That one time…

… I got hit on at Starbucks with FRIEND SIL (this post dedicated to this lady…you.are.welcome.)

We were sitting at a table across from each other at Starbucks. The door was behind me and there was a table with a guy sitting at it, alone, behind FRIEND SIL. You know when you can tell that someone is looking at you, well, I could tell that the guy at the table was staring at me. At first, I thought that maybe he was looking for someone because the door was behind me. Finally, I looked in his direction when I thought he was looking at me and we made eye contact. I whispered to FRIEND SIL that the guy was looking at me and a few minutes later, she turned around (when he was looking at me) they looked away and when he looked away, he smirked – I think he thought I was excited about the situation… weird.

So I decided to start scratching my face, talking with my hands, fixing my hair…whatever I could do with my left hand to try to get him to see that I was married. I thought he got the hint because he packed up, got up and walked away. We went about our coffee date and a few minutes later the guy comes back and walked over to our table:

Guy: Um, excuse me, do you have a boyfriend?

Me: Oh, actually, I am married…

FRIEND SIL: Yeah, to my brother!

Guy: Oh you two look like sisters.

Me: Yeah we get that a lot…

Guy: Well, I saw you from the corner and thought you were sweet and I know the perfect person for you.

Me: Oh, thank you

Guy: You would be good with one of my friends…

Me:..Ok...Happy Weekend…

Good save on your ego, buddy…ha!

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 35

This one happened a while ago and I just thought of it and forgot to share

Customer: How much is facebook?

Me: Oh, sir, it is free, all you have to do is go to the site and sign up.

Customer: No, how much is the stock?

ha!

I am sure that I turned bright red (even though it was a phone call!)!

Of course he was calling in regards to the price of the stock...!

What was I thinking?!

Ha!

In my defense...

1) Facebook had just filed papers to IPO, so we didn't know the price of the stock...duh!

2) We just launched a Facebook marketing campaign where if you liked our page you would get $25 off of a home study kit or a workshop - so I thought he wanted to like us and was worried he had to pay to join Facebook

ha!

I don't know where my head was... haha

Happy Wednesday!

Carded at the Movies

Last Friday was "Swate Night" {Sweeter-Date Night)

I got home from work and we headed to Santa Monica for dinner and a movie.

PF Changs for dinner, some gelatto for dessert and The Girls with the Dragon Tattoo to end the night.

We went to the theater, bought our tickets and went inside. 

We walked into the theater and the girl who was checking tickets inside asked to see our ID's because we "look young." So Rich pulls his out and she looks at it and says: "Oh my gosh, I feel really bad now, you're like, as old as my brother...!"

Ha!

Neither of us have ever been carded to see a movie before - it was pretty funny! 

This like this always happen to us! 

We definitely had to laugh about it while walking to the movie.

By the way, the movie was great!
Even Rich liked it!

Have you all read the books?
I did and I thought the movie was great too {this is very unlike me! (to like books and movies)}

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 16

A guy just asked me what the "@" symbol was.....

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enough said...

Poor Customer Service

Back at the end of September I was playing Tennis with Rich.

Read story here.

I fell.

I hurt my knee.

Pretty much, I was just trying to walk it off.

I was avoiding the doctor.

My knee is still swollen and with deductibles met, I decided to bite the bullet and see an orthopedic doctor.

I mean, I need to take care of my legs/knees - so I should take good care of them!

I found a doctor through my insurance website {I want to make sure that I see a preferred provider}

I called to make an appointment, made it and was looking forward to the appointment.

The (what I assume to be) office assistant, Martha, called the day before the appointment to let me know that she confirmed my insurance and that I had not met the deductible. So I asked to call her back because I wanted to call my insurance company.

Martha: So, do you want to cancel your appointment or what?

Me: Can I call you back?Martha: Well, do you want to cancel?

Me: Can I call you back? 

I called the insurance and they told me that we had met the deductible, at the end of Novemeber. So I called the clinic back and asked to speak with Martha to clarify. She was extremely rude to me. She told me that the insurance told me the wrong information and argued with me over the phone. She, reluctantly, offered to call the insurance back and made sure to add that the insurance would tell her the EXACT same thing that they told her earlier in the day.

Me: I just got off of the phone with insurance and they told me we met the deductible.

Martha: They told me that you hadn't

We proceeded to argue about what the insurance said to each of us and then she said:

Martha: I guess I can call them back but they are going to tell me the same thing they told me this morning.

We hung up the phone and then I came to my senses and realized that I didn't want to go there even if my insurance proved to be good. And then I thought to myself

Wait, I want her to to call

I want her to realize she is wrong

Does that make me a bad person?

She was supposed to call me back once she spoke to insurance. I was getting antsie, so I called her back before she called me and told her I wanted to cancel and told her that she was extremely rude and that I would take my business elsewhere. She didn't even acknowledge that I called her out.

Me: I would like to cancel

Martha: Oh! So you want to cancel now?

Me: Yes, you were extremely rude and I do not want to take that and I will take my business elsewhere

Martha: Ok, Sorry, Bye

And she hung up!

I was shocked!

I get bad days...

We all have them...

That doesn't mean you can talk to people this way...

They got a bad review on yelp...!

Thank you social media!

I hope you all are having a great day!

Tattoo gone wrong

Do you all remember this horrible tragedy?!

image

Now this?!

image

What is wrong with the world?!

A Day in the Life: Customer Service Volume 7

Some people are just plain crazy

We have some awesome customers whom I am more than happy to help

Then we have the so so ones who are boring, they talk in the same tone the entire call and there is no life in their voice

We have ones that are silly and have no clue what they are talking about

We have some who are young

While most are old

Some who are technologically savvy

Some who don't even know if the computer is turned on

Every day, I talk to at least 1 person in each of these groups...

Mostly they are the old ones who can't hear you and have never looked at a computer screen but have paid for a 3 year subscription to the newspaper on line

Who knows...

{back information for this to make sense: We have a daily print and a weekly print. The Daily print is 5 days a week and the Weekly print is only the Monday edition of the paper}

A woman called, on a Monday. I asked for her information and puller up her account to find that she is a weekly print subscriber.

I asked her how I could help her.

She said she wanted to put her account on a vacation hold.

I told her that I could hold the upcoming Monday edition for her and asked her when she wanted to resume her subscription.

The rest of our Conversation:

Customer: {Obviously annoyed} {Insert deep sigh} "You can't do it sooner than that?"

Me: "Well ma'am, the subscription you currently have only allows your the Monday paper. Today is Monday and you got your paper today...so your next paper is this coming Monday which I can have held for you...Wait, I don't understand your question?" 

Customer: "{insert deep sigh} Ugh, I guess that is fine..."

I processed the vacation for her and the rest of the call was fine :-) Fortunately!

What? 

Can anyone shed some light on what this woman was asking me for?!

ha!

So silly!

Honeymoon: Day 1

We landed in Zurich, Switzerland. After a long day of traveling, we were exhausted and excited to get started on our adventure....

From the beginning....

We purchased Swiss Train Passes to have unlimited access to the trains, buses, lifts and museums in all of Switzerland. We ordered them a couple of weeks in advance and were so excited because this was going to help us get around the country with ease.

Also, to prepare, we went to the bank and got some dollars converted into Swiss Francs and Euros.

On the flight from SAN to EWR we realized that we remembered the cash....however, to our horror, we did not remember the rail passes....

We touched down in EWR and immediately were on the phone with the rail company and browsing the website trying to figure out what to do....fortunately, we could return the unvalidated Swiss passes for a small fee, better than being out quite a bit of money, and we could purchase the passes in Switzerland.

Phew!

We get on the plane and cross over the Atlantic. I slept for most of the trip with Rich watched every movie and show that was played. We arrive early the next morning, picked up our packs, bought passes (for way more than we originally paid...oh well) and headed into downtown Zurich for a Rick Steves walking tour.

We did a quick tour because it was hot and humid, we were hungry and exhausted.

We decided to hop on the next train and we rode the train into Bern expecting to find a place to put our stuff down, relax a bit and enjoy our first night. Unfortunately, after visiting the tourist office, we sadly found out that every hotel in Bern was booked, except the 5 star ($500/night) hotels and camping on the outskirts in "boongalos" (the woman had the sweetest voice and said bungalow in the most endearing way!) We were not about to spend that much on the first night and we were too tired and wanting a shower to camp, so we hoped on the next train to Interlaken.


Fortunately, we were able to find a place in Interlaken to stay! We were hungry and exhausted.

All of our stuff

We checked in to our room, put our stuff down, laid on the bed, and slept for almost 3 hours!

We got up, showered and decided to go out into the town and walk around and find dinner.

Fondue...we were tired...

We stopped at the first place we found and we ate the famous fondue. It was delicious! Definitely needed!

Walking around, the Interlaken Casino is in the background.

We did some more exploring and walking around and headed back to our hotel for a good nights sleep.

Is Customer Service a Lost Art?

In the past few days I have received terrible customer service! And not just at the grocery store or at department stores, but at places that matter, places that you spend a lot of money – the store I bought my wedding dress at and at our apartment complex office! It just boggles my mind!

Basically, since day 2 of my dress experience I have been disappointed by the customer service I have received, which I will go into more about it at another time. Since it has just been an awful experience since the beginning, getting the call to tell me that my dress wasn’t ready for me to try on this past weekend sent me over the edge! Back in January, I had my final dress fitting. When I put it on, it wasn’t fitting me right, which shouldn’t have been the case. I asked what the deal was and they told me that they had removed some of the boning…oh, I’m sorry, I must have heard you wrong…what?! You took out the boning without asking me?! Again, what?! They said they would fix it and take the rest of it out. I told them I wanted to try the dress on again before the wedding because I didn’t feel that I could just trust that they would fix it for the wedding so I made the appointment 3 weeks ago to try the dress on.

I get the call telling me that the dress takes about 3 weeks to alter and that it wasn’t ready and they had to reschedule. I was floored! I couldn’t believe it! They had made this mistake in January…4 months ago…why wasn’t it ready?! It’s a good thing I made the appointment because if I didn’t I would have gone in to pick up the dress and they wouldn’t have had it ready for me…for me wedding?! Really?!

Fortunately, it got itself figured out, but I was so mad and I definitely made it known! It’s not just about the dress, it’s about the experience I am not feeling like a very valued customer!

Recently, Sweeter and I have noticed that there have been a lot of bugs right around out apartment and they somehow find a way to sneak into our apartment! We got home on Sunday and there were bugs all over our white bedspread! It was gross! Yesterday morning I went to the garage to get my car and there were these flying nat things that were swarming all around the garage door. And when I get into my car, they take that as an invitation and fly right in alongside me.

When I got home last night from work, they were still swarming so I went to the apartment office and asked them if they could spray the area…they guy told me that an exterminator comes every other week and if it wasn’t this week, the guy would come next week. What?! These bugs are in my apartment and swarming outside, get someone out here asap! And I asked if the exterminator isn’t coming until next week if they could call and have him come sooner and he told me probably not because they were on a contract. Again, what!? I am a paying tenant! Make this situation better! 

And lets not forgot my Nordstrom experience!

Phew! 

What is the deal with customer service these days?! With the economy the way that it is, people are choosing wisely on how they are spending their money which  means that if a company still has business, they need to be taking exceptional care of them!

Do any of you have any crazy customer service stories?

Happy Tuesday!

Supurb Customer Service...

...Nawt!

For the Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Weekend I bought a cute dress from Nordstrom.

The dress fit me great in the fitting room, the zipper was a little funny but it worked just fine so we bought the dress.

I convinced Sweeter that it was okay to buy it because I would wear it to one of the weddings we were going to before the shower. He said it was fine.

Two weekends ago, we went to a wedding and I went to put the dress on and I could not zip it! I was trying and Sweeter was trying to zip it, everything...nothing worked! (mind you, there was plenty of room in the dress and would have been able to zip if the zipper wasn't coming apart of the dress)

So, I went shopping with a friend of mine and we went to Nordstrom so I could return the dress, or exchange it.  I brought it up to the dress department and I put it on the counter and I said,  "I tried it on in the store and it worked fine and when I went to wear it the zipper was sticky and it wouldn't zip up."

The Nordstrom Associate looks at the size (and sees that it was a 2) and goes, "Yeah, not many people can wear a 2..." and I turned beet red and was shocked that she said that to me!

My friend sees that I am in shock and turning red and being embarrassed and she said, "Just to clear the air, she is a 2" 

The Associate, now embarrassed said, "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I should really watch what I say..." and trying to make up for it says, "I just know that I can't fit into a 2..." blah blah blah!

Oh my gosh! Can you believe that! It is funny now, in hindsight, but in the moment I was shocked and pretty much dumbfounded!

I hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday and I wish for everyone to fit into their skinny jeans today (well, and every day!) :-)

Mess Night

When I was offered my current job, I was told that I was going to have to go on a work trip this past weekend. I was bummed that I was going to be gone for Valentine's weekend, but it wasn't the end of the world because we could celebrate Valentine's Day and Sweeter's Birthday over the long President's Day Weekend.

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email telling me that they changed the weekend to be over the long President's Day Weekend. So you can imagine my upset!

On Thursday, Sweeter told me that the battalion still had room for guests to attend the Mess Night...on Friday. I lit up! I love seeing Sweeter all fancied up! So, Sweeter started calling around to figure out how to pay and was unable to find anything out. So we decided to leave it up to the God's of Friday.

As I said in my post from Saturday, I think that I have carpal tunnel, or something like it. With that, My arms are so achy that it wakes me up in the middle of the night and I have a lot of trouble sleeping. So I woke up not very well rested. I went to work and Sweeter told me around noon that we could go to the Mess Night.

I left straight from work and headed to the local outlet mall. I went into the BCBG outlet and tried on a few dresses. Nothing stood out.

I then went to the local Westfield Mall and checked out Macy's. Sadly we are not in the season for long formal dresses.

I walked in to Express to ask where I could find one close by and the woman asked me if it was for Homecoming. Now, I am 23...I understand that I look young, but REALLY?! Do I really look that young?!  Honestly, please tell me! haha! I had to laugh when she asked me if I was looking for a Homecoming dress! Haha!

Anyway, I ended up not finding anything and I didn't have the time to drive to the next closest mall. So I went back to the outlets and I picked the best of the dress choices there were. And it ended up working really well!

So I went home and we got all dressed up! Oh boy, my Sweeter is so handsome! We ate dinner and hung out at the Mess Night! We had a great time!

I did my own hair...

...this is a later in the night pictures, so that is why it looks so messy

I was looking at wedding hair updos and I found this and I think that it looks so elegant!

It looked really lovely and I am so proud that I did it myself!

It was pretty easy to do, I definitely recommend it! 

I think that my hair may be a bit too long, but it still looked nice!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

TL FML

Friend and I believe that the FML website is a joke and the daily "FMLs" are made up so we have come up with our own "FMLs." We call them "TL FML" which stands for "True Life: F My Life."

TL FML...I have been working on a scrapbook and I was on a page that had a few pictures of me with two other girls, Friend and one of her friends. Friend and I have both been told that we look alike and that we could be related...we go along with it and make jokes about it, even though we don't necessarily agree. So, my brother looked at one of the pictures and pointed to one of the girls and asked who she was. I responded by telling him that she was a friend of Friend's. While I was explaining who she was to my little brother, I felt the need to point at Friend to further explain who the other girl was. I pointed at myself! TL FML

Mirror