Lori and I went to a local restaurant the we frequent quite often for lunch. The place was virtually deserted when we went entered. Shortly after we seated ourselves the waitress took our order and brought our beverages.
Not long after that another family came in and asked if they could get served if they sat outside. The response of the waitress peaked my interest. She replied that she would prefer they not sit outside because she was the only one working. I was dumbfounded by her response. Lori and I were the only other people in the place.
I just completed a book entitled "You don't need a title to be a leader" by Mark Sanborn. In the book he speaks of a situation in which a customer went into a diner to have breakfast but had previously purchased a cup of coffee at a STARBUCKS, or something like that, and had brought it in with them. The waitress in the restaurant told the customer that they were not allowed to bring coffee in from another establishment. The customer took his STARBUCKS and left. Mark suggested that the better response from the waitress would have been since we don't allow customers to bring in coffee from other places, let me pour that coffee into one of our cups so that you can enjoy it while you have breakfast.
I think the waitress in the restaurant Lori and I were at today could have taken a more proactive, positve response to the request of the customers wanting to be served outside. She could have said that they certainly could enjoy their food outside, however since she was the only one working, if the dining room got very busy it may take a few extra moments for her to get outside and tend to their needs. It was a beautiful day outside. I don't think the customer would have had a bit of problem with that response.
I'm just stunned at the decline of service that is given today. Every day it seems that it becomes an its more about "me" world than what can I do to make your life better.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Customer Service...or the lack there of (pt 2)
So Friday came and still no credit to my checking account for the erroneous withdrawl that Verizon made as a payment. So once again I called customer service. As I was waiting for someone to pick up the call Verizon's recorded customer service pledge was playing over and over. It said that Verizon's objective was to solve your problem the first time you report it. Ha! Finally a customer service rep answered the phone. After a brief discription from me as to what had transpired, again, she apoloigised, again.
Then she put me on hold so that she could read all of the notes that had been put on my account. She came back to the line and said it would take about 30 minutes for her to research the problem and wanted to know if she could call me back. I was going to the gym and wasn't going to be available for about 90 minutes so she agreed to call then.
The 90 minutes turned into about 100 minutes but she called. She advised that the paper work to generate the credit back to my checking account had never been filled out nor processed since I originally reported the problem on Tuesday. What was that customer service objective I heard on the recording...."fix it the first time!" apparently not so much! She apologised again and said that her supervisor was right there with her and that they would submit the paper work and some action should be taken on Monday. I asked for a call back on Monday so that a status of the situation could be determined.
So we'll see what Monday brings!
Then she put me on hold so that she could read all of the notes that had been put on my account. She came back to the line and said it would take about 30 minutes for her to research the problem and wanted to know if she could call me back. I was going to the gym and wasn't going to be available for about 90 minutes so she agreed to call then.
The 90 minutes turned into about 100 minutes but she called. She advised that the paper work to generate the credit back to my checking account had never been filled out nor processed since I originally reported the problem on Tuesday. What was that customer service objective I heard on the recording...."fix it the first time!" apparently not so much! She apologised again and said that her supervisor was right there with her and that they would submit the paper work and some action should be taken on Monday. I asked for a call back on Monday so that a status of the situation could be determined.
So we'll see what Monday brings!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Home Improvment
As I was driving to work this morning I passed a truck for a local home improvement company. The side of the truck was adverstising the name of the company- ConCreation. I chuckled to myself as it turned off on a side road.....if they really want business to multiply....shouldn't they rename it ProCreation! ..........Ba dah bup bup!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Customer Service or the lack there of....
About a month an 1/2 ago I ordered a new phone from Verizon for my wife. A day or so after I ordered the phone I decided to look at my account online and found a new phone number had been added. Apparently when I ordered the phone something got screwed up and Verizion added a new line along with the phone. Her new phone came a few days after that and a day after her phone arrived, yet a second phone came. I had called Verizon when I saw that the bogus line had been added to our account and now had to call them back about the extra phone. I was instructed on how to return the phone and was assured that my account would be credited for the line and the phone.
I had signed up for automatic payments for my Verizon bill back in February. It actually was working out quite nice. They debited my checking every month on the same day and it was one less bill I had to remember to pay. I decided because of all of the screw ups with my account that I didn't want my June bill to be auto debited because I was afraid they would take the incorrect amount.
The June bill came and it was less than $20. I paid it this past weekend. Today, I logged on to get my Comcast emails and saw an email from Verizon. When I opened it it said that my June bill of $98 would be debited from my account on Tuesday. Sure enough when I checked my bank account it had been deducted. So had the payment I'd made over the weekend.
You betcha I was on the phone to Verizon pronto! The customer service rep advised that if an account was set up on the autopay that sometimes it takes two months to stop it. I said that isn't what I was told and now there wasn't going to be enough for my mortgage payment when it was deducted. Again the Verizon rep apologise but restated that there wasn't anything she could do. I could feel my blood pressure begin to rise. The rep kept telling me that my credit would carry over to my July bill. I said that was find and dandy but I didn't have an extra $98 to make up for the difference until next month. Nonetheless, the rep maintained she could do nothing about it.
I was maxed out on patience. I asked if I could speak to a supervisor. She asked me to hold. I waited for about 5 minutes and she came back to the phone. Her supervisor wasn't available but she said she was going to issue a credit back to my checking account and said it should be effective before noon. So I'm thinkin' to myself, "thought you couldn't do anything!" She then asked for a phone number that I could be reached at to confirm that the credit had been issued.
By 3:45 this afternoon I still hadn't received a call back so I called Verizon back. Of course I had to explain the entire story including what transpired today to the new customer service rep that answered the phone. She too put me on hold and then came back to the phone after 5 minutes. This customer service rep apologised (the sure know how to do that!) and said that it takes 48 to 72 hours for the credit to get applied to my checking account. She assured me that it would show up on my account by Friday at the latest. I thanked her and ended the call.
I wonder how many people just take the word of the first customer service rep that I spoke with who insisted that there was nothing she could do until I pushed a little harder. What is up with customer service! Why should I have had to ask to speak to a supervisor to finally get some action that could have been taken care of in the first place. I'm locked into a contract but I will definitely consider a different provider once it comes to an end.
I had signed up for automatic payments for my Verizon bill back in February. It actually was working out quite nice. They debited my checking every month on the same day and it was one less bill I had to remember to pay. I decided because of all of the screw ups with my account that I didn't want my June bill to be auto debited because I was afraid they would take the incorrect amount.
The June bill came and it was less than $20. I paid it this past weekend. Today, I logged on to get my Comcast emails and saw an email from Verizon. When I opened it it said that my June bill of $98 would be debited from my account on Tuesday. Sure enough when I checked my bank account it had been deducted. So had the payment I'd made over the weekend.
You betcha I was on the phone to Verizon pronto! The customer service rep advised that if an account was set up on the autopay that sometimes it takes two months to stop it. I said that isn't what I was told and now there wasn't going to be enough for my mortgage payment when it was deducted. Again the Verizon rep apologise but restated that there wasn't anything she could do. I could feel my blood pressure begin to rise. The rep kept telling me that my credit would carry over to my July bill. I said that was find and dandy but I didn't have an extra $98 to make up for the difference until next month. Nonetheless, the rep maintained she could do nothing about it.
I was maxed out on patience. I asked if I could speak to a supervisor. She asked me to hold. I waited for about 5 minutes and she came back to the phone. Her supervisor wasn't available but she said she was going to issue a credit back to my checking account and said it should be effective before noon. So I'm thinkin' to myself, "thought you couldn't do anything!" She then asked for a phone number that I could be reached at to confirm that the credit had been issued.
By 3:45 this afternoon I still hadn't received a call back so I called Verizon back. Of course I had to explain the entire story including what transpired today to the new customer service rep that answered the phone. She too put me on hold and then came back to the phone after 5 minutes. This customer service rep apologised (the sure know how to do that!) and said that it takes 48 to 72 hours for the credit to get applied to my checking account. She assured me that it would show up on my account by Friday at the latest. I thanked her and ended the call.
I wonder how many people just take the word of the first customer service rep that I spoke with who insisted that there was nothing she could do until I pushed a little harder. What is up with customer service! Why should I have had to ask to speak to a supervisor to finally get some action that could have been taken care of in the first place. I'm locked into a contract but I will definitely consider a different provider once it comes to an end.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Won't you be....my neighbor
Lori and I are sitting at Panera this morning having a bagel and reading the Sunday paper. A woman walks in the door smiling and mouths "hello." I assume she is looking past me to someone sitting behind me. Lori looks at me and says "do you know her?" I said I have no idea and thought she must have been saying hi to someone behind me. Lori said she was looking right at us. I shrugged and went back to the paper. A few moments later I looked up and there was a man standing with the woman who'd just come in. It was then that the light bulb came on. They were our neighbors who live directly across the street from us. How sad is that. We've lived across the street from this couple for 9 years and I didn't even recognize them.
Of course, after I recognized him I said hello to both of them and said how sad it was when you don't even recognize someone who lives right across the street from you. We all laughed and then went back to what we were doing.
I think it was about a year, maybe 2 years ago, we'd gotten a floral delivery at our house. It was for a neighbor and the delivery person asked if they could leave at our house because the people the flowers were for weren't home. I waited a while and called the phone number on the card of the people who should have received the flowers to see if they could come pick them up. They answered the phone and I gave them my address and they said they would be there in a few minutes to pick up the flowers. A few minutes passed and there was a knock at the door. It was this same guy from Panera this morning. He'd drove up and down our street trying to find our house not even realizing that I was right across the street. Again...isn't amazing how you can live 500 feet from someone and not even realize that you do.
As we walked out of Panera this morning, our neighbors were sitting at one of the outside tables. We stopped and had one of those surface-y 'how's life' kinda conversations. We talked about the weather, our dog, their dog....etc. We bid our farewells and went to our car.
As we were driving home I said to Lori, "we should invite them over for coffee sometime, we know they drink it now!"
Relationships. It means being intentional.
Of course, after I recognized him I said hello to both of them and said how sad it was when you don't even recognize someone who lives right across the street from you. We all laughed and then went back to what we were doing.
I think it was about a year, maybe 2 years ago, we'd gotten a floral delivery at our house. It was for a neighbor and the delivery person asked if they could leave at our house because the people the flowers were for weren't home. I waited a while and called the phone number on the card of the people who should have received the flowers to see if they could come pick them up. They answered the phone and I gave them my address and they said they would be there in a few minutes to pick up the flowers. A few minutes passed and there was a knock at the door. It was this same guy from Panera this morning. He'd drove up and down our street trying to find our house not even realizing that I was right across the street. Again...isn't amazing how you can live 500 feet from someone and not even realize that you do.
As we walked out of Panera this morning, our neighbors were sitting at one of the outside tables. We stopped and had one of those surface-y 'how's life' kinda conversations. We talked about the weather, our dog, their dog....etc. We bid our farewells and went to our car.
As we were driving home I said to Lori, "we should invite them over for coffee sometime, we know they drink it now!"
Relationships. It means being intentional.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Two by two
Lori and I had the opportunity to attend a special private viewing of "Evan Almighty" last week while were at the Willow Creek Art's Conference. We're typically not big movie fans. Once in a while we'll rent something but rarely go to the theater. But, hey, we were out of town and it was a great opportunity to spend time with some friends.
The theater wasn't far from Willow but we opted to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory at Woodfield Mall first. We had to watch our time as we had a further distance to get to the theater and we're talkin' Chicago traffic. All was good until we decided to order dessert. But c'mon....who can go the Cheesecake Factory and not have cheesecake. It was delicious but it also made us get to the theater about 15 minutes later than we wanted but everything worked out fine. We got great seats and saw a awesome movie.
Morgan Freeman plays God again in this movie and does a phenominal job. Steve Carrells (The Office) does an awesome job in his Noah-like role. The movie is well written and very funny. I don't recall any language or nor any other objectional content.
One of the very thought provoking nuggets was was when Morgan Freeman, posing as a waiter in a diner, was talking to Evan’s wife about life’s struggles and how God will put us in the midst of something we struggle with to see how we will react and grow from the situation. Do we take the high road, the path that God desires us to take, or do we take the low road and try to deal with a situation like we assume it needs to be dealt with only to find more struggle and disappointment.
Hollywood did good on this one! I recommend you see it whe it opens this Friday and come back and tell me what you thought.
The theater wasn't far from Willow but we opted to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory at Woodfield Mall first. We had to watch our time as we had a further distance to get to the theater and we're talkin' Chicago traffic. All was good until we decided to order dessert. But c'mon....who can go the Cheesecake Factory and not have cheesecake. It was delicious but it also made us get to the theater about 15 minutes later than we wanted but everything worked out fine. We got great seats and saw a awesome movie.
Morgan Freeman plays God again in this movie and does a phenominal job. Steve Carrells (The Office) does an awesome job in his Noah-like role. The movie is well written and very funny. I don't recall any language or nor any other objectional content.
One of the very thought provoking nuggets was was when Morgan Freeman, posing as a waiter in a diner, was talking to Evan’s wife about life’s struggles and how God will put us in the midst of something we struggle with to see how we will react and grow from the situation. Do we take the high road, the path that God desires us to take, or do we take the low road and try to deal with a situation like we assume it needs to be dealt with only to find more struggle and disappointment.
Hollywood did good on this one! I recommend you see it whe it opens this Friday and come back and tell me what you thought.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
weekend recap
Reflective, insightful, contemplative and maybe even a little pensive are just a few of the words that describe the weekend service at GCC (Granger Community Church) this weekend. Last week ended a 5 week series on the enemy that lurks within us. Topics included temptation, revenge, selfishness, insecurity and gossip. All of those topics were somewhat culminated giving us all an opportunity to ponder how all of those things are affecting our lives.
I think most of us, I know its true for me, hear that little voice inside our heads telling me what the right choice in all things that we do and say. Yet it can be so easily cast aside and ignored.
A common scripture weaved into the message was Romans 7: 14 -16.....
I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise......
There is no doubt how quickly I can get caught up in "me" and when I allow that to happen I'm only opening the door and giving the "enemy within" a prime, tactical position. When life becomes all about me, temptations, bitterness, selfishness and insecurity begin to fester and the road out of the land of "me" seems unsurpassable.
This weekend reminded me how I have to guard myself from the "enemy within." But it seems that I often live in the land of "me" and only vacation outside of it. Kind of reminds me of the lyrics to Hotel California..."you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave"
But I have a way out.
Romans 7:24-25 24 I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? 25The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different
....because people matter. Because I matter.
I think most of us, I know its true for me, hear that little voice inside our heads telling me what the right choice in all things that we do and say. Yet it can be so easily cast aside and ignored.
A common scripture weaved into the message was Romans 7: 14 -16.....
I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise......
There is no doubt how quickly I can get caught up in "me" and when I allow that to happen I'm only opening the door and giving the "enemy within" a prime, tactical position. When life becomes all about me, temptations, bitterness, selfishness and insecurity begin to fester and the road out of the land of "me" seems unsurpassable.
This weekend reminded me how I have to guard myself from the "enemy within." But it seems that I often live in the land of "me" and only vacation outside of it. Kind of reminds me of the lyrics to Hotel California..."you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave"
But I have a way out.
Romans 7:24-25 24 I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? 25The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different
....because people matter. Because I matter.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Renaissance Man
So, I've been in Chicago with my wife for the last 3 days attending a conference on using Arts in the church. We were staying in this really nice hotel. The guest rooms were much plusher than the hotels where I usually stay. The king size bed had a "comfy" pillow top mattress. There was a large flat screen tv on the bureau. Next to the complimentary coffee and coffee maker was bottle water in glass bottles imported from Norway (course it was clearly marked $4.00 on each bottle). The bathroom had a tv in the mirror. Nothing like shaving and catching the morning news all at the same time. And there was even a STARBUCKS in the lobby.
Last night, after a long day at the conference Lori and I returned to our room around 9:30pm. When the light flooded into the room when I opened the door it was obvious the bed had never been made. I flipped on the light and it was quite evident the room had not been cleaned. I opened the door to the bathroom and the towels we used in morning were still in the basket that was provided for used towels. The entire day had gone by and our room was never cleaned! I just stood there in disbelief.
I walked over to the phone and called the front desk to let them know what had happened. Of course they were very sorry and wanted to know if we wanted the room cleaned right then. We were very tired and I wasn't in the mood to wait for someone to come tidy up what should have been tidied up hours before we returned so I declined. The person at the front desk offered to send up some clean towels and I said that would be nice and hung up.
We waited and waited .............and waited and still there was no knock at the door. Finally after 30 minutes had passed I called the front desk again. Once again the clerk was very sorry and advised that she would bring the towels herself and shortly thereafter the knock at the door came.
Fast forward to this morning. I got up around 6am and found the room bill had been shoved under the door and was laying on the floor in an envelope. After showering and going down to the STARBUCKS to get my much needed coffee, I told Lori I was going to go check out while she finished getting ready. She asked if I was going to say anything about the room not being cleaned and I said that was my plan.
I get down to the front desk and am greeted by a friendly young man who asked if I was checking out. I said I was, set my STARBUCKS cup on the ledge separating us, but also said I had something that I would like him to address. When I had finished telling him about the status of the room when we returned last night he offered to take the $15 charge off of the bill for the one day of internet access and he'd give me coupons for a free STARBUCKS. I looked at him and said I appreciated the fact that he wanted to accomodate my, but we paid over $150 per night for this room in, what I considered a more upscale hotel, wouldn't you think our room would be clean when we returned? And then I said that I already had STARBUCKS, and pointed to my cup. He looked at the bill again and said he would be right back and disappeared into the back room.
A few moments later he returned and said that they were not only going to refund my one day internet access but they were also going to take 25% off my charge for last nights stay. I thanked him for the efforts that he made to rectify my issues and took the new bill back up to the room as he also advised that if checked out I wouldnt be able to get back into the room.
I didn't want to make a bigger deal out of this than it was but I did want to get my point across. Addtionally, I was quite impressed that the front desk clerk took the time to make it right with me. He had several options. He could have just apologised and done nothing. He could have said that his original offer of removing the internet access charge and the free STARBUCKS was the best he could do, or a variety of other things. But he didn't do any of those things. He chose to go above and beyond to ensure my satisfaction and that isn't something you often get in todays world. Thank you Marriott Renaissance.
Last night, after a long day at the conference Lori and I returned to our room around 9:30pm. When the light flooded into the room when I opened the door it was obvious the bed had never been made. I flipped on the light and it was quite evident the room had not been cleaned. I opened the door to the bathroom and the towels we used in morning were still in the basket that was provided for used towels. The entire day had gone by and our room was never cleaned! I just stood there in disbelief.
I walked over to the phone and called the front desk to let them know what had happened. Of course they were very sorry and wanted to know if we wanted the room cleaned right then. We were very tired and I wasn't in the mood to wait for someone to come tidy up what should have been tidied up hours before we returned so I declined. The person at the front desk offered to send up some clean towels and I said that would be nice and hung up.
We waited and waited .............and waited and still there was no knock at the door. Finally after 30 minutes had passed I called the front desk again. Once again the clerk was very sorry and advised that she would bring the towels herself and shortly thereafter the knock at the door came.
Fast forward to this morning. I got up around 6am and found the room bill had been shoved under the door and was laying on the floor in an envelope. After showering and going down to the STARBUCKS to get my much needed coffee, I told Lori I was going to go check out while she finished getting ready. She asked if I was going to say anything about the room not being cleaned and I said that was my plan.
I get down to the front desk and am greeted by a friendly young man who asked if I was checking out. I said I was, set my STARBUCKS cup on the ledge separating us, but also said I had something that I would like him to address. When I had finished telling him about the status of the room when we returned last night he offered to take the $15 charge off of the bill for the one day of internet access and he'd give me coupons for a free STARBUCKS. I looked at him and said I appreciated the fact that he wanted to accomodate my, but we paid over $150 per night for this room in, what I considered a more upscale hotel, wouldn't you think our room would be clean when we returned? And then I said that I already had STARBUCKS, and pointed to my cup. He looked at the bill again and said he would be right back and disappeared into the back room.
A few moments later he returned and said that they were not only going to refund my one day internet access but they were also going to take 25% off my charge for last nights stay. I thanked him for the efforts that he made to rectify my issues and took the new bill back up to the room as he also advised that if checked out I wouldnt be able to get back into the room.
I didn't want to make a bigger deal out of this than it was but I did want to get my point across. Addtionally, I was quite impressed that the front desk clerk took the time to make it right with me. He had several options. He could have just apologised and done nothing. He could have said that his original offer of removing the internet access charge and the free STARBUCKS was the best he could do, or a variety of other things. But he didn't do any of those things. He chose to go above and beyond to ensure my satisfaction and that isn't something you often get in todays world. Thank you Marriott Renaissance.
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