Empower Your Employees (Another Example of Poor Customer Service)

If you read any recent business books, blogs, or articles, often they talk about the great service a company like Zappos provides.  Zappos is frequently mentioned for empowering their employees to make decisions which leads to the company being recognized for exceptional customer service.  Unfortunately for me, I had to climb some hurdles with my bank over $2.50.

A few months back I noticed a charge on my checking account.  I went to a branch and inquired with one of the tellers.  They said they notified all the members with my account type that the new minimum balance was changed from $5,000 to $7,500.  I mentioned that I received no such memo, and asked if they could give me a credit for that month.  I received my credit and  all was well.

Fast-forward to a few months later and add a child to the mix along with diapers, daycare, and Desitin,  and I was struggling each month to maintain the minimum balance.  I found myself having to wait an extra week for another paycheck to come in before I could pay the bills.  (Part of this is my fault, I like to pay them off as soon as I get a statement.)  I went back to the branch, and asked to change my account type to the next one down, that has many of the same perks, but only requires a $1,000 minimum balance.  I noticed in the brochure that one of the differences between the accounts was that this new one had an ATM card where the one I was switching from offered debit cards that contained a credit card logo.  I mentioned it to the teller and she said I could keep the debit card but they would charge me a fee.  I offered to surrender my debit card for an ATM card.  All seemed well.

Fast-forward to a few weeks later and I’m checking my account online.  I see two new service charges.  The descriptions are vague, but I can make one out to be  for the debit card that I no longer owned.  I had a check to deposit, so I figured I would go to the bank and speak to the teller about it.  As I’m filling out the deposit slip, I see an employee lurking in the queue.  In the past they’ve had a sales air about them letting you know of some promotion they are running where if you refer a friend you each get $50 or something similar.  Today however, I got the sense he was figuring out what types of transactions people were doing for the new employee behind the counter.  I mentioned to the lurker I was just making a deposit and he mentioned, “Oh John should be able to help you with that, right this way.”

So I proceed to the counter.  To my amusement, the new guy reminded me of the squeaky-voiced teen from the Simpsons (Jeremy Freedman is the name of the character on the show.)  So part of me goes, “Oh here we go, the new guy is going to have no clue how to answer my questions.”  But then another part of me went, “You know what, they have to learn somewhere.  Let me ask him anyway and see where this goes.”  So after he does the obligatory, “How’s the weather out there?  Did the sun come out yet?” and deposited my check, I get the “Is there anything else I can help you with today?”  I replied, “Why yes there is…I have these two charges on my account…”  He’s able to look up the descriptions that were cryptic online in a little more detail.  He replies, “Well the $1.00 charge was because you have a debit card..” and I quickly interrupted him to let him know I surrendered my debit card to the teller (ironically that same teller was helping out another customer to my right) the same day I switched my account.  He replied, “Hmm I see.  Well I will need to check with my manager.  She’s on vacation for another two days.  I can write down your account information and have her look at it when she gets back.”  I can see him writing my account information on a blank deposit slip.  I asked him if I could give him my cell phone number so the manager could call me with confirmation she got the message and give me an update, to which he replied sure.

I didn’t get a good sense that the manager was going to call, or that a credit was going to take place, so I decided to call the 800 number.  I spoke with customer service representative who reiterated everything Squeaks told me about the debit card vs. the ATM card.  However, she had a little more power, and was able to credit me the $1.00 service charge.  When I inquired about the $1.50 charge, she mentioned it was for an overdraft protection line of credit that I had, which was previously free with my other account type.  I told her I was not aware that this would result in fees with the new account type, and asked if she could close my line of credit account.  She said she would need to transfer me to the Loans department and they would be able to help.  Now I’m on the phone with someone from the Loans department, and he tells me in order to close my line of credit account I need to go back to the branch in order to sign a form.  I say it’s unfortunate since I had just returned from the branch.  He apologized but said that is what is needed to close the account.

Fast-forward to two days later, and I received no phone call from the squeaky-voiced guy’s manager.  I wasn’t surprised.  I decided to go to a different branch to see if I would have better luck.  This time, there was a senior-looking employee that looked like she would be able to help.  I started telling my story.  First she replies, “Well you know, you get so many perks with the other account type, and the interest bearing account type you’re in now pays so little interest, maybe you want to go back…”  I replied, “No no, it’s not that I didn’t like that account, I struggled to maintain the new minimum balance you guys changed to a few months back.”  She quickly backed down.  I thought to myself, “So far, so good.  Let’s keep this going.”  But then as luck would have it she goes, “Well I do see you were charged but then later refunded a $1.00.”  I said, “Yes but that’s not why I’m here.  I’m also charged $1.50 for a line of credit that I would like to close out.  I was told I had to come to a branch and sign a form.”  She replies, “Oh no you didn’t have to come here to do that.  You could have done it over the phone.  But anyway, I can put in a request to close it for you.  Please keep in mind I can’t close it myself, I’m only putting in a request to have it closed.  You should check back your account in a week to see if it’s actually closed.”  Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot!

As she is closing the account, I start my fight for my $1.50.  “Since I was unaware that the account change would incur this $1.50 service charge, is there any way you can provide a credit for it?”  To my amazement, I see her whip out a blank deposit slip.  “Well, I would need to check with my manager to get approval, but I can take down your information and send it to them.”  At this point, I started to feel like I was going to get far with this teller either.  However, I had another thought that concerned me.  “So to confirm, you’re not sure if you can credit the $1.50 for last month, and I’m closing the line of credit this month.  Am I going to see another $1.50 charge on my account for this month?”  She replied, “Well your billing cycle starts on the 6th, today is the 12th, so you technically  have had the protection for a few days in this cycle, so there is a chance they will bill you for this month. But I did just put in the request to close it, so you should check in a week or so to make sure it goes through.”  I thanked her and left.

Now, at this point, most people would say, “It’s $1.50.  It’s not worth your trouble to further.”  But to me it was a matter of principle.  I couldn’t give up.  I took to Twitter.  I have had good luck in the past reaching out to companies via Twitter.  For some reason, it has been a boon for customers in trying to get good service from many companies, myself included.  My tweet: “@BankName Whatever happened to empowering employees? Ive gone to 2 branches and a phone call to try and get a credit on a new charge.”  Four hours later, I get a request to direct message them my personal number and a good time to call.  I message them my information, and 90 minutes later, my cell phone rings.

I give her a summary version of the story you just read.  She was very helpful, agreed it’s silly not to credit the $1.50 and told me she would put it through, and that I would have to wait 24 hours to see it on my account.

So because this bank did good in the end, I chose not to name them.  However, this would be my advice to them, which is applicable to any company:  Empower your employees.  People are frustrated enough they get bounced around from Person A to Person B.  When I see them write information down on a piece of paper and follow up with “I need to check with my manager” I assume one or two things are happening.  1)  You have no power to do anything.  2)  You are being trained to pretend to care and write my information down but you don’t actually plan on doing anything with it.

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How I Would Fix Comcast

I recently cancelled my Comcast subscription and switched to U-verse for reasons I will explain below.  I’ll be basing my feedback on my experience with Comcast for the past 5 years and my first few months with U-verse.

The Creeping Bill

I signed up for Comcast in September 2007.  My monthly bill was $150.  In March of the following year, it crept up to $159.  By August, it was at $193.  I threatened to cancel, spoke to a retention specialist, and was brought down to $159 in October 2008.  It stayed that way for another year, but in October of 2009 I noticed it was up to $173.  I threatened to cancel again, and they brought it down to $165.  After another year, it was up to $230.  I threatened to cancel again, and they bring me down to $182.  Ten months later, it was back to $199.

October 2007	$150
March 2008	$159
August 2008	$193
October 2008	$159 (New Baseline)
October 2009	$173
November 2009	$165 (New Baseline)
March 2011	$230
April 2011	$182 (New Baseline)
January 2012	$199

Notice a pattern?  Each time I threatened to cancel  they would lower the new rate but didn’t quite bring me back down to the original rate.  It was always just a little bit more where I am happy it’s not $40 more, but I seem to keep quiet with the smaller $10-$15 increases.

The last retention specialist I spoke with was interesting.  (I won’t complain about their customer service, that is one of the things I’ll say is a plus for Comcast – almost every one I spoke with gave great service.)  I told him their fees were too high and needed him to work something out in order for me to stay.  He mentioned an al a carte option where I can pick and choose specific services and channels.  By the time we were done picking my options based on what I currently had, the quote was at $210.  I had to remind him my reasoning for wanting to cancel was because of the high bill, and this new model had me paying more.  He pauses for 10 seconds and goes, “What if we just put you back to what you were paying?”  I agreed.  My bill went to $188, and then the following month was back up to $199.  I was back to where I started.  I realized I wouldn’t save much on the money front if I stuck around.  But I also had another nagging problem…

Speed at Night

For the past 8-10 months, my internet speed at night was unbearably slow.  Pages would take a long time to load.  YouTube videos would hang.  My Roku box would have to reconnect and play video at a lower quality at a slower connection.

When I played online games, there were times when there was so much lag that I would be disconnected or the game would hang, and I would find out my character was dead.

Perhaps one of these first two factors on their own might have been bearable, but the combination of the two was absolute deal breaker.

The User Interface

The Comcast Guide looks like it was last updated in 1995. To make matters worse, they modified it a few years ago and the quality went down.  The user interface looks like it was designed for the original Nintendo console.  The Guide used to let you sort by date, genre, etc.  They removed that or I’ve not figured out how to do it in the redesign.  The old Comcast Guide used to show more channels at one time, the new one shows less.  In the old guide if you were at the bottom of the list on the screen when you pressed the down button the remote, it didn’t select the advertisement at the bottom.  On the new guide you have to ‘double-down’ because the focus now selects the advertisement as you scroll through.  Comcast On Demand is slow to load and navigate.  Once you press the On Demand button, the screen turns black with the old ‘Nintendo’ font saying “Please Wait..”  When it does come up, it gets rid of what you’re watching while it displays their own programming.  Finally, before they changed their guide, they had true Picture in Picture, where you could watch 2 separate channels at one time.  They got rid of that with their update.

In comparison, the U-verse Guide is very modern.  The fonts are appealing.  Both the U-verse Guide and On Demand overlay your current channel, so you don’t lose what you’re currently watching.  It has a nice look.  On Demand is fast to load and browse.  Not only do they have picture in picture, they let you create multi-views that let you watch 4 channels at once.  (One complaint: You can’t ‘sort’ the channels in the multi-views so you can’t change the order in which they appear.)

DVR

With Comcast, you could only record two shows at once.  When both shows are recording, one of them has to be the channel you are viewing.  There were a few times where my wife would head up to bed, and I couldn’t change the channel because she was recording Dance Moms and Real Housewives and I was forced to watch one of them.  With U-verse, it’s possible to record up to 4 shows at one time.

Customer Service

Overall, Comcast had very good customer service.  There are a few minor things I will point out.  When I called to cancel and the specialist asked me why, I mentioned the rising prices and internet speed at night.  I was hoping he would acknowledge the slowness at night, and mention how they were doing something about it.  Instead, he said I’ve been a great customer, and was sorry to see me go.  Later on in the conversation he asked if I noticed any slowness in internet if I was watching HD channels at the same time.  So far I have not.  Why are they so quick to try and point out the flaws in U-verse without admitting their own?  We ended the conversation with him giving me the address to the Comcast store where I could drop off my equipment.  He mentioned how nice it would be since they are now modeled similar to Apple stores.

I get to the Comcast store to drop off my equipment.  It’s 20 minutes before closing time, and the store has no customers.  In one hand I’m carrying a bag with 2 cable modems, 2 analog adaptors, and 3 remotes.  In the other, an HD digital box.  I’m greeted by an employee and he asks me my name.  At this point, you think he would offer to take the digital box off my hands.  I give him my name, and he puts it in the computer and tells me to someone will be with me shortly.  I wait 2 minutes for my name to be transmitted to the help desk, and the two very friendly people behind the counter begin to help me.  They’ve done so much right with the layout store and the concept of taking your name down, but they forgot the small stuff.  When you see someone carrying a large number of items, offer to help them.  When they’re the only customer in the store, don’t make them wait for their name to get processed in the computer.  Go ahead and take care of them.

My Advice

The Comcast business model encourages disloyalty.  They told me how great a customer I was, and said if I come back I would be offered the introductory rates.  What incentive is there to remain loyal?  Give customers a competitive rate and they’ll be more likely to stick it out.  (They  probably make a profit off a ton of customers who put up with the rate hikes and maybe I’m in the minority.  I would hope more people catch onto this.)

Fix the speed.  It got to a point where it was too unbearable to do anything at night.  Update the user interface.  Modernize the Guide and On Demand.  Bring back Picture-in-Picture.

A less important point, but I’d recommend increasing business hours from 7:00pm to 9:00pm EST.  The current time makes it difficult for people on the east coast.

I can’t imagine that the lack of features for Comcast has to do with bandwidth. Cable is supposed to be capable of very high speeds. Why do they have fewer features? Why does it appear so dated in comparison?

I’d say more, but I’m going to go record 4 shows at once while I play a game online.

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Office Etiquette

I have been working in the corporate world since 2004.  During my time, I’ve witnessed, and at one time or another committed, some office etiquette blunders.  I thought I’d take the time to write about my biggest office pet peeves, as well as those of friends and colleagues.

‘Office’ Office Etiquette

I am going to start off with ‘Office’ office etiquette, that is, Microsoft Office, and the things you should be doing to use it effectively.

Utilize the ‘Location’ field for Conference Call Information (So it Appears in Meeting Reminders)

I attend a lot of meetings.  Several a day, and dozens a week.  Nothing ticks me off more than to have to click through the reminder popup to retrieve the conference call information.  The meeting coordinator should put that dial-in information in the Location field.  Don’t worry if you’re also booking a room; you can modify the location field after you add the room to include the call-in information.  One of the worst feelings in the world is when you’re 30-seconds late for a meeting and you have one more click to get the phone number.

Only include the participant dial-in information in the location.  If you copy and paste all your call-in information, some poor soul is going to accidentally dial the host number.  Then the host won’t know what’s going on while everyone else is on the call waiting.  The next 5-10 minutes of the meeting are wasted trying to figure out who it was.

Meeting Reminders/Recurring Meetings

Always use the reminder feature.  It is typically on by default, so this shouldn’t be an issue.  But once in a while, there’s that meeting that gets set up and the creator didn’t set a reminder.  The next 10 minutes are spent rounding everyone up.

Make a conscious effort to properly utilize the recurrence feature.  In the unfortunate instance where you must set up a daily meeting, make sure you use the proper selection of everyday vs. every weekday.  Every weekday will only schedule meetings Monday thru Friday.  If you quickly, and likely inadvertently, select everyday then everyone with a smartphone will get an alert on weekends.  If you’re an electronic victim like me, you likely sleep with your phone inches away.  There’s nothing worse than being alerted on a weekend at 8:15am to for your upcoming non-existing meeting.

This next piece could probably go into my regular ‘Meeting Etiquette’ section, but since it typically involves Outlook, I’m going to include it here.  Set an end date to your meetings.  I once was invited to a recurring weekly meeting.  I noticed it started getting cancelled week after week.  I deleted it from my calendar.  It never came up for over a year.  All of a sudden, the meeting organizer sends the invite again to occur every week without an end date.  So I assume they want to start it up again.  So the meeting time comes, and the meeting doesn’t happen.  What the heck?

Attendees: Read the Information Before you Email a Question

Sometimes you have to have a special password or a bit of key information you need to share with users. One would think putting “THE WEBEX PASSWORD IS 123ABC” in big bold letters right in the subject of the email invite would get their attention.  To my amazement, people clicked the link to the WebEx, and then followed up via email with “Hey, what’s the password to the WebEx?”

Organizers: Send the Agenda Before the Meeting

For weekly meetings, you send out the agenda right after the meeting.  Between then and now I get 577 more emails.  So when the next meeting rolls around, I have a hard time finding the minutes from the previous meeting.  So either send it out again right before the meeting (which nicely reminds people of the upcoming meeting) or make it available on SharePoint (which is probably a better idea since the most recent document is in a central location.)

Meeting Etiquette

I’ve mentioned some of these in the past, but they are worth repeating.

Be On Time, Start on Time

Be on time for meetings.  If you’re joining a meeting via conference call, dial in a minute early.  If it’s in person, try to be right on time.  Don’t be the person that has to be constantly reminded that they’re supposed to be attending a meeting, and then shows up 2 minutes late.

End on Time

Be respectful of other people’s time, and end the meeting at the scheduled end time.  People have a lot of other things to do and going late messes up their schedule.  In the event that the meeting looks like it’s going to go longer than scheduled, end at a good stopping point and schedule a follow up.

Don’t Schedule Too Early/Too Late (Factor in time zones)

It should be an unwritten rule that no meeting should start earlier than 9:30am or 4:00pm.  When people first get to work, they check e-mail, follow up on the last minute things they couldn’t finish the night before, etc.  At the end of the day they wrap everything up.

You should make an effort to leave work on time.  You’ll feel better, have more time to do non-work related activities.  In most non-emergency situations, it’ll all be there in the morning. A difference of 4:55pm tonight and 8:35am tomorrow morning won’t mean much a month from now.  Abstaining from scheduling meetings in those early and late hours helps avoid working late.

Factor in the time zone when you are scheduling meetings for people in different locations.  Try to be respectful of the 9:30-4:00 rule taking into account in their time zone.

Respect the Conference Room Booking Process

Every company has a different method of booking the conference room.  Whatever the process, It should be respected.  The same employee will go from “I booked the conference room at this time” to “Oh I didn’t think we still used that system to book the room.”  Use whatever system your  company follows, and stick to it.

Interrupting People When They Are in a Meeting

The following is a true story.  I was in a meeting where people could see inside the conference room from the main area.  A co-worker was looking for me and realized I was in the conference room.  So first they just stared at me from outside the door.  I gave a face that said, “I’m in a meeting we can chat later.”  They stared at me for another 5 seconds.  I had my computer at the meeting, and noticed an email came in.  It was from the gawker, “I need help with xyz.”  To which I replied, “I can’t help you right now, I’m in a meeting.  I can help you when it is over.”  They were persistent, “But I really need help with xyz.”  I knew it could wait.  So now I’m losing focus on the meeting because this person thinks they have an emergency.

This next scenario has also happened to me a hundred times.  I’m on a conference call in my office.  Someone peeks in and one of three things happens.  Rarely, they make a face that says  “I’ll come back later” and leave.  More often than not, they look at the phone to see if you have it muted, and then just start talking as if my meeting isn’t important.  Occasionally, they don’t even have the decency to do that, and just start talking anyway.

If you need to talk to someone and they are in a meeting, whether it be a in person or a conference call, wait for them to get out of it before you sidetrack them.

Attendees: Respect the Meeting

I try to schedule as few meetings as possible.  So when I do, it’s usually for a good reason.  I also keep my meetings as short as possible.  So for the 20 minutes I ask you to meet with me, put the phone down and give me your attention.

For those dialing in, we can hear everything around you.  This includes, but isn’t limited to: chewing food, driving in your car, and the barking dog.

Organizers: Don’t Have Meetings for the Sake of Having Meetings

I’ve mentioned this in the past: Limit the number of recurring meetings.  If there isn’t a reason to meet, cancel the meeting.

Try to limit who you invite.  Don’t invite someone if their time is better used somewhere else.

In the Office

This section has to do with communication and respecting others while physically in the office.

Don’t Take Advantage of Cube Location

There are three main spots where this is typically abused:  the bathroom, the kitchen, and the exits.

Like the children’s book says, everybody poops (more on this later).  Don’t pounce people on their way in or out of the bathroom.  Don’t make people think twice about going to the bathroom because they’re worried they’ll have to go through you.  (Side note: Who knows, maybe it makes them more productive, I read somewhere that people make better decisions when they have to pee.)

Everybody goes to the kitchen, likely multiple times a day.  Don’t make people go hungry or thirsty because they’re worried they’ll get stopped every time they go to the kitchen.  At the same time, respect the people whose desks are near the kitchen.  Don’t heckle them for the two minutes and thirty seconds it takes to cook your Hot Pocket.

Everybody in the office has to come in and exit through the front door.  Don’t stop them.  When they’re coming in, they probably haven’t had that cup of coffee yet, have all their belongings strapped on their shoulders, and just want to get to their desk.  When they’re leaving, they just want to get home.  The last thing they want is for you to say, “Hey, got a minute?” as they’re almost out the door.  It’s never a minute.

I used to work with someone who was so bad at this that I would have a co-worker leave at the same time as me and we would pretend to be engaged in serious conversation just so we could get out.  Also respect the people who work near the front door.  Don’t start up a conversation with them on your way back from your cigarette break, coffee run, etc.

Beginning of Day, End of Day Interruptions

Let people settle in when they get into the office.  Give them a good 20 minutes before you hit them with something if it can wait.  At the end of the day, leave them alone for the last 20 minutes to wrap things up.  People typically designate these beginning and end times to gather all their thoughts and tasks.

“Working Through Lunch”

I’m probably not working through lunch.  I’m probably catching up on my RSS feeds, reading the news, taking my mind off work.  The last thing I want when I’m eating my sandwich is for you to come in and talk about work.

Quota on Interruptions

There should be a quota on how many times, whether in person or electronically, you are allowed to interrupt someone.  I’m all for interaction, but when I’m trying to work on a specific project and you visit every 20 minutes, I lose focus.

Speakerphone

In offices with thin walls, use speakerphone sparingly.  In cubicles, use speakerphone only if you’re the only one left in the building.  Someone once told me a story where three people all within 10 feet of each other, all on the same call, were all on speakerphone.  One person was in an office with the door open, one in the next office over with the door closed (I may have been the victim here), and one in a cube across from them.  You could imagine how annoying the delayed voices were on the various speakerphones.

Personal Calls

Be aware of your surroundings.  No one needs to hear about the status of your latest medical condition or what’s for dinner.  Talk softly or go outside.

Food & Cleanliness

Don’t be ‘that guy’.

The Water Cooler

I’m all for being green.  Go ahead and re-use that water bottle.  Just don’t stick the mouth of your bottle up and over the spigot.  Chances are you weren’t that good at Operation as a kid, and that bottle is going to touch the spigot.  If your hands (or anything else) touch the spigot by accident, do the right thing and give it a wash.

Replace the water cooler when it’s empty.  If you are strong enough, offer to replace it for others.  If you’re not, ask someone for help.  The same could be said for filling up the coffee pot.

The Fridge

If you brought something in but decided not to eat it, you are responsible for seeing that it gets thrown out.  If you bring something in to share, you are responsible for seeing that it gets thrown out after it’s edible time has passed.  No one wants to see, or smell, a furry science experiment weeks later.

If you didn’t bring something in but want to eat it, too bad – it belongs to someone.  Don’t steal food.

The Sink

Your mother doesn’t work there.  And even if she did, you’re an adult.  Wash your dishes.  When they’re dry, put them away.

The Microwave

That soup that  just exploded all over the inside?  Clean it up.

Bathroom Etiquette

When I walk towards a urinal or toilet, I don’t want to see a foamy pile of pee waiting for me.  Flush.  Then, wash your hands.  I don’t care if you didn’t get anything on them.

Shut the light off when you’re done, and leave the door cracked.  Don’t keep people waiting making them think you’re still in there when you’re long gone.

If you made a mess, for whatever reason, clean it up.

Final Thoughts

Leave a comment if you have a good office etiquette story.   Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts when I talked about creating this post.

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Best Man (or Woman) for the Job

I had a conversation with a friend who was unemployed at the time of this conversation.  She has since found a job, so I figured it was okay for me to post our conversation (with her permission).

Friend:  Do you think it’s my benefit to respond to an employer’s survey about race and stuff after I submit an application?
Me: It’s up to you.
Friend:  I know but its weird how they ask you for this info saying its confidential and only used for certain purposes but I think they use it for hiring purposes to meet whatever quotas they have, and I feel like its a negative since I’m Asian-American, not exactly one of the underprivileged groups.
Friend: It should be based on sheer qualifications and abilities.
Me:  I completely agree, but I’m against affirmative action.  I think best person for the job, always.

To elaborate on our conversation for a quick bit, I believe in hiring the best person for the job, the team, and the company.  I don’t care whether they are white, black, Asian, Indian, male, female, tall, short, gay, straight, or from another planet for that matter.  If you are a good fit and will produce results, that’s the person I’d want for the job.

Later in the conversation, I mentioned to my friend it really didn’t matter if she completed the optional demographic information, because they could probably assume from her name that she wasn’t white.  Right then, whoever reads that resume might try to place a picture with the name.  If they want the best person for the job, they would call her because she is a qualified candidate and would do a great job.  If the person reading the resume wants to profile based on certain ethnicities or races, the it’s probably not a place she wanted to work anyway.

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My travels to get my washing machine repaired…

Recently my washing machine was acting up.  I’m not an appliance repair person, so here’s my best explanation of what was happening.  Basically, the drum spins really fast at 2 different cycles during the washing period; once during the ‘washing’ cycle, and once during the ‘rinse’ cycle.  During those cycles it sounds like the drum isn’t being held in place and my washing machine was preparing to fly off into space.  I only bought it 2 years ago, so I wasn’t prepared to buy a new washing machine.  After a few trips to mom’s house to get my clothes washed, I realized I had to make a few phone calls.

First Attempt:  For the Ladies

First I tried asking a few friends if they had any references that I might be able to use, because I would trust my friend over some ad in the yellow pages.  A female friend of mine recommended a company whose name was something along the lines of “Hubby Helper”.  The website seemed pretty nice and friendly, it had some guy opening jars, killing bugs, etc.  I couldn’t call this company and still consider myself a man.  I’m sure he does great with the ladies, but I just didn’t feel right calling them to fix my washing machine.  Sorry Hubby Helper.

Second Attempt: Misleading Website #1

A male friend of mine who just had some electrical work done on his house referred me to a “Mr. Handyman”.  That name had a nice ring to it.  He researched the company before using them, and he said they did a good job on his condo.  Their website states that “No Project is too small!”.  I can’t lose right?  I call the local number and ask them if they fix washing machines.  The person on the phone asks me what the problem is, and I spend the next 30-45 seconds trying to describe the problem.  After I’m done he goes, “Yeah, we don’t really fix those types of appliances, we do more carpentry/electrical type stuff.”  Really?? Why did you ask me what my problem was with the washing machine if you don’t fix washing machines?!! I asked him if he could refer me to anyone, thinking maybe they have partners in other trades so they could refer each other, he didn’t.  Back to the drawing board.

Third Attempt:  Misleading Website #2

I start googling the yellow page type websites.  I find one that specifically states on their website that they do washer repair.  They have different numbers for all the areas they do business in CT and my town is listed.  I can’t lose!  I ask the lady who picks up the phone if they fix washers.  She asks me where in CT I live.  I tell her my town to which she replies, “Yeah, sorry, we don’t service that area anymore.”  At this point, I am getting a little frustrated, and I say “But right on your website my town is listed, and I dialed the number specifically for my town.”  She replies, “Yeah I know but we don’t service that town anymore.”  Really??  Why do you have my town still listed on your website with a phone number?  Why are you still answering that phone number if you don’t service that area?!?! Fix the website and take my town off your list, save yourself some money by getting rid of the phone number for my area that you no longer service.  Heck, you might even be able to get rid of a few employees since you have one less town to service, you should stop answering calls from that town!

Fourth Attempt:  Please Hold

So I call the next place on the list.  I get an automated response saying something to the effect of, “Please hold.  We want to give you quality service and attention.  Right now we’re doing that with other customers that are before you, but once we get to you in the queue, you will receive the same quality and service.”  Well that little pitch impressed me, it sounds like they focus on quality, I’ll stick around and see if they can help me.  But, after 20 minutes of sticking around and hearing that message repeated 10 more times, I lose my patience and hang up.

Fifth Time’s a Charm

Finally, after calling another place, I found someone who could repair my washing machine.  I scheduled for a Monday morning, he came, and we were done in about 45 minutes.  Apparently ‘they don’t make ’em like they used to’ and as cheaper parts are used they are more prone to breaking down.  That’s unfortunate.

Recap

My main frustrations were with the first couple of phone calls I made.  Mr. Handyman should list the types of projects that are too big for them.  The second place I called should fix their website and take down the number for my town.

But all is well now.  My clothes are nice and clean and the washing machine no longer thinks it’s a space shuttle.

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i hate a&p/i heart s&s

So every time I go to A&P I usually have an awful experience and tell myself this is the last time I’m going to A&P.

1.  Their ads are always misleading.  Tropicana OJ for $1.99….then in small small text (with purchase of $25 or more)
2.  They don’t have a large selection.
3.  It’s not S&S, and I love S&S.

So today my friend Lori and I are wondering through A&P.  We spent forever trying to find everything because again, it’s not S&S, and the damn store is just laid out in random.  Finally, we have everything we need except hand soap.  We walk down an aisle, and there is this really sketchy guy smelling the hand soap and making weird faces.  At this point, I begin to tell Lori my story of how I always hate A&P, and every time I leave the store I tell myself I’m never going back…but somehow I manage to find myself returning.

So anyway, nothing too bad has happened yet.  Lori and I decide to do Self Checkout.  I check myself out first, and pay.  Oh yeah, when you do self checkout you still have to see a human being to sign your credit card.  So since there is no one there, I see my receipt spit out at the counter, I grab a pen, sign it, and leave the signed portion on the table.  While I was scanning my items, Lori tried using another self checkout with much difficulty.  She finally gave up and said she’d just use mine when I was finished.

Since I had finished, she started using mine.  The speed at which she was checking out was just unbearable to me, so I told her I would check out for her.  I start scanning the items.  And then, we get to the child’s size Q-tips that she bought.  And I scan them.  And the machine scans it, and I place it in the bag.  And then machine says “Please place item back on scanner”  So I take it out of the bag, and wave it like a mad man on the scanner, trying to get it to re-scan.  Finally, some 15 year old employee comes over and says “No no no, just let it sit there for a minute”  So I place the kiddy q-tips on the scanner, and just stare at Lori.  About 45 seconds go by, and I ask the 15 year old if I can pick it up yet.  He replies “Actually I don’t know what I’m doing….”  So finally he goes, “Just put it in the bag.”  And then I continue to scan more items…Lori, the trooper that she is, was my bagger.  So as she is bagging the items, she is taking the bags off the bag table thingy and placing them in the carriage.  Each time she does this, the store thinks we’re shoplifting, and the machine goes “Please place your bags back on the table.”  And then the 15 year old has to bypass the system so we can scan more items.  This happens about 5 or 6 times.

Finally it’s checkout time and the 15 year old is nowhere to be found to verify Lori’s credit card.  So I sign it for her, and we walk out.

Moral of the story:  Stop and Shop rules.

Side note:  She got Q-tips for free.

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gum packaging

Can someone find me gum that tastes good AND has good packaging?  The two I’ve been going back and forth with are Orbitz and Trident.  The problem I have with Orbitz, is being a guy, I keep the gum in my pocket, and the heat from my body causes the paper wrapper to fuse with the gum, so it’s always a pain to pick it apart when I want a piece.  With Trident, the packaging never really stays shut, so when the package is only half full, I usually end up with 10 little pieces of trident in my pocket.

So I beg of anyone out there reading this…if you know of gum that tastes good, doesn’t melt to paper or fall apart, please let me know.

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