Monday, June 22, 2015
I was so angry earlier today that I actually spoke the full F-word in all its glory when talking to someone on the phone. I guarantee that was the first time in more than a decade.
I was rushing to get stuff done so that I could drive up to the country house this evening to meet the a/c installers tomorrow. Then I checked my email. Not the main id, the one I'd given to the a/c people to use, no, it was my secondary id. The one I use when I'm afraid I might be inviting a torrent of spam. The one I used way back when I was checking out a/c companies in general.
The email was from the secretary from the a/c company, informing me that my system installation is scheduled for July 1. That's not tomorrow. That's more than a week away.
Why did I think it was tomorrow? Because the owner and president of the company, the guy who came out to look at the house and assess my requirements, with whom I had been emailing back and forth, COMMITTED to tomorrow. He had sent me the contract to sign and send back with a check, but it didn't have any dates on it. I told him that the installation date was very important to me, and I couldn't send him a down payment and signed contract without an installation date. (I don't consider it a contract without a committed date, because if they couldn't do the work soon, I'd have to say no thanks and find someone else who could do it sooner.) So, in his emailed response to me, he committed to June 23.
I freaked.
I called the secretary and informed her that the boss had committed to tomorrow. She (bureaucrat to the core) said that their procedure is that they don't schedule installation until the check for 1/2 the total clears, and tomorrow they've got a different job scheduled, and they can't get to me until July 1. She just kept repeating that. She refused to concede that I might have a valid complaint. I informed her that :
The woman needs training in customer relations. She should have listened to my side, instead of repeating "the procedure" over and over. She should have said she understood my problem, and said she's sorry, but there seems to have been a failure of communication on their part, and apologized for that failure. THEN and only then, she could say that there's no way to correct it at this point, and asked if I could I possibly work with a July 1 date.
" ... the use of our intelligence quite properly gives us pleasure.
In this respect the brain is like a muscle. When we think well,
we feel good. Understanding is a kind of ecstasy."
--Carl Sagan--
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I was so angry earlier today that I actually spoke the full F-word in all its glory when talking to someone on the phone. I guarantee that was the first time in more than a decade.
I was rushing to get stuff done so that I could drive up to the country house this evening to meet the a/c installers tomorrow. Then I checked my email. Not the main id, the one I'd given to the a/c people to use, no, it was my secondary id. The one I use when I'm afraid I might be inviting a torrent of spam. The one I used way back when I was checking out a/c companies in general.
The email was from the secretary from the a/c company, informing me that my system installation is scheduled for July 1. That's not tomorrow. That's more than a week away.
Why did I think it was tomorrow? Because the owner and president of the company, the guy who came out to look at the house and assess my requirements, with whom I had been emailing back and forth, COMMITTED to tomorrow. He had sent me the contract to sign and send back with a check, but it didn't have any dates on it. I told him that the installation date was very important to me, and I couldn't send him a down payment and signed contract without an installation date. (I don't consider it a contract without a committed date, because if they couldn't do the work soon, I'd have to say no thanks and find someone else who could do it sooner.) So, in his emailed response to me, he committed to June 23.
I freaked.
I called the secretary and informed her that the boss had committed to tomorrow. She (bureaucrat to the core) said that their procedure is that they don't schedule installation until the check for 1/2 the total clears, and tomorrow they've got a different job scheduled, and they can't get to me until July 1. She just kept repeating that. She refused to concede that I might have a valid complaint. I informed her that :
- I don't see how anyone would ever agree to that, no one should send a check without a date, what if you couldn't do the work until August, am I supposed to accept that? or plead for release from the signed contract and beg for return of my check?
- I was told to send a check for 75% of the total, so, so much for your F**KING 50% DEPOSIT PROCEDURE! Apparently sometimes your procedure is flexible.
- The owner told me tomorrow. I have it in writing, in the email. Yes, I am thoroughly pissed, and I want some kind of concession.
- I have already scheduled the furnace company for July 1 annual service. You guys will be hooking up to the furnace ducts and fan. Gee, I hope you can work around the furnace guy. He has precedence because he got that date before you.
I'm still pissed.
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