Richy's Random Ramblings

I’ve just received an unsolicited marketing call from a “Nick” (based in Birmingham, withheld number) at Public Service Events (aka PublicService.co.uk and PublicServiceEvents.co.uk) telling me details about an event they are holding on the 26th of September 2012 at The Barbican in London for “Excellence in Customer Service – Supporting Quality Public Services” and asking if we’d be interested in attending as “it’ll help benefit your company and get some of the £X million per year spending in the public sector”.

Whilst he said he ways on a deadline (“I need a decision by 3pm”), it still took 20 minutes for him to give the web site address for Public Service and then when I found the event page, I saw that they were going to charge us £895+vat each to attend (Public Sector, who according to Nick, are facing big cutbacks and are looking at finding ways to save money – “only” have to pay £395+vat each!). When I asked if we were going to have to pay the £895, he said “no, as that’s not what I’m offering”. He then went about networking, business opportunities and that it’ll be a shame to miss out on this event. 25 minutes in: “Whilst I’m not able to negotiate on the time, as I need a decision by 3pm, I can negotiate on the price. The list price is £3,000“…

Yep, £3,000! For that he was offering “delegates email address and contact details at the end [opt in only, but you can pass their details to other people to recoup the cost], flyer in the delegate bag, mention on their website [which has 30,000 public sector visitors per week] and 3 complimentary passes [which you can sell/give to other people to recoup the cost]”.

I said we didn’t have the budget and whilst we would like to attend, we couldn’t justify that price. We had a maximum budget of £500 we could spend. “But couldn’t you use a contingency or emergency money, surely you’ve put some aside?” Well, yes, for an emergency! He said he’ll be able to get it down to £2,000 (after “speaking to the events manager”) and then down to £1,500 (that’s “half price and the lowest I can go” and then to £1,000 (I feel sorry for anybody paying the full £3,000).

Note that all those prices are still above the £500 budget stated.

35 minutes in and I terminated the call.

AVOID “PUBLIC SERVICE EVENTS”/”PUBLIC SERVICE”/”PUBLIC SERVICE REVIEW” UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR TIME WASTED.

They also operate as Public Service Review has had similar complaints about “hard sell” techniques recorded. Who Calls Me has listings for 01782630200, 01214558820, 01214563336, 01782667340, 01782633159, 01315553970 and other numbers: I think we can guess why they are now with holding their number (so you can’t search for it).

Oh – they’ve also had an ASA Complaint upheld against them.

Here’s a quick reference list of online/cloud/SAAS support/helpdesk/CRM systems that I’m aware and pricing for 2 full time and 1 part time (10 hours month: 1 hour per day) helpdesk agent/staff with a custom URL/domain mapping (such as http://company.example.com), knowledge base feature and, ideally, Twitter and/or Facebook interactions. Pricing is given on a “per month” payment plan.

Sirportly – £44.97/month

Unlimited staff at £14.99 each per month. Integrates with Twitter and Facebook

FreshDesk – $58/month

Unlimited staff at $19/month per full time staff and $2/per day for additional part-time agents. Unlimited Twitter accounts and multiple Facebook accounts

Desk.com – $59/month

Unlimited staff at $49/month per full time staff (1st one free) and $1/per hour for additional part-time agents. 2 Twitter accounts and 2 Facebook pages included by default: can add extras for a fee

Kayako Resolve OnDemand – $87/month

Unlimited staff at $29 each per month. No interactions with Twitter or Facebook

ZenDesk – $87/month

Unlimited staff at $29/month (3 staff included on $20/year “Starter” package, but no custom URL). Unlimited Twitter accounts and 2 Facebook pages

HappyFox – $99/month

Up to 5 staff (3 staff on $39/month package, but no custom URL). No interactions with Twitter or Facebook

I’m aware that a few people are looking for jobs at the moment, so here’s a list of jobs I’m currently aware of.

All jobs are full time (unless noted) and are “on site” [no remote working] (unless noted). Jobs are current, to the best of my knowledge at 17th July 2012.

Memset, Guildford, Surrey

Multiple positions available:

• Python Software Developer
• Web Designer/Graphic Designer (Part time/flexible hours)
• Junior Systems Administrator
• Sales Administration Assistant

BBC, Salford Quays, Manchester

Web Developer

BBC, London

Software Engineer (Team Leader)

Get Extra, Hull

WordPress/PHP developer

The company I work for, and in fact 50% own, Bairwell Web Development isn’t currently looking for full time staff, but we are continually on the lookout for UK based freelance PHP/Perch/Wordpress developers we can either refer people to or to forward work to. If this includes you, please get in contact with your rates!

NEW FOR 23rd July

University of Bradford, Bradford

Clerical Assistant

Queen Mary, University of London, London

Recruitment and Outreach manager