« Table for One | Main | Compilation CDs »
I think I've finally just about given up hope in humanity.
Okay, that's a little more dramatic than I mean, but I've given up my former nieve notion of giving people the benefit of the doubt. I used to assume that people aren't morons until they prove to me otherwise, but I've experienced more than enough episodes over the past couple of months to make me want to change that way of thinking.
When you get right down to it, what I'm talking about really isn't about anyone being a moron or not. It's about people and/or companies doing what they say they will, when they say they will. It's a sad day now that I'm to the point where I'm really surprised, almost freaked out, when something gets done right the first time and on time. I could ramble on for hours about all of the examples, but here are just a few:
1) Bellsouth. I don't even want to go there. We all know about my much-publicized hatred of this company's customer service, and I haven't even had a chance to write about all the problems I had getting my new service hooked up. Let's just say that the third call finally got my service ordered correctly, and that my phone was hooked up 4 days late at my new house. Oh yeah, and they didn't bury the cable...it's laying across my side yard. What were they thinking? Also, I don't like it when a company believes the zip code their computer has for me over what I say it is.
2) Charter Cable. File this in my pleasantly surprised bucket. Unlike all the problems I had with the billing for my cable modem earlier in the year, the disconnection of my service went very smoothly. One call, no problems. I don't like the fact that I had to go by one of their service centers to turn in the cable modem, though...it's not terribly convenient to me (sort of down by the Galleria), but the biggest thing is they aren't open on weekends. So last Friday, when I was off from work, was pretty much the only time I could possibly have taken it. I even ended up with a $1.50 credit on my bill, somehow. It will be interesting to see if they bother to send me a check for that.
3) Time Warner Cable. The guy who was supposed to hook up my cable the Thursday before we moved (so that we'd be sure to have things ready for the Iron Bowl that Saturday) finally got out to my house that Saturday morning about 11 to do a temporary hookup. Granted, it was nice of him to do a temporary one to get us through the game since they couldn't hook it up for real until that Monday, but still...I had called him two weeks earlier and he said he could hook it up that Thursday with no problem. Anyhow, they installed it for real that next Monday, along with the cable modem. They couldn't get the cable modem to work, so they had to send someone out the next day to fix that. It worked for a few days, and now isn't working anymore. The kicker is that the people didn't even bury my cable! It's laying across my side yard! Did they really think I wasn't going to mind having my cable laying across my grass? Apparently not, as I just learned today that they had scheduled to bury it today...gee, thanks for telling me! I only found out because I called them about my cable modem. If that doesn't fix the cable modem, heads will roll. I can't have unreliable internet service. I was transferred like 4 times when I called about it. Arg.
4) J. Harris Developers. The people who built our house. Mind you, I have no major qualms with our house, and for the most part, everything was wonderfully done. But I think that waiting until the day before we closed to paint the house was not a good idea on their part, nor was doing our inspection two hours before closing. I will give them credit for the fact that all of the things to be fixed that were a big deal were fixed very quickly, but there are still several very minor things left on the list. Are those ever going to be done? I'm not losing any sleep over any of them, but basically, every single thing that has been done was because Tammy stayed on their case about it day after day. Since she works close to the house, she can go at lunch and do that. But for most people, they wouldn't be able to go home during the day every day and bug them. They shouldn't have to.
5) Crown Pontiac. Believe me, if I had any other choice for a Pontiac dealership to take Tammy's car to, I would. I don't even have the energy to fully explain all about this...the short version is that we spent $700 a few weeks ago to get the car fixed, and it's still doing the exact same thing. It's back there now, and we're not paying any more for it, but it's the inconvenience that bugs me. I had to waste a half-day of vacation yesterday morning waiting on the tow truck. That, and how they never call you back when they say they will. And how I drove all the way down there in rush hour traffic to get a part for her car, only to find out that although their service department is open until 6, the parts department closes at 5:30. Whose idea was that?
So I guess to sum it up, corporate America has been letting me down a lot lately. I don't like the fact that when you call places, a lot of the time it depends on who you happen to get as far as whether or not things are handled correctly the first time (see previous ramblings about Bellsouth and Charter).