[Chefelf]

This morning started out with a bang. Firstly, I went to my favorite post office to pick up my mail that had been left there because the mail carrier claimed that our mailbox was broken. (For the record, it is not).

When I went in I saw my favorite little ray of sunshine standing there behind the bullet-proof glass scowling as usual. She made a few gestures at me as I stood there and I had to ask her what she wanted. Without using any sort of words, grunts or noises she continued to gesture sharply at the sliding bar above the bullet-proof glass window. I eventually figured out that she needed me to push the bar forward and when I did she accepted the cards that had been left in my mailbox. One was a slip claiming that our mail could not be delivered because our mailbox was broken, a claim that I can only assume was concocted by a mail carrier who was either bored, a liar or a bored liar. The other slip was for an Amazon.com delivery that could not fit in my mailbox because it was a single DVD shipped in a box large enough to mail a Volkswagen Jetta.

She then held out her hand slackly, turning her head away and rolling her eyes as if this was the biggest bother that had been imposed upon her in the past several months. I nudged the cards forward a little which only made her a little angrier and she gestured more firmly with her open palm. Did she want cash? A tip for outstanding service? A screwdriver to pry open the sliding glass window?

"Oh!" I thought to myself. "This is her primitive way of requesting identification!"

"Do you need my I.D.?" I asked aloud.

"That would help," she barked, annoyed.

It's always pleasant when people choose "sarcastic annoyance" as their first method of communication with a customer rather than something old and trite such as "pleasant greeting" or even "mild tolerance."

After rooting around in the back like a rather inept pig searching clumsily for truffles she returned with my Amazon.com package then gave me a few odd envelopes and returned one of the slips to me. "I can't find all the mail."

"Oh. So what should I do?"

"I don't know, they'll probably bring it to you. It's your fault because your mailbox was broken."

"Actually it's not but thanks for that. So, will they bring the mail to me today?"

"Probably."

"Probably?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Thanks for your help."

I then left and headed to the pharmacy. I want to be professional so I won't mention that it was a Rite Aid Pharmacy. I had to drop off a prescription from my doctor. While I waited in line I couldn't help but hear one of the pharmacy employees talking extremely loudly on the phone about how the world was a terrible place because no one is religious. It went a little something like this:

"The world is falling apart! You know why? Because no one accepts religion! No one understands the lord's mission! You know what else? People just walk around like being a homosexual is okay! People just act like homosexuals and people accept it! That's what's wrong with the world today!"

When I returned home I figured that there was no way I could get slapped with another blatant showing of piss poor customer service. How wrong I was.

I had to call my health insurance company to find out if they would cover the prescription I had to pick up. My doctor had warned me that I should check with my health plan first since the pills are very expensive. When I called them they informed me that of the 70 pills my doctor would like me to take they will only allow me to receive 9. When I inquired why it went a little something like this:

"Why only 9?"

"Well, that's all your plan allows."

"And why is that?"

"These pills are not on our preferred list."

"Not preferred."

"Yes."

"Why not?"

"We'd just prefer that you not take them."

"Ah. Would that preference have something to do with some sort of medical research you have done to determine the safety to me?"

"No."

"Would it be because of some secret that the pill manufacturer has about how the pills are a source of evil?"

"No."

"Hmmm... what else could it be? Oh, is it because they're expensive?"

"Yes."

"Ah. So you don't want me to take them because they're expensive?"

"Yes."

"But, my doctor would like me to take them because she believes they will make me stop being ill."

"Yes, but we'd prefer you don't."

"Excellent. So what do I do in this case?"

"You have to have your doctor take time away from treating sick people and engage in a never-ending crusade to lobby us to allow you to have these pills."

"Well that sounds reasonable, thank you for your time."

"Our pleasure. Thank you for utilizing the outstanding service that we provide."

"The pleasure is all mine."

So there you have it. That's my customer service trilogy for today and all of this occurred before I even ate my lunch. There's no way of telling what amazing stories of customer service heroics are awaiting me for the rest of my day. I'm getting giddy with anticipation just thinking about it!

Is it any wonder why so many people go through every day feeling like the world is against them?

[David-kyo]

This is why I root for the gun-wielding bloke everytime when they go postal in a McDonald's.

[Deepsycher]

By the description of the office worker she sounds like a pig to me.
I use to feel like the world was against me and I still do, sometimes.
Especially when they put a price on everything like for those pills.

"We'd prefer that you DON'T get better because it's TOO expensive..."
Not very insuring is it?

I conversioned an awful customer helpdesk support at Hauppauge to do with a mis-specification. I have most of the conversation written down because I felt so insulted and belittled by some of the people claiming to be technical who gave me misleading advice. In the end I proved them wrong and got my money back in full.


Mind saying what the pills are for?

This post has been edited by Deepsycher: 21 September 2006 - 03:04 PM

[Jordan]

Do hospitals in the states let people die in a death room? Like if they're not covered are they good as dead? Not palative care, but a room for poor people with no coverage.

I can't believe your plan would not cover the required amount. Whats the point of having a doctor if you can't even use his perscription?

What if you don't have enough money to make up the difference? Do you go to the death room?

This post has been edited by Jordan: 21 September 2006 - 03:05 PM

[Sailor Abbey]

That reminds me: I myself have been expecting a package from Amazon.com. Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 to be exact. Instead of leaving a slip in the mail box for me to go to the post office and pick it up, the mail man has decided to keep it on his person. He drove up into the driveway yesterday and beeped his horn wildly and waited 7 seconds before he began to pull away. Whatever happened to coming to the door? We had a different mailman today so god knows when I’ll get my package.

[Lefty]

You are indeed a little elf in the big city--this sort of thing would never happen back in the Shire!

Well, except the lady who thinks people need to fix the world by getting more religion & hating people who are different. That would probably happen there. Oh, & health insurance is probably similar.

But like, the bad customer service? It's probably WAY marginally better!

However, John Stewart seldom carries 18 cups of coffee through the Shire.

[civilian_number_two]

Hmm. I thought the employee in the pharmacy complaining about homosexuality and atheism was a man.

Chef, I hope you feel better soon and stuff.

[Deepsycher]

Well nevermind about health insurance, one day it might even be costly to just walk down the street looking back at Insurance trainers. That is such a classic example about the pills of the sort of thing they would do.

To me it shows that insurances are now a form of control influenced by how money people got. So I am guessing that the freedom to take those pills could have been limited by that. Really I see them using the mass majority with a bunch of excuses to control "outsiders" like a flock of sheep to keep everybody the same.

Because they may claim that no else gets it and the costs of paying for them for one person they could argue that it IS fair: "The mass majority never asks for the those pills neither do they feel well so why should YOU be any DIFFERENT?"

This post has been edited by Deepsycher: 22 September 2006 - 12:36 PM

[Chefelf]

Chef, I hope you feel better soon and stuff.

Thanks, civ. Not to worry... just a routine prescription. Overally I'm fine. Every so often a doctor feels the need to give you a prescription for SOMETHING that will make you better.