The Latest News…

 Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 22nd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info

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The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails RV Resort at La Connor, Washington. I’ll depart here August 23rd.

 

First the bad news…

The smoke-gray hazy skies continue in western Washington due to wildfires in British Columbia, Canada. The sun is really a fiery orange/red color. Here’s last evening’s sunset…

 

 

 

 

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other bad news…

Yesterday, my cousin Diane’s husband, Bob, died at age 81. He was neat guy!

 

 

Verizon so called customer service. I remain with very slow, very intermittent service. The reps are all very courteous and respectful. However, when you have a technical problem, they make out a work ticket and tell you to get in line. My latest phone call an hour ago told me … they hope to have it resolved by next Tuesday or Wednesday. By then it will be over one week … and they call that customer service! Grrrr!

 

 

AND THE REALLY BIG GOOD NEWS…

Back on Labor Day. 2016, I began my weight loss program. Yesterday, after 48 weeks and 4 days, I finally achieved the 50 pound mark…which means I’m still averaging slightly over one pound per week. My ultimate goal is only 5.5 pounds away at which time I’ll weigh 157 pounds…the same weight I was at age 21, 55 years ago! Not many folks my age can make that claim! With the weight loss, I’m feeling absolutely terrific!

 

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

 Forecast for today is partly sunny and 73 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Washington. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2017

HANGING ON THE PHONE FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.

 I recently complained about Belkin’s horrible customer service. A rep read my blog and called to tell me they were refunding me post-haste and investigating the people who put me through that alienating experience.

 Hanging on the phone for minutes or hours is an affliction of our modern commerce that bugs me. It makes me think twice before I buy anything on-line. But, all of us can make changes and I had read this before, but I forgot it. So, I’m reminding you and myself again,  that we have a law that can help us fight back against this kind of abuse.

I got this note from a friend of mine who lives in Virginia:  “A gas company recently moved their call center back to Phoenix from India last year after numerous customer complaints.  What a difference now when you call them…and it created 300 jobs.  I know this works because they were so bad that when India answered I wouldn’t even deal with them.  I’d simply ask to be transferred to a supervisor in the U.S. and they would comply.

 Now that I know it is the LAW – I will do it for sure

 Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, Verizon, health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc) and you find that you’re talking to a foreign customer service
representative (perhaps in India , Philippines , etc), please consider doing the following:

 After you connect and you realize that the customer
service representative is not from the USA (you can always ask if you are not sure about the accent), please, very politely (this is not about trashing other cultures) say, “I’d like to speak to a customer service representative in the United States of America ..”The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say, “Thank you, but I’d like to speak to a customer service representative in the USA.

 YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED TO A REP IN THE USA .
That’s the rule and the LAW.

 It takes less than one minute to have your call re-directed to the USA. Tonight when I got redirected to a USA rep, I asked again to make sure – and yes, she was from Fort Lauderdale .

Imagine what would happen if every US citizen insisted on talking to only US phone reps from this day on.

 Imagine how that would ultimately impact the number of
US jobs that would need to be created ASAP.

 If I tell 10 people to consider this and you tell 10
people to consider doing this – see what I mean…it becomes an exercise in viral marketing 101.

 Remember

The goal here is to restore jobs back here at home –
not to be abrupt or rude to a foreign phone rep.

You may even get correct answers, good advice, and solutions to your problem – in real English.”

Thank you Guerry for reminding me of a law that makes sense for America. In fact my daughter, after the economy took a tumble, got a job for a brief time in a call center. The rules were draconian, you had to stand all day rather than sit because your presentation is better when standing. Within 3 months, I think it was, the call center was transferred to the Philippines. She, and the other employees were out of work. She found a better job, but it took three moves to get to something tolerable. The way people are treated, on the job without unions, is nearly as bad as the “Snake Pit” of the 1920’s meat-packing industry and the horror of the garment industry in New York City after modest reforms.

ANGER ISN’T GOOD FOR YOU (OR ME).

I like the Quaker Oats company, I like the purity of rolled oats, the texture and health benefits. I did some grocery shopping yesterday and stopped into my favorite dollar store where they often have items I regularly use that cost $3 for $1.

I picked up the item above. I’d left my glasses in the car and decided to get to the check out stand and bolt to the car for my glasses so I could read the ingredients. I normally don’t buy anything that has more than 3 or 4 ingredients because I don’t like eating chemicals.

Distractedly talking to the clerk, I bought it without going for my glasses. When I got home, I read the label. This product has 74 ingredients.

It has sugar, honey, caramel, invert sugar, corn syrup, sweetened dried pieces of cranberries, elderberry juice concentrate and each item like brown rice crisps, whole grain brown rice, malted barley flour, all heavily processed,  on and on, each subset of ingredients has sugar over and over again. So, 74 ingredients actually repeats sugar over and over again. Thankfully, the box does not state the product is healthy or good for you. The saturated fat alone is enough to turn me off. I didn’t follow my own rule of reading the label before I buy, so this $1 piece of crap goes directly into the garbage can where it belongs.

But, that isn’t what made me angry. I’m angered by the poor customer service I received while trying to return two Linksystem Routers.  I ordered one and received two.  I know this happens to everyone once in awhile and Jim and I always agreed that some blunders and shoddy service do not merit a rant, but  sometimes, it reaches the boiling point in frustration.

I needed the router in Oregon. I ordered from Linksystems, by phone, which is a Canadian firm (Linksystems-Panasonic.) Instead of being shipped to Oregon, two identical boxes were waiting for me when I returned to California. By then, I had decided to go with a jet pack of some type and forget the router.

When I check my credit card, over the phone, they didn’t have a purchase from Linksystems. We eventually figure out it came from BELKIN. It seems BELKIN purchased the company in Canada and mistakenly shipped me, and charged me for two of the same product.

I spoke with the first customer service rep, Willy, who explained he would send me a prepaid label to return them since they were unopened. Of course, it didn’t arrive. Then came Rachel, Rod, Morgan and Mike.  The supervisor of these incompetents, would not talk to me. Five different phone calls, a conservative estimate, at  three hours waiting on-line, and yesterday, I finally got one label to return two boxes.

I took the boxes to UPS  where I got someone who isn’t afraid to make a decision. He just taped the boxes together and sent them with the one label.  I was very angry and decided I lose if I allow myself to get so angry and frustrated.

So make my loss your win and don’t do business with BELKIN. I will never do business with that company and don’t buy their stock either. You’ll lose money.

Jim also corrected my blog from yesterday. It hasn’t been over a year since we’ve seen each other. I guess it just seemed that way.

 

 

 

 

 

Customer Service – Recent Night And Day Experiences

Recently…on August 1st…I wrote my very first rant ever…entitled A Full-Time RVers Perspective On Customer Service.

Here’s the link in case you missed it…

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2011/08/01

Since that time I have experienced the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE OF MY LIFE!

It all revolves around my new Sony Cyber-Shot DSCHX5V Camera…as shown here…

I ordered the camera from Amazon on July 25…received it July 29…and after a short while found the memory card slot to be factory defective…so on August 6…shipped it to the Sony Customer Satisfaction Repair Center in Laredo, Texas. Without going into all the specific details…trust me on this…Sony has the very worst of customer service! Here’s the Sony logo…how appropriate that for other than the words…it’s all black! Also the words…Make.Believe…how appropriate for that’s exactly describes their customer service. Don’t get me wrong…I love Sony products and have bought many over the years. This is the first time that I have had to deal with their so-called customer repair service. Again…just trust me…they do not have a clue what those words mean! I finally demanded that they return the unrepaired camera to me. As you might have already guessed…that’s my recent Night experience.

Now on to the Day experience…Amazon…they are just terrific! I went to their online site…entered my phone number…and WITHIN FIVE SECONDS…my cell phone rang and it was an Amazon customer service representative on the line wanting to know how he could help me. Again…without going into all the details…I ordered a replacement camera…same Sony model. They are not even charging me for the replacement camera…but trusting me to return the defective camera to them. I ordered the camera at 2:00 PM yesterday and it is scheduled to be delivered today. NOW…THAT’S CUSTOMER SERVICE!

Mr. Sony…I hope you get to read this second rant of mine. You make great products…but your customer service stinks! I would have used stronger words…but I’m a gentleman. End of Story!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

A Full-Time RVer’s Perspective On Customer Service…

Note: I was going to title this Blog entry 2,047 Words About Modern-Day Customer Service…but…I liked the new title better.

This Blog entry is Revision 1 to 609 Words About Modern-Day Customer Service which I published on July 22, 2001…a mere ten days ago…but then I realized that I had only scratched the surface of this topic.

My Fair Lady is one of my very favorite stage plays/movie in which Rex Harrison sings a song entitled “I’m An Ordinary Man”. Here in part… are some of the lyrics from that song…to which I can relate to…

I’m a very gentle man,
even-tempered and good-natured
who you never hear complain,
Who has the milk of human kindness
by the quart in every vein,
A patient man am I, down to my fingertips,
the sort who never could, ever would,
let an insulting remark escape his lips
A very gentle man…

EXCEPT WHEN IT COMES TO POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!

I view these above words as applying to me…after all…I live a very peaceful and serene life in my 16th year of vacation (full-time RVing)…a very relaxed, laid-back kind of guy living my life one day at a time.

BUT…nothing ruffles my feathers like poor modern-day customer service. This is my 1,269th Blog entry and have never ranted about one thing. I think the law of averages has caught up with me! A mere ten days ago I spouted my very first rant …unlike my life-partner Mary who rants like Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park…which starts right underneath the below line…the remainder to Revision 1 can be found at its end…

————————————————————————————————————————-

609 Words About Modern-Day Customer Service             Published July 22, 2011

It’s really hard to find! How’s that for a few words?

I’m lucky in so many ways. One on those ways is that I have little interface with the outside world…outside of my peaceful, quiet and serene RVing lifestyle world. I went paperless about one year ago and that appears to be working well.

But…every once in a while…I do have to interface with the outside world. And every once in a while…I need assistance…sometimes to file a compliant …more often than not…about poor customer service.

What ever happened to real customer service? It seems to me that…in today’s modern world…that when I seek some form of assistance…the person/company to whom I am making the request makes an instant evalation….is there any money associated to why this person is bothering me???? If not…customer service…never heard of it!

And don’t you just love those automated menu-answering systems that never seem to address my particular problem and won’t let you speak to a real-live human being…but instead just keeps you going around in a never-ending circle? Grrrrrrr!

And then…finally when you do get to speak to a real live human being…all they know how to say is…no…you can’t do that instead of… of course..you bet no problem. How in the world did they ever get a job as a “Customer Service Representative”? They do not have a clue as to the meaning of the words! It seems like there’s a formula…the larger the company…the lesser the understanding of customer service. When you’ve got millions of customers…they truly don’t care about me and my piddly little problem(s).

But…there are exceptions to this general rule. The old one-in-a-million trick!

Because of my reclusive life style…my major interface with the outside world is through either a cell phone or computer. Do you know that a mere six years ago…I had neither in my life? Anyways..both of these methods are through a company known as Verizon Wireless.

I’m happy to say that Verizon Wireless seems to understand the words customer service and…most of the times…not always…I’m satisfied with their attempt at customer service.

Now…ABOUT MY ONCE-IN-A-MILLION EXPERIENCE! If you are a regular follower of my Blog you know that in my last two entries I’ve described the physical process of shifting Internet Gears from 3G to 4G. Prior to the actual switching…there was lots investigation/homework to be done regarding what equipment choices to select.

Along the way I happen to connect with a delightful gal in Verizon technical support by the name of Peggy…and let me tell you…she is very knowledgeable…and just a hoot. This lady fully understands the words customer service! She could make millions teaching customer service…if anybody cared enough to want to learn about it.

Anyway…she has provided me with outstanding customer service…and you won’t believe this…she actually gave me her email address (they do not have individual phone extensions) so that I might contact her directly if I had any further questions or problems. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? It’s true! Now…when I have another question or problem…I send her a brief email and usually within a very few moments…she is back in touch with me! Fantastic! It almost takes my breath away!

I was so moved by her level of customer service I actually went out of my way to identify her supervisors so that I could send them an email message about her outstanding customer service.

Whew…as you can tell…I was really moved by my experience with her. Peggy…thank you…you are truly one-in a-million! You’ve made me a very happy camper!  🙂

————————————————————————————————————————–

Revision 1 continues below…

It seems that in the last ten days I’ve had a rash of poor customer service which prompted this revision. Here are the happenings including the company names…

3Gstore.com…

I recently purchased our new 4G router..with which my new modem was experiencing interface problems…from these folks…whom customer service I normally like. You can actually talk to a live human-being technical support person. Except on weekends! C’mon 3G…get with it…we now live in a 24/7 world…well…at least a 7 world. Would it financially break you to have a weekend customer service rep for people who are having real problems during a weekend?

Sirius-XM Radio…

A few days back my Sirius-XM decided it would no longer receive more than one channel. So…I called customer support. Where do these companies go beyond India???? This customer service gal spoke with such a heavy accent that I had to ask her three times…to repeat what she said…that it could be up to seven days before someone from technical support could look into my problem! I asked her to re-hit my signal and fortunately about one-half hour later my Sirius-XM Radio started working normally once again. BUT…c’mon…up to seven days for technical support!

Lulu.com…

is the publisher of my three books. I needed a download copy of one of my books…and because I’m the author…I can download a copy for free…that’s if my Free Download button was working properly! No talking to a live customer service rep here. The best one can do is “Live Chat”. Two live chats…and two emails…and five days later…my Free Download button is still not working! Good thing I decided not to hold my breath while I waited for my download to arrive! I wouldn’t be writing this revision!

Thousand Trails RV Resorts…

of which I am a member…and once upon a time I used to sell memberships for them. Ten years ago today I was the top-selling rep in the Pacific Northwest…but today nobody remembers or cares. Recently my life-partner Mary and I blended our two memberships into an upgraded Elite Membership on June 30th. On July 1st I called member services requesting that the unused $250 dues from my membership be applied to our new membership dues. Several phone calls…I’ve even requested that the department manager call me three days ago…and three emails later…you guessed it No response. What???? You want your unused money transferred to you new membership dues? Another…good thing I’m not holding my breath situation.

Amazon.com…

Even my long-time favorite Amazon is showing signs of slipping away from great customer service. I recently…accidently… ordered the wrong item. In the past all you had to do was click a link and immediately be able to printout a return label. No more! Now all you get is a “contact the seller” link and then wait 2-3 days for the seller to contact you! Amazon is no longer Amazing! This Amazon vendor actually contacted me and told me that he only made a $2 profit on the item…and for that I also expected customer service? So…I thought about his comment… for only a short moment and came up with an answer. Amazon…or any other vendor/seller for that matter…should be required to put an asterisk on the price and explain…for this price you get little to no customer service! End of problem!

Norton Internet Security…

First of all they make it very difficult to find your way through the maze of pages to find a telephone number to call them. Then the computer screen said estimated six minutes wait time to talk to a customer service representative…after 50 minutes of listening to horrible recycled music I finally gave up and hung up…to try again another day! Terrible customer service!

Is it me???? Am I just a grouchy old man with nothing to do but harass these poor companies? I might be old-fashioned in that I believe that if I pay good money for a product…good customer service should come with the product.

I can prove that I’m not just a grouchy old man…I recently found another company who understands great customer service…

4UCam.com…

I bought my rear view camera for the motorhome from a company called 4UCam. Just a couple of days ago the Sony Camera…the primary reason I bought the system…without warning…gave up the ghost…quit working. Of course I was out of the one year warranty…but I sent them an email expressing my disappointment. Within one hour I got a call from Joe in their customer service department. Without going into details Joe offered me a fair deal on a replacement unit. They sell a wide variety of vehicle camera products and if you are in the market for something they offer…I can highly recommend them to you. Joe told me his job was to turn an unhappy customer into a happy customer! Can you imagine that???? Thanks for your phone call, Joe.  Here’s their website link  http://www.4ucam.com/ .

Enough of specific companies…let’s talk in general. As brick and mortar stores disappear…more online stores arrive. Some of them do not identify where they are physically located or a telephone number…just in case you have a problem with one of their products. If you a lucky you may get a “Live Chat” box or and email us link…and after that…don’t bother us unless you want to send us more money!

One thing that a vendor does not realize about people like me is…our temporary delivery addresses…usually expire at a very short time in the future. Like right now…my temporary delivery address will no longer be valid in another 14 days…so…time is of the essence!

CUSTOMER SERVICE…IS IT AN ENDANGERED SPECIES????

So…I’ll conclude this rant by saying…Customer Service…in my humble opinion…is not totally dead…there are still a few good guy companies out there…unfortunely there are more bad guys than good guys. One can avoid some of these problems by…before making a purchase…evaluating how many different ways and how easy it is to connect with both the customer service and technical service departments. The old adage remains…Buyer Beware!

Whew…it’s a good thing I don’t do this very often…the gall of me…in thinking it’s the principal of the thing…the right thing to do!

PS: I prepared the draft of this Revision 1 on July 28th with the intent of a publish date of August 1st. Within an hour of saving it to my hard drive…both Lulu.com and Thousand Trails RV Resorts telephoned me to advise that my request had been fulfilled. That’s great ESP…how do they do that? That still does not get them off the hook from me telling you about them. A person should not be required to harass, harang, etc…to get good customer service…a good vendor offers it freely!

PPS: Usually my Blog entries are short and to the point…much like Joe Friday from the old television series Dragnet…when he used to say “Just the facts, Ma’am! I tend to be more of a photographer than a writer. I believe that this has become my most verbose Blog entry!

🙂 ‘Nuff said!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

609 Words About Modern-Day Customer Service…

It’s really hard to find! How’s that for a few words?

I’m lucky in so many ways. One on those ways is that I have little interface with the outside world…outside of my peaceful, quiet and serene RVing lifestyle world. I went paperless about one year ago and that appears to be working well.

But…every once in a while…I do have to interface with the outside world. And every once in a while…I need assistance…sometimes to file a compliant …more often than not…about poor customer service.

What ever happened to real customer service? It seems to me that…in today’s modern world…that when I seek some form of assistance…the person/company to whom I am making the request makes an instant evalation….is there any money associated to why this person is bothering me???? If not…customer service…never heard of it!

And don’t you just love those automated menu-answering systems that never seem to address my particular problem and won’t let you speak to a real-live human being…but instead justs keeps your going around in a never-ending circle?

And then…finally when you do get to speak to a real live human being…I wonder…with their personality and so-called assistance…which seems to be most of the time…no…you can’t do that instead of… of course..you bet no problem. How in the world did they ever get a job as a “Customer Service Representative”? They do not have a clue as to the meaning of the words! It seems like there’s a formula…the larger the company…the lesser the understanding of customer service. When you’ve got millions of customers…why care about one person and their tiny little problem(s)?

But…there are exceptions to this general rule. The old one-in-a-million trick!

Because of my reclusive life style…my major interface with the outside world is through either a cell phone or computer. Do you now that a mere six years ago…I had neither in my life? Anyways..both of these methods are through a company known as Verizon Wireless.

I’m happy to say that Verizon Wireless seems to understand the words customer service and…most of the times…not always…I’m satisfied with their attempt at customer service.

Now…ABOUT MY ONCE-IN-A-MILLION EXPERIENCE! If you are a regular follower of my Blog you know that in my last two entries I’ve described the physical process of shifting Internet Gears from 3G to 4G. Prior to the actual switching…there was lots investigation/homework to be done regarding what equipment choices to select.

Along the way I happen to connect with a delightful gal in Verizon technical support by the name of Peggy…and let me tell you…she is very knowledgeable…and just a hoot. This lady fully understands the words customer service! She could make millions teaching customer service…if anybody cared enough to want to learn about it.

Anyway…she has provided me with outstanding customer service…and you won’t believe this…she actually gave me her email address (they do not have individual phone extensions) so that I might contact her directly if I had any further questions/problems. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? It’s true! Now…when I have another question’problem…I send her a brief email and usually within a very few moments…she is back in touch with me! Fantastic! It almost takes my breath away!

I was so moved by her level of customer service I actually went out of my way to identify her supervisors so that I could send them an email message about her outstanding customer service.

Whew…as you can tell…I was really moved by my experience with her. Peggy…thank you…you are truly one-in a-million! You’ve made me a very happy camper!  🙂

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://lulu.com/panamaorbust