Getting What You Pay For....

Funny story that arose out of an experience I had the other day.....

It seems that a local tire shop is offering a $19 special on an oil change. During the course of which, obviously, they tell you your car is falling apart and give you an estimate to fix nonexistent problems....

Okay, so this all started when I got back from Richmond the other day.... Someone I know had dropped their car off there for the oil change special, and was shopping while waiting, and since I was overdue for service, I decided to give it a shot.... What a mistake.

The service writer met me coming out the door and didn't even seem to want to speak to me. Another man was waiting at the counter to be helped, and after being basically ignored for 10 minutes or more (another person came to the counter and didn't even so much as look at us), the service writer comes back in.

The man ahead of me was also a cab driver, owning his own vehicle in another company. Seems that he had a problem with a tire that he bought from the place. The service writer promptly told him that because it was a commercial vehicle, it would not be covered. HOLD THE PHONE.

First off, a defective tire is a defective tire no matter WHAT it is installed on. I could see if he had an issue with an aligment done by the shop, or something like that. But tires have been known to be defective. Looking at the tire, it was obviously defective. One particular spot on the outer edge of the tread was wearing badly, the rest of it was fine.

This is indicative of separation of steel belts in the tire, causing a wobble as it rolls. My van needed new tires recently, and one of the tires I purchased did exactly this. I had just returned to the place I bought my tires from the previous day, and been given no trouble at all, just a replacement tire and an apology for the inconvenience. And yes, they knew it was a taxi when the tires were installed, and it is still a taxi.

So I simply looked at the other driver and recommended the place I went to for tires because they would take care of him and service what they sell. The service writer's jaw dropped open and said, "You can't do that."

"Oh, really?" I said. "I'm just a customer having a conversation with another customer. I was going to get this oil change special you guys are offering, but it sounds like to me if the oil filter is bad, you won't honor it because I have a commercial vehicle. Think I'll head on over to Jiffy Lube. Have a nice day."

The funniest thing about this? My friend's car had been at this place for at least 45 minutes at this point. Jiffy Lube had me in and out in 15-20 minutes, and checked a great deal of things in the process. When I got back to the first place, my friend was STILL waiting for her car! Looking in the open garage bay doors, the mechanics didn't seem very hard at work at all. Interestingly enough, she was given an estimate of work her car supposedly needed, with a promise to "beat everyone's price". What's the point of saving money if the service sucks?

To summarize, Jiffy Lube got me in and out in 15-20 minutes for $15 more. First, time is money, especially in my line of work. Secondly, the people were much nicer and more appreciative of my business. Thirdly, they checked all fluids, tire pressures, air filter, and yes, they do recommend extra services, but they didn't take an hour to do it.

Bad Business Tactics.....

If you were given a price for goods or services by a company that couldn't be there to serve you, you probably wouldn't trust that company, would you?

In an effort to take airport business from those of us who are licensed to work airport (AND PAY FOR THE PRIVILEGE, MIND YOU)..... Every idiot in this business that doesn't work airport is quoting $25 flat rates to and from the airport -- generally a 10-mile trip. However, none of them are usually here when these people come in. There's no sense in giving someone a discounted rate when you don't show up, and there is no way in hell I am going to honor these prices when I wait 4 hours or more for a trip.

All this is doing is pissing off the customers. They feel they're being baited and switched, and I don't much blame them. These idiots say I'M the one ruining the business? It is to laugh. I'm not the one making promises I can't deliver on.

The Best Customer Service I Have Received, By Far....

..... came from the two gentlemen you see pictured below.



They are Robert Trevinto (left), and Benny A. Phillips (right), who were stewards on Amtrak's "California Zephyr" train, on which I returned home after delivering a vehicle to California.

This story started in a roundabout way in Arizona. When I left the city of Mesa, I was not feeling quite right, and my condition worsened over the next 18 hours as I neared the drop-off point. I had stopped eating, because my stomach was so queasy, I didn't want to risk making things worse.

When I boarded the Zephyr from Emeryville, CA to Chicago, IL, I vaguely remember Robert taking my ticket, which is to say, I was extremely ill at this point, barely upright, and as such, I decided to remain in my sleeper and hope that rest would get rid of whatever it was. Nothing doing.

Robert and a couple of other crew members checked in on me several times during that day and evening for dining car accommodations, which I refused, as my stomach was steadily getting worse.

The next day, I did make one attempt and did not even make it to placing my order. That evening, Robert was beginning to notice something was wrong. By this time, despite having a fever and being wrapped in a blanket, I was getting bad chills and violently shivering in misery in my sleeper, feeling as though I were going to die.

He asked at first if I wanted to call paramedics or go to a hospital at the next stop, but it was out of the question. I knew I didn't have enough money to cover rescheduling the rest of my return trip, as it would likely cost more than originally. I already knew that I have frequently recurring acid reflux, which is likely what brought the problem on in the first place.

A severe enough attack, if left unchecked and untreated, can eventually eat through the stomach lining and into other organs. It was either possibly not make it home alive, or not make it home at all if I sought medical attention.

When Robert began talking to another steward, Bennie, we determined that I had made a mistake by drinking apple juice on a near-empty stomach, as apple juice has acids in it that are hard on the system even under normal circumstances, which I did not know. Bennie suggested cranberry juice, as it had a slightly different composition and was easier on the internals, and set about getting me some chicken broth as well.

After alternately nursing cranberry juice and chicken broth gingerly for an hour and a half, Bennie also graciously gave me a couple of Tylenol PM for the fever, and 30 minutes later, I was resting comfortably and made a feeble attempt at breakfast the next day, which is to say I was unable to risk much more than yogurt and juice.

At lunch, I asked Robert if he could simply bring some broth and yogurt to my sleeper, as I did not want to inconvenience anyone else in the dining car, and I was pretty sure these were all I would be able to handle for awhile. I WAS, however, feeling quite a bit better than the night before. I actually was able to get up and move around a bit, snapping some photos of what remained of the scenic part of the route, salvaging some part of the fun of the trip.

In summary, Robert and Bennie not only made my trip a lot more comfortable than it would have been, they likely may have saved my life. These fellows took extremely good care of me, and looked out for me more than they really had to, and being in the service industry myself, I know that it is extremely rare to find people THAT devoted to customer service. I would ride on ANY train if these fellows were serving me. If you ride Amtrak and are fortunate enough to have these guys serve you, take good care of them, because I can assure you, they will definitely take good care of you.

Dude, You're Getting A Dell...... My Condolences, Dude.....

Okay, this is a warning to anyone who owns a Dell computer. Don't expect much.

I received a Latitude C610 laptop as a gift about five years ago, and while it has been a solid little machine, I have simply outgrown it.

I bought a Latitude C840 laptop through CSR Technologies on eBay, to replace it. Unfortunately, the machine has issues. It was not clear in the description that it was refurbished that I remember, and it is basically a time bomb. I am not saying in any way not to buy from CSR Technologies. Just be very certain of what exactly you are getting.

The 840 basically runs fine for two weeks or so, waiting until I get everything set up just as I need it, then begins crashing and corrupting Windows. It has been reloaded 12 times since purchase. I finally gave up and called technical support a few nights ago, only to be told that they can't help me because I am not the original purchaser and don't know the name of the original purchaser.

How exactly am I to know this when I bought it through a resaler off eBay? So I informed the technical non-support personnel that not only would I not be buying used or refurbished computers anymore, I would not buy Dell from now on, since Dell did not seem interested in standing behind what they manufacture.

I am not faulting Dell for the problem with the machine, I am sure this is an isolated incident. But when I am in the market for a new laptop, it is hard to justify buying a Dell when you can't get them to help you with one that you already own.

So after a few attempts to get advice from friends, some of which had time, some of which didn't, I went to Best Buy and bought a Sony Vaio. Nice machine so far, stay tuned. There is another blog about the sales process....

Service With A Smile.....

A couple nice folks got in my cab tonight from the airport, heading for a local hotel. During the conversation on the trip, one of them asked me if any local computer shops were open tomorrow, and being Sunday, not likely.

I asked her if she needed repairs or something else, and she had forgotten her laptop's AC adapter at home. Not a big problem then. I managed to track one down at the local Best Buy and took her there to pick it up along the way.

The lady was so grateful she tipped me $15.00 and asked for a card to arrange a ride back.

I love to get fares like this. Nice folks. I don't mind giving people service when they're that nice. Hopefully they will call me to bring them back to the airport.....