wiffle?

I complained a wee while ago, now wish i hadn't

Has made no difference whatsoever.

aus2be_OH

I know, the cheek of some people. Imagine the ratbags having the nerve to complain when people/departments/whatever, who are getting paid from the public purse, give them cause to complain.

Dorothy

If only it were that easy. I'm a public servant at our state psych hospital. Our patients make complaints constantly because 1. they are mentally ill and 2. it gives them something to do. Each and every complaint has to be followed up on, which takes away from the real work at hand, which is to make sure the ward runs efficiently. So, as Polly said, I too hate people that make complaints. Especially since 99% of the time they are unwarranted and a waste of time.

Pollyana

If you read my post you will see that I clarified my statement - I don't like having to deal with complaints as they keep me from providing the service that I strive so hard to do. In fact I usually end up bringing work home so that I get everything done because if there is one thing I hate in life it is making people wait longer than they should. As I am not in the office every day I log on from home so that people get answers to their emails the same day, they don't get an auoreply saying "I'll get back to you next week".
A complaint about something being slow, when in fact it is only following the normal process and is well within the normal timeline is just an annoyance as it puts the work further behind on everyone's case - including the one that is being complained about.

There are a lot of things I can be accused of, and some of them are no doubt justified, but I always give 150% to my job. and to the people I serve.

aus2be_OH

Holy Jezus, two mods jumpin at me....**hides behind me laptop**

Ladies I really do applaud you for being so hard working and conscientious, but in my personal experience the public perception of dealing with Public departments is quite the opposite.

When people make complaints they obviously feel that is valid for them to do so and any department has to allow for that.

Pollyana

You can come out now!
And I guess the public perception is based on the age-old myth that public servants often get paid for doing very little. As with so many things the reputation of many gets tarred by the actions of a few, and because there is this perception of us sitting back and doing very little, so people often feel that we only work when prodded into it.

You see it on BE sometimes in posts about Case Officers, where posters imagine that a CO only has one case and they put their feet up while waiting for info to arrive on their desks. People often feel they have the right to complain because they don't realise how much work goes on behind the scenes, how big the caseload is, etc. A good example on BE is where people complain that DIAC is dragging its feet and not processing applications from high risk countries. Most of the complainers are convinced its DIAC slowing things up. In fact its almost always that DIAC is waiting for a response from the high risk country in question - the hold-up is totally out of the hands of DIAC. But until this is explained, people don't realise the problem - and so they complain.

I guess the more conscientious among us - like Dorothy and I - just feel aggrieved when we see this myth perpetuated, as a lot of us would actually go the extra mile to help people out. After all, the reason a lot of us work for the public service is because we want to do just that, perform a service to the public

maroonedNZ

I agree with you Pollyanna, I really do - but at the same time I absolutely feel that a low-risk country MODL applicant (for example) who applied in 2007 and is still waiting, who sees a June or July applicant for the same visa get their visa granted within 4 months needs a way to shout the unfairness of it from the rooftops. Individual circumstances notwithstanding, that just has to hurt like hell.

Dorothy

I don't think either Polly or I were posting as mods here, but more people who happen to have jobs in the public service. Don't forget that all the moderators here are regular posters who happen to also try to keep the peace when called upon to do so. Hopefully you don't feel like you were being jumped on. It certainly wasn't my intention at all.

Pollyana

Yep, definitely posting with my "Polly" hat on there, not my "modding" hat

aus2be_OH

I can't argue with that at all Polly. I guess the previous posters statement got my back up.

Not at all ladies. My statement was very tongue-in-cheek.