Customer Service at Walmart

I remember a time when getting the oil changed in your car was a simple and cost effective experience.  Well, if the truth is known it still can be as long as you are willing to go buy the oil, filter, oil pan, car ramps and oil filter wrench.  The car ramps and oil filter wrench will cost you the most initially and then all you have to do is buy the oil and filter for approximately 10.00.  Then there is the ecological nightmare of disposing your old oil in a safe and lawful manner which is not going to be free.  I guess that is why most of us just go to Walmart or wherever we trust our automobile to have the oil changed.  

I like Walmart because they usually always have exactly what I need and at a bargain price.  You can shop for clothes, eye glasses, get our hair cut, stop by McDonalds for heart attack food, and get your oil changed and much more.  Why would I want to go anywhere else?  My family and I should own stock in Walmart and I guess if I would buy some stock we would be owners.  LOL.  There should be some sort of dollar amount that states after you spend 10,000.00 at Walmart that you are automatically enrolled to own a couple of shares of stock.  

Yesterday while in Moncks Corner on my lunch break I decided to go to Wallyworld and purchase some items for my office that I needed such as a fan, power bar etc.  While I was waddling around in Wallyworld I happened by the auto center and asked someone when they would be able to get to my car for an oil change.  They were eager and told me right that minute but that they would have to have my car to start the process.  I was thinking to myself, why can’t you just take my information while I am standing there and then I will be checked in and then can just go get my vehicle.  I always get into trouble thinking with the logic chip engaged.  So, being slightly irritated I agreed to walk all the way across the store out into the parking lot to get my car.  Hey, it had to happen at some point, why not now??  

I pulled my car around back and drove up to one of the lube bays and got out.  One of the men came out of the lube bay and advised me to pull my car next to the customer service entrance so the customer service rep could get my information and then they would in turn drive my car back to the lube bay.  I was like, ok, this is really getting to be a pain but I will comply since I have already invested about 10 minutes into this madness.  So, back into the car, and 45 feet later I land in front of the customer service door.  I made sure to just drive it up at an angle and hop out.  I did not even care about parking it in a parking spot at this point.  I walked inside and notified the ladies behind the counter that I was back with my car and wondered how long the process was going to take.  One lady looked at me and just pointed at the other lady who was coming out from around the counter to go outside to my car.  I looked from one to the other wondering if someone was actually going to answer my original question.  That question was “how long is it going to take to get my oil done?”  Guess what, you are right, I never got the answer.  The lady from behind the counter had this hand scanner in her hand and she was too focused on trying to figure out how to use the device to answer a simple question.  So, being irritated even more I hold my tongue in check and follow the customer service rep outside to my car.  

The customer service rep walks over to the driver’s side of my car and asked permission to scan my VIN number with her hand scanner.  I told her that she could do whatever she wanted to do as long as that process included getting my vehicle back into the lube express bay and having the oil changed.  Lube Express they say?  How about “Lube nightmare”?   How about” Lube isn’t going to happen until the ridiculous time consuming process is finally going to happen before the customer screams and drives off into the sunset never to return”

Of course the hand scanner did not work with regards to scanning the bar code under my windshield which meant that the customer service rep spent another 2 min trying to get the scanner to do what it is programmed to do.  Finally the customer service rep gave up and started madly tapping on the little hand scanner screen as she inputted my vin number.  At this point my irritation level was borderline  “I can not believe this is happening to me” disbelief.   Once the vin number was inputted she walked around the car doing an inspection for damage verified that the license plate number was correct and then had me sign a waiver in case something was damaged or stolen while my car was in the Walmart “this is taking for ever to get your car in here bay” for the oil change.  I asked the customer service rep what I was signing and she just grunted and looked into the general direction of the hand scanner and told me that I just needed to sign it in order to get the car serviced.  At this point I was 15 or 20 minutes into the “lets take forever to get your car in the non express bay so we can finally change your oil”.    I signed the waiver and advised her that if something got damaged or stolen while my car is in the oil lube bay that Walmart would certainly be held liable.  I really don’t think the lady cared about that at all.  At this point I give the keys to the customer service rep, go into the store to collect my shopping cart and collected the loot I had come to purchase to begin with.  Once I got back to the car center to pay for my loot I was greeted by another customer service rep that had several forms for me to sign.  There was a form stating that my front tire tread depth was at the point to where it needed to be replaced.  I just wanted to swipe my debit card , sign the receipt and get the heck out of this black hole that had swallowed me up.  But no, it would not be the simple Mr Moffitt.  We need for you to sign TWO forms stating the same thing with one copy for me and one for Walmart.  Not only do they need to record your license plate and VIN number but they also want you to acknowledge in writing that they want me to buy a new set of tires for my car.   I could understand if one of the tires had dangerous visible damage to it or had a bubble in the sidewall and it was a danger for me to drive.  At that point I can understand why they would want me to sign a waiver telling me of the danger and giving me the option to either replace the tire or not.  So, I would up signing the tire document for Walmart records, my oil change document and my receipt.  

Here are a couple of thoughts that I had after reflecting on my experience at Walmart.  
You do not need my VIN number to change the oil in my car.  Why does Walmart need my VIN number in the first place?  Heck, for that matter you really do not need to keep my license plate information either.  That information is not necessary to remove the old oil from my car and replace it with new oil and a filter.  Customers are not an interruption to your day and they certainly are the reason for your being there.  If Walmart does not have customers your goods and services will no longer be needed and you will find yourself in the unemployment line asking for government assistance to feed your family and pay your bills.  Customers want to feel as if you are happy that they chose Walmart to do their shopping.  Walmart is not the only place in down that sells widgets, gadgets, food etc.  You can get your oil changed in a million places and buy tires elsewhere.  As a customer I want you to make me feel that you are happy that I am there and that your desire is to make me feel comfortable about what is happening to me.  As a customer I want to feel as if I am more important than the need to follow procedure and policy.  As a customer I do not want to be inconvenienced or ignored just because you are not adept at using the technology that has been given for a task.  As a customer I expect that you will be able to use the technology of today give to you by your employer to make my experience as painless and expedient as possible   As a customer I want you to answer my questions when I ask you one and I don’t want to be redirected to someone who is more concerned with the hand held scanner that has captured their attention.  

Will I ever get my oil changed at the Walmart in Moncks Corner ever again?  Not if I can help it and I will certainly never be able to do it on my lunch break thanks to the time consuming and painful inquiry you have to go through even though they might already have all of your information to begin with.  

I hope that Walmart will take notice of this experience because I can assure you that everyone that reads my blog will remember this experience and that alone will cause them to be cautious about choosing Walmart in Moncks Corner for their automotive needs.  

I am hoping that Walmart will review their processes and procedures that they have put into place there and will fix those areas that need to be fixed such as training on the hand held devices, education about why customers need to sign waivers that do not make sense and customer service skills.  

Blogger for Windows and other stuff

Today while surfing the Internet I found Blogger interface for MS Word.  Wow, I am totally impressed.  Now I can do all of my blogging right from MS Word where I am at home.  I have enjoyed using the bloggar interface to do most of my writing over the last couple of years and while it is a nice interface that is more powerful than the web interface MS Word is still a much more useful word processor.  It goes to say that if you want to do something you are always better off using the right tool for the job the first time.  This way I can format the text any way I want to and it is supposed to insert the document into a blog entry by my pushing a publish button. You can not insert pictures or tables at this time however.  I guess you will be able to tell how well it works by the blog you are reading.  Let me know what you think if you have a moment.  

Well, Katy is headed to Columbia SC for the last weekend for the month of January and I know the poor dear is just worn out.  I am so proud of her dedication to both her career and family.  Once Katy passes her PACE course the state will receive her certificate around February 15th and then hopefully she will get all of her back pay and sign on bonus in March of this year.  Our budget and our creditors will be pleased.  As usual I am down at the County office building in downtown Charleston making life safe for the employees who comes in on the weekend.  

I spoke with Katy this morning and she advised me that she had a “discovery zone” moment in her Ford Escort Station wagon that she has been driving for a year and a half now.  She told me that she wondered IF she had water in her water reservoir for her windshield wipers.  Apparently she has been wondering about this for quite some time and had just not gotten around to asking me about it.  This morning when she needed to clean off her windshield she spied a button on the dash and decided to be adventuresome and push it to see what happened.  Katy said she was amazed and surprised to see water shooting onto the windshield.  LOL…  Yes honey, your car is equipped with Air Conditioning and windshield wipers with water.  Next week you might discover something else.  Katy told me that she was worried about the prospect of getting a newer vehicle because it would probably take her years to figure out all the gizmos and gadgets.

Today marks week number two at Santee Cooper and thus far they seem to be happy with my performance.  That is a good thing which means that the power lords at the power company are not going to vote me off the island just yet.  As a matter of fact I have a list of 15 projects that seems to be growing every day and I have been set free to divide and conquer these projects.  I am working with a 24 year old co worker named Johnathan who has been very helpful with regards to acclimating me to the network environment at Santee Cooper.  Johnathan used to work in the desktop support side of IT and when a Network Services position came available he transferred over there.  From what they told me he used to be a contractor as well.  I am hoping that I can make these folks very happy and that at the end of my 6 months that they will have enough work to keep me gainfully employed either as a contractor or a full time employee.  I have been spending the last couple of weeks getting intimate with Tivoli Storage Manager and Dell Openmanage software.  Tivoli Storage Manager is their data backup and recovery software of choice and Dell Openmanage and server assistant software is the software that resides on the Dell blade servers that are installed in the data center.  I am like a child in a toy store.  I can not tell you how wonderful it is to be paid to play with technology all day.  That does not mean that I am not challenged technically because I certainly am.  One of the things that I learned a long time ago in I.T. is that no matter how good you think you are or how knowledgeable you seem to be there is always a peer sitting right around the corner from you that is better.  What is nice about that is that you can put yourself in a position to learn from them and them from you.  I always get tickled with folks who fancy themselves as the one who feels they are a gift from God when it comes to technology.  You have met the types I am sure.  You ask them a question and they always have the answer and are overwhelmed with the urge to impress you with lots and lots of techno drivel and acronyms from hell.  LOL…  I know so much about this problem because familiarity breeds contempt.  It is one thing to be confident in your skills but when your pride and ego start to get out of control that confidence can very quickly turn into arrogance.  One of the things that I appreciate about most IT folks that I rub shoulders with every day in corporate America is that most of them hold this arrogance in check and realize that they are just like me in that they are swimming in a pond with other fish bigger than themselves and are willing to be helpful to the rest of us that are on a learning curve.  

Lightourworld.com is ALIVE

I am happy to report that Lightourworld.com is back online thanks to Fortune City doing whatever it is that they did to revive it. Thanks Fortune City. I appreciate your responsiveness to my phone call, e-mails and blog. :)


James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.myblogsite.com/blog
moffittj@bellsouth.net

Voice Hell

I love it when I call the customer service number for any company and get thrown into voice hell. You know what I am talking about. You are presented with an endless list of extensions for this department and that department by someone on the other line that has recorded this message for you and who probably could care less if you actually get your problem addressed. The message is intended to let you know that your phone call is being acknowledged and you can play around within the system but there is no promise that you are get any satisfaction from calling in.

Several days before my lightourworld.com domain was to expire I received e-mails from the domain registrar who hosts my domain saying " you need to renew before Jan 25th OR we will cut your domain off. I have not had the time to call between 8 am and 5pm Monday through Friday because I am too busy earning money to PAY the monthly hosting fees and yearly domain renewal fees. So, I tried my best to use the website control panel to renew my domain. I clicked on the appropriate Domain Renewal Link and saw instructions that stated " With three easy steps you can renew your domain". Guess what folks, someone at Fortunecity needs to take a look at their online documentation and compare it to what the control panel actually shows the customer. Does anyone edit or proofread what is being published at this website? Anyway, after much frustration I decided to write an email to fcbilling@fortunecity.net and asked them to PLEASE charge the domain renewal to my credit card that is already on file that they already charge my hosting fees to. How hard is that anyway? Guess what folks, they took out the 9.95 for the website hosting fee and then promptly canceled my domain. How special is that? LOL... I called Tech support for Fortune City and spoke to a very nice gentleman named Bill who advised me that because I failed to call in that his hands were tied and my domain had been canceled. He did tell me to write an email to the DNS folks to see if they could do something for me but due to their policies there was nothing he could do. Special......
If my domain is canceled and they do not help me to renew it post haste then I will be forced to spend my money elsewhere. If Fortune City is going to provide their customers with the ability to communicate with them via e-mail then they should have enough staff on hand to handle the e-mail in a timely fashion.

Which way did it go?

I would have sworn that the month of January has just escaped me. Which way DID it go? It seems as if we just said by to 2005 and hello to 2006. How can it be almost Feburary? I guess time flies when you are as busy as we are. There are a lot of "bloggable" moments where I say to myself or Katy " I feel a blog coming on" and then I never make it to the blogging interface where I can write down my thoughts. I hate that, dont you? Well, if you love to write then you will love to blog and you know what I am telling you. Many moons ago I heard a self improvement guru who said that in order to never forget specific thoughts or moments of creative juices that we should always carry a notepad and pen to write those things. If you do not then some of them will be lost forever. I guess that makes sense, I mean how much stuff do we already have to keep crammed in our noggins with the rushed life that is full of detials already? There is no way I can remember everything, I guess that is why I carry a pocket pc, have several computes at home , have a laptop and several computers at work. As they say, the devil is in the details and if you forget something important you will be saying something that makes you sound like you need to have the devil exorcised out of you. LOL...

Katy spent the weekend in Columbia SC again and has one more to go until summer time. So, with that in mind I am working this weekend too. I figure if she is going to work then I will work myself and atleast make back some of the money that it costs to send her there. In the long run, while I miss the her like the dickens, it will be worth it once she gets her teacher certification and the state rewards here with her back pay they owe her. I hope it does not take them until 2007 to give it to her. Teachers just do not get paid what they are worth. I believe that they ALL deserve a 10% raise, what do you think? If you are married to a teacher you know how much work it takes to get the degree, certification, keep up with all of the requirements during the year and still teach a class 8 hours per day and then take care of a household at night time. Whew.....

I made the mistake of watching part of the Carolina and Seahawks game and thought I was watching the Dallas Cowgirls trying to figure out what to do with the pigskin. The game was a horrible nightmare so I just quit watching it. I have an urge to look at www.nfl.com to see how badly they got beat. Ok, I gave in to the need for information and Carolina got beat 34 to 14. Now that the Cowgirls and Panthers are dead for the season I am officially done for football this year.

Last week was my first week at my new IT Contract. Boy oh boy, out of the frying pan into the fire. Well, actually it was more like out of the health spa into the coal mines. Mr Maytag, which is who I was at my last contract has been boxed up with the washer and dryer and been sent off to some undisclosed location. When I showed up I was greeted, shown my cubicle and given a list of 15 projects to do. The 16th line item listed was "other tasks". Gosh, I will not be able to get the first 15 done in the six months that I will be there as a contractor. LOL... My first order of business was to help my 24 year old sidekick in putting together a Dell server rack. The shell was sitting there already but we had to put in the rails, fans, power supplies, chassis, fake blades etc. That took us a day and a half and then I was allowed to sit in my cubicle between meetings and I found myself in discovery zone once again. The ugly part of being an IT contractor is that you find yourself in foreign waters and you have to figure things out as quickly as possible so that you can become as productive as you can as fast as you can.

Well, my relief is here so I am going to continue this later on tonight.