Is it Spring yet?

Today (Sunday), we actually started to get in the MOOD! No no no, not for that. That's later. I'm talking about outside busy work. It wasn't exactly warm, I don't think it cleared 50 out, but it was nice enough and the mood struck that we worked in "the yard" (Note 1). It was kinda nice. The back yard need a LOT of stuff done to make it livable, but I can picture it a lot nicer. Last summer we got rid of the hideous child prison, and now we've got plans & thoughts for a real garden, bigger patio and more plants. I'm looking forward to it. Paul? Send more round rocks please. (Note 2)

(Note 1): When I say Yard, I mean back property filled with dirt.

(Note 2): Flat Rate Priority is only $8.90! For whatever weight! You could fit maybe two in there!

Paranoid

OK, I don't give out my phone number, or Social Security number willy nilly, but you would THINK when ordering something, you would provide your name right? Today's customer paranoia goes like this:

• I received an order for a DVD. The ship to name is "no eye dee"
• I email for a real name, it's not a cheap DVD and I don't want it undelivered.
• Anne D. responds with "my name is anne...with my other quite correct information you should have no need for my last name"
• I note that the email address has her full first and last name. Ha.
• She emails again: "i would like to be erased after the order is in."

Damn right I'll erase ya. I'll get out my big old rubber eraser on a stick and reach over to Washington and WIPE YOU OUT!!! Maybe sign her up for some paranoia newsletters....

The US Postal Service

I shouldn't make it sound like there's nothing but assholes here, quite the opposite. Much of my griping about people are what I experience through the Internet. The anonymous blanket email can give you brings out the jerk in people. No need to be polite, just get to the point: "wheres my order??!!!?!?!?!?!". How much effort would it have been to say "Hi, can you check on my order?". Not much. Pressing the Shift key I suppose. And when emailing a short demand, the mix of question marks and exclamation points are supposed to indicate displeasure, anxiety and urgency. Yeah, I get it, you're impatient.

But that's not this blog. Let's talk about my mailman. (OK, she's usually a gal, but it's also still a manhole, get over it.) To date she has changed her routine to pick up my packages daily, makes a point to pet my dogs, hands me my mail quite often instead of sticking them in the community mail box, took and handled an international package for me, brought me supplies, had her boss come visit to thank me for my business, and just overall has been SUPER nice and appreciates my business. Oh! And I have her phone number in case I need something. This, in contrast to Kansas, where I received the following paraphrased letter:

Mr. Tom Svec:

Blah blah blah your recent online pickup requests are not scheduled in advance and do not include number of packages. Requests must be received by 2:00 am on the day your pickup is scheduled and must include the number of packages ready for pickup

Explanation? I'm a burden on the mail carriers end-of-day sorting routine. I figured out that I add 5-10 minutes. Maybe. I could do it in 30 seconds. I also figured out at the time I had spent tens of thousands in postage. Even though I'd often even carry my packages to his truck, I'm a burden. They want me to either call in daily, or take my packages directly to the PO. Smart.

Now I'm in Reno! I received the following, letter AND gift!

Now, the actual GIFT was a joke, it made me laugh, but it was the whole POINT of it all. In case you can't tell, it's a cardboard letter scale, if your letter weighs more than what slot it's in, it tips over. This sitting on top of my digital scale which anyone mailing 20 packages a day is likely to have. HA. Still, the whole EFFORT made me "Welcome to Reno". And they spelled my name right.

What's wrong with people?

Why is it that in an age with SO much great technology at our fingertips, people are still inconsiderate idiots. Case in point today is the fact I was supposed to meet a guy at 9:00 to pick up a stack of DVDs. We emailed back and forth about a half dozen times last night, him on his Blackberry, and set a time this morning, a good 20-25 minute drive for me. I called on my way and got no answer, and doubting myself, I turned around to go home and check the phone number. It was right, and I called again. No answer (and yes, I'm leaving messages). Maybe he gave me the wrong number, but the "Dave" matched up, so I emailed. Nothing. Now it's been an hour and a half and not a word back. We'll see if I'm wrong, that something tragic happened, but I'd place my bets on something else. He's sleeping, he sold them to someone else, he got busy with his jujitsu, SOMETHING. Or I'll never know, it'll just be deleted from Craigslist and I'll always kinda wonder.

Is this worth blogging about? No, maybe not to you, but it gets it off my chest. I'm tired of rude, stupid and irresponsible people, and it only seems to be getting worse. Watching Judge Judy sometimes astounds me, makes me laugh too but it's just appalling. The other day, a couple didn't pay their 19 year old babysitter and she called child protective service to be vindictive. Why didn't they pay? Well, first off, she gave the kids lice!! And well, partially maybe kinda might be because she had a coupla guys over to drink beer, and secondly, she was having sex there on the couple's bed!! Her defense? "My sex life has nothing to do with my babysitting skills!"That's it, that's her reasoning. Sheesh. I can't even comment (Can, won't)

I have this habit of holding the door for people. Maybe my mom brought me up right. It's polite right? And what do you say? Thank you right? Many, not most, but many don't. And all they have to do is look at you and maybe smile and acknowledge it with a nod. Nah!! That's too much effort. My reaction is to tell them "You're Welcome!" when they say nothing, and still, I rarely get a reaction. I'd get more reaction, and it would be more fun to hold the door open and as they walk through, slam it in their face! HA! Gotcha! Thought I was holding it for YOU eh?? WRONG!

What bugs me is it's accepted. Even taught. Misbehaved children have ADD or autism. In the workplace, you literally have to defecate on the bosses desk to get fired, doesn't matter if you're not doing your job! You don't want junk mail, sales calls or people at your door? Good luck, it's their RIGHT to bother you!! What's your good to bad ratio on calling any kind of customer support? I can tell you mine!

An Amazon customer of mine (and I use that loosely) actually used the phrase, "The customer is always right". It infuriates me. Whoever came up with that saying CERTAINLY meant try to give the customer what they want, and strive to please them, but they didn't mean that a customer can do no wrong. That phrase always bothers me for that one reason, it means that the vendor is always wrong when the customer complains. In my case here, the customer is complaining about something HE didn't read about, and he admits that, but he has no fault. Not only does he want a refund, he wants me to pay for return shipping. This is a $3 cable. Is there anything wrong with the cable? No. He just doesn't want it now. He has left me a negative rating publicly lying that the cable is defective and filed claim with Amazon to get his money back. Here's a bit of irony, he WILL get his money back, as Amazon also has a customer is always right policy. But what's interesting is Amazon allows that TWICE, saying that a buyer can make a dissatisfactory claim two times in the lifetime on Amazon. And while I don't get charged for this, it does affect my "Customer Experience Performance". Sigh.

So I ramble. It's what I do.

I started this specifically griping about how bad people are in email. Apparently they have enough brains to find & use a computer, and somehow run an email program, but politeness in email is thrown out for MANY people. Screaming, demands, and lack of common courtesy is the norm. Ignoring instead or replying is almost expected.

Fantasy world:

"For sale, blah blah blah blah"

"Hi! Do you still have Blah Blah? I'm in Sparks, could you tell me if it's green? If so, I'll take it, give me a phone number and/or directions and a time to pick it up"

"Why yes, you're the first to respond. It's an army green with little flowers around the edging. I'm also in Sparks and we can meet at THIS place at noon, my phone number is XXX-XXXX if you get lost, do you want me to cook you a sammich?"

OR

"I'm sorry, it sold pending pick up, I'll email you back if they don't show"

Reality:

"For sale, blah blah blah blah"

"Hi! Do you still have Blah Blah? I'm in Sparks, could you tell me if it's green? If so, I'll take it, give me a phone number and/or directions and a time to pick it up"

(NO RESPONSE)

OR (actually unedited responses to similar inquires)

"Here at home u can pick it up I leave in bluff apt by parr. When can u make it I'm going 2 my mma at 10 am.wat about 9 am "

--------------------------------------------------------

Well, my DVD guy called. Was I right? I dunno. He did apologize, but he was uh... Umm. In class. How about that! We'll see if he's there at 12:30.

Hello Neighbor!?

I finally met another neighbor the other day. Exactly 7 months, 6 days and 27 minutes (where HAS Pushing Daisy's gone!?!?) since I've moved in. She didn't exactly introduce herself, she was looking for one of her little shitty dogs that roam the hood quite often. Yip yip yip. I hadn't seen him/her, but offered to look in my back yard. Do I know her name? Not really. E-something-A. Anyway, Mitch had the perfect scenario:

N: Have you seen my leetle dawg?
Me: (Lifting and looking at bottom of shoe): NOPE!

Update to "I Hate People"

The guy that left me a negative on the CD (where I didn't get the email) removed it after I asked. Now get this! They other guy that griped about late shipping, has basically told me to screw off and says he's reporting me to Amazon for QUOTE harassing him! HA! What an idiot. In more ways than one. I admit I called him an asshole. Oh well, he was.

In addition to that, I got another negative today, comment was "Recieved speaker quickly but it never worked. Could not contact seller." I'm starting to think Amazon has a problem with their email system, cause I never got nothing. Emailed that dude too and haven't heard back. Sigh.

In Memory of.....

Not much discussion here, I just thought it was interesting. Shelly will appreciate it. Raised a lot of questions. I Googled and found nothing. Made me wonder what kind of impact Louis had on someone 70+ years ago to do this to their car. I can't be sure, cause I didn't see the driver, but I'm guessing the driver wasn't born when Louis passed on. I didn't get a picture of it but the entire back row was covered with those ribbons. Huh....

I hate people (a discusson on Amazon & eBay by Toddy)

I dunno where to begin, and I bet I don't end well. I'm just gonna blab about I hate people!

THAT, in a nutshell is it. I guess a better word is customers. I hate customers. Whiny customers. For me, it's mostly about the drama I get from the feedback on my Amazon and eBay sales. I've figured out that it has to do with the amount of personal interaction, from the most hands on to the least.

I've got really four areas of business:

1. My pinball and arcade game sales. The most hands on, and the most satisfied customers
2. My web site sales. Often some hand holding and advice, people ordering exactly what they need: the second set of satisfied customers (usual complaints are when I'm at fault for not shipping quick enough)
3. eBay sales. These people at least understand the feedback system.
4. Amazon. The worst. They click, they buy. They bitch.

A good percentage of the Amazon idiots just don't get it, and I'm getting tired of it. (eBay has announced changes in their feedback system, and it's just plain wrong in my humble Todd opinion.) I'm here to do ONE thing, fill your order. I mail most things the same day, within 24 hours for sure. Does that matter? Nope! Does it matter that what I sent is what you ordered and you don't like it? Well, I don't actually know how to answer my own question there, but let me just say it doesn't matter, it's still my fault.

On Amazon, negative feedback to me (the seller) is left with no recourse. Don't like the color? Leave me a negative. US Postal system took 2 weeks? Leave me a neg. (oh, don't look at the postage date where I mailed it the same day). Buddies at the same USPS smushed it? That's my fault. Don't like the software cause it SUCKS? Again, Todd's fault. OR! OR! This one is best! You're a grumpy old bitch that just didn't have a good day, how about leaving Todd a good old 3 out of 5 with the comment "it wuz ok".

THANKS GRUMPY OLD BITCH! You're a PEACH!

GRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I know. I know. So where is this going? Well I'll tell ya. See, eBay has, in their infinite corporate wisdom, decided that the seller shouldn't be able to leave a negative or even a NEUTRAL rating to the buyer ***AT ALL***!!! Only positive. Only "A++++ THEY PAID ON TIME", not anything like "Buyer took a week to pay and complained about blah or blah" or even yet "Buyer never paid for the item". NOPE! eBay's rationale was that they noticed when a seller got a negative, the buyer in turn got one too!!

Well no fucking shit eBay!!

Buyers aren't perfect, far from it. There are those that don't pay, there are those that take a week to pay, there are those that provide wrong addresses, complain about things clearly disclosed in the auction, insist on different payment methods, different shipment methods, expect 7 minute turnaround and Priority shipping times when not paying for it, and simply being a pain in the ass. The PC program won't work on an Apple. The screws not included are not included. The stereo with a non working left channel only works on the right. On and ON!!! At least on eBay, the way it used to be, you had a reason not to give the seller a negative; you might get one back! If it was that big of a deal, you did it anyway and risked it. On Amazon, people leave for me them willy-nilly, there is no recourse. Take a look at these gems:

"CD had a few small scratches - was advertised as like new - seller did not respond to e-mail - diappointing transaction" First off, I didn't get an email. Second, Uh, was there actually a problem with the CD? It really was like new.

"hey u gave some thing that does not work when i put it in to my os2 it dont work it wont load and u gave me a ps1 game shark i didnt want that u need to send my the rest of my stuff or send me 15 dollars for rippin me off if not im goin to report this" This one was tough, I have no idea what he means, I emailed twice and never got a response. Report to who? The Royal Canadian Mounted Police?

"i try to put it in 2 computers hp ,and dell and the cd to install the drivers wont run got stuck i try every method and its useless thats what i get to buy used things" Yeah, well, I pulled that off a working machine Bozo. Try reading the manual.

"This doesn't work!" That's it, no email, no response to mine.

"i'm honest and serios customer i don't nedd your 7 dollars please take alittle respect with customers i have an excellent reputation as customer and you only send one cd to avoid this problem review before send and asume your mistakes i hate somebody doubts from me" Go ahead. Say "Huh?"

"I didn´t receive the CD cover !!!" No Kidding!?!?!? That's why it was listed as: Comments: CD only in the case, no inserts.

"These games are awful, don't buy, no problem with Seller though." Personally my favorite negative.

Here's the problem. Amazon allows for these negative feedbacks, and I just have to accept them. Amazon collects the money, so payment is not a problem, and these people are free to buy from whoever they want! At least on eBay, as it is now, they buyer can be blocked if they have negative feedback within the past months, and it certainly hurts them if they try to sell. With the upcoming eBay changes, a buyer can harass the seller for positive feedback, and if he doesn't give one? He's free to leave a negative to the seller... Just... like... that! The sellers only protection is to blow smoke up the buyers butt: "Oh you paid so quickly!"..... "You're the BEST customer kissy kissy"..... "Gosh DANG I hope you love the used butt plug... come back for more PLEASE!!!". It sucks I tell ya.

The customer is not always right!

Where have I been?

Blogger's Block. That's what I got. Sigh.....