Customer Service? Sometimes I wonder what that means these days. (Ok, start of LONG rant)
A while back, Lynn wasn't feeling well and pretty much stayed in bed most of the day. I told her I was heading over to run the car through the little quickie, drive-thru carwash down the street and would be right back. She asked if I'd mind stopping at McD's to pick up a breakfast sandwich for her. For some odd reason she was craving one. No prob, the carwash is right next door to McD's. I washed the car then headed to the McD's drive-thru. I pulled up to the speaker thingy and a voice came over the box. I ordered the sandwich and was told to pull up to the pay window. I paid, then went to the pick-up window. Once I got to the pick-up window, the young girl apologized, then informed me the sandwich was not available because they were now serving lunch and the sandwich is only available on the breakfast menu. HUH??? I informed her I'd already ordered AND paid. She was apologetic and obviously a bit flustered, then informed me they start serving the lunch menu at 11:00 am and no longer offer the breakfast menu. I glance at my clock and it's like 11:02 (TBH, I seldom go to McD's and didn't even know the menus were different and some items were only available at certain times of day.) I said. "What do you expect me to do? Cancel the sale for a reimbursement to my credit card and go back through the line to reorder?" (I was attempting to dig up a tiny bit of common sense, to no avail).
I then asked if she had any left-over breakfast sandwiches (Egg McMuffin I think?). She asked me to wait, left the window, then came back to inform me they did. (I thought they were all made fresh, but as stated, we seldom go to McD's, so IDK) I said, "Since you have left-overs, can I just have one of them?" She asked me to wait again and left the window. Ok, it gets better (or worse?). She returns and says, "Yes!" Somehow, now she has ME confused and I asked, "Yes what???" She said, "You can have one of those sandwiches if you want one!" I picked my jaw up off the door frame and said, "Sure, would you mind bringing me one?" She again left the window and returned with my bagged sandwich and I was on my way. I'm sure she was brand new and was following protocol, but WTF ever happened to common sense? PLEASE tell me she's not making $20/hour! I swear on a stack of bibles this actually happened.
That brings me to yesterday. I get my meds through the VA, but I can also pick them up anywhere I want, so I have my Rx's sent to various places around town. In my income category, the VA charges me $8/per Rx per month (for non-service related issues), but I can usually beat some of their prices locally. I had a new Rx sent to Walmart and the next day, the pharmacist called and said the Rx was denied because it was written by a doctor licensed in the State of New York. I told him it's a VA doctor and they're Federal employees who often go from state to state. I assume they work under some sort of umbrella as far as licensing goes (?). All I know is, in the MANY years I've been with VA, I've never run into this. We went back and forth (he was polite and helpful), but we never got anywhere. I contacted the VA and my Primary Care physician was off on leave the week of July 4. To get a new Rx from a FLORIDA licensed physician. they'd have to (on paper) assign me to a different Primary, have him/her write a new RX, then send it to Wally World, THEN reassign me to my original Primary! What a bunch of b/s. I told them to hold off and again called the pharmacist. I informed him I have an Rx through Sam's Club and never had a problem, so why should I have a problem at Walmart? Note: during all this back and forth, the July 4th weekend got in the way to slow things down even more.
I'm sure I've left out a few steps, but the pharmacist finally said he'd contact corporate and see if there's some sort of work-around. Ok, so now this has dragged out for a week and yesterday Lynn and I had gone out to lunch. During lunch, I received a call from Walmart and the pharmacist informed me the corporate office straightened it out and my Rx was ready for pick-up at the pick-up counter. I told him we were at lunch, but were almost finished and we'd stop by on our way home. It was a quick lunch, just a wing place with Tuesday BOGO on wings, so we didn't dawdle. We head home and stop to circle the Wally World parking lot a couple times looking for a handicapped spot and finally get parked. I go straight to the pharmacy pick-up window and there is a customer at the counter, so I waited. She gets her meds and walks away, so I step up to the counter. The girl at the counter says, "We're closed for lunch, come back at 2:00" I looked at my phone and it was 1:31, then glanced around behind me thinking she was talking to somebody else, but I was the ONLY one at the counter and nobody was behind me. (their lunch is 1:30-2:00) I told her I was just there to pick up an Rx and she repeated, "We're closed for lunch, come back at 2:00!" I informed her I'd been waiting a week for the Rx and I just talked with the pharmacist and he told me to come in and pick it up. You guessed it, ""We're closed for lunch, come back at 2:00!" I politely said, "Ma'am, the Rx is ONE step away, right behind you, filed under "K", could you please just hand it to me and I'll be on my way? "We're closed for lunch, come back at 2:00!" By this time I was pissed, left and found Lynn in the haircare isle, then relayed what I'd just gone through. She shakes her head like I'm incompetent and heads for the pharmacy counter. The girl is still standing there and Lynn walks up to her while I meekly hide in the next isle, then I hear, "We're closed for lunch, come back at 2:00!" By this time it's 1:43 and I'm fed up. I didn't feel like waiting. so we left and drove home. That was yesterday (Tues) and I still haven't picked up my Rx. Luckily I still have enough pills to make it another week, so I'll go back when I feel like it.
Am I finished? Ha! Not by a long-shot! I bought my house in 1989 and have been here ever since. When we first moved in, I set up my home office with the usual computer (DOS system) for invoicing, printer, FAX machine, phones, etc. During this time, I received a message from our power company explaining we live in "Lightning Alley" and they were offering their customers a whole house surge protector. Installation would be $39.95 (don't really remember the amount) and they'd add something like $5/month (?) to my monthly bill for a couple of years until it's paid off (kind'a like buying a cell phone from your provider these days). I had one installed and stood there talking with the electric company technician while he did the install. The equipment is VERY obvious. He pulled the electric meter, plugged the surge protector in, then plugged the meter into the surge protector (kind'a a "sandwich" type installation and the SP is about 3"-4" thick). Ok. last week I had my a/c guy come out and do a Springtime service on my a/c unit. The o/s heat pump is directly under my electric meter. While standing there chatting, I looked at that surge protector and it hit me, it's been there for 35 years! I then wondered how I'd know if it was functioning or not. If it blows out, does the electrical feed still feed through it but it simply no longer offers any protection? Does it reset automatically? Or if it experiences a surge, does it kill the power to the house until it gets replaced? I have no clue.
This morning, I put a call into the power company and I knew almost immediately, the cust, serv. rep was overwhelmed with my question, After a few minutes of meaningless babble, I asked if I could talk to the "technical department" to see if I could get some answers. She transferred my call and a woman answered. I went through the whole story again and she told me I HAVE NO SURGE PROTECTOR INSTALLED. I told her I was standing there when it was installed and it's very obvious and can be visually verified just by looking at it. She told me, IF I had one, there would be a red, LED light that will be on if it's working, or it's tripped if no light is showing. I informed her there is NO light and there never has been a light. She repeated it would be a small red LED and it IS there! I didn't know for sure, but challenged her anyway by saying. "Ma'am, it was installed in 1989 and nobody started using LED's until probably 15-20 years later! It was like "in one ear and out of the other" and she said it's a small red light and I probably just never noticed it!
This dragged on and I finally asked if she could just schedule a technician to come out and test it. She then informed me I DO NOT HAVE A SURGE PROTECTOR! I went back through the story of the installation and I can SEE the SP. She said if I had one, I'd be paying a monthly fee, but I'm not, so I don't have one. I repeated the "special" I purchased and they only charged a fee for a couple of years until it was paid off. It was installed by YOU (the electric company technician) and I was charged the installation fee plus a monthly charge for some forgotten length of time. I again asked if she could just PLEASE send a technician out and even if she sends Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder, they could immediately tell there's a surge protector just going by feel! (yep, I was getting pissed) I asked her to go through my bill payment history and she'll see the installation charge in August or maybe September of 1989, then there would be a small charge added to my monthly bill for a couple of years. She then informed me her records only go back to 1992, and I DO NOT HAVE A SURGE PROTECTOR INSTALLED .... otherwise I'd be paying a monthly fee! ARRRGGGHHH!!!!
Now, I'm about to throw my cell phone through my P/C screen and asked her to just send a technician out and I will SHOW it to him so he can check it. She then said, "Sir, my system will not allow be to generate a service call for equipment that does not exist!" I took a deep breath and politely said, "Thank you ma'am" and hung up.
Does customer service still exist? Or has the world simply morphed into a bunch of zombie-like, robotic, fucking morons?
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Originally Posted by BarryBobPosthole
