.
Murray has been hired to fill the shoes of the recently departed Stephen Whitehead. Some say the men are in some ways similar.
The new man, a titan of a journalist during his career at the Express, is just what the Pru needs. Of course, like all the best journalists he has been in public relations for some time.
Murrary's last job was at the FSA, where he led the PR department through the financial crisis.
The regulator did not put a single foot wrong during this period - which is no doubt a considerable comfort for the insurer as it battles to restore its reputation in the wake of the botched $35 billion bid for AIA.
Murray has been hired to fill the shoes of the recently departed Stephen Whitehead. Some say the men are in some ways similar.
The new man, a titan of a journalist during his career at the Express, is just what the Pru needs. Of course, like all the best journalists he has been in public relations for some time.
Murrary's last job was at the FSA, where he led the PR department through the financial crisis.
The regulator did not put a single foot wrong during this period - which is no doubt a considerable comfort for the insurer as it battles to restore its reputation in the wake of the botched $35 billion bid for AIA.
Sindy Column...
Kazakhstan president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and his Kazakhmys hotel bill. For this week's Sindy column, click here.
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