I start school again tomorrow. Which can only mean one thing.
Well, it can mean many things, really. But only one thing in particular: three hours of solid lecture three times a week.
I will definitely have time to blog now.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Friday, August 08, 2008
Because few things in life are more satisfying than sticking it to the Man
Last weekend, Meredith and I took advantage of a state-wide tax-free weekend and picked up a GPS unit for her parents. In all fairness, I won't name which brand of GPS it was, but suffice it to say it would remind one of a certain 15th century Portuguese explorer who made the first successful expedition around the world. And his name wasn't Tom.
The only problem we had with the GPS unit was that it didn't work. At all. The whole global positioning and the satellite thing and the maps...NOTHING. Which for some may have been a minor detail to overlook I suppose, but felt it was something to take issue with. Everything inside the packaging warned me to not return the unit to the place of purchase lest an unknown evil plague my family. Or something like that. But what could I do? I called tech support.
Now, let me stop here and say that I worked as a tech support agent for a satellite T.V. company during college. It was undoubtedly one of the worse jobs I've ever had; I have the drinking stories to prove it. With an employee turnover rate at 120% and holding steady, I wasn't alone on that. BUT it allowed me to know and understand what takes place on the other side of those phone calls, which, as it turns out, came in pretty handy.
The first call to tech support resulted in me having to purchase an additional $20 USB cable to update the unit's software, with the hope of it helping along from paperweight to something that might be useful. Four days later when the cable was delivered and the update was made, I started to feel like the biggest sucker in the world. A sucker who was now out $20.
So I made a second call to tech support to arrange for a replacement unit, and this went off without too much trouble. They offered to ship out a new unit in return for the defective one. Fine. Great. They did everything they're required to do by the warranty. But then there was that pesky issue of the USB cable that I shouldn't have had to buy in the first place and ultimately didn't resolve the problem. I decided to give the Portuguese explorer people a chance to save face and let them refund me the $20 for my troubles. Of course, tech support couldn't make this happen, so I had to call the customer care line.
Going into the phone call, I knew it would go one of two ways. It was either going to be easy and quick, or it would have to be escalated to a supervisor. More often than not, the latter and not the former is how these things usually turn out. This was no exception.
And I've gotta say...it was beautiful. The supervisor was apologetic, but firm. There would be no refund. I disagreed. He could apologize all day long for all I cared and it wouldn't change the fact that I'm out $20 and I think he works for a shitty* company that puts out shitty GPS units. He told me it was not the company's policy to give refunds like this. I told him his company's policy was shitty too.
Thirty-five minutes and a few more choice words later, he finally relented. Not because he finally agreed with me and saw things from my perspective. He just wanted to get off the phone the only way he could.
I'll take it.
*Profanity added here for effect.
The only problem we had with the GPS unit was that it didn't work. At all. The whole global positioning and the satellite thing and the maps...NOTHING. Which for some may have been a minor detail to overlook I suppose, but felt it was something to take issue with. Everything inside the packaging warned me to not return the unit to the place of purchase lest an unknown evil plague my family. Or something like that. But what could I do? I called tech support.
Now, let me stop here and say that I worked as a tech support agent for a satellite T.V. company during college. It was undoubtedly one of the worse jobs I've ever had; I have the drinking stories to prove it. With an employee turnover rate at 120% and holding steady, I wasn't alone on that. BUT it allowed me to know and understand what takes place on the other side of those phone calls, which, as it turns out, came in pretty handy.
The first call to tech support resulted in me having to purchase an additional $20 USB cable to update the unit's software, with the hope of it helping along from paperweight to something that might be useful. Four days later when the cable was delivered and the update was made, I started to feel like the biggest sucker in the world. A sucker who was now out $20.
So I made a second call to tech support to arrange for a replacement unit, and this went off without too much trouble. They offered to ship out a new unit in return for the defective one. Fine. Great. They did everything they're required to do by the warranty. But then there was that pesky issue of the USB cable that I shouldn't have had to buy in the first place and ultimately didn't resolve the problem. I decided to give the Portuguese explorer people a chance to save face and let them refund me the $20 for my troubles. Of course, tech support couldn't make this happen, so I had to call the customer care line.
Going into the phone call, I knew it would go one of two ways. It was either going to be easy and quick, or it would have to be escalated to a supervisor. More often than not, the latter and not the former is how these things usually turn out. This was no exception.
And I've gotta say...it was beautiful. The supervisor was apologetic, but firm. There would be no refund. I disagreed. He could apologize all day long for all I cared and it wouldn't change the fact that I'm out $20 and I think he works for a shitty* company that puts out shitty GPS units. He told me it was not the company's policy to give refunds like this. I told him his company's policy was shitty too.
Thirty-five minutes and a few more choice words later, he finally relented. Not because he finally agreed with me and saw things from my perspective. He just wanted to get off the phone the only way he could.
I'll take it.
*Profanity added here for effect.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
In summary
Let me first take a minute to collect myself.
These last few weeks have been anything from extreme laziness to extreme busyness, or a combination of both at any given time. At least that's what it felt like.
Since going to (and realizing my complete disdain for) Atlanta, I have:
These last few weeks have been anything from extreme laziness to extreme busyness, or a combination of both at any given time. At least that's what it felt like.
Since going to (and realizing my complete disdain for) Atlanta, I have:
- Experienced both the Alabama you'd expect and the Alabama you didn't think would be possible in this dimension.
- Stayed up way too late and gotten up way too early.
- Read a couple of books.
- Painted the first floor of my in-law's house.
- Quit my job. I have a knack for doing that at this time of the year. I think August should be "National Quit Your Job Month."
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