Just thought I'd give a few tips for those who call call centers for service and support…..

Why are so many people suckered into this madness? I hate that these stores put out these "great" offers for 4AM, not only that but only have a VERY limited amount of the "great deal". You'll get 200 people lining up the night before in hopes snagging one of 50 Playstations, Stupid.

Is it me or is it getting outrageous that Nintendo Wii and Elmo dolls are short every year? They have the whole year to produce the stupid things yet have a small supply for Christmas? Bull! Its just a marketing tool to make the product seem more hip or cool and inflate prices to maximize profit.

The worst part of this day for me is the people shopping, people in the stores are usually rude, cranky, and pushy. I have seen people in shouting matches and fist fights over the most trival things. People will push, pull, and shove to get what they want.  Parking is a nightmare! The cashiers and other staff in the store are so over worked and look like deer caught in headlights.

No thanks I'll go to the office to work or just stay home.

Warrant, cocaine lead to job seeker's arrest

JACKSON, Mich. – A mid-Michigan man who'd been looking for work found trouble after an arrest warrant popped up during a background check at a police station. Police also found cocaine in his pocket. The company the man was applying to required a police background check.

The Jackson Citizen Patriot reported that after running the 29-year-old man's name through their computer system Wednesday, police learned he was wanted on a domestic violence charge.

Deputy Police Chief John Holda said that while searching him at the station, an officer found several rocks of cocaine.

The man was being held in the county jail and will be arraigned on the domestic violence charge and possession with intent to deliver cocaine.

___

Information from: Jackson Citizen Patriot, http://www.mlive.com/citpat

Seems like its going to the wayside eh?

We just got our monthly Comcast bill, they're increasing the bill next month AND taking another channel from our line up. When we called to complain we're told for $5 extra a month we could get that channel back by getting a digital box. Screw the box, we just want what we've paid for damn it! Basically they want us to pay more and get less value. We're thinking of  getting an antenna and buying DVD's of our favorite shows.

I got screwed over by Yahoo recently while beta testing a new messenger. Everyone who was testing simply got a letter that was more or less a "screw you all we're done with you" kind of thing.

Wal-mart has the most un-informed staff I've ever seen. Prime Example: I saw an employee there one day telling customers that there is no difference between Plasma and LCD TV's!  I also saw a Walmart employee tell a lady that Blu Ray disks play on regular DVD players .

I've also noticed that companies are lowering prices but making it up with hidden fees.  The Apple I-Phone 3G is cheaper right? Wrong.  Sure they lowered the price of the phone its self but the contract itself has gone up, so you're actually paying more for service in the long run. AT&T and Apple tend to leave this little tidbit out the advertising. 

Those are just a few examples, what do you think?

don't even know where to start!  I'm at work and we have a buzzer for people to ring so we know to get up and help them but like this one lady, some people sit there and say "hello, excuse me".  but whatever, so I get up and ask here what she needed.  now BEFORE I go on, I need to give you background info of my job.  I work at bunny bread and there is a thrift store next door to us that sells bread items/desserts and it is also where people who have set up donations of bread to be picked up need to go to pick up their requested donations.  this lady then begins to go off the handle about "WHY CAN'T I GET SOME HOT DOG BUNS?!"  I asked were there any in the store and she said yes BUT she wants to know WHY all these white people are walking out with trays and trays of buns and why can't she?  now of course at this point you know she's black and older, about late 50's, early 60's.  but that has NOTHING to do with it!  those people had set up donations beforehand!  she asked how she could do that.  I said you need to fax a letter on the company or business letterhead requesting this.  and she said well I don't think people in the african american community know this.  I want a letter stating the procedures on this.  **OMG**  I'm ready to choke her now.  I told her that all she needed to do was call and ASK!!  so I gave her the phone and fax # for future ref.  and she proceeds to say how she needs to buy buns for 42 schools?!!  IS SHE CRAZY!?  the day BEFORE Halloween and she wants to find enough buns for these people?  who the EFF does that???  the whole southeast La. won't have enough buns for this lady!  why did she WAIT til last minute??  lots of churches and schools are doing things for Halloween so we had to order extra to compensate for that BUT even we have a limit.  we don't want to have too much and risk it going bad. I mean yeah we're a bread factory BUT we don't have an OVERLOAD of buns on hand!  certainly NOT for 40something schools!!! unless it was planned already for them!!

***Walmart***

My nephews spent the weekend with us and wanted a new Playstation 2 game to play so we go online to the Wal-Mart website to price a few. They decide on a Basketball ball game which is priced at about $20, so we drive to the store to pick it up. The store had the game priced at $10 more than listed on the Wal-Mart Website, so I found some pimply faced clerk and asked why the price was different. He proceeds to tell me why its cheaper on line, more or less lecturing me. Now keep in mind that the web did not say that it was an online only price and in fact said the game was available in store. Mr Pimply face had a total attitide about the whole thing, I was PO'ed enough that I wanted to lay him right then and there. Well what Mr. Acne Scar Waiting to Happen didn't know was I informed Mr Manager that he had a nasty attitude and that I wanted the price advertised online. I got the price I wanted and the displeased manager will be having a "meeting" with this young man.  

Experiences like this are why I rarely go to Walmart, the quality of the products is horrible and the customer service is even worse.

Why is it everytime I say "Hold One Moment Please", people keep right on talking? Maybe "shut the hell up" is more understandable? Jeez!

I hate these kid proof bottles! They can be a bear to open sometimes especially if you have wet hands. I can understand those of you who have young children wanting to have this type of bottle at home but the rest of us don't need it.

I also think the pharmacies should take into account thier customers needs when dispensing prescriptions. Child proof bottles are not senior or handicapped friendly. People with limited motor function or arthritis cannot open these bottles, the pharmacies need to take this into account and offer better solutions. Hell I am normal and have trouble getting the caps off sometimes. I've often wondered how many people have died becuase they could not get the medicine they needed?

My previous glasses were several years old and coming apart so I decided to get a new pair. I get the exam and choose the frames I like, no problem. The lady is trying to get me to buy magnetic clip ons (tacky), scratch coating, photostatic lenses, cleaning cloths, lense cleaners, extra nose pads, spring loaded arms, and extra pairs of glasses!

All I wanted was one pair of glasses! I had told them up front what I wanted and wasn't interested in the extras and that I had already had multiple cleaning cloths with cleaner for each one. I hate pushy sales people, they should all shrivel up and die.  LOL.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I love all this new technology. I have my iPod Touch, my cell phone (which takes some crummy pictures, but still it takes them), and now two digital cameras. I went out and bought a cheaper one that way I don't lose or break or ANYTHING my good one (it's discontinued). So because of all these things, which I love, I have a huge mess in my purse. Why can't all companies use the normal USB size? I don't have much in my purse, but I do have all my cords I need for all my electronics that are with me at all times (I plug into work and home). This means a digital camera cord, a phone cord, an iPod cord, AND those crummy little ear buds that iPod gives you (seriously, they suck). I can't even fit them in my ear due to a konch piercing that I have. I will go get better headphones, but then that's going to take up more room!!!

Come on companies!!! Make ALL your products use a typical USB cord on both ends and make life easier!! Then I would only need one cord in my purse, and might not need the xanax in there!

Today at work, I was assisting a customer who was paying his bill and he noticed that there was a table full of army men having lunch.

He asked who was paying for their food. I told him that they were paying for their own and he said he'd pay for their meals!

When they all approached him to thank him and shake his hand, he said, "I'll bet you'd never expect this from a liberal like me!". heh

We gave him a gift certificate for that cool gesture.

Wasn't that nice? A total stranger did that!

Okla. state worker temporarily gets 6-figure bonus

HOUDINI WANNABE

Scott Anthony Gomez Jr, 22, was an inmate at the Pueblo County, Colo., jail. He escaped from his cell, made it to the roof …and fell 40 feet while trying to climb down the outside wall. It was his second escape, but this one cost the county $64,000 to treat the injuries Gomez caused himself. When the county asked him to pay for the medical treatment, Gomez replied by suing in federal court in Denver. The basis? "Defendants … did next to nothing to ensure that the jail was secure and the plaintiff could not escape," the suit says, and he says he had warned jailers that "there were many ways to get out of the facility." That's right: it was the jail's fault he escaped, because it was too easy. And therefore any injuries he sustained should be paid for by the county. Surely a bit of "pain and suffering" would be welcome too — the suit doesn't specified the monetary damages he wants. Gomez's attorney had no comment, but Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor did: he says the suit "doesn't pass the straight-face test." The county has spent $1.2 million for security improvements, and there have been no more escapes — by Gomez or anyone else. STATUS: Apparently still pending. SOURCE: "Prisoner's Lawsuit Says it Was Too Easy to Escape", Los Angeles Times, 13 January 2008 http://StellaAwards.com/cgi-bin/redirect2.pl?101

-v-

JUMP SUITS ARE ALL THE FASHION

Jeb Corliss, 31, was grabbed just as he tried to jump off New York's Empire State Building in 2006. He wasn't suicidal: he had a parachute. In addition to being charged with reckless endangerment with "depraved indifference to life" (which made it a felony), the Empire State Building Company sued him for $12 million for endangering bystanders and, I would assume, for exposing them to liability (the Company said it wanted to discourage others from trying a similar stunt). They also accused Corliss of having financial motivations. That's not Stella Awards-worthy, though; this is: in January Corliss counter-sued the Empire State Building Company in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, charging that restraining him from jumping was "unlawful imprisonment," which caused him "emotional distress" as well as "adrenal fatigue" ("very similar to battle fatigue syndrome," he said), which led to loss of income. For all of that, he demands $30 million. Meanwhile, his felony charge was thrown out by a judge, but an appeals court reinstated the reckless endangerment charge as a misdemeanor, ruling the "depraved indifference to life" bit was overdone, but certainly jumping off a building could endanger others. "No one was in any danger of being injured except me," Corliss complains. STATUS: Apparently still pending.

SOURCES: 1) "Would-Be Jumper Sues Empire State Building", New York Times, 15 January 2008 http://StellaAwards.com/cgi-bin/redirect2.pl?102 2) "Bid to Jump Off 86th Floor Was Illegal, Court Rules", New York Times, 5 March 2008. (This one's particularly interesting, even amusing.) http://StellaAwards.com/cgi-bin/redirect2.pl?103

People who call the wrong number and expect me to have the right one for them. Sorry but I am not a phone book, call the freaking operator if you don't have one.

I've posted this before but it bears repeating,  I am not your honey, sweetie, or baby. 

People who just hang up with no warning, they get what info they want then just slam the phone down!   GRRRR.

People who carry on multiple conversations while I'm trying to informations with from them.

I hate people who will call 5 times, knowing they've got the wrong frickin' number!  What the first 4 times weren't enough for you? If there was a stupid stick someone must beat these people with it!

You pick up a call to get a recorded voice saying "please hold…..", screw that you're calling me if you are to busy to talk then don't bother, I'll hang up everytime.

We keep getting this advertising call for a cruise with a very loud foghorn sounding.  Its bad enough we get ads over the phone but ones that damage our hearing realy don't appeal to us at all.

I am sick sick sick sick sick of calling a company who has obviously sent their call center overseas but try and pull the wool over your eyes! They train these people to sound more American; wouldn't it be easier to just keep the jobs here?

I wanna pull someone's lips off when I excuse myself to get a pen or whatever but they continue talking anyway! People need to learn to listen and not talk!

People who will repeat the same info over and over and over! UGH, I got it the first two times you told me.

People who cannot speak properly just annoy the hell outta me.  Someone was spelling her name for me and said this "rahh" WTF what letter is that supposed to be?

You take a message with a phone number when someone says the number they gave you is not the number they can be reached at.  IF YOU CAN'T BE CONTACTED AT THAT NUMBER THEN WHY DID YOU GIVE IT TO ME!

As you may recall I am looking to get a job with this company I have interviewed with. I was last in contact with their head of Human Resources and 'all' they needed from me at this stage was an application (emailed to me).

No worries, I'll just fill it out and FAX it to their headquarters in Minnesota, eh! So, I filled and faxed and waited for the call of offering all day Monday. I get an email from their HR person saying the fax didn't go through! Now, follow me; the headquarter received MY fax, but apparently THEIR fax didn't make it to the HR (which is actually based in San Diego, why? Who knows, but there it is). Headquarters even had some sort of 'proof' that the fax did come but what they sent was NOT my fax AND they apparently LOST my fax. So, I sent the fax again!

This time, MY fax wouldn't even connect to THEIR fax machine (still don't know why ) for about ten minutes. Guess what? IT DIDN'T GO THROUGH!!! I emailed the lady in SD to ask what was going on with my app (didn't know it hadn't gone through yet) when she emailed back saying she hadn't gotten it.

Now, I asked her if I should drop it in the mail or what since somewhere between here and Minnesota and San Diego there is a glitch. No, she answered just fax it to this number! This time she gave me a whole DIFFERENT number (I think it went directly to her this time)!

Why didn't she just GIVE me that number to begin with? She knows she is gonna offer me a job, THEY (headquarters) knows she is gonna offer me a job, I know she is gonna offer me a job! Just give me the 'quick' numbers and let's quit messing around with my SaNiTy!!!

Why do we need faxes when emails can carry the SAME info and be quicker and less likely to NOT go through? The people on the other side can make hard copies if they need, that will save a tree or two and etc.!!!!

Not sure which category this falls under so I just pick out a few that are kinda close (no 'Faxes' cat!!! Don't need to make one, just know that there isn't one)

Sorry about all of you that have CRAPCAST!!!!

So, most of you know (well SOME of you anyway!) my wife has an antique store in Carmel. A few weeks ago she decided she wanted to be closed on Sundays. Well, since there are still tourists in town on Sunday, and most of them do not want to walk around with our items all weekend (or store it in their cars or hotel rooms), I always thought being open on Sunday makes sense. She did not and closed Sundays. Even though I argued that, as a retail store, perhaps she should close on Monday or Tuesday. She did not buy that argument either. I also pointed out that since I also have an MBA covering marketing and business, should MY experience plus that degree count for something? We remained closed on Sundays.

Last Sunday, I told her I was going to open the store, she was caught off guard when I told her (last minute, she saw I was getting dressed) and could not stop me as I have keys as well and know the alarm codes.

I sold a lot more than she had the previous two days, just as I thought because people had been waiting to go home before buying our items (well, they also bought some of the smaller items) but that fact is, we sold stuff on Sunday!!!.

So this morning, Francesca gets up, takes a shower and comes out and announces she is not going to open today. I told her that since there are still a lot of tourists in town (some big dog show and other attractions) I would go in and open. She looked a little resigned and say that she would go in and open.

So tell me, should I have just allowed her to not open? What if she doesn't sell anything and then she will NEVER open on Sundays again? What if, she decides I am a bastard for forcing her to go in and leaves me? Well, THAT'S not going to happen, but she could be mad at me for 'forcing' the store to open, couldn't she? I know she is tired, we had a roll out of some new maps of the area that she put together herself and spent all week placing them in the local hotels and other places (I worked the store while she did that). But, it IS her store, I have yet to meet a RETAIL store owner that doesn't pour more energy into the store than they would a 'normal' job. This is business, when you are your own boss, you make the sacrifices that you wouldn't make working FOR someone else.

This I tried to explain to her when she first wanted to open this store, this is what I continue to tell her she needs to do when she wants to close early instead of doing the books (who like doing the books, but paperwork needs to be done or else Uncle Sam pay a visit!!!

Oh well, can't wait until I start working!!! Should be by the end of this week, cross you fingers!!!! 

Is it just me or is the food there just not very good anymore? The last few times I've stopped the food has been sub-par with most of the order ending up in the trash.  Did losing the hot coffee case affect thier ability to produce decent food?  It looks like I'm switching to Wendy's!

That is what is written on a VERY old metal plate being sold in our ANTIQUE STORE!!! So what did I hear about it?  'Why are you guys ADVERTISING their products?' WTF?!?!?! Who is advertising what? Does this mean my Chinese wooden sign that says you can get 'clean and fine opium within these doors' is an advertisement for OPIUM??? WTF??!?!?!?! I obviously did NOT tell this woman that, but DANG!!!!

As you may know by now, I work in phone tech support.

I am really fed up with people who, when, through no fault of mine or my company, start arguing & cutting me off when I'm trying help a customer 

So many times I have tried to help customer and when they are not happy with what they hear, they argue, bully & cut you off while you are trying to help. When is like that with me, I dig in my heels & I HAVE told people & much to their horror that IT IS rude to talk over someone when they are trying. Some of these people are of my generation at 50, what happened??? I thought we were supposed to be civilized!!!

I pity people who do customer service work face to face. Been there, done that & WILL NEVER do that again. If anything it's taught me extreme patience in dealing with other's & they DO appreciate it. We are human.

While I sympathize with most customer's and completely understand frustration, DON'T ELEVATE my blood presssure.

 As we are now in the 21st Century, let's act that way & show the world we can be civilized and polite while dealing with others!!! 

Tom Mabe

Thought that everyone might get a kick out of seeing this and taking a minute to learn of a very interesting way to stop annoying telemarketing or wrong phone number calls!

(I think I might just have to try this!) 

THAT is how long I was on the phone with Dell about my computer JUST a few minutes ago!!! My comp was fine yesterday and today when I turned it on, it said "windows could not be opened due to a missing or corrupt file…windows/system32/config/…" OK, when I called dell, I was transferred FIVE times. five diff people asked me my name, then for the express service code, then the problem and so I read the screen to them word for word, ALL FIVE OF THEM, and all five said that they would transfer me to tech support!! HELLO…I THOUGHT that was what I called to begin with! anyway, they say they are going to transfer me and that "for future reference, for quicker service, next time you have a problem to call 1800-624-9896 and key in your express service code…" WELL THAT'S WHAT I DID WHEN I INITIALLY CALLED!!! and I told all FIVE of them that too and ALL FIVE had the same speech about calling the right 1800 # and putting in the code,etc. so WHY then OH WHY was I transferred BACK to FOUR OTHER PEOPLE who told me the EXACT SAME EFFIN THING!!!!! THANK GOD that the fifth person assured me that she would get me to tech support cuz if I had to explain the problem ONE MO' TIME…..anyway, as you can see, 69 minutes later, it's fixed and I'm back online!

off topic:::

while I was on the phone with dell, my son gave me the mail and you'll NEVER believe what I got, or what David got….a letter saying that his "check" would be here by 5-23. and in the same breath I opened the next letter AND IT WAS THE FRIGGIN ACTUAL CHECK!!!! how screwed up is that ****??? alas, mine has still yet to come…letter or check!!

…are the most annoying commercials EVER! The Mac guy is biggest dork I've ever seen but is supposed to be cool. Hey Mac Guy, here's a dollar go buy a personality!  It's interesting that these commercials tell you NOTHING about the Apple product but the sole purpose is to rip on somelse's product. I would consider this a bad approach, drawing attention to a rivals product and not promoting your own is not good marketing.

Lets says you know nothing about computers…what would you get out of these ads?  Nothing. You've got two guys talking bout Vista and MAC with no visuals or product placement at all, just two guys talking.

Come on Apple I know you can do better!

Mail-in rebates seem to be offered on these days on everything from cars to chewing gum.  But have you ever tried to redeem a mail-in rebate?  Sure you have.  Good luck.

I spent nearly an hour and nearly worked up a sweat the other day trying to meet the elaborate requirements necessary to submit a lousy rebate offer for redemption: Fill out a lengthy form in triplicate. Attach copies of the receipt (which I had misplaced), circle items. Try to cut the label from the box (which I had innocently already thrown in the garbage), without drawing blood.  Make copies of everything (doesn’t everyone have a copier at home?). Address an envelope to hold everything. Put a stamp (maybe two) on the envelope. (Is it really worth a $.39 stamp – for a $2 rebate?).  Go and mail the stupid thing. Take a deep breath.

Then wait months – and hope that you don’t forget about it, when in many cases it never shows up. And then if the rebate does finally arrive, you find out that it’s not in the form of a check but instead some stupid credit card-like thing that you have to call to activate – and then you realize that you have two weeks left to use the damn thing before it expires. What a scam!  It takes less work to file my tax returns.

It’s obvious to me that these companies are simply trying to make it as difficult as possible (without violating the law) for us to redeem these rebates. And in fact it seems to be working. I read that on average 40% of all rebates are never redeemed – either because it’s too much trouble, the box/receipts are lost, people just forget to send it in, or they send it in and it never arrives.

I know I’m not alone on this.  Have you been hit by the rebate plague?  Tell us your story. Or, if I’m wrong, please explain this consumer tragedy to me.

 Congrats to Timbuktu, our Peeve-of-the-Week winner from last week. Of course, our policy here at Pet Peeves requires that Timbuktu share his prizes equally with US BANK. 

Peeve On!

The Peeve Meister

This is becoming a major peeve….

Why do the stores when they close insist on leaving those neon open signs on even after they close?  I hate getting out of my car only to find the damn door locked!  If the store is closed then turn off the frickin OPEN sign, is that too much to ask?

It never fails.  When I go to the bank, there are 4 lanes and above them are the open/close signs.  When I went there the other day, ALL four lanes showed OPEN in big green letters.  well, there were 3 of us in lanes already…WHY, oh, why when the fourth person came, they got BEHIND one of us!!??  this always puzzles me!  I mean, can't they read??  or maybe they aren't paying attention.  it's not like any one lane was different than the other cuz they all have the little tube that goes thru the ceiling.  none of the lanes go up to an actual "window" by the teller!  and we DON'T have any specific "commercial business" lane either.

SO WHY?? 

Peeve Meister here.

Don’t you just hate it when you’re trying to resolve a problem with some company and a customer service representative from the company mindlessly repeats the stupid “policies” of the company? 

Whether it’s the cell phone company, your computer manufacturer, the airlines, the DMV, an insurance company, or your local dry cleaner.  Most of these people just don’t get it.  In spite of the fact that they’re in the “customer service” department, they’re usually useless – and often do more harm than good.  Much of the time, it’s simply maddening to deal with these companies and their people.

What about the case where your very expensive one year-old flat screen plasma TV stops working 4 days after the warranty expires?  The “Company Policy” states that the TV is no longer covered under warranty (Of course I already know that. That’s why I’m calling!). 

Don’t you think it would do everyone a lot of good, if they used their heads and realized that this is a perfect opportunity to turn an unfortunate situation into a positive – and made an “exception to the policy?”  Geeeze. They’re the ones who made the policy in the fist place. It’s not a federal law.  They can make an exception to the policy, if they like.

It seems like everyone I know is in the midst of some battle with a company over some problem with a product, a service or a transaction of some type.  Our society seems to be wasting a lot of productive time arguing our cases with these idiots – only to have it fall on deaf ears, thereby raising the collective level of frustration and antagonism toward these organizations.

Have you experienced a problem like this that has driven you crazy?  Tell us what it is. Maybe it will make you feel better. Maybe we can help. Maybe you'll win a prize. Who knows?

I know that when they “get it” and my problem is promptly and fairly resolved, I quickly become a customer for life – singing their praises to anyone who will listen to me.

Speaking of “singing praise,” congrats to last week’s Rant-of-the-Week winners: Shamrox, Slappy, Griffvan, WADV, and afineday.  And good luck to all you Super Peevers this week. We'll be awarding another set of prizes for the best comment to this week's "Rant of the Week."

Peeve On!

The Peeve Meister

I love this drink but can't find very often, damn you Coca Cola!