The 118118 Experience

Published 4 years, 10 months ago in marketing + advertising

Here’s a great british parody entitled “Tyre” of the ‘amazing Honda ad‘ that has been circulating around the internet since April.

I have no idea what the “118118 Experience” is promoting, but if you’re british, and can shed some light on the subject that’d be cool. It seems to be a spoof just for this site, but I don’t have a clue what it’s all about, other than typical british humor.

27 Responses to “The 118118 Experience”

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1 paul mison Jul 11th, 2003 at 11:53 am

Telephone directory enquiries are moving out of monopoly (BT) control to a bunch of seperate telcos, and all the numbers start 118. This is promoting one of the newcomer companies.
2 Jon �slund Jul 19th, 2003 at 6:53 pm

interesting. 118 118 is a number enquiry service in sweden as well.
3 Sam Aug 30th, 2003 at 9:56 am

yeh 118118 is becoming a sort of cult up here in scotland,

everyones got the shirts and goes round shouting “got your numbahh!
4 Gemu Sep 4th, 2003 at 12:50 pm

My mate steve has a haircut just like the 118 lads. (he’s had it for years)

Only problem is now everyone just yells out “Oi! 118″, thinking it a great laugh. He’s getting mighty pissed off about it though.
5 dinger Sep 11th, 2003 at 2:58 pm

my mate works for 118 118 and i think the public could be more considerate including myself. To my knowledge people can be quite mean to the workers and they r providing a great service to us all. BE NICE, KEEP EVERYONE HAPPY:-)
6 stinker Sep 27th, 2003 at 8:44 am

I think the 118 twins are incredidbly horny - is there anyone else out there who thinks so too?
7 Steevo Oct 13th, 2003 at 3:07 am

If anybody knows where i can buy the silky shorts, vest, haircut ensemble, please let us know cos me and a mate are going ravin in a couple of weeks and reckon it will be a good idea.

Email me: SEllison55@hotmail.com. Thanks
8 gs Nov 11th, 2003 at 10:59 am

i like dinger also have a mate that works in the 118 centre in plymouth. The majority of the customers are rude and if they know the number is in the yellow pages why don’t they stop being so bloody lazy and look there in the first place if they think they can do any better. also tell the cust to learn to speak english before they phone and they mite get the right number!!
9 Sarah Barnett Nov 28th, 2003 at 6:51 am

where can i buy a 118118 vest? It would make a cracking xmas present!!!!!!

Thanks
10 Rob Dec 17th, 2003 at 2:52 pm

You can get 118118 shirts from Cancer Reasearch shops, All the wigs ect are avalible on ebay or at a local joke shop. I work for the the number and i thnk this place is wicked. If any 1 needs a job and they live in cardiff or plymouth then i would give it a try

Merry Christmas To All

Rob
11 wapper chil Feb 5th, 2004 at 6:17 pm

i work at 118118 and we provide an excellent directory service i feel that all the bad press is just a way to make the best directory assistance look not good and we are number 1 in my eyes
12 Blondie Mar 16th, 2004 at 1:10 pm

I’m a supervisor at 118118 and have lived and breathed this place for the last year, we are now the most accurate directory assistance service and provide a number of services, the company is wicked to work for and are no. 1 in every way!
13 the lewis Mar 25th, 2004 at 5:41 pm

hey there joe public, i work for 118118 in cardiff and it rocks, the people are cool, the food is great (thanx mick)and theres always someone to have a laugh with. i highly recomend this place to anyone in the cardiff (or plymouth) area to go work for them, ps i met a really cool girl that i am now going out with there, call centres rock!
14 Praguester Mar 26th, 2004 at 6:12 am

118 118 - I work there and i bloody loves it!
15 Jodie Apr 13th, 2004 at 11:00 am

I am looking for a new job at the mo, can anyone tell me where abouts 118 is based in Cardiff???
16 derf Apr 17th, 2004 at 4:19 am

to anyone who’s looking for a job at the mo, and is interested in working with 118118, the number 118118 office in cardiff is at the sterling house, malthouse avenue, cardiff gate business park. or you could call 118118 to ask for the recruitment line.
17 conrad bourne Apr 26th, 2004 at 12:43 pm

I am in need of 118 118 fancy dress, vest shorts and all the other gucci stuff that goes with it.
18 nancy Jun 29th, 2004 at 8:54 am

When will the interview of the moment job be held? this Wednesday (30th. June) or next Wednesday (7th. July)?
19 Ads Jul 14th, 2004 at 10:05 pm

I work in the plymouth call centre. If anyone could see the screens when we do a search sometimes people would realise how hard it can be to find a number. Some of the places i get asked to look in i haven’t even heard of let alone spell. Also if you saw how many different ways white and other words can be spelt you’ll know why we have to ask for a spelling. Also actually hearing the caller is the hardest thing. We do try so please be a little more patient and don’t call us a c#@* because we can’t do a residential search as it’s against the law due to the data protection act
20 Luke Z Jul 16th, 2004 at 7:01 am

Look, i work in the 118118 centre in Cardiff, and if anyone was to come along and see what we do and how we do it, people wouldn’t be so bloody snotty when they call up expecting the phone to be answered by the maker of the 2004 British Atlas himself. We genuinely try our b*llocks off to provide a good service and 9 times out of 10 we do exactly that. Sometimes it’s not helping when you call up asking for a company you know NOTHING about, in a tiny place in the middle of the Cotswolds which YOU don’t even know how to spell, and then when we DO shift heaven and earth and manage to find it, you have a good old bitch because it took “all day”. If you live in Pontllanfraith or Penicuik or Bonking-On-The-Moor or somewhere, please….give us a break and a few more seconds to find your number because we probably will. And if we don’t find it there’s probably a very good reason for it.

Above all else, we’re the #1 rated directory enquiries service according to OFCOM, the people the government pay to find out these things. So moan at them.
21 SAM Sep 14th, 2004 at 9:05 am

LUKE I WORK IN 118118 IN CARDIFF TOO, I LOVE WORKING THERE AND YOU ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO CALL UP…. HALF THE TIME THEY DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY WANT
22 Ian McLaughlin Oct 15th, 2004 at 8:00 am

Does anyone know where i can get a 118 costume, the new one with the yellow jumpsuit?? I am dressing up for halloween and i think it would be a smashing idea!
23 John Saal Dec 23rd, 2004 at 7:06 pm

Merry Christmas my fellow 118 employees. I work in the Cardiff call centre and started in July. Considering it is my first ever job, I feel I have done very well to work there. I did struggle a bit in the first few months, for some reason you can do fine in training but once on the floor it is a bit different. However I am doing well now and enjoy it. The pay is generous and theirs ample opportunities to earn more money if needed. What I think is great is because theirs a high turn over, you do feel proud when most people from your training group have left and your still there! And theirs nothing better when a caller interacts with you and is friendly (kind of keeps you sane).

Anyway Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
24 Mark Warren Dec 16th, 2005 at 5:43 pm

I’ve worked at the Plymouth 118 118 centre since October, and have, as such, just this week passed my probationary period.

Without a shadow of doubt, the hardest part of the job is simply hearing properly what the customer has said; hearing over the phone can be hard at the best of times, let alone distinguishing obscure place names and business names unfamiliar to one (i.e. every day words are familiar, and hence easy to pick up, but not so with rare place names). Plus, even if a good idea as to what’s been said has been gained, spelling is another matter entirely; words are not always spelt as they’re pronounced, and hence unfamiliar names often require confirmation of their spelling. This is why it takes time and clarification before searching can even commence (i.e. ascertaining as to what the customer has said, and then clarifying the spelling, if necessary).

With this in mind, customers would perhaps be a bit more understanding and patient, instead of deeming us to be deaf and/or stupid (a ridiculous conclusion to come to; as if the majority of a large sample of hundreds of people are going to be deaf and/or stupid). Customers should also realise that, just because a business name and/or location is familar and hence easy-to-spell to them, doesn’t mean that it really should be easy to anyone; those requiring a listing under, say, a 20-letter-long Welsh placename, should perhaps have the sense to offer a spelling.

While on the subject of spelling, it’d also make sense for customers, when asked, to spell what is asked of them at a pace slow enough for us to hear and remember, rather than moodily blurting it out; don’t people have the sense to realise that talking slowly is most probably best, if we’re having difficulties understanding them? It should be noted that accents differ greatly, on this small island we call ‘Britain’, and hence that certain people - mentioning those from no areas in particular *coughs*Scotland*coughs* - should be extra patient, given the difference between the dialect accustomed to by the 118 118 worker, and themselves. Overall, I’d say that accents and obscure place/business names are the bain of every 118 118 worker’s life; and the Scottish and the Welsh are the worst, respectively, with regards to these.

The illogic of many customers reminds one of just how many morons there are in this country. For example:

Customer: “Can you find *the name of an hard-to-spell business*”

I: “Where is that based?”

Customer: “I don’t know!!!! Just *the name of a hard-to-spell business!!!!!!!*

I: “Do you know how that’s spelt?”

Customer: “NO!!!! It doesn’t matter!!!! Just find it!!!”

I (trying various spellings, for a ‘UK’ search): “Please understand, I’m having to try various spellings, and can only search on what you’ve given me”

Customer: “Then get the manager!!!!!!!!!!”

What a f***ing retard.

Or:

Customer: “I want Adams Cars; a car rental business in Slough”

I: “Adams, in Slough”

*searches*

I: “And that was a car RENTAL place”

Customer: YES!!!! CAR RENTAL!!! I’M TELLING YOU THIS FOR THE EIGHTY-BILLIONTH TIME”

I: No; that was the SECOND time.

“If only his mother had had a headache, the night he had been conceived” is all I can say.

I really do wish customers would be more rational, by and large: if ONE listing is found, then in my eyes, this is hardly proof conclusive that the whole service is rubbish; if the 118 118 worker is unable to spell ‘Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (pronounced VERY differently)’ (which I can, as it happens), then this does not make them a moron deserving not of being in the job; if they haven’t heard of a certain business, it does not make them stupid; if they can’t understand your Glaswegian accent, it does not make them uncultured; if they have to ask the customer to repear his or herself, this does not make them in need of an ear syringing. And, above all, if it takes longer than 30 seconds to find a listing, it’s not the end of the world.

So, yeah: if you’re a customer that criticises the job we do, please take note and learn the meanings of the following words: ‘calm’, ‘patient’ and ‘rational’. If you’re a fellow worker, than I hope you’ve seen, in me, a kindred spirit. I sit near the front of the Plymouth call centre, am slimmish, 6′ tall with a shaved head, just in case any fellow workers are trying to think who I might be.

Merry Christmas, and remember that patience is a virtue and that 118 118 really is simply the vest……..

Mark Warren x x x