Dear Greenwich Odeon, who the f**k do you think you are!

Ok this should all have been a simple complaint but apparently I was in the wrong and misunderstood.
Read the emails from the bottom up to get them in the right order.

Needless to say I'm pissed off.


Dear Lindani,

Thank you for taking the time to so comprehensively discard both my complaint and account of what happened on Saturday night.
While it is very nobel to paint such an outstanding picture of your member of staff, I must also point out it is also very irritating to receive such a biased response.

Please rest assured I will not return to the Odeon Greenwich, and will ensure I both further my complaint to a corporate level, and advise other friends of what sort of guest services to receive should they venture to Odeon Greenwich.

I am somewhat confused by the statement of "Perhaps Sarha's firmness was directed at the Team Member". This strikes me as a little peculiar as we were some 30ft away from the said other "team member", which I'm sure your "Team Leader and the Technical Manager" would be recall also.

All in all, as the customer/guest/patron that evening, and as a 37 year old man who is familiar with socialising and courtesy, regardless of intention that matter was dealt with poorly, and in an unacceptable manner.

In closing I would just like to comment on your closing statement....

"We shall continue to raise our standards so that such occurrences do not happen again. We will endeavour to make your next visit a magical one.Please accept my sincere apologies and be assured that your concern was received and dealt with courtesy and empathy."

To ensure an occurrence would not happen again would suggest you agree something went wrong, which you clearly deny, so this is almost an offensive contradiction of your earlier comments.

As for my concern being dealt with "with courtesy and empathy", I think we know my feelings on that matter. Patronising would be more appropriate.

My apologies for the poor tone of my email.

Michael Snasdell

Regards
Michael

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---

From: "Odeon Greenwich" <Odeon.Greenwich@OdeonUK.com>

Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 00:27:17 +0100

To: <snazy@blackberry.orange.co.uk>

Cc: bookings<Bookings@Odeonuk.com>

Subject: Re: Guest Services Ref: Bkg/2010/2624 (Greenwich / SNASDELL ) [039]

Dear Michael

Thank you for your concern, which was received by myself, the duty manager on Saturday quite promptly following your arrival at, I assume the Gallery. Please accept my apologies  for the delay in response. It has taken quite a considerable number of days to make clear the events of that evening.

Sarha, the lady  you describe in your concern is in fact our Gallery supervisor. I immediately following receipt of your concern approached her, quite I must say surprised myself. Sarha is one of our longest serving employees and has always demonstrated a high level of guest service standard. She is responsible as well for training within our site. I thus investigated further as It always sits within the managerial team to look into any possible issues of discourtesy to our valued guests. At the moment of approach, Sarha had along her side the floor Team Leader and the Technical Manager, both from whom I have testimonies of a sober attitude, contrary to the description you gave. I did however give consideration to your concern and acknowledge the inconvenience of having to email us at that hour.

This altogether with my knowledge of business activity that night (business being relatively mild ) would lead me to the assumption that perhaps, as also suggested by my team there was a communication barrier. I am aware that the Team Member at the Guest Service point at the time was one of our newly appointed staff. Perhaps Sarha's firmness was directed at the Team Member who should have been checking all tickets at that stage, be they Gallery or Standard. This to which Sarha extends her apology as it quite evidently upset you. It was not her intention.

As an HR Manager myself, your concern does not merely rest here. With no intention to leave any room for poor guest service standards, I already have after thoroughly investigating the matter extended counselling and a refresher on our values at Odeon. We shall continue to raise our standards so that such occurrences do not happen again. We will endeavour to make your next visit a magical one.

Please accept my sincere apologies and be assured that your concern was received and dealt with courtesy and empathy.

Yours sincerely

Lindani Madoda

bookings 16/10/2010 20:40

To:        Odeon Greenwich/FLD/Odeon@OdeonUK         cc:                 Subject:        Guest Services Ref: Bkg/2010/2624 (Greenwich / SNASDELL ) [039]

Hi

Could you please respond to this concern and cc ourselves in on your response so we can close the case reference.

Please keep the original history below as part of your response and the subject line as currently shown.  This will allow us to find all the emails surrounding this issue if it is required.

Thanks!


----- Forwarded by bookings/FLD/Odeon on 16/10/2010 20:40 -----

"Michael Snasdell" <snazy@blackberry.orange.co.uk> 16/10/2010 20:35 Please respond to "Michael Snasdell"

To:        "Guest services" <info@odeonuk.com>         cc:                 Subject:        ODEON: Guest services - Cinema: Greenwich

I have tonight arrived at Greenwich to see a film at the Gallery, Mr Despicable at the 20.30 show.
Having been a patron of this establishment for a good few years now, I am quite familiar with the procedure of getting to the 4th floor etc.

Tonight on arrival, and seeing a long queue for the regular seating, but a number of staff towards the lift for the Gallery we walked past the ticket check-in (unchallenged) and offered the tickets to the staff towards the lift.
On arriving there we were greeted very rudely by the female member if staff who barked instruction that we should never pass the ticket check-in, and a whole load of other information. A simple "can you present your tickets over there" would have sufficed.
Had they not been standing there, we would of course have checked in with the other young lady.
I am left sitting in the waiting area for our film to be called now, in a foul mood, and disgusted at this behaviour.
I am pleased however say the girl working in the Gallery was delightful.
If this is how staff expect to be able to treat customers, I for one will certainly not be returning, and certainly not to pay such a premium, only to be treated so cheaply.

Regards
A very irate and £45 worse off for the pleasure of it... Michael Snasdell

Michael Snasdell


Odeon Cinemas Limited, 54 Whitcomb St, London, WC2H 7DN. Registered in England No. 01854132
United Cinemas International (UK) Limited, Lee House, 90 Great Bridgewater St, Manchester, M1 5JW, Registered in England No. 1732125

POTD: Saving the planet..

On Happy Meal at a time. Brilliant idea though, re-fuelling the lorry with oil from the fryers while it makes a deliery to the store.
Regards
Michael

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Tribute tattoo in progress

A couple of pictures of what I have been up to this weekend.
The piece is a tribute to my lifetime friend John Littlebury who was killed in a motorcycle accident on 7/7/2010.

A couple more sittings left on it, but chuffed with the progress. Thank you to Michelle @ Innocent Needle in Croydon.
Regards
Michael

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Scene of the accident

Waldram Park Road at junction of Devonshire Road, closed due to traffic accident
Regards
Michael

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POTD: Saving lives.

An amazing piece of flying bringing them down in a tiny park.
Regards
Michael

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One of those "meh" days!

Not quite sure how or why, but know I have slipped a little over the past few days on the road to recovery so to speak. My mind isn't in a great place right now, preoccupied by the stresses of worrying about my aunt Joan. And the on going battle with my mum about how successful chemo was for her.

The arguement of how successful the chemo was has become so fierce in my head that I have taken to reading through an old thread I started on Scoobynet and my old blog to get details of old hospital visits, just to confirm that the chemo did indeed cause shrinkage of the tumour, and it DID! So that's put my mind at rest about one thing at least.

I think what's eating away at me about the situation with Joan is the helpless part. I'm far away (not that I can't go there), but also I am not live-in like I am with mum, so even if I went there I would not be able to "impose" myself upon the situation.
Not being in control of a situation, is this another issue I need to address? Maybe so. It would certainly explain my willingness to get involved in road accident and other sorts of incidents. Do I in some way seek out responsibility for bad situations? Am I trying to help or just be to blame? I need to find some answers to these questions I think.

I digress lol.

So anyway, the whole thing with Joan. I know she is having some tests and appointments over the next week or so, but what will happen from there at the moment is unknown. But something I am keen to know everything about as soon as there is something to know.

Right, I better get on with my day, after all its still morning and I'm already in an open pit mine, and still digging.

My mind and body need to be lifted to a better level, the holiday is just around the corner, I am having more work on my tribute tattoo on Saturday, things are good right.... So why the long face?

Operation Rescue-Me is under way... Stand clear, this may get messy!

Have a good day, almost the weekend people!
Regards
Michael

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A little pissed off. Families!

OMG, I am so fed up right now its unreal. I just got home from work, to find my mum talking to my aunt on the phone. OK that bit was expected, but the apparent content of the call was not.

On hanging up mum filled me in on the gossip. Joan is eating less and less and is subsequently losing weight due to this. Unlike mum however she is accepting advice and guidance from medical staff, and making an effort to try their solutions. So that's a good thing.
However with regards to me going up there she is slightly put off the idea, mainly because she is worried about me driving so far, which is rather sweet, but not really worth her worry. Thank you anyway Joan for caring.
Once I heard this I was a little annoyed shall we say, that my company/visit was being shunned, but at the end of the day its her decision, and like mum's decision, I respect it.

Then mum goes on.... Joan had been asking her about treatments, and mum had informed her that chemo is not only not pleasant to go through, but also not worth it. Explaining it had done nothing for her, except cause discomfort. It had done nothing to treat the cancer, and was really not worth considering.
Not only is this NOT the case, but also mum has failed to consider the differences between their two cancers. Assuming that what worked for her will be the same for Joan. This is the exact reason I wanted to go up there.

Mum has clearly forgotten the effects the chemo had on her, and the way it started the treatment of her cancer. And in turn, almost put Joan off even considering it. Well done mum!

She then went on to tell me Joan was waiting to see the Oncologist. On asking mum if Joan had seen consultants of doctors prior to this, she barked that she had JUST told me she is waiting to see the Oncologist. Clearly she has forgotten who does what and in what order she saw these people in. Grrrr. I know it was a stressful time for her, and don't expect her to remember details. I only wish she would not use these broken memories to tell my aunt about what to expect. That's part of the reason I wanted to speak to Joan myself, and part of the reason I wanted to be there with mum to make sure we were putting the right story across.

So now, we wait!
Not a situation I was hoping to end up in, but hey, time to play the hand I was dealt I guess.

Next move...... Currently unknown.
Regards
Michael

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POTD: Running on empty.

In car and in mind.
Regards
Michael

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POTD: Blackberry Torch anyone?

Innovation at its best.
Regards
Michael

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From footsteps in sand, to knee deep in mud.

Ok, time for another deep and meaningful entry to my blog. Like many other metaphors I have used, this is another that creates a mental images for me to work with. But what does it all mean? Good question.
OK to me its a choice, and one I discovered I need to start making when a situation arises. What tends to happen with me is I take on someones problems, be it just talking something through, or agreeing to help in some form of physical way. Either way, what tends to happen is before I know what is going on, I am knee deep in emotional mud, and stuck in the middle of a situation.

When I take a step back from some of these now resolved situations and take a long hard look, I realise that with everything I have going on in life at the moment, I don't have the time, nor the mental strength to see these things through. And if I had looked properly at the time, I could have and indeed would have taken a step back BEFORE I started to sink.

So now I have a mental image to work with. Which believe me, is a god send.

In all walks of life, we generally like to make an impression on people, create memories, and have our input remembered. Without making an impression, our lives would serve far less purpose. Be it educating someone, or saving a life. Helping someone out, or being the recipient of help, everything we do makes a footprint in the sand, and that's a good thing.

But as I have found, and I'm sure many more have too, from time to time the ground is soft and uneven, and those are the times I am now looking out for. For when we tread on these, we need to make a quick decision. As our feet make that first impression, do we leave a footprint, or do we indeed stand firm and sink in deeper.

As I say, I have stood far too long in contemplation in the past, and now that I recognise this, what better time to make a change.
Does this mean a less caring me? A more selfish me? Well I would like to say no, its more about perception. I am sure to some I will appear a little self obsessed and all that, but the truth of the matter is, I have been an emotional punchbag for far too long now. From becoming engrossed in helping people writing letters and deal with debt and speeding fines, to spending hours on the phone, usually at my expense, listening to why life is so unfair, I have spent far too long on other peoples problems, and run out of energy to deal with my own. Now is the time for all that to change.

Time to set my own agenda.
My mum is ill (dealing with that)
My aunt is ill (starting to deal with that)
My daughter has been gone 12 years (not anywhere near dealing with that)
Unhappy at work (was dealing with it but have stalled)

Life is changing rapidly all around me, and sometimes keeping up with that is not as easy as it seems, but I like to think in general I am doing ok.

As profound as a lot of this all sounds, I am actually a lot better off today, thanks to Peter and the session this morning. Sounding off about a few things, developing mental pictures to reference with, and making sense of a few things in life has made all the difference. Almost like emotional cleansing, as I spoke I felt my shoulders loosen up, my mood lighten, and my foggy mind clear a little. Slowly but surely its all making sense now.

I am once again the master of my own destiny. I have many lessons to learn on the way, and will encounter obstacle. But with determination, good friends, and positive mental attitude I will reach my destiny, achieve my goals, and leave firm, clear footprints in the sand.

Thank you for reading :)
Regards
Michael

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