The Post

I think I'm going to start sporadically doing "This Day in Pictures" entries, a la The Washington Post. Because I can tell you stories, sure, but sometimes a picture says it all. Yeah, I think I'll do that.

Circuit City

So I went to Circuit City this weekend to get my dad's birthday present. In order to make things a little less time consuming, I did the whole "order online and pick it up in the store" deal. Since we were at my sister's house, we decided to check the in-store availability at the Beltsville location. The website said that it was available, so we ordered it, waited about 45 minutes, and then went to the store. When we got there, I did the usual: went to the customer service counter, gave them my order number... The Circuit City employee then went to get my item. No, let me rephrase that. The Circuit City employee then went to GO LOOKING FOR my item.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the whole point of ordering online to pick up in the store was to make things go faster. They tell you to give them 25 minutes, but that's really not very long. Ideally, you should be able to order your item, and by the time you've gotten ready, left your house, and driven to the store, 25 minutes has elapsed and your item should be waiting for you. Not the case here. After about 20 minutes of standing there waiting, this is what happens:

Circuit City employee (CCE): I'm sorry ma'am, but your item is nowhere to be found.
Me: I'm sorry, what??
CCE: We can't find your item anywhere in the store.
Me: But I bought it online and the website said it was in stock and that my order went through.
CCE: Well, we had one of them, but the store manager took it and we don't know where she put it.
Me: Well, where is the store manager?
CCE: She left for the day already.
Me: Well, can someone CALL her? I mean, I ordered it online to save time and because I need it for tomorrow. The website said it was in stock, and my order went through. You guys have $200 of my money and I drove all the way out here, and now you're telling me that my item is "nowhere to be found."
CCE: Okay, let me try and call her. (She disappears for another few minutes) Okay, she's not answering her phone.
(Then she stares blankly at me, as if I'm just going to say, "Okay, never mind then. I'll just go home.")
Me: Uhhhhhh... so what am I supposed to do, then?
CCE: Hold on... (disappears for another few minutes) Here it is.
(Lo and behold, she has the item I ordered)
Me: Thank you. Now, don't you guys have some sort of 25 minute guarantee or something? (Note that almost 2 hours has elapsed since I placed my order - 45 minutes before we left the house, 20 minutes to drive there, 20 minutes for her to NOT find my order, and another 15 minutes of trying to locate the manager.)
CCE: Yes, ma'am, we will give you a $25 gift card for the inconvenience.

So thank you, Circuit City of Beltsville, for being so incompetent. I now have a $25 gift card.

Now, I know I sound really unforgiving here, but I spent 7 years working in customer service, and there are so many things you can do for someone in that situation. Don't just stare at me when you tell me something like, you can't find my order. Give me some options on what I'm supposed to do, get your manager, ask someone else, SOMETHING. I mean, really, did she just expect me to walk out and be okay with the fact that I just spend $200 and was about to get NOTHING? Let's be real, people...

An Open Letter to Comcast

Dear Comcast,

As a customer who frequently has to call you in order to get my service restored due to various connectivity issues, I'd like you to please get a new repertoire of music. I am very very tired of hearing the instrumental version of "The Look of Love," and hearing the song in any other respect makes me want to blow my brains out. I'm sure you know that your customers have to call you over and over and over again, and are on hold for several minutes at a time, and the very least you can do is provide us with a litte variety every once in a while. That's all I'm saying. Thanks.

-Me

I must be doing something wrong.

So they finally hired a temp for me. She's doing all of my filing, sorting, scanning, shredding... all my bitch work, basically. Thank God. That crap was time-consuming and ridiculously tedious. So I'm more than happy to dump it on someone else.

But... um... why does she drive a Porsche? And not just any Porsche either. The Cayenne. Yeah. The big one... that starts at $43k. I drive a janky VW Jetta that needs new tires and for someone to re-attach part of the bumper. I must be doing something wrong. Maybe I need to go back to being a temp. And no, she's not married, so it's not like it's her husband's money. I'm such a hater. I know this. But come on. Why does my assistant have a better ride than me???