I bought a new suit from a well known US designer earlier this year on a trip to New Year and the other day I was searching for something in my pockets and found this small piece of paper (picture) which not only made me smile but also restored my faith in the principle of customer service.

This faith has been severely tested in the past 3 days where I have experienced 2 examples of really lousy customer service from 2 companies that I previously admired - namely Orange and Sky. I spent 30 mins speaking to a very enthusiastic operator at Sky assembling a bespoke package to replace the Virgin Media service that I really cannot abide any more (charging 50p a minute for any help on Broadband was the final straw) to be told that unless I bought there and then I would have to call back even though he could not help me with a new BT connection needed to run Sky+....!! I then tried to get someone at Orange to help me with a fault on my SPV Orange phone to be told that I would have to take out Orange insurance at £6 per month even though we have a business account and spend a fortune each month.

Surely in the new age of the empowered consumer or "prosumer" as they (we) have become known this sort of treatment should be avoided by companies at all costs - or should it ? I think there seems to be a divide between companies who nurture consumers and treat them with respect and companies that still view us as cannon fodder. Sky is a great case in point in they spend millions of pounds each year to convert people to their service and then when they do gt a "bite" they are happy to let it go which to me is ludicrous - just think what they could achieve if they spent as much on trying to retain an interested consumer as they do on trying to get them to pick up the phone !