Calling all veteran ex servicemen! - Page 2

jambutty · 28-06-2006, 12:31

My replacement lapel badge arrived this morning and I opened the padded jiffy bag with eager anticipation and stone me IT WAS THE SAME BADGE THAT I SENT BACK.

I know that it was the same one because before I sent it back I put a tiny mark on the card that held the badge. Yes I know I’m a suspicious old cynic.

Further evidence is that no matter how I try the clasp will not undo.

Is this how they treat we Veterans?

Obviously it is!

Aaaaaaaarrrggghhhh! and Aaaaaaaarrrggghhhh! again.

And now all the phone lines are busy.

jambutty · 01-07-2006, 10:59

The saga of my Veterans Lapel Badge continues.

I eventually got through and presented my complaint to a sympathetic lady. She promised to send another replacement badge.

The badge duly arrive this morning and you won’t believe this but it is exactly the same as the original in that it has an identical dent and the clasp will not undo. The complement slip signed by a J Chadwick completed the package.

Is it not beyond the wit of these people to actually have a look at what they are sending before they send it, or is that just too much trouble? They must surely realise by now that they have a bad batch of badges. Does no one care? Obviously not!

This ‘Executive Agency of the Ministry of Defence’ whom I praised for their efficiency in dispatching badges have gone right down to rock bottom in my estimation.

Did you get your badge TC? Was it OK?

T.C. · 01-07-2006, 11:23

Got my badge in perfect condition. Changed to different jackets withot any problems whatsoever. Hope that you soon get it sorted.
Best wishes.............T.C.

jambutty · 01-07-2006, 11:33

Thanks TC!

I’ve just looked at their web site and although the picture is quite small it certainly looks like that badge has a dent in the face. I didn’t notice it before.

My email to the VA has just gone. I suppose that after they read it on Monday they will send the Shore Patrol round to try and arrest me.

T.C. · 01-07-2006, 16:05

There is definitely no dent in the face of my badge J.B. The fastener on my badge is the old pin type, brazed on to the metal badge those that were used on the old brooches, with a roll over safety device so that the pin cannot jump out of the fastener. Obviously , I must have received a pin out of a different batch from yours. Try pointing this out to your connection at the V.A. to see if you can procure a badge similar to mine. Best of luck, ........T.C.

Madhatter · 01-07-2006, 22:19

where's the dent jambutty?

jambutty · 10-07-2006, 13:44

Have a look at the picture with my post #7 Madhatter. Just under where the two swords cross there are two bright coloured splodges. Or if you look at your picture you will see two dark splodges. Those are two dents in the face.

Can you have a closer look at yours TC?

However the saga of my Veteran’s Lapel Badge continues.

I did not get a response to my email but this morning another package arrived with another badge (I now have three all with dents) and a complement slip that reads:

Quote:

Mr Buckley
I enclose another Veterans Badge.
I have opened it for you and there is nothing we can do about the dents since the badge was made in China.
Regards

The clasp was undone and I accept that it was my old fingers and less than perfect eyesight that was my problem with the clasp and not the clasp itself.

Made in China! I ask you! Due to the cost no doubt! Doesn’t that say it all? Doesn’t that really show what this government thinks of the Veterans? Do they think that they could buy votes for the next election? Probably!

In accepting shoddy goods this cheapskate government is giving the Veterans a right kick in the teeth. Are we not worth more than that? Are we not worth more than a reject badge? Obviously not!

Mick · 10-07-2006, 13:48

Sorry Jambutty but TC is on holiday for a week so wont be able to answer your post just yet.
By the way i have seen TC's badge and it is the saftey pin type not the center pin type if yours is this type then its the way the pin is welded.
TC's badge is in perfect condition.

Madhatter · 10-07-2006, 20:57

cheap gestures.
That picture is linked straight off the site, accyweb must automatically make it an attachment so I'm not sure wy its changed colour but yes I see and I'd be annoyed. I wouldn't put up with it Jambutty, I'd take it further because the least they can do is make sure they are perfect. To give imperfect badges is an insult.

T.C. · 14-07-2006, 18:55

Just back from Blackpool J.B. I'm afraid that I must have a different batch to you . The box which my badge came in was headed by a coat of arms, By Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen
Suppiers of Gold and Silver Lace
Insignia and Embroidery
Toye, Kenning and Spencer Ltd
LONDON
FOUNDED 1685.
I very much doubt that this one was made in China J.B.
Saw your letter in tonights Telegraph. Looking forward to the response.
Best wishes T.C.

Madhatter · 14-07-2006, 21:23

you wrote to the telegraph? welldone jambutty, don't you give in.

jambutty · 15-07-2006, 17:33

So do my three boxes T.C. on the inside of the lid.

But that only means that the boxes were made here. Maybe?

If your badge doesn’t have two small dents in them just underneath the crossed swords then it is obviously from a different batch. Who knows where that batch was made? Actually I have no real objections to the badges being made in China or on Alpha Centauri. What I object to is the shoddy work accepted by a shoddy government.

No I don’t give in on important issues Madhatter until I get satisfaction or it becomes obvious that I am flogging a dead horse. And this is an important issue to me.

I’ve only just started.

The next step is going to be either Granada or BBC Look North or maybe even both but I have to wait to see if my MP gets back to me or even acknowledges receipt of my snail mail letter delivered by hand. So far she has been silent.

Madhatter · 15-07-2006, 17:42

Aren't most things shoddy nowadays though, and we accept them because we don't want the hassle. Look at the hassle I'm getting with my pc for example. I think they know that too. I've stood in argos after christmas, and watched a continuous stream of customers bringing stuff back, so god only knows how many just didn't bother.

Tealeaf · 17-07-2006, 15:47

Congrats, Jambutty on getting the letter of the week in the LET. I think that this issue of the Veterans Medals deserves a little bit of coverage in the wider media. If we have such a medal, then surely it should be made here in the UK, by one manufacturer, at a consistant and high quality standard.

jambutty · 17-07-2006, 19:07

This Veterans Lapel Badge saga just goes on and on.

On the 1st July I emailed the Veterans Agency and it is only today that someone deemed to reply. Could my letter in the Telegraph have prompted the response? After all it was published on the Friday and the VA doesn’t work at weekends so today was the first chance for a response if you ignore all the days of last week. Or maybe it was someone from the Telegraph phoning the VA that prompted a reply to my email? Particularly when you read what the response was.

Quote:

Dear Mr Buckley
I am writing in reply to your email dated 1 July 2006, I apologize for delay in replying.
I am sorry you are not happy with your new Lapel Badge, I can assure you that the badges are not dented, all the badges are the same, it is part of the design and manufacturing process. We have been advised by some of the older Veterans that they find the clasps are difficult, and are looking at alternatives.
The Agency is currently sending out between five and six thousand badges every week, with a 10% quality check being done on all badges being despatched.
The purpose of the Veterans Badge is to create a sense of identity among veterans of all ages, the choice of when and where to wear it being the Veterans, it will not be subject to inspection on parade.
I hope this answers your query, and puts your mind at rest sufficient to enable you to wear your badge with pride, alongside with thousands of others.
Yours Sincerely
Casey Bowling
Veterans Badge Team Leader

You don’t really want to know my reply.

I visited T.C. this afternoon where I had arranged to show him mine if he showed me his (the badge that is) and sadly his badge is the same as mine – that is with two dents in it in exactly the same place as mine.

But the saga continues. The Telegraph in their infinite wisdom have deemed my letter published last Friday to be the letter of the week and if they do what they did the last time they considered my inane ramblings to be worthy of the letter of the week accolade I got a £10 cheque. I am looking forward to that. Thanks for the congrats Tealeaf.

But there’s more!

The Telegraph emailed me to ask me to get in touch with them tomorrow, as they want to get the full facts and do a story on the “Debacle of The Veteran’s Lapel Badge”. My title not theirs.

Their email stated in part:

Quote:

Thankyou for your email re the veteran's lapel badge.

I have contacted the Veterans Agency who said that they are not aware of a manufacturing fault and said you had been sent the same badge as a quarter of a million other people, none of whom have complained.

They seem to think you were not happy with the design of the badge rather than any fault.

Could you please ring my colleague Jemma on 01254 xxxxxx after 10am tomorrow(tues) or email her at – deleted - to clear the matter up so we can do a story.

Now I KNOW that the Veteran’s Agency KNOWS that there are two dents in the badge. Otherwise why would they try to deflect my complaint by stating that I am not happy with the design of the badge? It’s called spin isn’t it?

Interested parties, please watch this space because I am going to take this as far as Downing Street if necessary. We might be old foggies with failing eyesight and less than nimble fingers but we deserve better than what this government is offering.