Just A Follow-Up on the Great HP Service

Hey - that keyboard they sent me is losing six letters, and I've only had it for a couple of months!! I have a dot left for the "s". There's no "n", "m", "l", or "k" - just to name a few of the characters that have disappeared.

Yes, I type a lot. Yes, I clean a lot (but never use anything harsh on the keyboard). Still..... come on, HP.

It Happened Again!

Remember my post of November 10 (about how I keep trying to keep my refrigerated/frozen groceries separate from the rest at the supermarket)? Well, last evening it happened again! It is not an exaggeration when I say that the cold stuff was divided up in a way that meant each of the "zillion" bags had at least one refrigerator/freezer item buried somewhere at the bottom of it. (Maybe someone read my post and decided to get even? I doubt it, but it does me a person wonder.)

Supermarket Cashiers and "Sackers" - The "Conspiracy of Two" to Make Unpacking Groceries More of a Pain in the Neck than Necessary

A supermarket cashier once remarked to me that I was the "only one" she knew who was as organized as I am when it comes to placing the groceries on the counter at the check-out. She was right - I am organized, and I will admit to possibly being a little more organized at this task than some would see as necessary (or mentally healthy). Nonetheless, I'm not hurting anybody with my organized belt-load of groceries, particularly since I'm a nice customer who is very friendly and polite to the cashiers and sackers.

The only reason I organize my groceries as I do (and I know I'm not the only one, even if we're in a minority) is that I figure it helps the cashier and sacker to kind of get everything from any particular category grouped together. Also, however, by grouping my refrigerator/freezer things and my "don't-leave-in-the-hot-or-cold-car-for-other-reasons" things, it makes unpacking the groceries easier.

For the most part, there are really only a few categories requiring separation: refrigerator and freezer stuff, all cleaning or personal items that have perfumed scents and/or may spill on the food or paper products, "crushables" like breads, eggs, and cakes, and (maybe) paper products (which somehow just kind of go well with soaps and detergents, unless the paper product is coffee filters).

So, although I have implied that I may border on having OCD, I really don't. I just kind of like a general sorting of categories for any number of reasons. (I will admit that I am not above separating, say, boxes of crackers from boxes of rice because, after all, rice is pasta and crackers are not. I can be flexible on this type of thing, though. Yes, I prefer to separate canned vegetables from canned soups; but I don't expect cashiers or sackers to go to that extreme.)

Back in the days of brown paper bags, I spent the last three of my high school years working in a supermarket. I know that managers instruct workers not to pack all the cans in one bag, so if the young people working in the store mix a few canned goods with the box of crackers and the box of rice, I know they're packing according to instructions. My "borderline-OCD organizational needs" are fine with such a socially acceptable mix of items.

Here's my complaint (and I don't think I'm being unreasonable): I will pull from the shopping items of similar categories (or "item needs", such as "no cans on top of this") and place them on the belt in a way that almost does the sacker's job for him/her. I send through the canned stuff first (in case they want to start a layer of cans at the bottom of a bag). Then I send through the cleaning stuff, then the shampoos, etc. - generally keeping the smelly stuff and the chemical stuff together. I will then send a little group of miscellaneous dry goods through, then any lightweight things like paper towels, boxes of tea bags (in case the sacker needs a lightweight item to top off any bags). I usually group small, losable, items together on top of a box. Things like little packages of batteries, breath mints, coffee measures, etc. Produce, of course, is something I like bagged with other produce. It's "issue" is a matter of being crushable, but also not being great when left in a hot car. Also, there's the matter of any bugs that could be on produce. Nobody wants their grapes (known for the occasional, migrant, spider or flies) in with the bag of flour.

I always hold out all refrigerator and freezer items until the end, thinking that if the sacker doesn't get his hands on them until it's too late there is NO CHANCE IN HECK the cold stuff will be mixed in with the hot soup from the store's sandwich shop and/or the toilet paper (which can then become soaked with melted freezer moisture from the garden burgers or Birdseye Voila bags. Clever aren't I? (or that's what I keep thinking, time and time again, every time I do any grocery shopping - which, for some reason I never quite understand - is several times a week)

My plot to foil the conspiracy plans of the cashier and her cohort, the sacker, always (always, always) seems so brilliant. I leave about three feet of check-out belt between the other groceries and the cold stuff. I figure it's a signal to the cashier and sacker. They figure something else, or else they just don't get signals.

Because I know they don't get "signals" I also used the time-tested method of requesting - in words - the my cold stuff be kept together. With all my efforts and communication and signal, it should be an effortless task for the workers (without asking them to do any extra work or even think about it at all). All the check-out "team" needs to do is run the groceries through in the order in which I send them through, which SHOULD inevitably result in most the groceries being packed and in my carriage before the cold stuff starts to get to the sacker.

To my amazement, complete befuddlement, consternation, and - yes - slightly elevated blood pressure, I watch as this conspiratorial team of two silently work together to shuffle up all the groceries I've been so careful to put on the counter. Then, as if they are people who are afflicted with whatever condition is the opposite of my "borderline OCD organization", these two (it doesn't have to be the same two and, in fact, never is; it's just always a team of yet one more cashier and one more sacker) will heartlessly and wildly start throwing the frozen veggie patties in on top of the toilet paper, burying batteries under the produce and breath mints under the kitty litter, and making sure that each and every one of my zillion bags has at least one small and/or flat refrigerator or freezer item in it (carefully buried and resulting in my need to immediately empty out and shake all bags the minute I get home from the store).

I don't ask anyone to organize my groceries, and I don't ask anyone to stop and think about what needs to go in the refrigerator and what may have bugs on it. I will admit that they are usually good with the eggs and any cakes from the bakery, but that's because someone told them that when they got hired, I'm guessing. To me, since I'm not asking them to do extra work or thinking it is beyond my comprehension why they all seem so committed to undoing the organization that is so obvious (I would think).

I just don't get it. Maybe I'll try hanging a giant sign around my neck one of these days because the more subtle method of using word and obvious signals and hints just doesn't work.

The Phone That Doesn't Speak To Its Own Service Provider

A couple of years ago I bought a Pantech C300 phone as an extra cell phone. It's a super-cute phone that, when first introduced to the market, was priced around $200. When it showed up a couple of years after its introduction, at a much lower price, I couldn't resist it. I didn't use the phone much, so it took me until close to the warranty expiration date before I realized that losing calls was the fault of the phone - not the location. AT&T Wireless was actually quite good about replacing the phone, so just before the warranty ran out I got a replacement phone that didn't have the same losing-calls problem.

As I said, I don't use the phone very often. When I do, I don't do anything "fancy" with it. As a result, it has taken a while to discover the most recently apparent problem: If I call AT&T and have to deal with their electronic answering equipment (which, of course, I always do, since there is no other option these days) the phone's touch-tone signal is not picked up. That means if the system says, "If your question is about your bill press 1", and I press 1, the system will then tell me (essentially) that I didn't answer and should either answer, request the original menu, or hang up. I have talked to other users of this phone, and it turns out my phone is not the only one with the problem.

I've mentioned it when I've finally got through to an AT&T customer service person when calling for other reasons, but nobody seems to "pick up on" what I'm saying. Apparently, it is neither news to AT&T nor something that can be fixed (without buying another model phone). There's the chance, of course, that it could easily be fixed; but if that's the case, customer service people have kept that secret from me.

Maybe it's just a "big conspiracy" by AT&T to reduce the opportunities for me to complain to them? On second thought, no. They wouldn't need to go to such extremes. After all, all they have to do is the usual pretending not to hear what a customer says if the issue is not a simple and clear-cut matter of something like warranty replacements.

HP Customer Service Rocks!!

Wow....

Other than the amazing customer service offered my local grocery store, I don't think I've ever - in my life - had a customer experience like the one I just had with HP (Hewlett Packard). This post doesn't belong on this this particular blog, but I don't have a "good-customer-service" blog. Besides, it's kind of nice to write something positive.

As I mentioned earlier, the process of asking about my iffy keyboard space bar was amazingly easy and quick. Even after receiving the e.mail that the keyboard would be shipped, however, I was worried about having the kind of thing happens that so often seems to happen when warranty replacements are involved: Getting some weird keyboard with some weird color or shape that I don't like, and then needing to buy a new one anyway. Or, another variation is that the thing never really shows up.

Because keyboards today sometimes have silver on them, I was hoping I wouldn't get one that didn't match my PC or one with silver on it. Also, because some funny shaped these days I was worried about that, as well. Well, none of the above occurred. I got the keyboard yesterday, and it is pretty much looks like the one that came with the PC. It is slightly different and probably measures a half-inch smaller (more space on my desk), but it was made to go with the PC, and I had it up and running again in - what - a minute or so.

I'm documenting this amazing experience because I know how rare it is in today's world, and I'm tagging this post with "Hewlett Packard" and "HP" because I'd love someone to find it and hear someone back up HP's claim that they have excellent customer service.

In a way I feel like it's kind of too bad this whole returning/replacing process has taken place so quickly. Ironically, the whole process has been so effortless and quick, I'd sort of like to savor it a little longer.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day. That bank account and phone company problem still remain unresolved. Back to feeling like "the real me" in "the real world" tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm giving HP my "Lisa Award for Amazing Customer Service".

My Head Isn't Going To Explode - I'm Going To Have A Heart Attack Instead

I am in absolute shock!

My PC is about ten months old. About five months ago I noticed the "l" wearing off they keyboard, and a couple of months ago I saw the "i" and "." keys going as well. I, personally, don't think letters should be wearing off this soon; but I was planning to live with it (maybe).

Recently, I started to notice the space bar "getting funny". Although I brush the keyboard often I thought maybe dust had accumulated under the space bar. I brushed it out several times and tipped it upside and shook gently several times. Still, the space bar really wasn't working very well.

Because I'm not someone who goes in stores and looks at prices if I'm not buying a particular item, I had no idea how inexpensive keyboards can be. Because I was imagining a $50 affair, I e.mailed HP to ask if the keyboard is covered by the warranty. Within hours I got an e.mail with a trouble-shooting site URL and an apology for HP's not responding sooner than they did. They said if the trouble-shooting site didn't work I should send my shipping information; and they'd replace the keyboard. The site didn't work, so I got a very nice e.mail back, saying I'd be getting a new keyboard very soon. Before hearing back from them I had started looking into what keyboards cost, and then I felt stupid for even contacting them - then again, why not check into a warranty when there is one...)

Now, I haven't gotten the keyboard yet, of course, because this was only last evening that this happened. Maybe I should wait until the keyboard arrives before I post my "It's A Miracle" post on here. Still, the whole back-and-forth between me and HP was so efficient, nice, and not-like-pulling-teeth, I just had to comment here. That, alone, was a "miracle".

I couldn't resist commenting on this little dealing with HP because it, to me, just seemed like such a freakishly issue-free situation. I should think about starting a different site, "I'm in Shock. It's a Miracle." but to the best of my knowledge HP may be the only company that has been so "issue-free" and so responsive that I've dealt with in - what - like the last twenty years!!

If/when the keyboard arrives I will be back to post an "HP Rocks!" comment. For now, I must rest and try to get over the tremendous shock of actually dealing with customer service department that deals in customer service.

Dog Muck and Neighbors - What the Heck....?

I like dogs (and cats), but I don't happen to have a dog right now. I have in the past, and when I did we dealt with his "muckies" in our own yard.

I live on a street where all the houses are pretty well spaced, so they all have good sized yard. Some property goes more to the back of a house. Some houses have very big side lawns/yards - and that's mine. Anyone who lives on, or visits, my street, however, can probably tell that (as with all residential neighborhoods) where one person's yard ends someone else's yard begins.

For some reason, however, more than one person who lives on my street (and a neighboring street) bring their giant dogs out walking, stop at the edge of my side yard, and let the dogs do their mucks. They then happily head down the street to their own home and yard, which I'm guessing, is dog-muck-free.

I, on the other hand, have to not wear sandals when I do yard work, walk gingerly when I go to get my mail, and generally walk around as if there are land mines in my own yard. Because it's the edge of the street where they let their dogs go (although piles have shown up a few feet in on the grass), if I have two or three people who drive at the house, the cars are parked along the street in front of that side yard; and that means that my unknowing guests (particularly their passengers)first step out of their car may be into a giant pile of dog muckies.

I actually made up a sign (and tried to be business-like but polite), but then I didn't want to look like some neighborhood weirdo who puts up nasty signs. I then made up enough signs to put on phone polls all around the street, with the plan to go tack them up at night (so nobody would know who did it); but I figured if everyone knows where all the dogs go to do their mucks, they'd have a pretty good idea of who put up all the angry signs.:)

I'm a nice person. I generally like people; and, as I said, I like dogs. I don't even blame the dogs, because they're the ones who get led on a leash to my yard (for whatever reason on Earth someone has assumed that because it's a big space it must be a dog toilet). My daughter suggested that they think it's not private property, but - again - anyone who lives here owns their home and pretty much knows how property lines work on a street like this. There are no conservation land or "public dog toilet easements" in this neighborhood.

One guy walks his little dog around, lets him go, and then cleans it up. Well, I guess that's better than not cleaning it up; but I don't want to be planting and doing yard work where dogs have messed at all! I don't have a dog.

So, my question is: What on Earth makes anyone think it is at all reasonable to bring their dog out for a walk, to do his "thing", to someone else's property?

People have suggested I move the stuff out to the street. Someone said I ought to bag it up and put it in the mailbox of the people responsible.:) (I don't know who a lot of them are; and besides that not being something I'd do, the whole point is I don't want to deal with the stuff at all.)

I guess I've written this as a "public service" for anyone in my situation. (A guy who works for the town told me it happens all over town, so apparently there are a lot of people who think nothing of what they're doing.)