Since moving to the UK after living in Norway, France and Switzerland, it seems that this country, more than any other I know of in the Western world, is stuck in the 20th century. Here are some examples encountered in the last few months:
- Many banks support no other authentication than usernames and passwords. No one-time pads, SMS codes, smart cards or client certificates, at least one of which was supported at all of my other banks. My bank forces you to enter your password at the counter, in front of other customers.
- Don’t talk to me about Internet banking. Compared to every other bank I’ve used, my UK bank has by far the worst usability. If something fails, it doesn’t give any hint to what happened, and just sends you to the front page. Retrying means finding the same form again and filling in everything. It doesn’t play nicely with any online shops. It takes several days to add every single payment recipient. And its “company search” doesn’t find big UK companies.
- Usually three or four buses arrive within two minutes, and then none for 20 minutes. Sometimes these clumps even have more than one of the same bus line.
- Automated check-outs at supermarkets are sometimes OK: They take cards and cash, weigh your items properly, and calculate the sum properly when there’s a discount. However, none of them do all of these, and some of them seem to do none of them.
- The phone only has a signal when the stars align just right. At home 1-2 bars, at work 0-1 bars.
- The roads are too narrow for buses to pass, but there’s still parking on both sides.
- I just ordered something online (via bank transfer since the card doesn’t work for some reason). The confirmation page showed the bank details. The confirmation email showed the final sum. Neither showed both.
Sometimes it’s so surprisingly backward that it’s amusing. Mostly I just wonder whether people care about service at all.
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