Natter Five-O: Book 'Em, Danno.
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Heh. They just had a story on NPR where they basically said the problem with hybrid cars is that they need more cowbell.
I
t heart
my Prius more than I can say. I commute 60 miles round trip every work day...but I only spend about $80 a month on gas and get to use the HOV lane.
(And though I certainly wouldn't want to hit a blind person, I have to say that it's
really
fun to sneak up on irritating pedestrians or people wandering around parking lots. It is also possible that I start humming the
Jaws
theme every time I do so.)
I would have responded to the woman in the cafe thusly:
"I'm so sorry you felt Mike was rude. This is new for us - we've not had a complaint about Mike before! If you could step over here and tell me the specifics, that would help me out a lot. How does that sound?"
No blame either way, getting information, and leading them towards agreeing with me. Also manipulative as hell, but I haven't worked this long in serving & retail for nothing.
...If you could step over here and tell me the specifics, that would help me out a lot. How does that sound?"
Step over here... a little further... NOW! OPEN THE TRAP DOOR!!
On the way home I saw a car with the license plate: IM DEAF. Which I thought was brilliant.
And I must say that one of the reason I'm very happy giving RCN an awful lot of money is that their customer service has been amazing. I don't think I've ever been on hold for more than a minute when I called, their contractors have always been on time and fantastically nice. That may be because they're trying to move into this area and beat back Comcast, since I've heard they're not so great in other areas, but currently they're golden in my book.
So in general, I think if a waiter or waitress has no complaints and one person gets her hackles up, she's probably wrong. It's an assumption, sure, but there you go.
Yeah, but the point of the article isn't that the customer is always right. He didn't say the owner should have immediately fired the waiter, just that he should have listened to her complaint instead of getting defensive. You can say, "I'm sorry to hear that, tell me what happened and I'll speak to him about it," and then when she's gone, you can tell the waiter, "Don't worry about it; she's nuts."
I'm not saying it's easy to react calmly when someone's venting at you. But I don't think it's bad advice.
Oh, collections people. One student loan hunter told me that he could garnish my wages for Hubby's old loan. I told him that I didn't even know Hubby existed when that loan came into being and that I was in no way liable. "You're his wife." "This isn't a community property state, and the loan was incurred before the marriage in any case." "We can still garnish your wages." "No, you can't." "Yes, we can." It honestly took me two repetitions to realize I'd just descended to a kindergarten argument. "Try it," I finally said, and I hung up. Unsurprisingly, my wages were never garnished.
Hey Strega - did you just get home? You often seem to show up here around 4:45 Central (just before I usually go home).
...If you could step over here and tell me the specifics, that would help me out a lot. How does that sound?"
Step over here... a little further... NOW! OPEN THE TRAP DOOR!!
Heh. tommyrot and I have similar trains of thought. Mine was:
"...if you could step out behind the chemical sheds, we'll deal with this promptly."
Yes, it's almost as if... collections people, every now and then... stretch the truth just a
tiny
bit....
OK, off to catch bus....
Yeah, you should get more details on customer dissatisfaction. It's perfectly possible that an employee did act like an asshole. Unlikely, but that's why you ask for more information.
Off the phone with UCLA Practice Plan. Oh, she explained and she explained and she told me about my health plan coverage, but my questions made her read the entire file, not just the notes of the last call, and now she's really confused, including as to why I'm in collections since I've been calling on this since September '06 and no one has ever explained it to me.
Uh, her manager's out today, but she'll call me tomorrow.
Ugh. "As to why." I hate saying that. But I'm not fixing the sentence. I need to go refile my documents. And then nap off this incipient migraine.
On the way home I saw a car with the license plate: IM DEAF.
And I bet people still honk.
I don't think the owner should have reacted defensively, I'm just saying I think letting her know that Mike hadn't had any complaints was a good idea.
Also, HA! I just got one of those calls where the girl said her name and then waited expectantly. Had to hold in the laughter.
