2002-11-19 - 9:55 a.m.
And there was frost on the ground�
Winter is coming.
Yesterday was all about consumer frustration.
I had a pocket full of money and was looking to spend it. Unfortunately I was thwarted at every turn. I couldn�t seem to get anything I wanted last night.
It has finally come time to replace my POS cell phone. It hates me, it hates my friends, and it has the antenna sleeve held in place by a big ole wad of epoxy putty. It is ornery, unreliable, ugly, and out of date (yup I have had it for almost a year now).
So I hop in the car and drive all the way out to BFE Virginia Beach to the ONLY sprint store within 20 miles of the house (grrr). It�s ok though cause it�s also in the same area as the music store I want to go to and a restaurant that I was hoping to catch a bite at. It was going to be an adventure�yes, and adventure in consumerism!
If only I had know that the dark forces were conspiring against me that night.
Little did I know that the Sprint store closed at 7:00pm. I arrived at 7:04pm. thanks to the wonderful evening traffic. Yes I know that I got to the store after they closed�yes I know that they are under no obligation to let me in. But here is the rub�here is what pissed me off. Here is why am seriously considering dropping Sprint as my carrier. THEY DON�T GIVE A RATS FUCKIN ASS ABOUT CUSTOMER LOYALTY!!! Ahem�excuse me. Let me explain. In the several years that I have had a Sprint phone, I have purchased 2 phones from them myself brought them 5 new customers (and will soon be bringing them at least 2 more). I have been a dream customer even after the disconnected my service (with no warning) because they credited someone else�s account with my payment, and then tried to tell me that I was in the wrong (that argument lasted for a good 45 minutes�then they found THEIR mistake). So here I am in front of the store (which still has 6 or so customers inside) and there is ole Apollo (yes, his name is Apollo�) the store Manager, the man I have done ALL my business with. And he tells me out right that I can�t come in�so sorry�even though all I want to do is pay for a $150 phone. No new plans, no paper work, no nothing�just give me a phone, I give you money and I am out before you know it. Perhaps I am just being unreasonable�or egocentric, I dunno. But Damn it, I work in the service industry, I know what it is like to have folks in the store after hours�but I also know how much of a DIFFRENCE it makes to your customers when you are willing to do that little something extra for em (especially your regular/repeat customers). It cements the idea of customer loyalty firmly in their minds�as opposed to what Mr. Apollo did for me�which was to piss me off (mostly cause he was so rude to me). So instead of giving him the commission like I have done in the past I decided to take my money to Best buy.
Best Buy managed to piss me off as well though. I had to wait for almost 20 minutes while I waited for one of the Phone guys to quit talking to the cute little girlies and get around to talking to me. I then tried to explain what I wanted (I had to point to the phone 3 times), and ask about the rebate on the phone, ask about my phone plan and whether I need to make a change or not (since I was moving to the Sprint Vision network from what ever the one I am on now is called). And after all this�after all this unproductive dialogue with this twit, the little shit tells me that they are out of the particular model that I wanted, but he has a completely different phone that (I DON�T WANT) he can set me up with. WHY THE FUCK COULDN�T HE HAVE TOLD ME THAT THEY DIDN�T HAVE THAT PHONE IN STOCK AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CONVERSATION????? Cause he is an idiot�that�s why�and I was in consumer hell.
By now I was totally bent. So to placate my consumer rage I decided to go buy some music. So I was off to Planet Music. Once there I run into the SLOWEST driver on the planet. This girlie (sorry ladies I am not trying to stereotype anyone here) couldn�t seem to remove her car from a parking place. It took her forever! Ahhh, and my well meaning buddy Vlad all matter of fact and scientific like tells me that he saw a studdy once that showed that folks take almost twice as long to exit a parking place if there is someone waiting for their spot. Sigh�I think it was cause she was scared. I don�t think that the girlie knew the boundaries of her car and I don�t think that she trusted herself to remove the vehicle in a timely fashion (somethng might sneak up on her or something). I hate scared drivers. I have no use for em at all. IF YOU ARE SCARED OF DRIVING�TAKE THE BUS! BAH! Well anyhow, back to the story. After what seemed like eons I finally made it into the store. A land of music goodness. New, used, rock, classical, local, and God knows what else�it was all there, laid out in a fashion that would make any good efficient German proud. I knew what I wanted�exactly what I wanted. Nothing fancy, nothing rare, nothing old�I just wanted the new Saliva CD and the AudioSlave CD. But try as I might, I couldn�t seem to find anything but the censored version of the Saliva CD (and we all know how I feel about censoring!) and the AudioSlave disk doesn�t get released until today. BAH! I WAS trapped in consumer hell, I don�t think I could have given my money away yesterday! So after mindless wandering about the store, feeling let down and numb, I finally found the Saliva Disk I wanted (it was tucked away behind the censored music�)and finally settled on the new Chevelle disk instead of the as of then unreleased AudioSlave disk (And I KNOW they had copies of the disk in the store�they just couldn�t put it on the shelf till today)�Sigh.
Now if it had ended there all would have been fine�but then there was the check out line. Had it been any slower I would have been moving backwards. I just don�t get it. If you are not ready to check out�don�t get in line. If you have questions, ask at the information desk, don�t wait till your in the checkout line. Have your money/checkbook/card ready by the time you get to the register�don�t go rooting through your bag looking for it AFTER the cashier gives you your total. Sigh�come on folks�think about the rest of the world for a change ok�
After the hell I experienced at the stores I decided that I didn�t really want to chance PHO for dinner so I went home. God, who knows what would have happened to me there, soup in my lap, they would have run out of noodles, the place would have been packed with monkeys (though that might have been kinda cool) who knows. Shudder�I really don�t even want to think about it�So I grabbed some take out Chinese from a little joint across the street from the house, listened to my new CD�s and started devising a plan for today.
I still need a new phone and I still would like to get the AudioSlave CD. I just need to figure out if I can do it all during my lunch break today�in addition to checking up on my poor little SHO (who should have tranny laying on the floor by the time I get there today�My Mechanic swears to me it will be done by tomorrow evening�). Ugh�and then to top it all off I need to get back to the house at a reasonable time so I can get my armor together for practice in Richmond tonight. Shudder�there is going to be a beating tonight�unfortunately I think it is going to be me who is constantly pulling themselves off the floor. But that�s ok�my job is to help Evja. I am a blacksmith not a warrior anymore, but even so, it would be wrong of me to not share what I have learned in the time I spent fighting. And who knows�I could very well have a lot of fun again. I know it has been awhile. But these are different times�and I am a different person. I�ll just take it slow and steady. I know I won�t be able to fight like I used to. I know that I will have to prepare myself for the smackdown that I will receive at the hands of even the most novice of fighters�but perhaps that will be good for me. No�I know that will be good for me.
Today I learned how to fix the HTML code on my D-land site that I had messed up so long ago. It is frustrating really. I now know enough to understand things when I am shown things�but I still lack the knowledge to do most trouble shooting by myself. Ugh�But then what do I really expect? I have only had one class dealing with the stuff. I mean really�I�m not Superman after all�
So what have you learned today?
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