Category Archives: Customer complaints

Water Spots

Posted in Advertising, CEO Princeple, Customer complaints, FOC, GMC, Microsoft Windows problem, Pride, Priorities, Reporters by

Over the years, working in the Marines and then in a few different civilian organizations, one thing I have learned is the importance to detail. Being a large picture person, I realize that I must constantly remind myself of the importance of dotting all the “i”s and crossing all “t”s with precision.

Maybe one of the best examples I’ve heard is the story of the couple that went to a classy restaurant where they were given nice flatware wrapped in high quality napkins. Once the couple took the flatware in hand, they noticed water spots on the flatware.

They each took a few seconds and the nice napkins to rub out the water spots and soon the spotless eating implements were set neatly in place. They then sat and enjoyed the dinnner. When done, they left without mentioning the water spots at all. Then, of course, they never returned.

As for me, the water spots would have not mattered. On the other hand, I have seen folks that would have asked for “clean” silver. Then others would have simply walked out before ordering.

Regardless of anything else, it is an example in 2 ways. First, as in a previous post, it speaks of competition. It seems, in this case, the lacking in one detail causes the loss of repeat customers. There are any of dozens of such details that can cause a restaurant owner, or any such businessman grief.

Worse, the managers might not be aware, which brings me to my second point, the un-voiced complaint. Every owner, every manager should seek complaints vigorously. Otherwise, how will he become aware thar something needs correction?

If the couple in the little story complained, the restaurant might have still lost the customers, but it might allow the correction before the loss of others.

Yet, I look this way and that way, and I find one business after the other where the owners seem to continue to try to remain oblivious to any problems in their business. In the long run such businesses will surely suffer. They may continue but not strong as they could. Mostly, they will fall behind the competition.

It would seem to some that encouraging complaints from a customer is contrary to success. However, how can a person hone his ability to compete if he doesn’t see where honing is truly necessary.

You might consider the following. There are customers that will notify the management of of a messy restroom and those who won’t. On the other hand, there are businesses that will clean the restroom when notified and there are others that basically say, “So what.” There are those who simply don’t care about customer complaints, even when they are meant to be helpful.

The question, “Do you really want to lose customers over water spots?”

What Cost Progress

Posted in Computer Upgrades, Customer complaints by

One day, I saw a quip that I found particularly humorous. As with most things humorous, there was a kernel of truth in it. Perhaps some of you already laughed at it, maybe even experienced the little bit of truth encapsulated in the few words: “The hurrier go, the behinder I get.”

The first PC compatible computer I bought ran on a 16 MHz clock, had 1 MB of memory and a 40 MB hard drive. Some might wonder just how I managed to get anything done on it. Yet, it took less than 30 seconds to boot. It took roughly 30 minutes to completely reload Windows 3.1 using floppies. Otherwise, I rarely waited for it to do anything. It was genuinely fast.

Now I have three computers. They are all incredibly fast with enormous amounts of memory and a hard disk that can store most of the printed word in 1900. I don’t know. Conceivably twice that.

However, I would never think about reloading Windows. My guess is it would take two or three DVDs and maybe as much as 4 hours. Then, I would need to connect to the Internet and upload software patches for the next few days, or weeks.

With all that, I must upgrade about once a week. On top of all that, every time I start an ap, I wait. Sometimes, it’s 5 or 10 seconds. Some apps take a minute or more.

They’ve come up with a sleep mode. That’s where you can turn your computer and it restarts where you turned it off. It became somewhat mandatory. If they didn’t give us the option, it takes 15 seconds to turn one of these new speeders off and a good 2 or 3 minutes to bring it back up.

It seems every since we past Windows 98, these software engineers are doing all they can to make sure we spend as much time as possible sitting on our hands. More than that, they are doing all they can to squeeze us amateur hobbyists out. I used to be pretty good at programming. Now they don’t allow VB 6.0 or any version of Delphi. Not sure about Pascal. So frustrated at losing my Delphi I haven’t tried.

Also, they keep demanding more and more of everything: speed, memory and disk. Now these brilliant guys want me to store my books on the cloud. I can understand that for the big guys, but it’s just little ol me. I suspect there are others who have a similar point of view.

In addition, they have turned, perhaps 1000 dollars of programs of mine into useless junk. I have a copy of Word Perfect that I can no longer use. The bad thing about that is that I much prefer it to MS Word. Tried pro version of Word a few years ago and removed it the same day I installed it. It ran slower than my old Vic-20.

Mostly, I’ve been using the bargain brands. They aren’t fast, but at least they work. Mostly, I use my little Samsung pad I got from T-mobile to write my post. It’s a little awkward, but I can mostly finish the post on the Tablet by the time I start typing on my computer. On the other hand, the computer version is better at finding my errers.

Oh, and by the way, the taplet is considerably more green. Even my laptop uses more power, far more power.

Most important, I don’t think one person in the hierarchy of Microsoft cares one iota about me or the likes of me. They are too busy keeping people from using their software without licensing.

Oddly, it might have the reverse effect. More & more of us just might go to the little tablets. My tablet is on the instant I press the button and rarely needs updating.

A Word for Walmart.

Posted in Customer complaints by

Tonight, I went shopping at the local Walmart, which in this day and time is quite an undertaking. I’m old and I have to scan all by myself.

So! I approached the register and put my groceries on the the conveyor belt. When I was done, I was starting to huff and puff a little. After taking a few seconds to catch my breath, I reached for the first item and I set my eyes on a small sign, “Cash Only.”

My first thought was, Why was that sign so small? Why was it pointed so that I could only see as I stood right in front of the register? Then I began doing some mental calculations. It took very little time to realize that I had enough cash to pay for about half of of it all.

It was then I considered a decision: move it all back into the buggy, then to the next available register. Or just simply walk out after a short explanation.

Fortunately, one of the staff saw my expression and told me to scan and then she would take care it. When I finished, she pushed a few buttons, took me to a special register. In two minutes or less, I paid and left.

It sure was nice for the woman to come to my aid. On the other hand, it would not be necessary had someone made the sign bigger and easily seen. Moreover, I doubt anyone there realized how close they came to putting away 150 dollars of groceries.

A Little Reminder Of Years Gone By

Posted in Biden, Christian values, Communism, Controllers, Crime, CRT, Customer complaints, FOC, Going Green, Kamala Harris, Liberals, Mistakes by

At my most recent visit to McDonald’s I had just turned in my order. As I approached my table, a woman came storming in and reminded me of language I had tolerate while going through M.C.R.D. (Marine boot camp)

She did manage to meet her goal. Within a minute or two she walked back out satisfied that she now had the food she wanted and also, I’m sure, upset the poor guy behind the counter. To be sure, such language was effective but it also spoke volumes about her. I would suspect there were a few others who took note too.

However, what she may not have known was that it also spoke volumes about her and her parents. Likely, she didn’t care, which also said something about the woman. For one thing, I instantly had no respect for the woman. Why should anyone have any respect for a woman who has no respect for herself.

More than that, she clearly had no anger management skills. She never made any attempt at resolving the problem with simple reason. I don’t know about others, but I have found that when I complain with a smile, it generally is at least as effective and I don’t upset anyone. If I do continue to have problems, I ask to speak to the manager. I don’t always get a resolution, but, believe me, they do remember me. A proper word spoken with reason can be far more effective than a bunch of profanity spoken loud enough that everyone in the place can hear it.

Most important, when I leave, I am generally respected. Again, why should they respect me if I don’t respect myself.

I have written about respect before, but the type we have for each other. However, it would seem we also have problems with self-respect. People who respect themselves don’t get involved in the “crash and runs.” People who do such things, even according to the Bible bring shame on themselves and their parents. In a more broad sense, they bring shame on all their kinfolk. After a while, it is only natural to think badly anyone close to him.

And again, the person does not care one iota. Why should they. No one taught them any better. Many never had fathers. In some cases, it might be better if they didn’t have fathers. Those who raised them, those who were their example might be worse than they are. Nonetheless, when I see them going through a Walgreens with their arms full of loot, it speaks volumes to me about them, and those who brought them up.

Respect, all respect begins at home. If kids are not taught respect for others and themselves at home, then no one will respect them. It really isn’t a difficult thing to figure out, but it would seem the dems are having a difficult time of it.

Incidentally, respect of the law and those who enforce it is pretty important too. It just might keep a person out of prison. It just might keep a person from being killed. It’s a good thing to remember, even when you get pulled over for have something dangling from the rear-view mirror.

As usual, I have a little side note. If you speak respectfully to those behind the counter, it just might be a little less embarrassing when you find out you were wrong.

Looking For More Mens

Posted in Abuse of Power, Biden, Customer complaints, Fast Food, FOC, Kamala, Liberals, Robots by

I know it is improper grammar but I have heard it said before and I think, in this case it is apropos.

I went into McDonald’s and tried to order at the counter. They said, due to lack of personnel (a proper way of saying mens) we would have to order at the kiosk. I told her that I have tried to use the things before without any success. She told me that I had to use the computer to order.

So I went over to the kiosk and tried to order three times without success. I mean I am reasonably persistent. However, logic told me that it would do me little good to continue. I told the woman we would need to go somewhere else. She became impatient with me and went over to kiosk and proceeded to show me how easy it was.

GUESS WHAT? Your right. It didn’t work for her either. She was persistent too. She tried twice on one kiosk and once on two more kiosks.

I can’t blame the woman. To be sure, every one is trying to find more mens. It is literally the FOCs’ fault. They have decided to pay people for doing nothing. So they sit at home and do nothing.

It was, to be sure, the convergence of two problems. The dems and the people who wrote the programing for the kiosk. Maybe I err. It is very possible that it might have been those who made the specifications for the kiosks. Either way, the programming is full of bugs and they just don’t work as advertised.

After working around computers all my life I’d guess it is simply trying to get too fancy. They have all these beautiful pictures up there to help make people hungry and they forget the purpose of the thing… to make it easy to order food.

So, if you are looking on McDonald’s Corp, this is the way I would like it. The screen is large enough to show the whole menu at one time. First, there should be a list off all the menu items. To the left would be a a plus and minus sign. To increase or decrease the count, the customer presses one or the other. Simple. I’m sure there would be dozens of ways to deal with special orders. If nothing else, if four cheeseburgers are being ordered, four lines could be temporarily displayed. pseudo-buttons could be displayed on each line for deleting onions and or mustered, etc.

I am not a professional programmer and I am sure, given a couple of months, I could write such a program in a month or so. It’s not that hard. Like they say in computer programming; keep it simple, stupid. (KISS) Every time you make something more complex, you increase the chances of it malfunctioning. Also, in this case, you make it harder to operate.

Worse yet, instead of saving employee time, it cost this employ about twenty minutes. Then, when it was all over, she had to resort to the old way anyway.

Fixing the kiosk might be McDonald’s idea of resolving the problem. As for me, I’d rather give my order to a human. By the way, a reminder. Some people don’t complain. They just walk out and go somewhere else. It is normally the easiest way of resolving the problem.

As for the more mens problem, let’s just vote the FOCs out of office. The manning levels will then take care of themselves.

Woke Coke

Posted in Being woke, Customer complaints, FOC, News media, Politally Correct, Socialists by

Just figured I’d mention. The last two times I went shopping, they shelves were full of Coke products, not so much Pepsi. I had to settle for the plastic bottles of Diet Pepsi instead of the cans. It is sort of a shame. My fridge is designed for cans. By the way, they didn’t have too many six-pack bottles left.

Do you suppose the customers are registering complaints about them being woke. Do you suppose that the folks at Coke realize it. I do find it odd. Coke always advertised themselves as being family friendly, not criminal friendly. Oh, well. Maybe they will catch on. Maybe not.

The Cost of Thievery

Posted in Communism, Crazy Nuts, Cuomo, Customer complaints, Education, FOC, Kamala Harris, Lawyers and Representation, Liberals, Obama Care, Schools by

Most of us never completely consider the cost of stealing. There is the loss of revenue for the businesses. In the case of theft from an individual, it is difficult calculate, especially when someone is killed in the act. Businesses go through all sorts of things to cut down on theft but their success is limited. They use cameras, security guards and all sorts of other little things.

They use those annoying blister packs. I don’t know what they cost but they do increase cost of shipping and displays. In addition they use those little electronic alerts on some things. One time I went in the men’s room of a Walmart and found an empty blister pack with the alert device still on it. So, Walmart paid for the blister pack, the alert device and still lost the DVD. For what it was worth, I took the evidence to the manager who thanked me.

Whether you know it or not, it effects us all. It drives the costs of the products up. They have to cover the loss of the product. They have to pay for the packaging as well as the alert device. Then, of course, before you can go out the door after you purchase it, the alert device must be removed or disabled. I don’t know how many times I have set off those alarms after a legal purchase. It can get frustrating for both the store management and customer.

Then, when you get home, you need to get out your scissors and sharp knife to get the blister pack off. I wonder just how many people went into emergency rooms after cutting a finger or two in this process. That too is a cost of the theft.

On the other hand, not all theft occurs at the point of a gun or knife. Not all theft is perpetrated in stores. In the operetta “The Pirates of Penzance,” the pirate king suggests that his vocation is a relatively honest one. At least when he shows the skull and cross bones, he is honest about what he is and what he does. On the other hand, the man in the business suit will steal you blind, all the while maintaining his respectability.

Every day, I hear ads on TV, “Come to us and we will show you how to get a bunch of money for nothing.” The country is full of ambulance chasers seeking deep pockets. On the other side of the coin, there are businessmen trying to get money from the unwary. I saw an article about a man who saw an ad in a paper. “Portable digital computer, $25 dollars. Guaranteed.”

He knew there was something wrong but he figured it was worth the $25 dollars to find out what. A week later the man was the proud owner of a new abacus. To be sure, the abacus does meet the criteria of the ad. None the less, it truly was a misleading ad. In this case, there was little loss. The man kept the device and even learned to use it.

However, men in suits do rob people of their hard earned money every day. Nowadays, they use your phone instead of the newspaper or TV. I even had occasion where my doctor had to deal with a robocall right in the middle of talking to me. That doctor’s time is valuable. It is not just an annoyance. They steal valuable time from him…and his clients.

From what I understand, some men in suits ever steal entire houses. On the other hand, there are those who advertise they can stop it…for a slight price.

The last few months, we have a new type of thief. He just walks in, takes what he wants and walks out…right in front of the store security man. This adds even more expense. First, it causes the vendors to close down. Sometimes they open somewhere else. Sometimes they do not re-open at all. Either way, the honest people in the area must go somewhere else to do business. That means driving farther and paying more in gas.

I suppose, eventually, it could lead to the old method of trade. You want something from the store keeper, you go in the store, two or three at a time with a list. You pay for your purchase in advance and it is shoved out a secure window to you. I don’t know if it will ever reach such a point, but to me it is looking like it.

Then you have the worst crooks of all. They are the politicians who call themselves democrats. They steal your money by exorbitant taxation; they steal your land under eminent domain when they have no legitimate reason. Then, as if that is not enough, they steal your vote supposedly under perfect elections.

I hope you will pardon me, but what is wrong with you folks in New York, California and New Jersey. How can you even consider to vote for a FOC. Who in their right mind would vote for people charging you $12,000 a year to educate your children and then settle for kids who can’t read or do simple math. (I can do that for you at half the price.)

All You Have to Do Is….

Posted in Customer complaints, Fast Food, Fauci, Mistakes by

Yesterday afternoon, I stopped by a fried chicken place. I’m not going to use names but it was a well known place. It had advertised that the dinning room was open but I guess, for one reason or the other, they closed it again. There was an employee there and she told me, “You have to drive around.”

I know it is a terminology, but it is one that rubs me the wrong way. Had it not been for the recent problems with the China virus and I do realize it has caused problems, I would have replied, “No, ma’am. I do not have to drive around. I do have the option of going somewhere else or I can go home and make my own dinner.”

It did remind me of a young man I was talking to on a phone. It was back in the days when most people had land lines. I don’t remember what it was but I was trying to buy something. Maybe it was a pizza. It doesn’t matter. He hit my hot button and told me, “All you have to do is….” I don’t remember the rest. It doesn’t matter. I simply told him, “No. I don’t have to do anything.” I was very emphatic and he apparently realized his mistake as he started trying to explain. He didn’t get very far.

Recently, I tried to get a plumber to come out to my house. The woman I was talking to tried to get me to sign up for one of those yearly contracts. I explicitly told her I was not interested and please send out a plumber. She continued and I warned her, “If you continue at this I will hang up.” She did; so, I did. To this day I wonder if the owner realized she cost him a regular customer. I have not gone back to him since.

I am not a business owner nor do I have a degree in business. For that matter, I do not have a degree. However, I have worked in businesses before and I always know better than to tell a customer, “All you have….” It is basic business 101, and all business owners need to tell their employees.

Unlike those of us who have to go to get a driver’s license every couple of few years, most customers are not required to do business with a certain company. Occasionally, things like that do happen, especially in the old days when there was just one store in town and the next one was a two or three days ride away. However, in the case of the chicken place, there were five restaurants around in walking distance. We did not have to go through the drive through and we didn’t.

I know what the woman meant. I know she knew I did not really HAVE to go through the drive through. Still such things irk me. As I say, they push my button. I am a potential customer. I am not in any way captive to their business. More than that, I hate drive throughs, especially after the China virus. For quite a while, I could not find anyplace where I could sit down and eat. (Makes me all the more angry at Fauci. Why isn’t that no good character in prison?) Besides, believe it or not, when I go through a drive through, it generally takes much longer and I burn up a quarter tank of gas waiting.

More than that, people that own businesses should know to tell their employees about things like that. There is far too much competition out there, and some of them don’t require to drive through. Things may yet change but there are many places that now have open dining rooms and the are doing a thriving business.

As for the business that tried to sign me up for the contract. I’m not worried about them. They obviously have more business than they can handle anyway. They clearly did not have time for me.

A Rash Decision

Posted in Customer complaints, experience, Laundry Detergeants by

Nothing political or religious this time. Indeed, most folks have no interest in this. Just kind of a personal note for the right people.

My wife fought a skin rash for over six months. We went through two doctors of internal medicine and three skin doctors. They tried this and that and the other thing but nothing seemed to help

Some of the doctors thought it was something she ate. One doctor thought it might be a medicine she was taking and she suggested discontinuing meds for a while. That did not sit will with my wife. She has high blood pressure and diabetes. Not a good idea to discontinue any of her meds. It would send her blood pressure sky high and/or her blood sugar.

None the less, as I said, she and the doctors piddled around with all sorts of things.

Then, I made a rash decision. We changed laundry detergent. We switched from Tide to another. Within two weeks, the rash went away.

Don’t get the wrong idea. I am not a doctor. If you have a rash, I likely can’t treat it. In order to confirm it was the detergent, I would need to go back to Tide for a little while. I didn’t much care for that. Once the rash was gone, I was thrilled regardless the reason.

I will say this, however. It has been years and the rash has not returned. Moreover, I noticed that Tide has come out with a new milder version. I’m glad for them. It is sort of admission of guilt. However, if they think we are going to return to mild Tide, they can forget it.

I do have a word in favor of tide. Their detergent was effective and none of the rest of us had any problems with it. To me, it would appear that not many have any problems with it.

However, if you or anyone you know is having a stubborn rash problem, you just might try making a rash decision and change laundry detergent. Or, if you are reluctant to do that, you might add another rinse cycle or two. Just a guess.