My fitbit challenge still tops the list (so far) of bad customer experiences for 2021, but what happened yesterday wasn’t great either…
I ordered popcorn tins for my son and granddaughter for Valentine’s day from The Popcorn Factory. Their product is certainly not cheap — especially considering it’s freaking popcorn — but it is tasty and it’s not like shopping is a great COVID activity. Both tins were set for delivery on the 10th. Ben got his, but Coco’s shipment was delayed until AFTER Valentine’s Day!
So my ‘big kid’ got a Valentine’s gift and my 10 year-old granddaughter didn’t. Rather than look like a poopy Nana, I told Ben what happened and he pretended the one received was for them both. No reason to explain to a child why a business doesn’t deliver a purchased product WHEN they promised they would. Heck, I can’t understand it myself. Stop promising what you can’t deliver!
Snow delivers without promising anything. It comes when it comes and there’s not a thing we can do about it.
My favorite brother’s wife sent me a photo of what she was cooking for dinner last night. She was so proud of her gluten-free homemade chicken noodle soup and mashed cauliflower posing as mashed potatoes! I replied with, “we’re both having chicken,” and sent her a photo of what I made for dinner. That’s the last I heard from her.
Just watched a Facebook live weather update from a Louisville meteorologist who is predicting next week the weather will produce something “we’ll talk about for years to come.” In the spirit of ‘don’t promise what you can’t deliver,’ I’m trusting Mother Nature will live up to my expectations based upon his predictions. Bring it! 🙂
TIL (Today I Learned): Paul McCartney let a stranger claiming to be Jesus Christ sit in on a Beatles recording session in 1967. McCartney explained, “Well, it probably isn’t. But if he is, I’m not going to be the one to turn him away.”
If true, there are a few companies making a profit from me. My current complaint is Metronet. I’m about |-| close to the “breakpoint.” If you’re playing along at home, that’s corporate jargon used to define how far customers can be pushed before their heads explode.
Did you know that some companies equip call centers with software that analyzes a caller’s tone of voice and pace of speech to determine how upset the person is? And… did you know MANY companies crunch data and use artificial intelligence to determine exactly how angry a customer has to be before they bail? Oh… and they push right to that point.
We wonder why customers are so oftentimes rude, right? Well, maybe that’s because customers are being conditioned to feel the only way to get what they pay for is to demand it.
Take me for example — I found out today that although I’ve paid Metronet for 1000Mbps service for almost THREE YEARS, the equipment they installed for me isn’t even capable of providing that! The second I mentioned switching back to Xfinity, (who also has pathetic customer service), my charges were prorated and techs will be here Monday to install new equipment.
In the meantime, my download speed is a whopping 1.85 (when it should be at least 800). Gracie’s is patiently waiting… but I’m not.
UPS delivered 3 packages to me yesterday. After a few hours, I brought them in. While cutting the top open on the first box I noticed it wasn’t mine! 585 instead of 595 for the house number — and it was to go to another Shelley (spelled Shelie) on my street.
I called UPS to let them know of the error. It took FOREVER to provide information. I was made to feel as if I’d done something wrong. They said they would send the driver back to pick it up, but dude never showed. I delivered the packages myself to the home down the street at almost 10:00 PM. WTH UPS??
Wouldn’t you think that when you pay for shipping, the carrier would have more concern about the packages they are supposed to deliver?
Just going to sit here and pretend it’s already January so we can be in Disney once again. 🙂
This afternoon, I was suddenly cut from an online conference, my computers went dark and everything was immediately totally silent. Attempting to investigate, I made it to the front door when I heard a loud BANG and my two hounds went berserk. I walked outside to see if a storm was nearby that would’ve knocked out power — or if my house was about to break into flames — and there it was again!
BANG!
I walked around the house to find a wormy little man at my electrical meter. Now I knew Duke Energy had plans to install new digital meters, but not WHEN they would arrive (only a block of potential dates). One would think upon their arrival they would at least attempt to notify homeowners inside of their plans. Right?NOPE.
Half pissed off because I disappeared from an important meeting, I asked Mr. Wormy why customers aren’t provided a quick 2-minute notice before starting their install. Dude said he knocked… I have 2 dogs and a camera that say he’s a liar.
Congratulations! Duke has screwed up your day and you’ve been lied to by one of their employees. Yay!
We have this thing that on your birthday, you get to pick your favorite restaurant and our tribe travels along to celebrate with you by eating your favorite grub. (Somehow, I am always the one buying UNLESS it’s my special day.)
Today was Perry’s birthday and although there were a few exceptions to the rule — Ben was lazy, Coco was spending the weekend with her Mom, and the pesky non-neighbors are in Florida — Perry and I headed to Red Lobster. After we were seated our drink order was taken by a chick that asked if I wanted my water on the side. (I think she meant to say lemon on the side.) The service went downhill from there.
We’d waited over an hour when our waiter explained that the manager was working hard to ready our order and the reason it was taking so long was because a plate in front of ours took a long time to prepare. I so wanted to say…
“Where? I wanna see the plate that took a freaking HOUR to prepare!”
We were compensated by 10% off of our order. Figuring a tip is at least 20% it seems a bit stingy that poor service is worth only 10%. Still, the food was great when it made it to our table and Perry gets to celebrate AGAIN next Sunday so Coco gets to go. I hope he has a new favorite restaurant by then.
Happy birthday, Perry — look at you taking 47 like a boss! 🙂
