My So Called Life

AT&T is the Spawn of Satan

/ Shane / 6 Comments

Why is the customer service of a company inversely proportional to the size of the company?

I had a call with AT&T that made me so furious today that my hands were literally shaking with anger.

We got our bill and we had a $40 pay-per-view charge for WWE Summer Smackdown or something like that (our dish network is through AT&T).  Now obviously we didn’t order this so I wanted it taken off the bill, but I just *knew* it was going to be a hassle.  So I called today and waited on the phone for literally 30 minutes before talking to anybody.  When I finally did get through to someone of course I had to be transferred.  Then, of course, my call was dropped.  (Ironic for a phone company?)  Now all of this is just what I expected so far, which is a shame in and of itself.  But I honestly thought if I slogged through all this nonsense, they would just reverse the charges and that would be that.  It didn’t get bad until I called back.

Luckily I had gotten the direct number of the division I needed to talk to so I was able to call back later.  When I finally got through to someone and explained what happened, she got really rude.  She told me that pay-per-view was non-refundable and there was nothing she could do.  I was irked, but I immediately asked for a supervisor.  I have been literally told in the past by other supervisors at other large companies that you will only reach a supervisor if you ask and they are the only ones who can do anything.

The supervisor was 10 times ruder than the regular person.  I told her I wanted the charge removed and she said it couldn’t be done.  She said that it showed the pay-per-view was ordered from our remote so the only possibility was that someone in my house ordered it, so therefore they wouldn’t waive the charges.  I told her that perhaps there was a hardware malfunction.  She said that was impossible.  Impossible!  She said that these units had been tested “thousands of times” and the only possibility was that we ordered it.  I told her maybe the neighbor has the same remote code.  I said maybe I dropped the remote and it fell in such a way that the proper buttons had been pressed.  She just kept saying, nope, impossible.  I or someone in my house had ordered it.  I asked her if she was calling me a liar to my face?  She said no she wasn’t, but it is impossible (Impossible!) for the hardware to malfunction and someone in my house ordered it, which is totally different than calling me a liar.

Now, I don’t know what happened.  Maybe Evie did it by accident.  Maybe Sara snuck out under the cover of darkness to watch some WWE Smackdown after I was in bed.  Maybe someone broke into our house and ordered it.  I don’t know.  But neither does she and the fact that she kept insisting that it was *impossible* that anything happened other than that I ordered it.

So finally she agreed to reverse the charges.  In order to “punish” me she informed me I would lose my ability to receive pay-per-view programming.  This was quite excellent since it was my next order of business!  However, it quickly went downhill from there.  Here is a rough estimate of our conversation:

“I will reverse this charge ONE TIME but after that if you have any more we will not reverse the charges! So if you have any at home you have already ordered you will be charged and we won’t reverse it.”
“No. Cancel any charges now, cancel pay-per-view and cancel any charges in the future. I don’t want any pay-per-view.”
“I will reverse this charge ONE TIME but after that if you have any more we will not reverse the charges! So if you have any at home you have already ordered you will be charged and we won’t reverse it.”
“I don’t agree to that. I don’t know if my equipment is malfunctioning or what, but if there are any more pay-per-view things I don’t want them!”
“I can’t tell if you have any more, but I’m just letting you know that if there are any more charges, we won’t reverse them.”
“I don’t agree to that! Cancel everything!”
“I can’t cancel any you’ve already ordered. We won’t reverse any charges in the future!”
“I don’t agree! If I get charged I’m calling back!”
“But we won’t reverse the charges!”
“I don’t agree! I know this is being taped! I want it on record that I don’t agree to that!”
“This is the only time we will reverse the charges!”
“I don’t AGREE! Make a note on my file that I don’t want any more!”
“Too bad, we won’t reverse it!”
“I DON’T AGREE TO THAT!! I DO NOT AGREE TO THAT!!”

And honestly, no joke, that wasn’t even the end of it.  Yes, I admit, I was hysterical.  I realize that makes me sound like a psychopath, so I’m counting on the readers of this blog to know that I am a reasonable, even-keeled person.  She did eventually reverse the charges, but she made it clear she was only doing it because I was such a pain.  Fine, I as a pain.  That’s part of the worst thing about it, that I had to be a pain to get my charges reversed.  It is the only way to accomplish anything with companies like that.  I pay them how much per month and they make me scream at them to remove a $40 one time charge.  That is ridiculous!  To be treated like that…despicable.  Reading the text really doesn’t do it justice.

And that is really the worst part.  I could cancel my service, but I’ve had just as bad service with everybody else; Comcast, Verizon, ComEd…all of them.  This is just the way these companies work.  And there’s just nothing I can do about it.  I could cancel and go with another just as bad company.  I could call and complain to someone but they wouldn’t care.  I’ve read enough exposes to know that they are told to act like that, to be aggressive to get people to pay the charges.  Everything in their system is designed to force me to give up. And if I canceled my service, what do they care?  One less customer, boo hoo.  And what else can I do?  Write my congress man?  Write a blog post?

Okay, I guess I’ll do that, but it sure doesn’t make me feel any better.

Apples, Sickness and Baby Talk

/ Shane / 1 Comment

I haven’t had a chance to update lately because I have been wicked sick.  Sicker than I have been in a long time, that’s for sure.  Unfortunately, Evie had been sick before me and all I could think about was, “I sure hope this isn’t how she felt!”  Also unfortunately, we were in Fort Wayne for the Johnny Appleseed Festival, and it always sucks to be sick anywhere besides home.  To say nothing of a brutal 3 hour ride home.  (Although, someone did point out that I have probably spent more time being sick in that house than anywhere else on earth)  I would also like to state for the record that Ron’s apple pie tastes exactly the same coming out as going in!

Johnny Appleseed was pretty cool.  I didn’t get an apple dumpling like I wanted, or any food for that matter due to sickness, but we did manage to eat apple baked french toast for breakfast and apple pie for dinner, so I think I made up for it.  I was kind of concerned that it wouldn’t be as big as I remembered since I haven’t been there since I was quite small, but it was pretty huge.  We didn’t buy anything (it was indeed as expensive as I remembered), but we had a good look around and also saw Casey, Margaret and Isaiah who is only 1 month older than Evie.

Speaking of Evie, we had a discussion about how many words she can say.  We had been saying 25 words as a rough estimate, but when we sat down and actually counted them, we came up with I think 63.  She certainly understands a lot more, but those are the ones she will spontaneously and reliably say, and not counting things she just repeats after you say them.  She loves books more and more every day (a child after my own heart) and practically doesn’t play with any other toys.  She knows all of her books and you can ask for them by name and she can go over to the shelf and find them and bring them to you.  This is including her set of alphabet books that she got for her birthday, but only certain letters that she likes.  For example, she can always find ‘O’ (octopus, orange and owl to which she likes to say “hoo hoo”) but other letters give her trouble.

She is eating a little better especially if it is finger foods.  She’s not very good with a spoon.  However, soon after a meal starts she starts yelling, “Chee!  Chee!” because all she wants to eat at every meal is cheese (as I said, a child after my own heart).  You have to be careful what you say because you might accidentally remind her of cheese and once she gets going, she wants nothing else.  It is the same for water.

She still loves shoes and clothes and spends a lot of time ineffectually trying to dress herself with anything that resembles clothes.  She doesn’t even come close.  My mom gave her a purse and she likes to carry that around now too.  She’s going to be something when she gets old enough to really know about clothes!

I almost hate to say it because I don’t want to jinx it, but the last two nights rather than rocking and singing her to sleep, I have put her in her bed and read her a story until she fell asleep!  Granted, she was very tired both nights, but if that sticks that would be a huge deal!  But of course, now that I have told all of you it can’t possibly happen.

That is all.

Oh, P.S. just because I forgot to mention Talk Like a Pirate Day, doesn’t mean I didn’t celebrate!  And even if my reoccurring calendar appointment didn’t remind me, I always have people who do.

Cupcake Traitor

/ Shane / 3 Comments

As readers of this blog are well aware, I am a fan of Molly’s Cupcakes.  Well, over the weekend, my loyalty was tested by another Chicago cupcake joint, Sweet Mandy B’s. (Sorry, I couldn’t find an actual website for them)

I was a little nervous that the place would actually be good and then it would test my loyalty.  As we were walking in I said, “Best case for me, this place totally sucks.”  Unfortunately (or fortunately) the place did not in fact totally suck.  Quite the opposite actually, it was quite delicious!

It is really hard to compare the two places though.  They had slightly different vibes.  Sweet Mandy B’s was busier, with less seating and with a lot of other options besides cupcakes (like cookies for example).  I don’t think you can make your own cupcakes like you can at Molly’s.  They didn’t have swings either.  As far as I could tell they don’t really put any frosting or filling inside the cupcake the way they do at Molly’s.  It did seem to be a little cheaper, which isn’t anything to scoff at.  The strangest thing that made it hard to compare the two was that there was actually very little overlap in the cupcakes they offered!  Both places have maybe 10 types of cupcakes so you would think they would overlap significantly, but they really didn’t.

The first cupcake I tried was the Turtle because it looked the most similar to the Ron Bennington.  But in actuality they were nothing alike because the Turtle doesn’t have any peanut butter, which is the main ingredient in the Ron Bennington.  However, I have to say, I may have preferred the Turtle!  That is only due to the fact that I am not as much of a peanut butter fan as some people may be.  So I’m not saying the Turtle is a better cupcake, I’m only saying that I personally (may) prefer it.

You know, this brings up another point.  It is hard to compare cupcakes because whatever cupcake you are currently eating is automatically the most delicious cupcake ever.  So the reality of the current cupcake competes with the faded memory of the past cupcake, which isn’t really a fair comparison.  That is why I can’t say whether the only cupcake I tried that is actually found at both places (Red Velvet) was better or worse at Sweet Mandy B’s.  It was delicious, but so was the one at Molly’s.

Anyway, I also really liked the Snickerdoodle and Sara declared that the Cherry Almond cupcake was the greatest cupcake EVAR.  It was extremely tasty.  The only disappointment was the regular vanilla cupcake. With all the other choices you have, I’d say don’t bother.

So, unfortunately, I now no longer have a go-to cupcake place.  I still have a special place in my heart for Molly’s; you never forget your first love.  Choosing between delicious cupcake places…my life is hard. 😦

—————

In addition to Sweet Molly B’s, we went to another Chicago restaurant, Minnies.  Their gimmick is that they have tiny sandwichs.  So instead of ordering one sandwich, you order maybe three.  My favorite was the Pesto Chicken.  I also tried the Reuben and the Club.  The Club was pretty good, but about what you would expect.  The Reuben was decidedly blah.  The BBQ Pulled Pork was actually really good.  It was sweeter than I expected, but still good.  

While there I saw on the menu that they had Dublin Dr. Pepper.  For those not in the know, that is the only Dr. Pepper bottling plant that still uses the original Dr. Pepper recipe with real sugar. Being a Dr. Pepper fan, of course I had to try that.  At first I was worried that it would just taste the same and be lame.  When I drank it I thought it tasted different, but only later did I realize it was probably because it was regular and I am used to diet!  So maybe there is no difference, I don’t know.

So, all in all, the restaurant was okay, but it was kind of expensive for what you got (that Dr. Pepper was $5). 

—————

Contrast that with the May Street Cafe where I had I think the best prepared fish I have ever tasted in my entire life.  Salmon, delicious and perfectly cooked.  I would absolutely recommend this place to anybody.  We got there right when they opened so nobody was around at all.  In fact, we were the only customers the entire time we were there.  I hope they get busy later because it would be sad if a great little place like that closed down because they never got any customers.  Out around the parking lot they grow flowers to put on the tables and they even have a little herb garden to grow some of the ingredients.  The one knock against the place was that they didn’t have a highchair (it was kind of a fancy place).  However, it turns out they had something better!

Keep in mind this is not the first time this has happened.  Whenever we go to a Mexican restaurant, everybody is quick to fall in love with Evie.  (Okay, whenever we go anywhere)  Because it is a very family oriented culture, they just love to make a big deal over babies.  So what you have to do is go really early when the restaurant first opens so that there are no other customers.  Then the staff is happy to take your baby and carry her all around the restaurant and introduce her to people and show her all the pictures, etc. leaving you to eat in peace!  I’m telling you, the first time it happened it kind of freaked me out, but now I love it.  They are so nice and they kept her occupied the entire time, even though that meant showing her the picture of the fishy like 20 times and giving her little boxes of Chiclets to use as maracas.

So, two thumbs up to the May Street Cafe, one for food and one for service!

Quite the foodie weekend!

Blackberries

/ Shane / 1 Comment

I just don’t get them.  I mean I can totally understand wanting to have the Internet on your person at all times, ala the iPhone.  Those things are awesome.  Looking up directions and menus and “who was the guy who was in that movie…” type questions whenever you want cannot be beat.  It is straight out of the future.

"Saaaam! Ziggy says you only have a 50% chance of winning in your Fantasy Football league! He also has movie times and directions for you."

But I don’t really understand the desire to be plugged into your work email all the time.  Unless you are a CEO or some sort of stock trader or something, I just can’t see what is so important that it can’t wait until you get back to work or back to your hotel or something.  I guess Blackberry has done a good job with marketing.  Very clearly iPhones are for hippies and Blackberries are for fancy-pants business people.

One of these guys uses a Blackberry

One of these guys uses a Blackberry

I guess that is what I don’t like about them; they are so pretentious.  Somehow when I see someone using an iPhone I know he is probably wasting time and I am okay with that.  When I see someone using a Blackberry, he is just wasting time too, but he is *pretending* that he is not.  Oh no, instead he is doing important business things because he is a very important business man, yesh he is!  If you were talking to someone and they got an email on their iPhone, they wouldn’t stop talking to you because of it.  But if they get an email on their Blackberry, then stop everything!  It could be someone demanding a business decision that could make billions of dollars for the company!  But come on, I know some of the people who carry Blackberries…someone probably sent them some lolcatz.

But the worst most pretentious part about them is receiving an email from them.  Down on the bottom it automatically inserts a little thing that says, “Sent via Blackberry”.  Now what is that all about?  It is just another way to let you know that the person with the Blackberry is so very, very important and busy.  They’re responding to you on the go!  They’re probably going from one multi-million dollar deal to the next!

Why would you care where I sent you an email from?  I don’t tell you when I’m emailing from my laptop as opposed to my desktop.  I could see if it was something really cool or important like, “Sent from the back of a Tyrannosaurus Rex” or something, but you know what?  In that case go ahead and include it in the text of the message.

So, that is why I will now be adding to all outgoing emails, “Sent by someone who is very hmm hmm hmm”.  That way I know that you know that I am extremely busy and important and the effort I had to put forth to send you the email was extreme.  I just hope it didn’t cost my company some billion dollar deal just to forward you a chain letter.

How to develop your time sense

/ Shane / Leave a comment

Okay, this link courtesy of Sara who thinks she is so funny.  

As you know, I have absolutely no sense of time.  Hours pass by and I think it has been mere minutes.  If you asked me what time it is at any given moment, my guess could be off by as much as two hours.

So apparently, Google’s tip of the day was about developing your time sense.  It actually is sort of interesting.  Basically you just constantly guess what time it is and then check to see if you are right.  Then over time you will discover how far off you are and then you can take that into account.  I make no claims as to whether this works or not, and I probably won’t even try it, but there it is nonetheless.

Anyway, having no time sense has it’s advantages!  Everything seems like it is at most 2 hours from me!  My commute seems to take no time at all!  I’m constantly surprised when I discover it is an hour earlier than I thought it was!