"Products"

[ColinW]

I was watching a useless wally from Ofgem, now that is an organization that is a complete waste of time, on breakfast TV this morning describing electricity and gas suppliers providing us with "products". It occurred to me that "product" now seems to be euphemism for "rip off". At least it is when it is used by companies that provide services.

 

Just so they know:

Electricity supply is not a product, it is a service.

Gas supply is not a product, it is a service.

Water and drainage supplies are not products, they are services.

My bank account is not a product, it is a service, as is a mortgage.

A telephone network is not a product, it is a service.

Refuse collection is not a product, it is a service.

When a bank sells "business advice" before agreeing a loan is neither a product nor a service.

 

Wrapping a service in a load of bullcrap marketing material designed to maximise company profits does NOT make it into any more of a product, however much money is diverted from actually providing the service.

[Phone]

ColinW,

 

It may well be true - or - not true that you are getting "ripped off".

 

To wrap it around the word "product" is a bit of a stretch. I think of "product" (the word) as "the totality of goods and/or services that a company or person makes available" (Phone). For example, the product of my mind is brilliance (which I willingly share with you for free).

 

Phone

[ColinW]

Take bank accounts for an example.

In the good old days you put your money in the bank. They made their money by lending your money to other people and charging them interest. That was as complicated as it got. They provided you with a service of having somewhere safe to stash your wages, having a cheque book, having a branch where you could pay in or withdraw money and a manager who would possibly know you personally and deal with any problems. All that is gone now.

Barclays for example have five different current account "products" (and that doesn't include student accounts etc). These products are basically the basic bank account service with all sorts of silly extras "bolted on", all with one thing in common, a monthly charge. I'm sure the main idea behind this (after all, who the hell wants mobile phone insurance and RAC cover tacked onto a bank account FFS) is to soften us all up to the idea that we should be paying for the privilege of putting our money in their bank. There is never any mention of the fact that we are basically giving them an interest free loan to finance their business. Or that all the real services they used to provide have now disappeared.

I don't need this carefully researched, designed and no doubt focus grouped bit of nonsense

it doesn't improve my banking service in any way, but like every other silly little graphic that appears on every piece of paper this bank (and every other one) produce and every web page they use it will have cost money, probably a quite ridiculous amount too going by other well publicized examples, money that they take off me.

 

I think the main reason for this switch from providing services to selling products is that people who provide a service are servants. Big business men don't like that idea, it somehow puts the customer in command.

 

Am I the only one who gets angry when an ATM machine tells me "We are unable to deal with your request..."

It's not the fact that the thing has no money in that annoys me so much, it's the fact that they regard my ORDER as a request! The bank thinks we should be coming cap in hand to get our own money out of a damned machine!

[Steve Walker]

I'm sure the main idea behind this (after all, who the hell wants mobile phone insurance and RAC cover tacked onto a bank account FFS)

 

The package I have includes breakdown, travel and phone cover, and seems a reasonable deal.

 

Britain is very unusual in our expectation of free banking - that won't survive the breaking up of retain and investment banking. Best get used to paying for the service.