Friday, February 20, 2009
Behind the Times
I signed up for Twitter the other day (twitter.com/middleq), so I suppose the only thing left for me to catch up with is Facebook. At the Auto Show last week I was scolded by no less than 4 people for not being on Facebook, and 3 of the scolders were in their 40s/50s. Crazy. So far I have resisted - mostly out of spite - but do I really want to sign up for another website that will only end up being ignored?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Auto Show
First Look for Charity was last night, and it was awesome. No pictures today - my camera got dropped and all jacked up so there are only a few on it (the Transformers!!!!), and I have to wait for my friend to email me all the 1000s I took with her camera. So in a nutshell, I had a fantastic time and did not embarass anyone too much, and will put up pictures later. The end!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Holy Sideswipe
Hot damn. That is one good looking car. Wow. I'm excited to see it in person tomorrow.....think they'll let me touch it? Ha!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Open Letter to Xerox
Dear Xerox,
I am writing you today to bring some issues to your attention. My company has been a loyal Xerox customer for quite a number of years. Not just the little machines either, I'm talking about the big boys, the heavy hitters.
In the year and a half that I have been with my company one of my duties is to maintain the equipment. In the year and a half that I have been with my company one of my twice (or thrice!) weekly rituals has been to place a service call on your machine. You can imagine the joy something like this brings, especially to any person who just can't get enough of automated phone banks and customer service representatives; I'll touch back on that in a moment.
The machine we had was nothing short of a disaster. In the past 3 weeks, I have actually lost count of how many service calls I have had to make. We've been through 5 service technicians, 1 service manager, and 2 specialists. At some point a Xerox executive was pulled into the abyss as well. Not only was I making these calls, I was making them for the same group of 3-4 trouble spots that created of spectacular paper jams throughout the machine (for fun, I will call them the Crafty Buggers from this point forward). On occasion the machine would give me a totally new problem to deal with but I believe this was just to keep me on my toes. The Crafty Buggers kept cropping up at least 2 or 3 times a day, and here is a brief list of reasons I was given at various times for this: room too hot, room too cold, room too humid, room too dry, not enough paper in the tray, door covers open, stapling finisher out of staples (one of my personal favorites), wrong brand/size/color/weight of paper (we have always used the same paper), etc.
I also experienced increasing levels of resentment and outright hostility from the service technicians. I am not sure if this was because they were upset with themselves because they could not find the root problem, or if they were being called to the same location up to 10 times a week and found that to be annoying. Either way, this doesn't scream 'we care about our customers.'
Which brings us to the customer service department. After the 100th (1,000th?) service call in a month-long run, when I gave the machine's serial number I would be placed on hold for a time not less than 45 minutes. Repeatedly. In a moment of crushing paranoia, I twisted and turned through the automated menu again, only instead of saying my serial number I said 'I don't have one.' My fear was that my calls weren't being taken because the file would open showing all the previous calls and nobody wanted to take yet another call. Whether by coincidence or not my phone call went through immediately. I asked if the callers who knew their serial numbers were directed to another phone bank, or if all the calls came to the same place. I was told they all go to the same place, so I can only assume my paranoia was justified and my calls were being left to hang until I gave up and ended the call.
While discussing my reasons for needing a service call towards the end of the entire debacle, I would be treated to some truly fantastic lectures by the call center employees detailing just how exactly all of the problems with the machine were my own fault (see above list regarding Crafty Buggers). Silly me! Had I known, I would have never had any other employees use the machine for any reason and thereby end all of the problems.
I only had to send a copy of our contract twice to get some sort of resolution, which at the time of this writing is not complete. Our contract states that when basic maintenance cannot be upheld, Xerox will replace the machine at no additional cost with an equal or better piece of equipment. I fought for a month before anyone at your company would even give half a glance at your own fine print. Finally, the heavens opened up and took pity on me and my coworkers, and the second specialist came for the third time in two days to tell me he was putting through the paperwork for our replacement. At last! No more service calls! No more unending complaints from coworkers! No more cranky service technicians every other day!
Today I was scheduled to receive my replacement machine. I left my desk to pick up some lunch, and in the hour I was gone a Xerox technician came to my company and dismantled the broken machine. He then left, and left no contact information, and so we had one dismantled machine. I called to get a delivery time for our replacement, and the company that was hired out by Xerox brought me the replacement within an hour. This was wonderful! Nobody at my company needed the machine during that time, so things were still alright. Then the delivery men left, and now I had a newer dismantled machine, and this one did not come with a matching finisher as it should have. Despair overtook me.
I attempted to reach someone at Xerox and received more attitude from customer service, and no guarantee of anyone coming to put my machine together. I called the previously mentioned executive once again pleading for help, but to no avail. Neither he nor I were able to make any progress in getting someone to come put my machine together.
I am no longer entertaining the foolish hope that this will be cleared up first thing in the morning. If it were my decision, I would gladly push all three pieces of my new machine out to the curb and burn my Xerox contract and any files pertaining to this horrific period of my life. Thanks to this stellar service and customer care, I am not only terminating my Xerox contract at the first possible opportunity, but am spreading the word among my coworkers, friends, and business contacts about these incessant, maddening problems in the hopes that they will not direct any business to Xerox in the future.
Please do not contact me with any patronizing apologies, or empty guarantees that this will never happen again. I am only sending this to inform you of my experience so that in the future another poor fool will not be dragged behind your soul-crushing business model.
Signed,
Laura
I am writing you today to bring some issues to your attention. My company has been a loyal Xerox customer for quite a number of years. Not just the little machines either, I'm talking about the big boys, the heavy hitters.
In the year and a half that I have been with my company one of my duties is to maintain the equipment. In the year and a half that I have been with my company one of my twice (or thrice!) weekly rituals has been to place a service call on your machine. You can imagine the joy something like this brings, especially to any person who just can't get enough of automated phone banks and customer service representatives; I'll touch back on that in a moment.
The machine we had was nothing short of a disaster. In the past 3 weeks, I have actually lost count of how many service calls I have had to make. We've been through 5 service technicians, 1 service manager, and 2 specialists. At some point a Xerox executive was pulled into the abyss as well. Not only was I making these calls, I was making them for the same group of 3-4 trouble spots that created of spectacular paper jams throughout the machine (for fun, I will call them the Crafty Buggers from this point forward). On occasion the machine would give me a totally new problem to deal with but I believe this was just to keep me on my toes. The Crafty Buggers kept cropping up at least 2 or 3 times a day, and here is a brief list of reasons I was given at various times for this: room too hot, room too cold, room too humid, room too dry, not enough paper in the tray, door covers open, stapling finisher out of staples (one of my personal favorites), wrong brand/size/color/weight of paper (we have always used the same paper), etc.
I also experienced increasing levels of resentment and outright hostility from the service technicians. I am not sure if this was because they were upset with themselves because they could not find the root problem, or if they were being called to the same location up to 10 times a week and found that to be annoying. Either way, this doesn't scream 'we care about our customers.'
Which brings us to the customer service department. After the 100th (1,000th?) service call in a month-long run, when I gave the machine's serial number I would be placed on hold for a time not less than 45 minutes. Repeatedly. In a moment of crushing paranoia, I twisted and turned through the automated menu again, only instead of saying my serial number I said 'I don't have one.' My fear was that my calls weren't being taken because the file would open showing all the previous calls and nobody wanted to take yet another call. Whether by coincidence or not my phone call went through immediately. I asked if the callers who knew their serial numbers were directed to another phone bank, or if all the calls came to the same place. I was told they all go to the same place, so I can only assume my paranoia was justified and my calls were being left to hang until I gave up and ended the call.
While discussing my reasons for needing a service call towards the end of the entire debacle, I would be treated to some truly fantastic lectures by the call center employees detailing just how exactly all of the problems with the machine were my own fault (see above list regarding Crafty Buggers). Silly me! Had I known, I would have never had any other employees use the machine for any reason and thereby end all of the problems.
I only had to send a copy of our contract twice to get some sort of resolution, which at the time of this writing is not complete. Our contract states that when basic maintenance cannot be upheld, Xerox will replace the machine at no additional cost with an equal or better piece of equipment. I fought for a month before anyone at your company would even give half a glance at your own fine print. Finally, the heavens opened up and took pity on me and my coworkers, and the second specialist came for the third time in two days to tell me he was putting through the paperwork for our replacement. At last! No more service calls! No more unending complaints from coworkers! No more cranky service technicians every other day!
Today I was scheduled to receive my replacement machine. I left my desk to pick up some lunch, and in the hour I was gone a Xerox technician came to my company and dismantled the broken machine. He then left, and left no contact information, and so we had one dismantled machine. I called to get a delivery time for our replacement, and the company that was hired out by Xerox brought me the replacement within an hour. This was wonderful! Nobody at my company needed the machine during that time, so things were still alright. Then the delivery men left, and now I had a newer dismantled machine, and this one did not come with a matching finisher as it should have. Despair overtook me.
I attempted to reach someone at Xerox and received more attitude from customer service, and no guarantee of anyone coming to put my machine together. I called the previously mentioned executive once again pleading for help, but to no avail. Neither he nor I were able to make any progress in getting someone to come put my machine together.
I am no longer entertaining the foolish hope that this will be cleared up first thing in the morning. If it were my decision, I would gladly push all three pieces of my new machine out to the curb and burn my Xerox contract and any files pertaining to this horrific period of my life. Thanks to this stellar service and customer care, I am not only terminating my Xerox contract at the first possible opportunity, but am spreading the word among my coworkers, friends, and business contacts about these incessant, maddening problems in the hopes that they will not direct any business to Xerox in the future.
Please do not contact me with any patronizing apologies, or empty guarantees that this will never happen again. I am only sending this to inform you of my experience so that in the future another poor fool will not be dragged behind your soul-crushing business model.
Signed,
Laura
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Slacker
I've been busy, so here are just a few things for the interim:
1. Transformers 2 trailer during the Superbowl was sweet. Full length comes out next Friday!
2. I have had 2 full days at work with zero angry calls about our crap copy machine, and Xerox is giving me a replacement next week.
3. Bill O'Reilly (aside from being an all-around douchebag and scrud-sucking bottom dweller) is a white supremacist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC8mNynSJi4 I found this on Hanlon's Razor today, and was stunned. Holy mackerel.
4. I am now officially part of the 'Green' committee at work :)
1. Transformers 2 trailer during the Superbowl was sweet. Full length comes out next Friday!
2. I have had 2 full days at work with zero angry calls about our crap copy machine, and Xerox is giving me a replacement next week.
3. Bill O'Reilly (aside from being an all-around douchebag and scrud-sucking bottom dweller) is a white supremacist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC8mNynSJi4 I found this on Hanlon's Razor today, and was stunned. Holy mackerel.
4. I am now officially part of the 'Green' committee at work :)
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