<p>dietz: you are NOT crazy…Verizon changed their data plans without letting anyone know…there were kids abroad this semester who got charged thousands of dollars due to the change…( not sure the exact date they changed it, but I know my daughter got the old plan on January 14th)</p>
<p>If you had asked the question on one day, they changed it the next…it was ridiculous…</p>
<p>You are lucky you had the charges removed…alot of people couldn’t get them reversed</p>
<p>^^^^ Wow…I consider myself lucky now. Maybe Verizon didn’t think $17.50 was worth fighting over. </p>
<p>At one point I noticed they were charging me $1.99 monthly data fee even though we had expressly turned off all data access (this was before the mandatory data package debacle which would take another 5 paragraphs to rant about - not to mention make me throw something across the room). The conversation went something like this…</p>
<p>Me: We have data access turned off on all phones…what’s up
Them: Yes I see you have data access turned off
Me: well why are you charging me
Them: we are not
Me: what’s the $1.99 data fee>/
Them: it is actually an application fee
Me: You mean for the FREE backup application
Them: uhhh …yes
Me: (deep cleansing yoga breath…) how can you charge me for the free application
them: Well we are not charging you for the application, only to use it
Me: So is it considered a data download
Them: No, it is a free application but you get charged to use it.</p>
<p>Arghhhhh…got them to reverse all the charges…the conversation went on long enough for me to audit the past 12 months worth of bills.</p>
<p>There was a lawsuit for this precise issue several months later…The saddest part of all is that Verizon is still the best of the bunch(as per Consumer Reports)…Kinda like the saying you have the honor of contracting with the best swindler on the block “;)”</p>
<p>Speaking of dunderheads and the deceased. My dad passed away last month. The day he died, we were in the hospital room with him (now deceased) grieving as a family when a tech walks in and announces he needs to take my dad’s vitals. Long painful silence and then I said “I don’t think you’ll find any”.</p>
<p>None of the four nurses sitting across from the rooms door could have intercepted that?</p>
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<p>Hahahaaa! That’s priceless!!</p>
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<p>this is not directly service related, but this last semester I sat in on a number of meetings where a number of people in the room were making 6 figures (aka, these would not generally be considered ‘young’ people), and blackberries were out ALL the time and actively being used while others were talking.</p>
<p>^^^^
WHAT is that!!! I see it everywhere!!! Are we just so out of touch that we don’t realize that the rules of social interaction have changed? That it’s really okay to ignore the person talking and look at an electronic device instead? Do people really have themselves so convinced of their own importance that they think the president might be texting or emailing them at any second and they wouldn’t want to miss it due to a stupid staff meeting?</p>
<p>Today, when I went to pick up my car, the valet couldn’t find the key. It seems those they put on the second floor they lock, and then put the key on the windshield wiper. Unfortunately, if they miss the windshield wiper, in the new cars the key falls under the hood into the engine. And you can’t open the hood, because the car is locked. </p>
<p>I’m trying to imagine what kind of safety they thought they were providing by locking the car and then setting the keys on the car in plain sight. Not to mention picking a place to set the keys that had the possibility of losing the keys altogether.</p>
<p>AAA came and unlocked the car, we then popped the hood, and the parking attendant rummaged around until he found the key in the engine.</p>
<p>^^^^ Now THAT is really stupid.</p>
<p>blackberries were out ALL the time and actively being used while others were talking.
Our school district superintendent did this. During public school board meetings. Which were televised. We fired her recently. ( not actually * for that* but I think it should have been mentioned!)</p>
<p>^^^
This drives my H crazy! He can’t stand going to meetings and people are doing crap on their blackberries. I know everyone get so much email and it take so long to go through all the crap you get but it is so rude.</p>
<p>I hated Verizon and their stupid data plans. Ugh! We switched to ATT and have just as good as coverage. Actually ATT is improving our plan instead of thinking of ways to charge us more. They changed from free calls to ATT member to free calls mobile to mobile. Since 98% of the calls we make are mobile to mobile, this works out great for us.</p>
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<p>That’s the new normal everywhere, IME. All my clients do this. It’s not even considered rude anymore.</p>
<p>It’s not even considered rude anymore.</p>
<p>Depending on context I think it is very rude.
I admit when I am out with my H- I have my cell on the table & when we are discussing something about one of the D’s, I may double check what they said in an email.
But then I put my phone face down on the table or away.
In a business setting- it would be very rude-you bring what you need to the meeting- there may be a case where you need to look something up- but you should ask permission to do so & it should be necessary, not just a distraction cause you are bored.</p>
<p>Whats wrong with taking notes, or doodling but * looking like* you are taking notes?</p>
<p>D has lots of staff meetings ( she is a teacher), however she also knits & after she saw other teachers bringing their knitting to the meeting, she started to also.</p>
<p>I remember one coworker who used to close his eyes during morning meetings & he was accused of sleeping. But he protested that it helped him concentrate. I sympathize with him, as I also have trouble with visual distractions and I can see his point.
This was even before everyone had cell phones let alone internet in their hands.</p>
<p>Even if you think you are still paying attention when you are using your blackberry, what about the people who are distracted by wondering what your score is on AngryBirds?</p>
<p>I went to Pizza Hut about 10 days ago, ordered a personal pan pizza. When I started to pay, the young man asked for my home phone number. I declined to give him my phone number, and he said it was company policy to get the customer’s phone number. I asked why. He said, “In case you have a problem with us, we can get hold of you.” I said I was planning to eat the pizza in the store, so he would know I was pleased with the product before I left the premises. No matter, he said, he HAD to get my phone number, or they could not sell me the pizza. I was dumbfounded, speechless, and angry. I just turned and left = no pizza.</p>
<p>Yesterday, still hungry for pizza, I went back to the same Pizza Hut. I had made the decision to just give a false phone number, in order to avoid the whole stupid conversation and get my pizza.</p>
<p>They did not ask me for my phone number.</p>
<p>I bring plenty of small manipulatives (slinkies, stress balls, pads to doodle on with fun creative markers, etc.) to our workshops. People play with those while we are talking / presenting. It helps them process more creatively. Knitting, of course, would work too but funnily enough, I think more people these days would look askance at someone who brought knitting to a business workshop than who had a Blackberry (or iPhone - I don’t see a lot of BB anymore) and periodically checked it.</p>
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<p>Insisting on a phone number makes sense if you are calling in your order. Makes NO sense if you are there in person ordering your pizza. </p>
<p>555-555-5555</p>
<p>We have quite a few people who used to crochet/knit at work. Funnily enough most of them are in their mid 20’s as opposed to the older generation. They taught me how… I’ve been working on a scarf for about two years. (Shows how often I find time to work on it.) We don’t find much time to crochet/knit anymore. Nobody ever would dare to do that in a meeting though.</p>
<p>They probably ask for a phone number to track marketing of where you are coming from - like asking for a zip code. Phone number is kind of odd though. Maybe they do follow up surveys or something.</p>
<p>Ellemenope–Yes…I bet that is exactly what happened. The clerk got the process confused between phone orders and in-person orders. At least I can make sense of his behavior now. Thanks.</p>
<p>Whenever somebody asks for my phone number like that, I say that I’m not allowed to give my number to strange men (or women).</p>
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Take a picture of yourself in the mirror!</p>
<p>It’s not a bad idea to take pictures of all your valuable stuff periodically for just this reason (potential insurance claims).</p>
<p>I can add sears onto my dunderhead list. No longer do business with them.</p>
<p>About two years ago bought a washer… they came, installed it, left… come to find out they installed it wrong (how hard is it? you hook up a few hoses and plug it in). Then i do my 75 dollar mail in rebate for delivery and they refuse it saying they can’t find my purchase. Worked on that for several months still got no resolution. Resolved not to do business with them anymore. A few months ago my electric company decided to give rebates to everyone who had purchased new appliances recently so i got a 75 dollar rebate back from them. That made me feel a little better since I did get my 75 dollars back… but still not from sears. Then, my washer broke and I had to get it fixed. NO problem since my visa credit card would cover the repairs as it was out of warranty. All I had to do was send in a copy of the visa bill it was on, a copy of the sales receipt, the repair bill and a copy of the warranty. No problem. Visa calls me to tell me that my sales receipt doesn’t match the figure on my visa bill. They were right. Sears screwed up my receipt. No wonder they couldn’t find my figures in their computer when i tried to do my rebate - all my figures on my receipt were incorrect. I got in touch with sears by phone, they had no record of me. tried their internet chat, they had no record of me. Finally I waited till late at night and called and got someone who may have been in india (not sure, girl had an accent but was very polite) she found my account and my purchase and told me to fax a request for a corrected reciept to x number. About two days later I got an e-mail from sears apologizing and they attached a corrected receipt for me. Sent it off to visa and got reimbursed for my repairs.</p>
<p>Never again.</p>