Rant for the Day (keep it clean)

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Last month, we decided to visit my daughter and new granddaughter and would rent a car through Costco, in order to save wear and tear. Budget had a week special with Costco, where you save 30% off the listed rental, provided that you pay in advance. They also had another special where for another $29, they would throw in Sirius Satellite radio. I ordered and payed for the car as required.

Just to make sure, we drove to the rental car company last week and sure enough, they were very nice and said the rental was booked for the 25th of March, and yes, the car I chose had Sirius radio.

Well, Saturday morning (3/24), we received a call from Budget saying the rental location I selected did not have any cars available. They told me simply to call Budget and they will transfer the car rental to another nearby location, where it will be ready for yesterday. They then said due to me pre-paying, I would have to probably pay the price again, and settle the difference later. What difference? I've already paid it!

So yesterday, I get my neighbor to drive me to the other Budget rental agency to get my rental car in preparation for our 1400 mile road trip today. I wait in a long line and as soon as I reach the one "clerk", he tells me the rental contract was not transferred. He tells me to get back out of line and call the 1-800 number and get the contract transferred. I advised I already did this on Saturday and he said he did not care, and it was not his problem.

I stepped out of the long line, and made the call to the corporate 1-800 number to again get the call transferred. They then say, that I will have to pay any differences, but they will transfer the car order to where I was now at. What difference? I have pre-paid!?

Now, I have been at this Budget for nearly an hour, and the clerk reminds me they were about to close for the day. I am the last person to get waited on and the doors were now locked. He said I will need to pay the difference at the end of my rental, but would help me out. He pulls up with my car, and see it is filthy. He apologized and said his worker who cleans the cars had gone home, so take it or leave it.

I verified that the car has the Sirius radio and he said, "oh, no, this car does not have satellite radio", but for a slight upgrade (I upgraded twice already!) he would give me a car with Sirius radio. A few minutes later, he brings out another dirty car and says, "here you go!" He also said we would settle the money difference when I return the car. By this time, I am frosted, pissed and defeated. I sign the final papers and verified that my girlfriend also had permission to drive the car and he tells me that she could drive it, but without scanning her driver's license, my insurance would not cover their car and I needed to bring her in so he could scan her driver's license.

I explained that I lived 30 minutes away, and could he please wait for me to go get my girlfriend, but he apologized and said he was closing for the day. I asked what was my other option and he said, "oh, no problem, just drive her to the international airport another 10 minutes down the road, and they will scan her license."

I now jump in the dirty car, drive 30 minutes home, pick up the girlfriend, then drive 40 minutes away, get my girlfriend's license scanned, and now I am so frosted that I am regretting this entire rental, and in about an hour, we start on this 1400 mile trip, dirty car and all. But hey, I have Sirius radio!
 
havasu said:
Last month, we decided to visit my daughter and new granddaughter and would rent a car through Costco, in order to save wear and tear. Budget had a week special with Costco, where you save 30% off the listed rental, provided that you pay in advance. They also had another special where for another $29, they would throw in Sirius Satellite radio. I ordered and payed for the car as required.

Just to make sure, we drove to the rental car company last week and sure enough, they were very nice and said the rental was booked for the 25th of March, and yes, the car I chose had Sirius radio.

Well, Saturday morning (3/24), we received a call from Budget saying the rental location I selected did not have any cars available. They told me simply to call Budget and they will transfer the car rental to another nearby location, where it will be ready for yesterday. They then said due to me pre-paying, I would have to probably pay the price again, and settle the difference later. What difference? I've already paid it!

So yesterday, I get my neighbor to drive me to the other Budget rental agency to get my rental car in preparation for our 1400 mile road trip today. I wait in a long line and as soon as I reach the one "clerk", he tells me the rental contract was not transferred. He tells me to get back out of line and call the 1-800 number and get the contract transferred. I advised I already did this on Saturday and he said he did not care, and it was not his problem.

I stepped out of the long line, and made the call to the corporate 1-800 number to again get the call transferred. They then say, that I will have to pay any differences, but they will transfer the car order to where I was now at. What difference? I have pre-paid!?

Now, I have been at this Budget for nearly an hour, and the clerk reminds me they were about to close for the day. I am the last person to get waited on and the doors were now locked. He said I will need to pay the difference at the end of my rental, but would help me out. He pulls up with my car, and see it is filthy. He apologized and said his worker who cleans the cars had gone home, so take it or leave it.

I verified that the car has the Sirius radio and he said, "oh, no, this car does not have satellite radio", but for a slight upgrade (I upgraded twice already!) he would give me a car with Sirius radio. A few minutes later, he brings out another dirty car and says, "here you go!" He also said we would settle the money difference when I return the car. By this time, I am frosted, pissed and defeated. I sign the final papers and verified that my girlfriend also had permission to drive the car and he tells me that she could drive it, but without scanning her driver's license, my insurance would not cover their car and I needed to bring her in so he could scan her driver's license.

I explained that I lived 30 minutes away, and could he please wait for me to go get my girlfriend, but he apologized and said he was closing for the day. I asked what was my other option and he said, "oh, no problem, just drive her to the international airport another 10 minutes down the road, and they will scan her license."

I now jump in the dirty car, drive 30 minutes home, pick up the girlfriend, then drive 40 minutes away, get my girlfriend's license scanned, and now I am so frosted that I am regretting this entire rental, and in about an hour, we start on this 1400 mile trip, dirty car and all. But hey, I have Sirius radio!
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I admire you sir. I'm a lot more patient at this time of my life than I have ever been, but I would have went ballistic before it was over. Even if it was me going to Austin to see Austin!

BTW tell him I said "Wazzup"!
 
I am not sure how you didn't go off on that guy @havasu. That whole situation was messed up. My wife usually handles such matters because she is well versed in the art of tearing someone to pieces without crossing lines of decency. I prefer to call it like I see it. If no one let's half-wits know they are half-wits, they walk around the planet thinking they are like the rest of us. Then they end up marching in Washington, DC or appearing on CNN. Nobody wants to see that.
 
@havasu I sure hope you are having a better trip than rental experience!

My rant seems pretty tame after reading some of these! A month ago they made DH's cardio appt. Friday afternoon, the office called and told him that if he did not get them his x-ray and bloodwork from previous doc, they would have to reschedule appt. THEY HAD A MONTH, and then to try to make DH do it himself! He told them where to call and they got the info. Just seems like an inept staff! But the doc seemed good to us!
 
So yesterday two odd things happened, first incident involved bone and I mentioned that in the other thread.

Earlier in the day the mastiff and I drove into town to buy dog food. There is a small store that carries the brand we use, but that store has had some customer service issues the last few months (really rude cashiers etc...which is not at all the norm for a friendly small southern town).

So I buy two big bags of dog food, a shovel, and maybe $5 worth of stationary supplies. There is one register open and 2-3 customers behind me when I get the notoriously rude cashier that never greets me, and simply hands the receipt over with out so much as a thank you or even a grunt of acknowledgement. Really over the top rude. So yesterday when she did it again I said "It is a shame they don't pay you enough to be polite" and then walked out of the store.

So I am in the empty parking lot unloading the dog food etc...when the same cashier comes out and heads directly towards me! Remember there were customers in line behind me, and that was the only open register, so she had to ring out and have someone else take over real quick to catch me out there.

Now to set the scene, I am a skinny middle aged woman of pale complexion, I have never been in a fight in my life. The cashier probably had 80 lbs on me, she was wearing cheap elaborate wig/weave, and I would have to assume she HAS been in a few ghetto beat downs, kwim?

I immediately think "Oh Jeez" and wonder if the store cameras capture that part of the parking lot, and whether this will turn into one of those videos we sometimes see on youtube where a McDonald's cashier comes over the counter to attack a customer. Keep in mind my dog was in the car, and he is watching this, and she may have noticed that (he is very large and I have police bars on the back windows so they can be left all the way down, that tends to catch a person's eye as they approach the vehicle).

She approaches and says "Ma'am may I see your receipt?" What the heck? There wasn't anything wrong with the receipt! She glances at it for like 1 second and hands it back, then starts collecting carts near my car.

Now realistically I was not overly worried, since I had already unlocked the car, and there is no way my dog would have stood by and watched his beloved human get beat down in a parking lot. And he started barking at her as she was collecting carts right next to the vehicle.

But I did not like it one bit and I called the corporate office to complain. The district manager will call me back. After her constant over the top rudeness, and my comment in response, her following me out to the parking lot was NOT COOL in my opinion.

I don't think for one moment there was an issue with the receipt, and if she was not looking for a conflict (or trying to be intimidating) I can't see why she would have gone out there when most people would have sent one of the other staff members to check on a legit possible receipt error.

Did I over-react? I am in sales and I believe rudeness towards customers is NEVER called for, and the whole incident struck me as over the top, but maybe I am being too sensitive?
 
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Sonya_6 said:
So yesterday two odd things happened, first incident involved bone and I mentioned that in the other thread.

But earlier in the day the mastiff and I drove into town to buy dog food. There is a small store that carries the brand we use, but that store has had some customer service issues the last few months (really rude cashiers etc...which is not at all the norm for a friendly small southern town).

So I buy two big bags of dog food, a shovel, and maybe $5 worth of stationary supplies. There is one register open and 2-3 customers behind me when I get the notoriously rude cashier that never greets me, and simply hands the receive over with out so much as a thank you or even a grunt of acknowledgement. Really over the top rude. So yesterday when she did it again I said "It is a shame they don't pay you enough to be polite" and then walked out of the store.

So I am in the parking lot alone unloading the dog food etc...into the trunk when guess who comes out of the store and heads straight towards me? The cashier (the only open register with a line of customers waiting). Now to set the scene, I am a skinny middle aged woman of pale complexion, I have never been in a fight in my life. The cashier probably weighed nearly double what I weigh, she had an cheap elaborate wig/weave on, and I would have to assume she HAS been in a few ghetto beat downs, kwim?

I immediately think "Oh Jeez" and wonder if the store cameras capture that part of the parking lot, and whether this will turn into one of those videos we sometimes see on youtube where a McDonald's cashier comes over the counter to attack a customer. Keep in mind my dog was in the car, and he is watching this, and she may have noticed that (he is very large).

She approaches and says "Ma'am may I see your receipt?" What the heck? There wasn't anything wrong with the receipt! She glances at it for like 1 second and hands it back, then starts collecting carts near my car. And why on earth would she leave a register with a line of customers and have someone take over so she could run out to track me down? If there was a question then having someone else do it makes more sense.

Now realistically I was not overly worried, since I had already unlocked the car, and there is no way my dog would have stood by and watched his beloved human get beat down in a parking lot. And he started barking at her as she was collecting carts right next to the vehicle.

But I did not like it one bit and I called the corporate office to complain. The district manager will call me back. After her constant over the top rudeness, and my comment in response, her following me out to the parking lot was NOT COOL in my opinion.

I don't think for one moment there was an issue with the receipt, and if she was not looking for a conflict (or trying to be intimidating) I can't see why she would have gone out there when most people would have sent one of the other staff members to check on a legit possible receipt error.

Did I over-react? I am in sales and I believe rudeness towards customers is NEVER called for, and the whole incident struck me as over the top, but maybe I am being too sensitive?
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No I don't. If she were one of my cashiers she would be gone.
 
@Sonya_6 no I don't think you were overreacting as it appears she (cashier) was trying to intimidate you but thought twice about it since she saw your rather large not so friendly dog in the car :D .

In my opinion there is no excuse for sales staff to be rude to customers and they should always have a smile and at least try and have a friendly conversation. I worked in sales for many years and with some customers that can be hard as they tend to be very rude to the staff a lot of the time especially in holiday times. Those customers who were like that or threw something at me (yes it happened numerous times including one male drunk customer who threw a punch at me) I put in the naughty corner and refused to serve until they were civil. Always I got an apology and we moved on. I always however was friendly, polite and helpful in all the positions I was in.

Incidentally your description of yourself is me to a tee .

Like @Sentry18 if sales staff or managers are rude/unhelpful etc to me in a store I don't deal there any more and take my business elsewhere. I also do a lot of shopping online.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
@Sonya_6 no I don't think you were overreacting as it appears she (cashier) was trying to intimidate you but thought twice about it since she saw your rather large not so friendly dog in the car :D .
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Yeah I do think the dog's presence made a difference, plus he is very vocal and makes sure everyone knows he is there when I come back to the car.

Glad I wasn't imagining things, bottom line is most normal/sane people would try to AVOID customers that they had an issue with, they sure as heck would not be chasing them down in parking lots. And I will start shopping somewhere else, thing is that is the only store I know of that sells that brand of dog food but I will call around until I find it somewhere else.
 
@Sonya_6 another alternative is to wait for a time where there is multiple cashiers on and if you get said "cow cashier" to request someone else to serve you instead which you can do.

Said customer who threw a punch and climbed over the counter at me got pinned with a chair to the wall in between the legs of it with me leaning on it until security came who I called with the other hand I had free and told the other customers to go to the back of the store for safety :D. He was banned from the shopping centre and I think charged by police too. Still think it was cute that I got him pinned like a caged lion behind the chair and he couldn't move or throw any more punches at me. He wasn't a small little vegemite either but a small woman with determination wins every time :woo hoo:.
 
backlash said:
Now I have to wait for another update to hear what the district manager says.:)
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If the district manager is professional then he won't say much, he will just listen sympathetically and apologize for such a bad customer experience (which is the proper way to deal with upset customers).

But if he has any sense he will look into it and make some staffing changes, NO store chain wants to have nutty employees that may actually harass or fight with customers as that stuff can quickly become a public relations nightmare. The chain is based in the South so they are probably pretty sensible regarding these issues.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
@Sonya_6 another alternative is to wait for a time where there is multiple cashiers on and if you get said "cow cashier" to request someone else to serve you instead which you can do.

Said customer who threw a punch and climbed over the counter at me got pinned with a chair to the wall in between the legs of it with me leaning on it until security came who I called with the other hand I had free and told the other customers to go to the back of the store for safety :D. :woo hoo:.
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This store usually only has one, or maybe two registers open which is why I keep encountering the awful cashier.

Pinning down some nut with a chair is pretty impressive! I have really never worked retail but I hear it is often pretty darn bad, though it likely depends a lot on the area.
 
:eyeballs:at that bill @hashbrown we have free hospital and medical here or you can go private and even with health insurance you pay a healthy gap amount between what your medical insurance will cover and the actual cost of the medical care. No wonder people go broke over there paying their medical bills that is just horrendous.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
:eyeballs:at that bill @hashbrown we have free hospital and medical here or you can go private and even with health insurance you pay a healthy gap amount between what your medical insurance will cover and the actual cost of the medical care. No wonder people go broke over there paying their medical bills that is just horrendous.
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I won't pay that amount thats just the starting point. I hope to get it in the 25k range.
 
HB: That bill would be enough to give you a HEART ATTACK.

I have a method for dealing with service staff. If the service is bad I tell the manager. If the service is good I tell the manager. Both cases deserve the attention from the manager.
 
I'm stressed and a little overwhelmed right now, which is why iveI been absent.

My rant..our local hospital..once a good hospital..

Background first..my mom is 78..3 years ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 uterine cancer and 1b ovarian. I moved her in with me and the boys. She's tough, went through 2 battles with this cancer with flying colors! Last 4 months, she's losing weight and getting weaker. At this point, she won't survive another cancer recurrence.

Monday her legs were so weak, they just shook when she tried to stand. Her Dr is on vacation, so off to the ER we go. 6 hours later, blood test, urine test, lung x-ray and EKG. Everything looks find, send her home. I looked at the Dr (by this time you can see the whites around my eyes) and said "I've sat here all day watching her respirations go from Apnea levels to 44 on this monitor, never in normal range for over a few minutes at a time and you're telling me she's fine! I'm no Dr but I'm smart enough to know, your muscles need oxygen! She can't walk!" He said, " the tests showed nothing, so we can't keep her in the hospital. You have to have a condition confirmed by tests that requires hospitalization to be treated in order to be admitted." Are you kidding me???!!!???!!!!

Driving home mom says "they just don't want to keep us old people alive". I try not to curse around my mom, but I blurted out an "f them", came home, made appointments with her general Dr and her oncologist and 1 of them is going to get her in at a pulmonologist!

Anyway, I could continue but I will stop there. Thanks for listening.
 
Sewingcreations15 said:
@Sonya_6 another alternative is to wait for a time where there is multiple cashiers on and if you get said "cow cashier" to request someone else to serve you instead which you can do.

Said customer who threw a punch and climbed over the counter at me got pinned with a chair to the wall in between the legs of it with me leaning on it until security came who I called with the other hand I had free and told the other customers to go to the back of the store for safety :D. He was banned from the shopping centre and I think charged by police too. Still think it was cute that I got him pinned like a caged lion behind the chair and he couldn't move or throw any more punches at me. He wasn't a small little vegemite either but a small woman with determination wins every time :woo hoo:.
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You can't be nice to everyone, I try to be but will fight back if attacked. Good fro you Sewing, :thumbs up:
 
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