Ordinary Gweilo

This comment about a recent post reminded of an article some time ago in The Economist (subscription required as this is so old):

MEET your airline’s latest employee: you. You may not have noticed, but you are also now working for your phone company and your bank. Why? Because of the growth of the self-service economy, in which companies are offloading work on to their own customers. It is, you could say, the ultimate in outsourcing. Self-service can have benefits both for companies and customers alike. It is already changing business practices in many industries, and seems likely to become even more widespread in future.

The idea is not new, of course. Self-service has been around for decades, ever since Clarence Saunders, an American entrepreneur, opened the first Piggly Wiggly supermarket in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee. Saunders’s idea was simple, but revolutionary: shoppers would enter the store, help themselves to whatever they needed and then carry their purchases to the check-out counter to pay for them. Previously, store clerks had been responsible for picking items off the shelves; but with the advent of the supermarket, the shoppers instead took on that job themselves.

On the heels of supermarkets came laundromats, cafeterias and self-service car washes, all of which were variations on the same theme. But now, with the rise of the web, the falling cost of computing power, and the proliferation of computerised kiosks, voice recognition and mobile phones, companies are taking self-service to new levels. Millions of people now manage their finances, refinance their home loans, track packages and buy cinema and theatre tickets while sitting in front of their computers. Some install their own broadband connections using boxes and instructions sent through the post; others switch mobile-phone pricing plans to get better deals. They plan their own travel itineraries and make their own hotel and airline bookings: later, at the airport, they may even check themselves in. And they do all of this with mouse in hand and no human employees in sight.

There was a time when most organizations had those real human employees available on the end of a phone, so you could call the local branch of your bank and actually speak to someone.  Not that this always produced the desired results, it has to be admitted.  Then they starting using call centres (which generally made things worse), and now you often have to struggle through an automated phone system – if you press all the correct buttons, listen to the pre-recorded messages ("if your remote control is not working, please replace the batteries") and are willing to hang on you may be able to speak to someone who might be able to help you. 

So doing it yourself is quite an attractive option.  I am happy to be able to select my cinema seat at home rather than queuing up to do the same thing.  It’s handy to be able to choose your seat on a plane and check-in from home, and there are rarely queues to use the check-in machines at the airport.  The automatic gates at the airport (and at Lo Wu) for checking the new "smart" Hong Kong ID card have helped to reduce delays entering and leaving Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, not everything works so well.  There are too many badly-designed systems and many organizations seem to be reluctant to give customers all the options (and maybe all the information) they need.

HSBC’s Internet Banking manages to be both awkward to use and lacking in functionality.  It puzzles me greatly that I need a "security device" just to check my balance, and that I can only view transactions from the last few weeks (if disk space is the problem, please let me download the information and I’ll store it on my PC).  It’s handy to be able to pay bills (and earn points), but why couldn’t it be made easier?  Why do I have to select the ‘Bill Type’ each time I pay a bill?  If I always pay using my credit card, why not make that the default option?  Why can’t I have a list of the bills I pay regularly, rather than having to select from a drop-down list of all my registered bills?  If HSBC want some tips, take a look at the PPS website, which makes it much easier to pay bills.

As was pointed out, HSBC charge for some transactions done through Internet Banking when they are free if you use an ATM.  Eh?  Perhaps they think customers are not smart enough to figure this out.  Still on HSBC, I tried opening an account online and was then told that I should have gone to the branch because they can convert my account to the new type and keep the same account number.  So I had to go to the branch to undo what I had done online, and then go back a second time to do what I wanted to do in the first place.  Pathetic. 

PCCW’s Now TV service allow you to subscribe to channels via your TV or through their website, but you will always get a better deal by calling them (at least you will if you commit to an 18 or 24 month contract).  Other information is simply not available online – if you want to find out whether their HD service is available in your building you have to go through their ghastly automated phone system to get the answer.  How difficult would be for them to let you log into your account and get the information automatically?

On the other hand, there is still a lot of interesting information available on self-service websites.  Budget airlines are heavily reliant on automated systems that are able to adjust prices according to demand, and they cut costs by not paying commission to travel agents. This means that you can go to their website and check prices at any time – and make a booking if the offer seems good enough.

The danger with this, of course, is that you spend far too much time trying different dates, airlines and combinations of flights to get the best deal, just to save a few dollars.  It’s one thing if you do it in your own time, but companies are understandably concerned about the amount of time employees can waste on this type of stuff.  Which is one reason why travel agents are still in business.