Looking back over the past weeks and to the weeks ahead – to rate the noteworthy, the cringeworthy, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the truly amazing.
The buck sotps here
Making mistakes on the job isn’t always the end of the world and this one at least raised a few smiles and a bit of sympathy. Some new paintwork at a bus stop in Te Atatu, Auckland needed a makeover when residents informed The NZ Herald of an obvious spelling error. Instead of ‘bus top’ it was painted to say ‘bus sotp’. The good people at Auckland Transport remedied the mistake and passed on the cost of the redo to the contractor responsible for the paintwork.
Locals were good natured about the typographical mix-up. “‘I kind of wanted it to stay the way it was,’ one local said online. ‘A great reminder for us all that no matter what we do, or who we are, we all have a bad day at the office.’ ‘Should have left it as it was – might have become a tourist spot!’ another hopeful Westie suggested. (Source: “Te Atatū bus stop spelling mistake: ‘Sotp’ corrected after residents complain,” 21st February, www.nzherald.co.nz).
5 stars – a reminder that sometimes a foul up at work isn’t the end of the world.
Dunedin supermarket battles rat problem
Solving a rat infestation is proving tricky for a Dunedin supermarket. A South Dunedin Countdown has had to delay a planned re-opening after another rat was sighted onsite. This comes after a two week closure during which 20 rats have been captured.
New Zealand Food Safety’s “deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said the complexity and need for thoroughness meant it would take time to investigate, so it could be prevented from happening again. ‘We are satisfied Woolworths is taking the matter seriously and is putting in place all the right measures at the store to manage the problem, including deep cleaning, maintenance and proactive pest control measures,’ Arbuckle said. ‘Given the very high level of public interest, we want to see a 24-hour period of no rodent activity, followed by a 48-hour period to determine if the measures have worked before reopening. Following reopening, our food compliance officers will monitor the store for a period so that consumers can have confidence food at the store is safe.'” (Source: “Countdown reopening delayed after another rat sighted,” by Gregor Richardson, 25th February, www.odt.co.nz).
1 star – not a good look for the Australian owned chain. Food safety is paramount.
Airline tries to pull a fast one
I’m no fan of chatbots. I prefer talking to an actual human being but that can be too much of a time wasting exercise in futility nowadays. So when I read that Air Canada tried to absolve itself of responsibility after one of its chatbots gave faulty advice to a traveller, my interest was piqued.
“After his grandmother died in Ontario a few years ago, British Columbia resident Jake Moffatt visited Air Canada’s website to book a flight for the funeral. He received assistance from a chatbot, which told him the airline offered reduced rates for passengers booking last-minute travel due to tragedies.
“Moffatt bought a nearly US$600 (NZ$975) ticket for a next-day flight after the chatbot said he would get some of his money back under the airline’s bereavement policy as long as he applied within 90 days, according to a recent civil-resolutions tribunal decision.
“But when Moffatt later attempted to receive the discount, he learned that the chatbot had been wrong. Air Canada only awarded bereavement fees if the request had been submitted before a flight. The airline later argued the chatbot was a separate legal entity ‘responsible for its own actions,’ the decision said.” (Source: “Air Canada chatbot incorrectly promised a discount. Now the airline has to pay it,” 21st February, www/stuff.co.nz).
To me it’s a no brainer that any advice given by an airline, in whatever medium, by whom or whatever, is the responsibility of the airline. Luckily the court agreed and Mr Moffat was compensated. As an exercise in customer and public relations this is a fail and if your chatbots are unreliable, then maybe make it easier to talk to an actual person.
0 stars – very poor excuse in the hope of avoiding responsibility.
(Image credit: Newshub).
