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...

I am a fake redhead. I've been a fake redhead for about 20 years and most every month of those years I have colored it red my very own self. I love salon color and know it is better in every way, but I just rarely have the budget for it when I know I can do a fair second for so much less. I have even tried beauty school color but it is just too hit or miss for me. Besides, I can color my hair in my own bathroom as my two bitty kidlets sleep instead of hiring a sitter and scheduling everything to go to have it colored by professionals. So I slack. Recently I gawked at a beauteous head of red red red hair as we dropped our kids off at the YMCA to go work out. I said, "Please tell me that is not natural, and then tell me where you get it done!" The pretty lady laughed and said, "Actually I work at a salon, Vanis , here in Valparaiso." We talked and I struggled not to ask to touch her red hair like I did before when I had hair lust." I plan to che...

I like to stink good: I LOVE good perfume and I prefer to only use one flavor as a signature scent. For five years (or fifteen, who's counting?) I wore Estee Lauder "Beautiful" like everyone else on the face of the planet. Then for the past six years it has been Jean Paul Gaultier in that sexy female-in-a-bustier bottle. My life has changed dramatically this year and I am ready for a new signature scent to celebrate it. I'm picky about fragrance and it does funny things when I wear it, so I need to wear it for a few days to tell if it will work on me long term. I have returned many a bottle of perfume I thought I loved after only a week of wearing it. A few weeks ago (or a month, who's counting?) I went to Sephora to shop for a new perfume. Sephora is awesome for customer service because they will not only give you perfume samples, but they give them to you in spray bottles so you can actually apply it in the normal manner instead of rubbing yourself like a ...

Today's guest George Garner shares some simple ways we as customers can help those in the service industry to help us more effectively. ("Help me help you help me..." anyone?) Garner has worked in the retail industry for seven years and bought stuff from it for over thirty. Help, Wanted? By George Garner I’ve been in the working world for about sixteen years so far, and roughly seven of them were spent in the glorious world of retail. During those seven long years I’ve learned one very important thing: I cannot read minds. No really, it’s true. Yet, in my store on any given day, streams of people walk in and out expecting me to instinctively know what they need and when they need it. I’ve spent a lot of time behind the counter offering help, but, like every service employee, I’m often on the other side of the counter seeking help. And those of us who spend time behind the counter have a unique perspective on how to the find help we’re used to giving. So to you, dear reade...

HELP WANTED: Went to the Carter's store in Michigan city to return a duplicate infant outfit. I've never been much of a kid person, so as the new Mother of a charming three month old Cupcake you can imagine my confusion when it comes to baby clothing! Everything is presented in a range like 0-3 months, 3-6 months and so forth...BUT depending on the actual SIZE of your kid they may not follow the typical monthly sizing. Our dearest Cherub, for example, wears a cloth diaper and diaper cover so her heiny is COMICALLY ENORMOUS and this requires larger sizes. Given that I am not so great juggling math, trying to figure out what size she could be in a month or two plus adding size for her Big Bottomed Girl Self and adjusting for potential change of seasons I am pretty overwhelmed when I finally do have to shop for her. My dear Father bought The Princess an adorable Carter's outfit we already had, so I took it to their store in Michigan City Indiana to exchange it for somethi...