Darn Tootin

Please note that this post is pieced together from a couple of“Private Messages” I sent to a gal from Ravelry, with some original content thrown in for back-story and stuff.

My wait for my elusive needles is finally at an end (or, at least, it was). Last week I got an e-mail from the lady (and you know I don’t throw that word around lightly*), who owns DyakCraft, saying my last order (placed November 1st-ish), was shipping; a few days later, I got the shipping notification from Stamps.com.

Live and Learn

“Any day you haven’t learned something, is a wasted day”; that’s what my mom always said. So, for the last 35 years, I’ve made it a point to not waste the day. the 1st eighteen years were pretty much a given; something was always new and, by the time I had reached eighteen, I was convinced I knew everything. Luckily I was wrong and still managed to learn a little something about life every day, the most important of which was that I wasn’t done learning. Fast forward to two years ago when I learned to knit; now, every day was a guaranteed learning experience.

I Hate Myself for Loving Ewe

Like most things in my life I have a love/hate relationship with my yarn stash.


There are some yarns that I love which have totally returned the love by making both great end products and a satisfying knitting experience:

Brown Sheep has fantastic stuff. Their Lanaloft collection is phenomenal and was the 1st yarn I ever fell in love with; it comes in the most ridiculously fantastic colorways, knits up beautifully and frogs like a dream (you’d never know you just knit with it). It’s also a lot of bang for the buck, no matter where you buy it. I’ve used it on fingerless gloves, a sweater for the puppy and even a couple of needle rolls for my ever increasing collection of DPNS. Their Lamb’s Pride collection is also really great and I was able to make the infamous Wallaby and CawfeeMate’s favorite hat out of it. I’m also in the middle of a baby blanket using their Superwash Worsted and have been just as impressed with how well that’s working out.

Then there’s Peace Fleece Worsted. This is my absolute favorite yarn in the universe. Love the colors, love the feel, love the price*. I seriously cannot use enough of this stuff because everything I make with it, I love. Another puppy sweater, a laptop cover for my niece, a hat for both my dad and my father-in-law all worked up gorgeously because of this fantastic yarn. If they would make a sock yarn, in the same awesome colorways, I could die a happy knitter.

On the flip side, there are also 2 yarns which I hate to love**…

Unwound II: the Response

received this morning.

I am so sorry that your experience with us was less than satisfactory. I would like to address each of the issues that you highlighted in your email. You may not agree with our standpoint, but we like to keep an open dialog with our customers so we may learn and grow. We strive to provide excellent customer service – most of the time we succeed but occasionally we fall short.


1. Pricing – we do sell our yarns for the suggested retail price. The Manos brand has had two price increases in the last 6 months. We are one of the top retailers for Manos in the US and as such we sell through our stock quickly, so all of our stock was purchased at the new “higher” price. Many other stores do not sell as much of this yarn and do not raise their prices until they have to pay the increased price for new inventory, this makes it look like they sell for less, when in fact they do not. There are other sites on the internet that sell the Manos spaced dyed colors for as much as $19 per skein.

2. Winding fee – you may not agree with this, but it is not a free service that we offer. If a customer purchases here in the shop, we do not wind either, but they may use a ball winder and swift if they would like to wind the yarn themselves. This is a service that takes time and we feel it is appropriate to charge the customers who want the service.

3. Photocopied tags – We do not photocopy tags. Occasionally we rip a tag and will replace this with a handwritten tag. We do have one skein of the color you purchased on our shelf with a handwritten tag. It is a cardboard type tag and was received from our supplier that way. The skeins may have seemed wound different because they are. The Manos yarn is made in different locations and done manually, so each person has their unique way of securing the skeins. We have seen some that were very “odd” and difficult to wind, I have taken several skeins off the shelf to check the weight. The other skeins of this color do weigh about 3.3 – 3.4 ounces. I checked other colors and they weigh 3.3 to 3.7 ounces depending on the color. Again, the reeling of the skeins is a manual process and is not exact (but average). You should have the proper amount of yardage. We have questioned our supplier about weights before and were told the amount of dye in a color can change the weight and the thick and thin part of the yarn can vary, so the yardage should be accurate but the weight may vary. I am sorry you feel you received skeins that were either used or short in their yardage.

 

You did question if the skeins were returned, I reviewed our history and find that we have not had a return for this color. When we have a return where we question the weight, we pull the skein out of stock and sell it at a reduced price in our seconds bin.

 

Have a great day.

while i appreciate the reply, i'm afraid it has not changed my opinion of the store.

• it's poor customer services to charge a winding fee.
• there's no way that the dye can make up for .2 oz in the yarn's weight
• i think i know a photocopied piece of paper when i see it

All Wound Up

There are few things that put marzipan in my pie plate, quite like poor customer service. Now, I’ll be the 1st to admit that, having spent a decade or so in retail servitude, I have pretty high standards when it comes to being serviced shopping. Here’s my latest tale of whoa…

a Bad Romance

I fear I’m a bad relationship and don’t know how to get out. Worse, I don’t know if I want to get out. No, it’s not CawfeeMate, you boob; the man’s a friggin saint.

It’s my knitting needle dealer.

"Get 'Em at Gimbel's"~ Auntie Mame

the place: Sears, the Staten Island Mall
the time: around 1pm, Sunday after a late night of Chocolate Martinis from Bay Ridge straight bars (which is another story, to be sure)

CawfeeGuy (to a sixty-plus frail woman bearing a striking resmblence to Juno from Beetlejuice): excuse me, do you work in the men's section?
Juno: yes?
CG: great! i'm looking for a pair of khakis, in navy, flat front, in size 34 x 34.
J: there's nobody on the floor.
CG:..only you...?
J: did you look in the section?
CG: yes...this place looks like it was hit by a hurricane; your customers have teared the section to shreds.
J: oh. you need to find someone on the floor.
CG: you are on the floor; can you help me find them?
J: oh...i'm not on the floor; i'm on register.
CG: noooooooo. you're standing here, on the floor, talking to me; there are no other sales people in this godforsaken place.
J: ...and you looked in the section?
CG: Fuck this; i'm going to Macy's! at least there i know not to expect any help.

Monday Morning Madness

i've got a headache this big and it's got "the weekend" written all over it:

• the plumber never showed up this weekend to hook up the new stove (but, since the bottom oven is electric, i was still able to turn out a sick batch of homemade cupcakes). we haven't had a cooktop in 3 days.
• the tile guy's assistant missed the memo which said we wanted a blue glass tile trim around the room, so now we have 3 boxes of tile left and no trim. i'd be slightly less perturbed if the aforementioned assistant didn't try and take the tile with him. i guess there's a gorgeous tile topped table in our future.
• the "new" dishwasher died last night; livid is not the word.
• because of the snow, the tile guy isn't coming today to finish up.

Weekend Highlights

• After 12 weeks of stress and numerous sticky platelets, we're finally getting a new dishwasher from the manufacturer.
• the photography studio that fucked us out of our wedding pictures settled out of court with the NJ Attorney General (there was a dispute over whether or not the photographers which were hired by the studio were paid by the studio). this settlement means we'll be getting our wedding photos (read: negatives) a year after the fact. happy anniversary to us. now we need to find someone who'll turn them into an album.
• saturday was spent in search of a post office which will process passport applications; an effort in futility. apparently there is only 1 post office on staten island which issues passports on Saturday and it's only from 9 to 12. i mean really though, who's up by nine, or leaves the house before 1, on a saturday?
• Wii's Zelda: the Twilight Princess is absolutely amazing. it's almost surreal how good this game is. i was up till 2am Saturday/Sunday trying to rescue a fucking monkey from a cage, atop a totem pole, in a temple. it took me an hour and a half before i gave up and found the cheat on line. then i turned the game off without saving it. the universe gives...the universe takes away...
• we cleaned out our loft-office area, yesterday. it took the better part of the day, but stephen put together the bookshelf we got (last week) at Target , and i loaded up all my books on it. (not counting the last two years of disapproval and frustrated muttering and sighing) it really didn't take stephen a long time to get me off the couch (and away from the Wii) and into gear. we can now see the floor again; he's ecstatic.

Appliance Horror Story Pt. 2

7/28: Repair service cancels appointment without letting us know; "no technicians" available. new appointment made.

surprised? me neither...

Appliance Horror Story: a Timeline

6/8/2007: Dishwasher purchased.

6/2/2008: dishwasher stops working.

6/3-6/6: call store dishwasher was purchased from for warranty info.

6/7: finally told by warranty company that dishwasher is still under manufacturer warranty and should be contacted directly. Manufacturer called; appointment scheduled.

6/10: confirmation call from manufacturer’s contracted repair service for appointment the following day.

6/11: 1st visit from manufacturer’s contracted repairman.
Repairman has never seen/heard of dishwasher brand.
Specs for dishwasher are not found on his computerized schematic system.
Assumes problem based on similar dishwasher (of a different brand).
Repairman orders part thought to cause problem.

6/16: part arrives; new appointment made.

6/17: confirmation call from manufacturer’s contracted repair service for appointment the following day.

6/18: 2nd visit from manufacturer’s contracted repairman.
Replacement part doesn’t work; thought to be broken.
Specs for dishwasher are still not found on computerized schematic system.
2nd possible part (#2) thought to cause problem in conjunction with faulty part #1.
2 new parts ordered (#1 and #2).

6/26: neither parts have arrived.
Call manufacturer for status; neither parts were ever ordered. Order placed.

6/30: part #1 arrives. Appointment scheduled.

7/1: 3rd visit from manufacturer’s contracted repairman.
Specs for dishwasher still not in on computerized schematic system.
Replacement part #1 is functioning but doesn’t fix dishwasher.

7/11: call manufacturer for status of part #2.
Part not ordered. Order placed on 7/12.

7/18: part #2 arrives; appointment scheduled.

7/21: confirmation call from manufacturer’s contracted repair service for appointment the following day.

7/23: 3 hours after scheduled appointment, repairman has not shown.
per repair service, no call was received to notify them that part #2 was received; appointment was cancelled.

7/24: new appointment scheduled.

the lesson: Never by another product made by Haier. Never purchase anything from AJ Madison. Never call A & E Factory Services for any reason.

the Weekend Recap

Friday

• in case you didn't read the Twitter post, my brain is fine. the tumor/cyst/shadow is still gone; this time i was assured by the PA* that if all is still clear next year, then i'll never have to go back. ever.



• i switched from my loathsome Verizon cell service to AT&T; it took a few hours, but i'm already glad i did. my new phone is smaller and much cuter than my last one (shown right, in red; mine is blue).



• we had our straight newlywed neighbors over for dinner: Spanish chicken and rice with chorizo and homemade sangria, followed by drunken chit chat and Wii bowling; i also had made a Tres Leches cake, but was shocked and appalled to learn that it had to sit overnight in the fridge. luckily they brought cheesecake. a good time was had by all (thanks, mostly, to the second pitcher of double strength sangria).

Saturday

• the usual saturday laziness was interrupted by shopping...Target, Stop N Shop & Costco...for the essentials. honestly, i wanted nothing more than to sit out and soak up the sun but there wasn't any time...very irritating.



• brought the Tres Leches cake to mom's for dessert. we each had one piece and then chucked it in the trash. not because it wasn't tasty...cuz it was (albeit ridiculously sweet)...but because i didn't want to bring it home and mom's going to be in the hospital all week**, so it would just be sitting in the fridge for no reason.

Sunday

• woke up early and hit the ferry; i hate to admit it out loud but i was almost sad that there were no bible beating christian wackos hurling invectives at those enroute to Pride; they were such a fixture in the last couple of years that they seemed like part of the parade itself. on the flip side, there must've been a Yankee game, because the ferry terminal was divided like a grammar school dance: jersey clad straight people and their kids on one side, Pride revelers on the other. actually it was like the last scene of The Birdcage...


• we got to 6th and 54th at the appointed time and looked around for anyone holding a sign, baloon or wearing a shirt with my company's logo. fifteen minutes later we found the small, but well represented group. everyone was really nice and very friendly; we all stood around talking and just hanging out for the next two and a half hours, in the gloriously hot sun, sandwiched in between Continental Airlines and Delta...and no i do not work in the airline industry; somehow that's just where they put us bankers.


• it really was a beautiful day, sunny and hot, with a sweet breeze carrying the scent of hotdogs, suntan lotion, hairspray and makeup; that is until we started marching along fifth avenue and the entire sky opened up on us for an hour. seriously, i've never been that wet, while fully clothed. my clothes were heavy with rain; i couldn't see out of my glasses, i feared for my cellphone which sat in a puddle, at the bottom of my pocket. i was so wet, that i didn't even care that it was still raining. the sky cleared for about 45 minutes and we were almost dry, at least from the waists up (have you ever tried to dry denim in the sun? it takes weeks) and then the rains came again, this time not abating for hours. we finished the parade downtown, hopped off the aptly named float, and headed back to the ferry.


• we had agreed to meet up with a friend of mine at the parade, but i was too wet and uncomfortable to stick around in the city. we met up with him and his new boyfriend at a chinese restaurant on Staten Island after drying off and showering and drying off again. dinner is post all on it's own, so stay tuned.

all in all, marching in the parade was great and we will definitely do it again next year; it was an amazing feeling to march down fifth avenue being cheered on by a crowd. the only drawback, if you can call it that, was that we didn't see the rest of the parade. my legs hurt, from walking from 54th down to Gay street (which is where we gave in and hopped on the float), but it's a good kinda hurt. we really had a great time despite the weather's best efforts. in truth, nobody seemed to actually mind the rain. next year i'm bringing an umbrella or maybe a poncho, possibly an inflatable raft...

* i can't tell you how much it pisses me off that despite my appointment being a year old, and then switched because the doctor couldn't make the one i originally had, he still flaked on me and stuck me with a PA; rude thy name is MD.

** mom's back in the hospital to repair the damage done by Mother's Day fiasco. in short they're repairing a hernia she got when i was born, which she had repaired 3 years ago (incorrectly) which caused a second hernia and the corresponding blockages this past May.

Where Oh Where Can My Little Wii Be Pt 3: UPdate

i refuse to get excited till it's in my hands.

Where Oh Where Can My Little Wii Be Pt 2: UPSet

CawfeeGuy: Hi, i just got a recorded call from UPS saying that my package, set for delivery tomorrow requires a signature; had i known, i'd probably be able to take off, but as it stands nobody will be there to sign for it.
Rock With Lips (at UPS): ok..?
CG: can i leave a note or something on the door to have the driver leave the package with a neighbor?
RwL: you can but there's no guarantee that the driver will.
CG: excuse me?
RwL: yeah...he's required to make delivery to your address, the 1st time.
CG: i understand that, but you only deliver during working hours, Monday thru Friday, and notify people that a package needs to be signed for the day before delivery.
RwL: ...and..?
CG: and this package is very important (to me). is there any way i can make sure he attempts to deliver it to a neighbor to sign for?
RwL: no.
CG: so what happens after he ignores the note i'm posting on the door?
RwL: the package will go back to the holding area.
CG: and their hours are..?
RwL: Monday thru Friday 9 to 7.
CG: Oh! so if i can get there before 7 i can pick up the package?
RwL: Well, the drivers usually return to the holding area by 7:30...so...
CG: so there's no way i'm getting this package before next week?
RwL: i really couldn't say.

Drum Roll Please

tomorrow is brings a moment of truth: i've taken off work...again...to see Dr. Demonico and find out if, after 6 months, my pet brain tumor has grown larger than the "size of a pea" it was when it was 1st discovered; but before that, i have to go to the imaging center (where i had my last MRI) and pick up the films. it seems that though i had specifically requested that they send them on to Dr. Demonico, he didn't receive them. thankfully, john promised he'd come with me so i won't be forced to punch out the receptionist when they give me attitude about waiting for the films.

"Take my brain!"~ Sally Field (Soapdish)

R.I.P. PC and I'm Not Feeling Zen-like

i murdered Stephen's computer. it was an accident, i assure you! the poor old dear couldn't handle my fancy new MP3 player and just up and died. granted, she was on her last legs to begin with and has been looking quite haggard lately (since we started bringing her to our Pampered Chef shows), but my MP3 player (who has yet to be properly named), delivered the death blow when i tried to synch her with my old player. after getting to 50% synched, the old girl cried out and lost her mind.
it was quite pathetic.
Stephen is now fervently searching out a new PC; he's enlisted the help of Nil's honey, JS, and is scouring the sales online trying to find something that will support our Pampered Chef software (and other important applications, like MS Word) and my obscene music addiction. i, in the meantime, have an MP3 player that is only half synched. additionally, some of the songs are dupes. how that happened, i have no idea.
let's all cross our fingers, 'cause i don't know how i'm going to get through this week with only 3000 songs to choose from.
it may not actually be an issue, though since the playback time isn't anywhere near the 14 hours listed on both Creative and Best Buy's websites. i already put a call into them on Friday (during the 2 hour bus ride home) and received a half-assed e-mail telling me to cut back on things like the brightness of the screen (which i've had at the lowest setting since i got her). the customer service rep told me to call back if there was still a problem. surprise! there's still a problem. Today's rep told me to bring it back to Best Buy; that "14 hours is an aproximation".

now, i'm unhappy.

Show Me the Honey

i'm not in the habit of "responding" to other people's blogs, but today i will make an exception. As some of you know, i check out all my friends' blogs throughout the day, rather than work. Today, John posted an entry on his blog (Cigarettes and White Castle which i highly recommend you check out) which really got me thinking about our shoddy customer service industry. You may want to read his post 1st, since the comment i left for him easily unraveled, in my mind, into this "Democratic Response":

as I’ve mentioned before, I used to be a retail queen. I worked for almost 15 years renting videos and selling suits, cd’s, and comic books. I know a thing or two about rude customers and customer service. I also know quite a bit about poor service, since I am a Verizon Wireless customer. Over the last 10 years I’ve had to change my cell number three times because my service “mysteriously” failed in my home and the only way the situation could be rectified was with a change of number; even after the changes I still get the most abysmal signal strength in my neighborhood or most anywhere else on Staten Island. Whenever I call Verizon I get the same song and dance about limited number of towers and that service isn’t guaranteed. I’ve also had the misfortune to have a number of tech problems with my phone itself. I dread going to the Verizon store because I know their techies could really care less. it's quite obvious just by the half open eyelids and monotone voices.
They can never explain why my battery has the lifespan of the average tsetse fly or why Cingular customers happily chat away at the King Kullen around the corner from my house yet I’m reduced to asking “can you hear me now” every two minutes. More often than not I’m told that it will take less than half an hour to fix my problem, but return to be told that it “will just be ten more minutes” three times. Did you do the math? That comes out to another half an hour (not counting the 45 minute wait to see a techie). I wouldn’t mind the wait-time or the fact that my service is horrible, or even that my bill is about $80 a month. What I mind is that I keep hearing commercials lauding their superior quality, and "reliability". it makes me angry.

is it any wonder why people tend to get ornery when they finally are presented with a representative of the company? Whether it’s bad cell service, poorly prepared diner food, or a mis-altered suit bad service is bad service. Since everything has become so expensive in the last couple of years, and since it’s become so difficult to get problems resolved, by the time you finally reach someone who should care, you’re just a little ticked off. The last thing you want to hear is somebody else either a) be completely blasé about your problem or b) condescend to you. it forces you to wonder about the amount of money and time you're wasting on sub-par services that are being supplied today. It’s enough to make a sane supermodel throw a cell phone.

Yes, I’m a former retail queen. Yes, I’ve been yelled at by customers. No, I didn’t like it and I rarely do it myself unless it’s completely unavoidable. I’ll agree that attitude is too easily thrown around (especially on Staten Island), but sometimes you just have to punch a wall. If that wall happens to be wearing a polo shirt with corporate logo, so-be-it. Perhaps if the service wasn’t so shoddy to begin with, people wouldn’t need to vent.