“If you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything”, said some idiot.
I disagree. Especially when it comes in the context of 2015 Britain, where increasing numbers of customers and consumers are being ripped off by companies, who worry more about their public image and less on service and quality.
It makes sense, when everything else fails, to hit them where they like it least – in a public forum, and if you can do this in a mocking way it is even more satisfactory.
I learned this with the company, AA Warranties, a car warranty firm who failed to actually pay up when I made a claim. It was only after an intervention by Paul Gosling’s newspaper column, A Question of Cash in The Independent, that I got what was rightfully owed – my claim for repairs paid. It took a full page headline in a national newspaper for them to call me up and honour what was already paid and agreed for.
I was happy with the outcome but I realised it had come to something when one has to rely on a consumer column, (or BBC’s Watchdog) to get what you deserve – and that many other people would be in a similar if not worse position, especially many elderly people.
It is for this reason, that I am resurrecting an item from my 2008 Chinese Elvis Edinburgh Festival show. This item had to be abandoned without proper road testing in 2008, because my venue, Surgeon’s Hall, could not provide full internet access, despite it being on the venue spec sheet. This item was to go hand in hand with the Chinese Elvis Great Wall of Fame, which was reserved for glorifying British Beijing Olympic heroics, and was called:
THE CHINESE ELVIS GREAT WALL OF SHAME
This Wall is to be a whole page on the main website, where ChineseElvis simply openly mocks companies who have given him or his friends/ fans bad service. It could be popular. It may just sit there in a corner of the internet, unvisited. But it will at least be satisfying and a blow for the little person. Not to mention, you will be surprised how many hits my website gets.
If you have a candidate for the Great Wall of Shame, please send me details and supporting evidence. A list will be compiled. It will be posted on the wall. The Wall of Shame. Shame on those on it.
First up, is potentially going to be a boiler company, who installed a brand new boiler in my partner’s house exactly three years ago, and which has broken down 5 times already. Not only did she pay for the installation, but she has had to pay for all the repairs in the form of a service contract, payable monthly! Now that is the kind of thing the Great Wall of Shame is designed for. If you have anything similar, let me know by emailing me at wallofshame@chineseelvis.com