Customer Service at its best

Wing  and I (I'm still using crutch) went grocery shopping, and had a rather full cart.  All the lines were long, so we did like usual; no matter which line you get into, the other will go faster.

I hear someone say behind me "slide over to Number One".  It was one of the cashiers I know rather well. He opened up the register a few minutes early, before someone else's shift, so we could go through the check out.
Very grateful for that, more than he knows.  Home now, sore, tired, but a bit of faith in humanity and manners restored.

The art of the polite complaint

I have been ordering from one certain online store on a regular basis for several years.  And typically, within two business days after I've submitted and paid for said order, they would send out "FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER $100".   Seeing as every order I have submitted has been over $100, this timing got very annoying... and I told them so, politely.

I got a response.. and a $15 gift certificate for my next purchase, good for one year.

I don't understand all the hate towards TELSTRA

I got an overdue notice from Telstra, which I thought at first was a spoof email, until I checked the routing and IP address. It was legit.

So, then I was wondering WTF because I checked our bank, and I had paid the bill. Two months worth, as I missed the previous month because I forgot. Alan was in the hospital, and it completely slipped my mind.

Next step, I called Telstra, waiting only about 2 minutes if that on hold. I explained that I was looking at my bank statement and it clearly showed I did pay the full amount. She asked if we had another telstra account. Yes, Wing 's phone.

Yup, I had paid MY phone bill amount on his phone bill.

Easy peasy fix. She confirmed his details, saw that I did make the payment on the wrong bill, and transferred the payment to my phone account.

Now that is customer service

My "Lady Jayne" hairbrush handle cracked.  I have a hair tie holding together right now. I have been looking for another one but it seems that the brush designs have changed.  

I called Lady Jayne company, and was put through to a very nice woman, Christine.  I explained the situation, about how I have really long hair, and finding the right brush is rather important. I described the brush and she suggested I take photos and send them to her in an email with my phone number included.  She gave me email address, and I have now done so.

She will be checking it, and let me know which new design has replaced mine. :)

Mediasonic only SELLS worldwide

But they won't support their products if you were unfortunate enough to buy them.

During the 'Hard drive Disasters' of a few months ago, Seagate sent me back a replacement hard drive without the enclosure (that's another story of crappy support, but I digress), so I ordered one from PC Case Gear. A Mediasonic ProBox HDL-SU3 3.5' SATA Hard Drive Enclosure, marketed as a "Hotway ROCK HDL-Series".

It was delivered forthwith, and there didn't seem to be an issue....at first. Then I noticed that Hard Drive Sentinel was 'blank' in regards to identifying the drive/case. Windows ID'ed the drive (make, volume, storage)Being tech savvy, I went through the check list of troubleshooting (this is my polite way of saying "Don't try to give me advice, I know what I'm doing) and still nothing.

After a week, I contacted HDS. Turns out that the issue is with the MediaSonic case chipset. It's not sending the data needed.

From HDS:

Originally, when USB 3.0 enclosures released, we contacted them to make sure that the new products should contain the required functions. But the problem is that for some manufacturers, their customers are not really important and ignored this.

Personally I'd be more than happy if I can change, modify the software in any ways: if there would be a problem/bug in Hard Disk Sentinel, I would surely fix it and add support for this enclosure. But as the limitation is related to the enclosure itself (its chipset), I can't really improve.

Since the problem was the chipset, I contacted MediaSonic.. this is their reply (keep in mind, they sell worldwide)

Hi, We only provide support to our customers who purchase our products from our distributors in North American.

If you meet the above criteria , please provide photos showing front and back of the enclosure and a copy of receipt.

Regard, Vincent Mediasonic Support

Vincent's reply is disingenuous as my email address clearly shows I am NOT in the North America, and I informed them I purchased the item at PC Case Gear, an Australian company. They don't/won't provide a firmware update unless you bought it from North America distributor.

So, my local to me friends, and those also NOT in North America, steer clear of MediaSonic aka Hotway Rock HDL Series. Because if there's a problem, you're screwed. (They could have at least offered a kiss first, yes?)

Being polite when making a complaint has rewards

Just got off phone with store manager/owner, who fell all over himself apologizing for the stuff up yesterday

Because of the goof, we are getting an upgrade on which mattress.

Well, that was a wasted day

Wing and I went to Snooze to get a new mattress for Alan, as he has springs coming out of it. We ordered it and were told it would be delivered on Thursday, today.

So, I waited around today, blowing off a photoshoot in Fremantle.  I told a friend that I couldn't be moral support at tattoo parlor, as I had a delivery due to come today.  (Luckily, sort of, her tattooist couldn't make it so it's been rescheduled)

I waited. Now, Thursdays are late trading but when it got close to 5pm and still no show, I called Snooze.  Couriers have gone home, owner went home, mattress not here, mattress might be in the warehouse... :/ 

I get to play the waiting game again tomorrow.  Oh joy. :p

It might only be 50 cents..

Last month, I changed my Coles Mastercard to e-statements, so more paper statements, saving 50 cents, and a tree, per month.

Got me email notice, checked the statement online, and noticed I was charged 50 cents for paper statement.

I called Coles MC toll free customer service number, got through very quickly, and had the charge reversed immediately. All under 3 minutes. 

Considering the wonky customer service I've gotten from Peak Design, and from a services I renewed my subscription, it was a pleasent surprise.

Smash forehead into keyboard to continue

Ok, I am really on my last nerve when it comes to telecommunications, whether phone or computer. 

Our router died after years of long service. IINET did send another very quickly. That's the good news. Bad news is it doesn't like my wireless on my desktop, and when I start more than one program that accesses the internet, the "default gateway" goes "fnurky" and I have to reset the router.  Of course, first thing is they say it HAS To me my network adapter.  Umm, no, seeing as it can connect and stay connected to 3 different wireless routers/Wifi devices.  So, after a few hours hammering away, IINET support said they will send another modem, give that one a try see if that works. (Hey, did my purchase curse apply here?) 

And in OTHER news: Ordered new handset for Alan via VodaFone, forever now until the sun goes supernova, shall be known as VodaFail, on the 5th of November.  No show for 3 weeks. I email via their support page. Gist of the message from them was "Oops, our bad! Will send it out right away!"

Go forward another 3 weeks, and nothing. I call. I'm not happy. I'm made to chant the my details over and over and over. They have no record of my emailing their support.  Funny, I have not only the reply from their support but a reference number.  Pregnant pause ensued.  FINALLY, they will be sending the phone in 3 to 5 days.

It arrived today.  Did I mention they knew that this was an upgrade from a Samsung Galaxy S2, so would need a new sim chip? Shoot, even the gal who I dealt with on Nov 5th told me that!  Guess what DIDN'T arrive with the phone.  (insert a string of words that would make a 20 yr Marine Drill Instructor blush).  I call VodaFail, while on the landline with IINET, and Again, I am NOT happy here.  Paying for 2 $%%#%$*&@# months of phone service that can't be used? 

I told them that they had better not DARE to send me a survey again, because they would NOT like the responses.  I have a headache, my eyes hurt and I can hear the blood pounding in my ears.

Nice to see that Good Customer Service isn't totally extinct

Yesterday, three QuickFlix DVDs arrived, but it had been raining, and the mailman didn't insert them fully into the mailbox. They got soaked. 

I had tried to carefully remove the mailing envelopes, but they dissolved into mush. The DVDs were ok, but the mailers were gone.

I logged onto QuickFlix site, and sent them a message via "contact us" after business hours yesterday.

This morning, I get a call. They are going to mark the 'mailer-less' DVDs as returned, so the next three are sent out immediately. When done with those, just double up the DVDs in the mailers. 

Might be a tight squeeze, and if the mailer opens on the sides, I can and will use either tape or stapler to close the edges.

Side effect of phone having a breakdown

Although I have most of my apps restored via GooglePlay, one of them seems to have vanished.

I went to the app author's site, Ximad, and saw the app was listed there, and sent my details of original purchase. The reply was "That app is no longer available on GooglePlay."  It was all I could do to not respond "No shit, Sherlock. That's why I'm contacting you." I reiterated that it was listed on their site for Android, as well as Windows and iPhone.

I got replay "That app is no longer available on GooglePlay."   I pointed out about their listing, and this time the reply was "We forgot to update the site. The app is no longer available."  I told them that due to the nature of the internet, the app was still available but I would prefer to get it from the original programmer/source.  Told again, it's not available. No explanation, nada.  I mean, if they had told me they sold the rights to it (they hadn't) it would be one thing, but what they did was pull it and put out an "in app purchases" version, which I did NOT want.  "The app isn't available"?

Really?  Then why was I able to find it elsewhere and install it?  No, I didn't pirate it, but after the 10 message runaround Ximad gave me, it was tempting.

So, screw you, XiMad. Anything you might come up with again can rot for all I care because your customer service sucks.