Help Wanted, Help Found

The Apple Computer Store: Heaven or Hell? Some of you see this modern technology store as a holy place worthy of a pilgrimage. Well let me tell you, I pilgrimaged and it isn't Heaven. Maybe Hell is a bit harsh...but let me share the customer service experience I had this week. My husband has turned me into a Mac person more because he knows a lot more about these sorts of things than I do. I think the branding of Mac as hip and cool is super effective. As a Mac user I feel ten years younger and twenty pounds thinner not to mention MUCH smarter just because I use a Mac. But here is where I am not thrilled: The customer service at the telephone level. I had called a few days earlier and set an appointment at the Apple store at University Park Mall in Mishawaka, Indiana for 12:15pm Thursday June 30th to have our iMac G5 looked at. It was NOT performing whatsoever despite my hubs efforts to do all the stuff we can do to make it work usually. They asked my name and maybe my...

Help FOUND through Assistant General Manager Ron Potter at Menard's in Valparaiso, IN We bought this grill with some yard sale proceeds and were excited to return to our charcoal grilling foodie heaven! It was on sale, nice sized and good lookin'! My dear Husband battled with some shlocky hole alignments in putting it together, but other than family entanglements expected with two tiny kidlets, assembly was timely. We used it for the first time on Father's Day. (If you must know, we grilled onion burgers. Yup, they were tasty.) What left a bad taste in our mouths was the top of the grill on which the paint peeled up. We are not idiots, we didn't light a huge fire and close the grill or anything...this was just a shoddy product. A shoddy product that we paid cash for since we live debt free. A shoddy product for which we threw away the receipt , not expecting this would need to be returned. The booklet for "The Original Outdoor Cooker" charcoal...

Help Found: Michael's Craft Store By Heather Curlee Novak We moved to Valparaiso a year ago, but the basement and garage look like we have yet to unpack. Among the little often overlooked chores were several art pieces I had purchased over the years but never framed or hung up. One inspired morning (After six years or longer per piece.) I finally drug out all that needed to be framed in our home. My previous professional framing experience was Hobby Lobby, which I love, but everything always cost fifty dollars. Three small things framed: fifty dollars. One poster framed: fifty dollars. And it took two trips because I had to go back and pick up my completed pieces a week or two later. Which now meant hauling tiny tots in with me and carrying them and my work out again. So you may see my reluctance to take four items in to Michael's to get them framed. I towed along my sleeping infant and charming two year old to finally get this nagging "to do" TO DONE...

NOTE: This is a review of the OLD BUCK"S Shoe Repair. As of Fall 2011 new owners have taken over and the store looks great and the folks are attentive and personal...I cannot wait to have a reason to go in there again! Help WANTED: Buck's Shoe Repair, Valparaiso, IN PART TWO By Guest Blogger Sharon Angelina (If you missed part one of this hilarious and harrowing tale of terrible service please check out yesterdays' Part One!) (continued from yesterday) I would have interrupted, but never did find a polite pause in their important conversation to do so. I coughed, cleared my throat, insinuated myself in FRONT of Mr. Customer, and plopped my bag of boots on the counter. Finally, in one grand irritated gesture, Mr. Buck gave me a quick scowl, swished a customer repair ticket out of his chest pocket, growled, "Fill this out," and resumed his deep conversation. That was enough. I said "NO, I just want to know if these can be fixed." I reached in...

This customer service experience story is from my friend Dana. She is a web savvy and customer service oriented woman I met eons ago in Chicago who runs "Words To Sweat By" out of San Jose California. Find her funny motivational workout gear here . This is the story in Dana's words: What should have been a quick trip to Sears turned into a two-hour long debacle. We went into the tool section to buy (you guessed it) a tool chest for my DH. He knew what he wanted but also needed to fiddle for a couple of minutes to confirm. After 20 minutes someone finally came to help him, but then once he had decided (10 minutes after that) it took another hour and half to complete a transaction. Because we had started working with one sales person, it appeared we couldn't be helped by another and the one who had helped us kept helping others and telling us "one more minute". When he was finally ready to help us, he took the numbers that we wrote down, but didn'...