Now, I’m not heartless in regards to customer service industries.  I’ve worked them. Roy’s worked them… our son NOW works in them.  I know what good customer service is. I know how to offer good customer service.  I would think good customer service is important to a company, especially in this market.

Google Play does NOT offer good customer service.  They don’t even offer decent customer service.

We wrote about our issue with the Nexus tablet Roy ordered over a month ago.  Granted, I still don’t understand all the issues, but I know he was not satisfied with an expensive device. It was defective.

And rather than keep it, and let $300+ dollars go to waste, he did the right thing… he returned it.

Now, Google has had the device over two weeks, and nothing.

Their refund policy is 1-14 days… ok, cool. BUT, when you call customer service to get a status update, they have no information to give you! I’m not asking you to expedite our refund. I’m asking to make sure you even have the device in your possession.

UPS said they left it on your dock… for all I know, someone stole it from your dock, and we will never see our money!

And yet when you call customer service, there is no refund/return department you can speak with.  (Apparently, that is a Tier 2 department and only Tier 1 have call capabilities.) Apparently, Returns does not communicate with anyone else, so the Customer Service has no information.

When I spoke with someone to try to explain what we were after, I was told I wouldn’t go into Starbucks, buy a coffee and then go to Hot Topic if I had an issue. What?

OK… but I didn’t order a tablet from Google and then go to Amazon for issues. Nope, i went to Google for a status update, JUST to make sure you have the device, and it is indeed being ‘checked in’ so that I might get my refund in some timely fashion.

I realize every company does things differently. I realize I am not their only customer. But we live in the digital age.  It’s laughable for a company, a TECH company at that, to have NO interoffice communication, especially when the Customer Service department is apparently the ONLY department with phone lines.

Am I wrong in expecting some sort of status update?

If this was for a couple bucks… ok, I would wait… but this is over $300, a nice chunk of change.  And all I’m looking for is an update in regards to where the tablet actually is.  We just want to know they received it, and they are doing whatever it is they do.  I’m not asking Baker, the customer service manager, to give me $300+dollars. I just want some information.

And when I try to explain that and am then told… “Well, really all you can do is wait and hopefully you’ll get your refund.”

Well, am I wrong for getting upset?  Please give me your take.

I have an older Kindle. I think it is 2G, not sure. And I was looking to update at some point.  I think I want this one!

northernmamma brought up a good point - speak to a higher up. This surprised me… but apparently the Customer Service manager is like the owner of Google! I asked him very nicely if I could speak with his supervisor and was told he is the highest ranking official there. So then he should just give me my money back, and we’ll call it a day.

Stood in line for this for over an hour - Roy got it for me as an early Christmas gift… and I have to say:

SO WORTH IT!  I love it!  Thank you again, my love. You called this one!

Roy and I are lucky enough to be able to do some traveling.  We’ve gotten away for romantic weekends a few times in the past couple of years-now that Corey is old enough to watch the little boys.  We’ve gone on cruises alone and with all the boys. We do amusement parks, camping, etc. In a few weeks we are going to Charleston to see Joe, and then in August we are taking the little boys to Disneyworld.  And one thing has remained constant on many of our travels-The Marriott chain of hotels.

We’ve had excellent luck with them-great hotels, warm receptions and fabulous customer service.  Even when there is an issue we are treated with respect and the issue is promptly resolved to the best of their ability.

And then I made the mistake of booking elsewhere.  Only Roy and I are heading to Charleston-Addi will be in Alabama, and the two little boys are going to stay home with their biggest brother for some weekend fun-probably a movie, but whateves! Since we have a big trip to Disney coming up, I thought why not try to save some money and just find a decent hotel.  After doing a lot of searching, booking.com had a good price for a Best Western.  about 105 cheaper than the Marriott-it got decent reviews, so why not?

I made our reservation for JULY (that’s very important!) and submitted it.  About 20 minutes later I got a confirmation email and breathed a sigh of release-hotel taken care of, now I just need to decide which of the delicious sounding restaurants to go to!  Well, a few days later, I’m getting ready to run a few errands with Roy when my phone dings-it’s a fraud alert from AmEx!  Seems I used my card at home on the same day we were charged for a hotel in Charleston. I had to call AmEx and assure them I had my card, and that I would get to the bottom of this.

It seems someone at the hotel put our dates in wrong-they had us arriving in June, and so we were charged as no shows.  Ok, I figured simple mistake, let me call the hotel and get it rectified.  Well, the young woman that answered the phone was rude from the get go.  When I tried to explain the situation, I apparently offended her when I said, “You charged us…"Now, I wasn’t accusing her, rather the hotel she works at.

"Look Lady, I didn’t do nothing!” she said to me, “You need to stop saying, YOU, cause it wasn’t me.”

When I explained that I know it wasn’t her-though, could have been, who knows?-but rather the hotel, she interrupted me.

“That’s right. So you say that, don’t say YOU.” she told me again.

I sighed, but tried to explain the situation further.  She claimed they had no reservation for us in July. When I said I understand that, that is when we were supposed to be there, can you look at June and see if there was a mistake, she said they didn’t have us in June either, and proceeded to hang up on me!  Now, maybe she was having a bad day, I don’t know….but that was ridiculous.  I called back a few minutes later.

“Ok, is this the Booking.com lady?” She asked, “Because I’m so nice, I went back and looked.  You didn’t even bother to show up, so we charged you as a no show.”

Again, I sighed, and launched into my explanation again, this time she spoke to someone next to her, or maybe on another line, and then would ask me to repeat myself. I couldn’t hear exactly what she said, so I thought perhaps she asked someone to give her a minute. I repeated myself, and as soon as I opened my mouth, she started talking to someone again.  She asked a third time for me to repeat myself, I said no, I would like to speak to her manager as I just want my money back.

“There’s no one here but me, and I can’t give you your money back.”

So apparently, she has no authority, but the manager isn’t around on the weekends.  What if a guest has an issue on property?

And now for the kicker, when I asked her why she can’t do a simple refund, she told me I was too stupid to listen, threw out a few more insults and laughed. I told her I was done and hung up, my intention being to just call corporate.

Well, Best Western’s corporate office was just as rude, and about as helpful. The first young woman did make an effort-or I’m assuming she did-she tried to call the hotel, but then just told me I had to wait for the manager and that they would be back MOnday or Tuesday.  At this point, I’m annoyed. They took our money without authorization, but apparently I need to wait until it’s convenient for them to rectify the issue.  Ok, I asked to speak to her supervisor, and this is where once again, things got ridiculous.

The woman I spoke with was supposedly a member of their customer service management team. She was condescending, spoke over us, told us we needed to listen to her, but she failed to offer us that same courtesy.

“It’s only one hundred and twenty two dollars, it’s not like it’s thousands.”

That’s what she said to me. Really?!

Ok, on the one hand, if it’s such a paltry amount give us our money back.  On the other hand, no matter how much it is, it wasn’t owed to them/their money in the first place.  I don’t care if it’s five dollars or five thousand.

This woman told Roy that Best Westerns are franchises, and corporate can do nothing. When Roy tried to tell her that isn’t quite right, that franchises operate under a corporate entity, she hung up on him.

There were a a few more little digs here and there, but ultimately, nothing was done until we posted to their FB and twitter page about the horrible customer service we received. And in the end, had the first young lady just said something like, “Yep, we made a mistake. I’m sorry and we will get it fixed first thing Monday morning.” I would have been annoyed, but that would have been that.  Instead, we were passed from one person to the next, each person rude and belittling, and unwilling to help.

“Stay with People Who Care.”

Apparently that’s their motto-after that bit of ridiculousness my question is, “Exactly who do they care about?  Because it sure as hell isn’t their customers.”

Target has some great deals on gifts for Dads.  

Apparently, Target thinks Weed Killer is one such gift. Really? Since when?

I am not a big Valentine’s Day person.  I consider myself lucky in that I feel the love from my husband every day.

No, he doesn’t always buy me little gifts. On the other hand, I don’t want them.  If there is something I really want or need, I can get it. I want the little things.

I want him to reach over when we are in bed and rub the back of my neck.

I want him to tell the kids to move, so he can sit next to me on the couch.

I want him to pull me into his lap and lay a big, fat kiss on me.

I want him to open my door for me on date night.

I want him to hold the door for me when we are leaving a restaurant.

I want him to hold my hand when we walk around the mall.

And, I consider myself lucky that Roy does all those things and more.  When I’m exhausted, Roy asks if I want something to eat.  He brushes the kids teeth, and quizzes Hayden on his homework. 

If the kids do something to upset me, he backs me up.  He KNOWS me.  He slows down during a charity run, so he can run with me, and right before we hit the home stretch, when I was about ready to drop, he slipped his hand in mine and gave me that look.

You know the one, ladies. The one that says, “I know you can do this, but whatever happens I have your back.”

So, girls, maybe your guy doesn’t get the gifts right.  He buys you a shirt, and it’s the wrong color (or heaven forbid the wrong size!).  He gets you flowers, but NOT your favorites.  He buys you a card, and only signs his name.

BUT, if he gets things right every other day, does it really matter if he messes up Valentine’s Day?

Christmas is upon us… and I think I’m actually NOT freaking out this year!  Stockings have been hung, cookies have been baked (Roy and the boys-cookies are NOT my thing), and presents have all been wrapped (me, Wrapping is not Roy’s thing).

BUT, there are still a few little things that we need to buy-most notably treats for stockings.

One thing we get for the boys almost every year, and it’s always a big hit, are toiletries.  Some fun body wash, cool toothbrushes, new razors for the older boys-stuff they need, but don’t always think to ask for or buy for themselves.  

The little boys will love these!  For some reason, rechargeable or electric toothbrushes are always a hit. If it will get them brushing, that works for me! So this Oral-B Pro-Health For Me kit looks pretty cool.

This Smooth Style Bundle would be perfect for Joe.  He has to shave almost daily for JROTC, and since discovering girls, he has been into ‘dressing better,’ so a subscription to Details is the perfect start for his research.

And for Corey… sure he needs to shave, but his car also smells suspiciously like old fast food, and feet?  In other words, he could use the Febreze Car Vent Clips or maybe this Smooth & Fresh Bundle.

Perhaps bundles or products like this aren’t your first thought for Christmas gifts, but there are things for everyone here!  And the bundles offer great products for a great price.  Even better new customers get 15% off using this promo code:

A9Z-MN5-KY3-ISA

AND you get free shipping on all orders over $25, and some cool free samples with every order.

I think I’m going to buy the Febreze Scents of the Season bundle for myself though.

Dean has figured out how to add things on Amazon to my wish list.

I now wish for Power Rangers Cupcake Rings, Power Rangers books, and a Power Rangers Lunch box.

Sooo, I make a pact with myself to spend more time giving in to my feelings of restlessness when it comes to writing…and than I don’t write for four day?  Go figure!

It could be because our timeline got moved up.

What timeline you ask?

Well, I’ll tell ya,  Hayden is a Freshman this year, Dean is in fifth grade-so he’ll start middle school next year, and Roy works about 60 miles from home. NOT horrible, until you factor in rush hour traffic.  Sometimes, Roy gets into the office in an hour an a half, sometimes it take twice that-my goal was to move the summer before Hayden’s junior year.  That would give him two years at a new high school, Dean would have two years at the middle school before moving into HS, but my husband is beat.  With the new position he accepted, he’s going in almost daily-and I know it’s hard on him.  So, we’re looking to move in just a few months!

Ugh, I said it out loud

We’ve been here so long, I forgot why I dislike the process.  Getting the house ready, finding a new house…and than there’s THE PURGE.

I decided to start small, something no one could have any say over-my closet.  I listed items on ebay, I put aside items for a yard sale-and felt accomplished until I looked at my closet.  Pretty sure it looks no different.  When did I accumulate so much stuff?  

To be fair, Roy’s side of the closet looks similar.  I tell the man he needs to purge and he gives me two t-shirts-out of the 50 he owns-though he only wears about 10.  He has a t-shirt that he wears constantly (I wash it, he wears it-vicious cycle) that I can see through-I kid you not.  It didn’t start out like that, he just wears it constantly!  To boot-it says Grooveshark (does anyone even remember what that is?) and he got it for free!  Not that there’s anything wrong with promotional swag-I love my pens, but when it’s starting to disintegrate, maybe it’s time to move on?

Now, for my case I realized I have way to many shirts with goofy sayings.  Some I bought for the specific purpose of basketball games-I have a few with sayings, or Hayden’s number, etc.  But most say ridiculous things like, “More Tacos please.”  I’m not sure why I need three shirts that say that-especially when all are just different shades of grey.  

And you’d think when the shirts hold no real sentimental value it would be easy to let go of-apparently, it is not.  You never know when you might find yourself in desperate need of tacos and maybe you’ve lost your voice?  I don’t know…

And let’s not even get in to my legging collection.  Now, in the winter I do wear them-daily for the most part.  I wear tunics and leggings, or a sweater and leggings, etc.  They’re warm and cute-the more colorful the better!  But I’m short, so specific brands fit me best-so why do I have pair after pair that are too big? 

I think there was a time when I bought clothes to make myself happy-I was feeling out of sorts, sad-and when I worked through that-I was left with a packed closet.  And so, THE PURGE commenced.

I truly hope the kitchen isn’t like this-or you’ll find me crying in the shower…