Let's talk about customer service.......

I have serious issues with people that suck at their jobs. Not only that, you know what, I don't care if you are new, or you just don't get it. If you are polite and at least attempt to be helpful I will be the most patient, understanding, and kind customer you've ever met. The minute you step over that line and are rude, unhelpful, and in general - a terrible person I will be your worst nightmare. 

I have encountered this on multiple occasions. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a mellow nice person but I get treated like total crap by people that suck at their jobs. I'm not sure if at the end of the day they high five their co-workers and exclaim "I finally got to flip out on a customer and she didn't try to kill me!". Tell you what, no no no. No more of that. If you're bad at your job I'm going to straight up tell you. And then I'm going to tell your boss. And if your boss is a jerk I'm telling their boss too. We live in corporate America, your boss' boss' boss doesn't care if you work for them or not. They only care if I'm still spending my money there. 

So now I want to tell you about an experience I had last night. 

Let me first say: DO not EVER get in the face of a woman that is nine months pregnant (not me, my friend Tiff that went through this with me) she will chew you up like a cannibal that raises pit bulls for a living. She is no joke at this point in her life. and you pregnant girls know what I mean. She was actually excited about the fact that she got to flip out on this little dude because she has been holding it in for the last 3 months. 3 MONTHS! you do not want that kind of rage in your life. 

So Tiff and I are not into hanging drywall. And that's what the guys were up to last night. 

We decided to take off with the Tahoe and pick up the furniture I purchased.

On March 3rd I went to Big Lots to purchase a couch and a dining room table set. They were having their friends and family sale that day so everything in the store was 20% off. Score! I paid for my two pieces in full and asked that they be held until I could actually get into my new house. Since it took us a little longer to get into the house and we've since been doing some major construction I hadn't had a chance to pick up my furniture. I called twice to check on it, make sure it was still there, and also make sure that it was still okay to be there for another week or two. On both occasions I was told it was no problem, the pieces were there and they didn't mind hanging onto them. So yesterday, with a large enough vehicle and some extra time we went to get them. I said paid in full right? We get there, tell them what I need and are then told that I needed my receipt. I told the guys I didn't have my receipt, we are in the middle of moving, but I think I know where it is. Why should that matter though? I had my ID, and my furniture had my name on it. But Nick, the assistant manager, still insisted that it was policy and he wasn't allowed to let the furniture leave without a receipt. Not only does he insist but when Tiffiney questions him about the policy he gets red faced, and mad. Folks, this is the part where you go back and read the disclaimer about fighting with a girl that's 9 months pregnant.  Lucky for me, I'm pretty organized and I knew exactly where the receipt was at home. Then he breaks the news to me that they have my couch, but he can't find my table. Remember how I had said they were paid in full? So he's going to load me up with the first piece of the couch and then when I return with my receipt he's going to magically pull a new table out of his butt. Or so that was my understanding. But wait? Isn't it policy to not let me leave with furniture? Moron. 

Wilson, the furniture manager helps us load up the first part of the couch. And while apologizing for the mix up, tells me he's going to figure out how to fix it. He's been on vacation and it must have been an accident and someone sold my table without checking. 

La la la la la, we drive home. Boys unload the couch, I find my receipt, we're back on our way. No where on the receipt, or delivery slip does it say that we MUST have it with us to pick up our furniture. Imagine Tiffiney's excitement when she finds out that Nick lied to us and is being a turd. He's in trouble now. Tiffiney finds Nick at the front counter when we get back and I went to find Wilson to find out how he was going to fix it for me. Well he had gone home for the night so I had to go back up and deal with Nick the ass. manager. Come to find out it's Nick's policy, not the stores. At that point I didn't really care I just wanted him to make the situation right. Nick pulls up the stock number in the computer 1 table in store, 0 in transit, 0 in order. The piece in stock was the display model. That was the only one they had left, and they wouldn't be getting any more because it is now discontinued.  The two options Nick gave me were:
1. He would sell me the display model for 20% off. (20% are you kidding me? The display model was garbage when I came and purchased my original piece. It was scratched, and gouged, and ripped. No, unacceptable, not going to happen.)

2. (and this was the option that really sent me over the edge). He would refund my money, and I could just not do business with them anymore. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That's your solution? You can give me my money back and I can go spend it somewhere else? Wow. Customer service is not your strong suit. Wow!

Mind you, he's told me at least 3 times now that he'd just give me my money back so we could leave. 

How do I react? Hmmmmmm..........

I actually laughed at him. I said "Nope, keep my money and find me a table". That's all I really wanted. I wanted the product that I purchased. It wasn't until I had suggested that maybe another one of the surrounding stores had one left that he finally looked it up. Alpena had 3, TC had 3 and Petoskey had 2. 

This is how the conversation went:

Nick: They have 3 in Alpena. 

Me: Great, just get me one of those and I'll be happy.

Nick: Well we don't do store to store transfers so you'd have to pay for shipping. 

Me: Waaaaaaiiiiiiitttttt a minute. It should not be my responsibility to fix your mistake. It should be your responsibility to make the situation right and get one here for me. 

Nick: well my manager lives in Alpena, maybe she can pick one up for you. 

So then Nick says he's going to check into it and he will let me know tomorrow (which is now today) and I should only deal with him, I don't need to involve his manager. Hmmmmm...... that seems odd. 

Annnnd what was the first thing I did this morning? I talked to Anya, the store manager. Anya basically blew me off, told me she would get it taken care of and that I didn't need to come back to the store until she called me to pick it up. 

Customer service must not be something they strive for. So what's my next step? Corporate. I unleashed the pregnant girl on the corporate office. Ohhhhhhh Nick, I hope by the end of the week you are jobless. 

This is the most ridiculous, asinine situation ever. 

TagLine*PipeDown!

Remodel Mayhem

I know people say that "it has to get worse before it gets better" but does that really have to apply to my house?

We are in the middle of major reconstruction in the Hundred Acre Woods.  (That's what I've decided to call the home front until we come up with something more fitting).

This weekend Kelly came up from Chicago and my to-do list included things like hanging curtains and repainting the bedroom. Little did I know we were going to end up completely tearing my bathroom out, ripping up the counter tops in the kitchen, completely patching in the pantry and banging on every possible board in the house.
I must be so naive to think that - oh the guys are going to put the new tub and vanity in, Al is going to make a hole in the wall in the kitchen and Ben will wrap the countertops up in no time. All I have to worry about is the curtains and decorating the guest room. lalalalala happy dumb lala girl face lalala.
WHAT WAS I THINKING?!
When there are 5 guys in your house, all in different rooms and they all seem to be breaking, pounding and cracking things it gets a little overwhelming. My first, and pretty much only reaction was "I'm going to cry myself to sleep in the corner of the closet. Let me know when you're done". The people at Lowe's actually know who we are now. A week ago I didn't know where anything in Lowe's was, now I can take you directly to what I need and more than likely know the part number. The girl behind the pro service counter is my new best friend. She knows when I need coffee.
I adore the fact that we have such handy friends. They have been a huge help talking me through the steps, fixing my flawed design plans and making my buy, return, and repurchase the right pieces.
It'll all be worth it in the end but right now it's making me want to hide away until it's over.

I promise I've been taking lots of pictures to document the changes. Most of them are on the little camera I've left at the house. I'll have to make a blog per room when they're done. Here are a few from the bathroom so far......

This is what it looked like when we bought it. Pink. Very very Pink. The original game plan included replacing the tub and vanity. The newest game plan includes replacing the tub, vanity, and toilet. Removing and replacing all the drywall for green board and replacing all the trim. Oh! and replacing the flooring. (which I happened to like.) Oy!  

This is just the beginning. My first reaction... Why didn't they leave that exquisite floral wallpaper? 

After the tub walls came down, before we had to beat the snot out of the tub to get it out. Kelly took some really cool pictures of Justin and I working our tails off to get it out. 

At the bottom of the picture you can see my laundry chute. Which I am not being allowed to keep. :-( It takes up too much space in the guest room closet. 

Those are all the pics I had on my cell phone. I have lots more on the camera at home. I'm super curious to see how far the guys have gotten today. They were going to put up the bathroom drywall and the drywall to cover the weird kitchen pantry. 

On a happy note I've finally figured out what I'm going to hang in the guestroom. There are strange hooks in the corner of the room so I thought I would hang some sort of mobile for decoration. I came across this picture and thought it would be perfect. 

I've been collecting skeleton keys for almost 2 years now and this will put them to good use. 10 point to you if you know what the is from. 

TagLine*WakeMeUpWhenSeptemberEnds?

Things to NOT do and say at a bridal shop...

This is a little off topic for me and I don't usually complain about my job because I genuinely love it but here...
I've been the manager of a bridal shop for nearly 2 years now. These are a few of the things I've seen and heard while I've been here.

1. When trying on wedding gowns NEVER put them on the floor when you're done with them. This has got to be in my top 5 pet peeves. That gown is selling for $1,500 and you're treating it like your walmart t-shirt. I have clearly told you from the beginning "once you are out of the dress please hand it out of the dressing room and I will take care of it". I'll let it happen 3 times max and then you get to see my grumpy face. Don't think that I won't take all the other dresses out and only allow you to have one at a time. Because I will!

2. If you come in and act like you own the place, are extremely rude, or think you know it all I will make sure that the first 4 dresses you try on are at least 4 sizes too small. What's that? You can't get it up over your hips? Try going up over your head. What's that? Now you're stuck in the dress and you look like a stupid burrito? haha.... I mean, oh let me try to help.

3. NO you may not open the bottle of red wine you brought with you to celebrate. What are you stupid?

4. If I'm working with a bride in the back I can not just let you go back and look around. I'm sorry, but if you didn't make an appointment I just don't have the time or means to work with you. 98 out of 100 days I'm working alone. So when I have a bride she is my main priority. Picking out a wedding gown is a very personal and special experience  So no, I'm not going to let you glare at her until she takes off the gown you want to try on.

5. On that note, if you feel like that's a stupid policy feel free to call my boss and tell her about it. More than likely I've already told her and she's said "should have made an appointment". As my mom always says "improper planning on your part should not constitute an emergency on my part."

6. Don't be rude to the girl that controls the fact that your dress will either be here on time or it wont. Duh.

7. BRIDESMAIDS - Do NOT get in my face and insist that you should get a discount because the bride bought her dress with me too. Selfish hoes. Shouldn't you be more concerned about the fact that the 6 of you are buying your dresses through me and maybe we should give a discount to the bride? After all, your dress was $180 and hers was $1,300.

8. Girls, I know it's really exciting to start planning your wedding but if it is more than a year away I do not need to speak with you once a week. Also, your bridesmaids to not need to order their dresses a year in advance (unless it's being discontinued) and your tuxedo's do not need to be ordered 6 months out. The tuxes can literally be ordered 4 days before the wedding.

9. The walls in this building are not really walls. The top 3 feet of them are lattice so when you walk out of my store and start complaining about me 5 feet down the hall I CAN STILL HEAR YOU! So when you call me up and have to place the order for your dress don't be all nice and cheeky, I know what you said.

10. I am probably one of the few bridal shop managers that will go so far out of my way to make sure that your attire comes out exactly as you dreamed. If it means I have to go to Hobby Lobby to find an extra yard of the right fabric, or call the company to remind them of whatever changes we made while I'm on vacation, or blah blah blah show some appreciation. Use your manners and at least say thank you. I'd also be more than willing to accept any monetary, food, beverage or gift reimbursements.

Ok, that's all I have in me for now. 99% of the time I love my job and my brides. I've made some great friends and had some fun experiences with this job.

Just think about how your behavior will affect other people before you throw a tantrum or act like a total snot.

TagLine*SayYesToSomeManners

Update Central

It's been awhile since I wrote last because nothing new has happened.

Well today something great happened!! We closed on our house. Yippee!
After lots and lots of hours spent worrying about it we finally made it. Got the keys to prove it.
I can't wait to get in there are get to work on it. We might even stick a tent in the living room and have a sleep over tonight. Yes, I know, we're like 12. Here are some happy pictures from the occasion.....

Our realtor had to go get the keys from the other gal so he went and opened up the house & left us a cute little card. Our first piece of mail. :) Oh, and a sweet gift card to Lowes. Thanks Mike! Hmmm.....what to buy, what to buy.....

This is just an adorable picture of Justin and I being adorable. So there. Key-sltoe? Kiss-ltoe? Whatev. 

And this is me just showing off......

That's right, double wall oven. What now cupcakes, you don't stand a chance! I am going to bake the snot out of some cupcakes once my kitchen is finished.

So the funny thing about picking out appliances was I've never done it before. How am I supposed to know what all those numbers, phrases and whatevers mean? We started by saying what we wanted and didn't want about things. I didn't want a side by side fridge, Justin didn't want a top load washer. I did want a double oven, there was no question about that. And Justin wanted a fireman pole or a slide to the basement from the guest room. Sometimes in a loving relationship you have to say "no, and never ever are you ever allowed to set foot in the guest room. And none of your friends need to spend the night in the guestroom ever. Guest rooms are for pretty things, and girls, and quiet activities." I know it sounds a little harsh so we came to an agreement. Justin can use the guest room for reading or naps. LOL. Gosh I'm so tough. I even went as far as saying that when Justin was in the dog house (which he's never been) he wasn't allowed to sleep in there, he had to sleep on the lumpy couch. Hahah well now that I'm telling you guys it makes me sound really mean. But I wasn't being mean, I was kidding........ sort of. :) Back to the story. After we talked about all the things we wanted we went to ABC Warehouse because Justin has a friend that works there. We priced out all of our dream appliances and the bill was astronomical. We needed to rethink. We then went to Sears and talked to a nice gal there that told us about the friends and family sale that was happening March 11th. 15% off everything on top of the sales that were already going on. That sounded like a pretty sweet deal to me. So after more investigating and research I made a big 'ol list of what we wanted and we went to Sears. We ended up saving $1600 and our bill was under $5,000 for a fridge, double wall oven, cooktop stove, washer, dryer, and water heater. I was thrilled with the savings. Justin didn't care either way. He just wanted me to pick out what we needed and be happy about it. The only question he had for me after we paid the bill was "what does our fridge look like?" He's such a gem. :) I can't wait until our new kitchen is all blinged out and awesome. Then I'm going to bake my heart out. 

I've still been making cupcakes. I know I haven't said much about it lately but I've been busy. Last weekend I made 10 dozen for a friends wedding shower. They only had to take 30 home at the end of the day. That's a lot of happy cupcake eaters. I made homemade funfetti (a crowd pleasing favorite), red velvet (a lovers cupcake) and s'mores (when is summer coming? Is it ever coming? will we ever be warm again? is there going to be snow for the rest of my life? is this the ice age? ahhhhhhh). 

Side note: Axe body spray should come with a portion control nozzle. wowza. 

I also made another enormous batch of Guinness and Baileys cupcakes for St. Patty's Day. I can't believe that's coming up already. I wonder if my tutu still fits? 

Let's call today - upload embarrassing pictures of yourself so the world can see them day. 

Anywho, here's a pic of the stash of Guinness cupcakes I made the other day. 

I had one cupcake that wouldn't fit in the case so I played a fun game on facebook. Whoever could tell me the best leprechaun joke could have the extra one. I would mail it & everything. The winner was Colleen from Kalamazoo with this joke : Why can't you borrow money from a leprechaun? 

Because they're always a little short! HAHAHA I'm still laughing! 

So this is what she won:

I put it in the freezer overnight because I thought it might ship better that way. Then this morning I stuck it in a box and off it went. The only problem is overnight shipping was almost $25 soooo..... I sent it 2 day for $5. :) Hopefully it's not a crazy sugar coated mess by the time it get's to her on Saturday. :) 

I'm going to play the game again so stay tuned. It's fun. I like jokes and you guys like free cupcakes. Shazam!

What I don't like is when it's 11 pm and I'm starting to make frosting and then I realize there is no butter. None. Zero. Zilch. No butter anywhere. By 11pm I don't want to have to run back out to the store. I just want to make the frosting and be done with it. This is the face I make when I have no butter:

Like seriously? No butter anywhere? Uuuggghhhhhhhhh!!!! You can see all the cupcakes on the rack behind me just waiting to be frosted. 

And this is the face I make after I attempt to make frosting out of fake melted butter stuff and it ends up all gooey and gross and melted and nothing whips up and it was a big waste of time and ugh!!! 

By that point I was sleepy and grumpy. Notice one eye is sleepy and the other is grumpy. This is not a good look for me. Not so much. 

Well I think that's about all I have for now. I really should get back to work. Hope you are all having a wonderful day! 

TagLine*DoYouHaveAFavoriteLeprechaunJoke?