This was an off week for the entire league that Big Girl plays in, so stay tuned for championship game highlights!
Plane, train or automobile: The trusty old Exploder
Mission: Visit new management trainees with the Division Manager. This was my first planned visit with the DM and his presence really paid off. He looked at things from a slightly different point of view and helped drive home the importance of following our program. He incorporated the information into his next managers meeting and I am seeing more Team Members in the program in his division after two days than I do in some divisions that I visited a month ago.
Number of human interactions: 8-10 at the store level.
State(s) visited: 2 - VA and a brief trip into North Carolina
Cities visited: South Boston and Danville, VA and Yanceyville, NC
Interesting fact about this city: South Boston has no Starbucks - not uncommon in rural towns. I think the residents of South Boston would be in for sticker shock if Starbucks comes in - I stopped at a coffee shop next to our store and was able to buy a LARGE cup of coffee for 69 cents. 69 cents!!!
Halpert says: How come I didn't get any of that coffee?
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Customer "service"
This post is not related to the normal travel stuff that I bore both my readers with...
I use a BlackBerry for work. I am on the road so much, and having email on my phone makes my life much easier and gives me more time with my family when I am home. I have come to rely on the "insert name of a berry here"Berry (my girls call it the RaspBerry, the LingonBerry, the DingleBerry, etc.).
So you can imagine my frustration as I saw my battery life grow shorter and shorter over the past few weeks. BlackBerrys are known for great battery life, and for almost a year I have had no complaints. Now, I get about 8 hours off of a full charge - way down from the 30-36 hours I would get before.
On my lunch break, I rolled over the store I purchased the phone last March, expecting to swap the battery for a new one. This store is not a "service" store and I need to go across town to the "service" store. The next morning, I wait patiently for the "service" store to open. I flashed my phone to the man behind the counter and barely got the words "I need a batter...." out when he said "Don't have a battery for that phone". ???
I have an 8700 model, which was sold by every carrier you ever heard of and was advertised heavily in early 2007. There must be millions of these phones out there. Here is a transcript of the rest of our conversation:
Me: "Um... where can I get this replaced?"
Him: "You have to order it from the manufacturer."
Me: "Aren't you the service store for XXXXX?" The service I use had their logo displayed in 4,358 places in the store.
Him: "Yeah, but we are ZZZZ ZZZ. We are just an authorized dealer."
Me: "But not authorized to carry batteries for them."
Him: "There aren't that many phones like that out there. You could check out the new battery store over at the mall, they might have it."
Me: "But that wouldn't be covered under my service plan."
Him: "The battery is not covered under the service plan. The phone is, but batteries are an accessory, and accessories aren't covered."
Me: "Don't accessories enhance the use of a product?"
Him: "...yeah..."
Me: "I can use the phone without the headset, I can use the phone without the holder, but I can't use the phone without a battery. I would say the battery is not an accessory."
Him: "Your plan doesn't cover batteries."
What you can't see from this dialogue is the body language of the man behind the counter. He was ready for me to leave as soon as he saw my phone. So I obliged.
I went to the new battery store. They don't open until 10 a.m. and it is only 9:15. I head back to the office and tell my dear wife what is going on. She goes to XXXXX's website and is informed that they can't communicate with customers until their customer service upgrade is complete. ??? A communications company can't communicate with me? Call me crazy, but I would think that a phone company could figure out a way to have their people talk to me even if they worked off a two day old database.
My dear wife found a battery at eforcity.com and promptly ordered it.
Guess what I am going to do when XXXXX's customer service upgrade is done?
I use a BlackBerry for work. I am on the road so much, and having email on my phone makes my life much easier and gives me more time with my family when I am home. I have come to rely on the "insert name of a berry here"Berry (my girls call it the RaspBerry, the LingonBerry, the DingleBerry, etc.).
So you can imagine my frustration as I saw my battery life grow shorter and shorter over the past few weeks. BlackBerrys are known for great battery life, and for almost a year I have had no complaints. Now, I get about 8 hours off of a full charge - way down from the 30-36 hours I would get before.
On my lunch break, I rolled over the store I purchased the phone last March, expecting to swap the battery for a new one. This store is not a "service" store and I need to go across town to the "service" store. The next morning, I wait patiently for the "service" store to open. I flashed my phone to the man behind the counter and barely got the words "I need a batter...." out when he said "Don't have a battery for that phone". ???
I have an 8700 model, which was sold by every carrier you ever heard of and was advertised heavily in early 2007. There must be millions of these phones out there. Here is a transcript of the rest of our conversation:
Me: "Um... where can I get this replaced?"
Him: "You have to order it from the manufacturer."
Me: "Aren't you the service store for XXXXX?" The service I use had their logo displayed in 4,358 places in the store.
Him: "Yeah, but we are ZZZZ ZZZ. We are just an authorized dealer."
Me: "But not authorized to carry batteries for them."
Him: "There aren't that many phones like that out there. You could check out the new battery store over at the mall, they might have it."
Me: "But that wouldn't be covered under my service plan."
Him: "The battery is not covered under the service plan. The phone is, but batteries are an accessory, and accessories aren't covered."
Me: "Don't accessories enhance the use of a product?"
Him: "...yeah..."
Me: "I can use the phone without the headset, I can use the phone without the holder, but I can't use the phone without a battery. I would say the battery is not an accessory."
Him: "Your plan doesn't cover batteries."
What you can't see from this dialogue is the body language of the man behind the counter. He was ready for me to leave as soon as he saw my phone. So I obliged.
I went to the new battery store. They don't open until 10 a.m. and it is only 9:15. I head back to the office and tell my dear wife what is going on. She goes to XXXXX's website and is informed that they can't communicate with customers until their customer service upgrade is complete. ??? A communications company can't communicate with me? Call me crazy, but I would think that a phone company could figure out a way to have their people talk to me even if they worked off a two day old database.
My dear wife found a battery at eforcity.com and promptly ordered it.
Guess what I am going to do when XXXXX's customer service upgrade is done?
Travel Log - Star Date 20080216
Big Girl's basketball team earned a first round bye in the playoffs, so we spent Saturday scouting the other teams. We'll have a tough match up against the winner of the game we saw!
Plane, train or automobile: The trusty Exploder
Mission: In-Store Management Training visits. These were local, so no chance to find a Moe's or rack up some hotel points.
Number of human interactions: 4. Great time with the new management team members and the division manager was very responsive to the program.
State(s) visited: Virginia
City visited: Madison Heights
Interesting fact about this city: Um, it's between Lynchburg and Amherst?
Halpert says: Why did you make me sit in the car? Don't you know that dogs' brains can melt in the heat? Oh yeah... it was 40 degrees.
Plane, train or automobile: The trusty Exploder
Mission: In-Store Management Training visits. These were local, so no chance to find a Moe's or rack up some hotel points.
Number of human interactions: 4. Great time with the new management team members and the division manager was very responsive to the program.
State(s) visited: Virginia
City visited: Madison Heights
Interesting fact about this city: Um, it's between Lynchburg and Amherst?
Halpert says: Why did you make me sit in the car? Don't you know that dogs' brains can melt in the heat? Oh yeah... it was 40 degrees.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Travel Log - Star Date 20080209
I have had two incredibly busy weekends in a row. I belong to the Knights of Columbus and am the committee chair for Civic Center volunteering. This means I coordinate all the volunteers for working a concession stand at the local civic center. We had two big events the past two weekends and I had to make sure we had about 30 shifts covered! Lot's of phone calls, emails and prayers - and we got them all covered. I put in about 20 hours of volunteer work on the two weekends - in addition to being on the road three days each week.
Plane, train or automobile: Still in the trusty old Exploder!
Mission: In-Store management training.
Number of human interactions: 5
State(s) visited: 2
City visited: Charlotte, NC.
Interesting fact about this city: The little town of Harrisburg outside of Charlotte is planning their layout very carefully and will resemble a quaint downtown area when complete. They have shops (hardware store!), boutiques, restaurants and even an auto parts store! I enjoyed lunch there and then visited one of the cleanest Advance Auto Parts that you will ever find.
Halpert says: Why did you leave me all alone at the hotel when you went to work with a new 3rd shift manager at the 24 hour store?
Plane, train or automobile: Still in the trusty old Exploder!
Mission: In-Store management training.
Number of human interactions: 5
State(s) visited: 2
City visited: Charlotte, NC.
Interesting fact about this city: The little town of Harrisburg outside of Charlotte is planning their layout very carefully and will resemble a quaint downtown area when complete. They have shops (hardware store!), boutiques, restaurants and even an auto parts store! I enjoyed lunch there and then visited one of the cleanest Advance Auto Parts that you will ever find.
Halpert says: Why did you leave me all alone at the hotel when you went to work with a new 3rd shift manager at the 24 hour store?
Travel Log - Star Date 20080202
Big Girl scored!! My Big Girl grabbed a rebound and made a shot - not bad for being the littlest kid on the floor! Her team won 31-21 and is now 3 and 1 heading into an off week. Let's see how the playoff seeding shapes up!
Plane, train or automobile: Automobile
Mission: In-Store Training for Management Team Members. My big focus this year will be encouraging the use of our In-Store Training program. I'll get the chance to work with dozens of new management Team Members this year!
Number of human interactions: 6 plus 2 for dinner with a friend of mine and his wife. They moved to Wilmington last year and this was the first chance I had to see them.
State(s) visited: 2
City visited: Wilmington, NC
Interesting fact about this city: Not far from Camp Lejeune. I was so thrilled to see all the "Welcome Home" banners attached to the fences around the Main Entrance. My personal favorite was the one that simply said "DADDY DADDY DADDY". Thank God for our brave soldiers!
Halpert says: um... Halpert missed this trip. Seems he was playing around the house and forgot to jump into my back pack. Ooops!!
Plane, train or automobile: Automobile
Mission: In-Store Training for Management Team Members. My big focus this year will be encouraging the use of our In-Store Training program. I'll get the chance to work with dozens of new management Team Members this year!
Number of human interactions: 6 plus 2 for dinner with a friend of mine and his wife. They moved to Wilmington last year and this was the first chance I had to see them.
State(s) visited: 2
City visited: Wilmington, NC
Interesting fact about this city: Not far from Camp Lejeune. I was so thrilled to see all the "Welcome Home" banners attached to the fences around the Main Entrance. My personal favorite was the one that simply said "DADDY DADDY DADDY". Thank God for our brave soldiers!
Halpert says: um... Halpert missed this trip. Seems he was playing around the house and forgot to jump into my back pack. Ooops!!
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