'Kind regards, your Scottish Power robot!'

Having just moved back to the country, I've been, ahem, "enjoying" the British customer service experience as we try and get all of our taxes and utility bills set up for our new home. As frustrating as this has been at times, it still seems a damned site easier than doing it in a foreign language. I could, though, probably write a book about the user experience and service design nightmares we've encountered.

Here is just a minor case that seems symptomatic of how many of the corporations that we rely on for day-to-day essentials have not fully grasped online service design.

It is always a great idea to manage the user's expectations of any communication channel, and so Scottish Power clearly let you know as the very first thing that the email you are receiving is automated, and not a return path to get in touch with the business. I think that's a great thing to do.

However, if you've clearly indicated to the user that the email has been part of an automated system, why would you then have a senior figure within the organisation personally sign it 'Kind regards'? You've just told me that it has been sent by a machine!