Sunday, April 18, 2010

Good evening!  I went on to bed and was asleep before my housemate returned home from her reunion.  She was so quiet entering the house that I didn't notice that she had returned.  


I woke up this morning about 5:30 AM, but stayed in bed till my cell phone alarmed at 6:15 AM.  Then I went padding out to the kitchen and found my housemate was up.  She noted that I was up early.  I went on to have breakfast and read the newspaper, while she took her coffee - in her new mug! - and went back to her bedroom to start getting ready for church. 


After finishing up with breakfast and cleaning up behind myself, I went on to take a shower and get dressed.  We were ready about the same time and dressed similarly in that we both wore black, although the clothing was not actually alike.  We left about 8:20 AM and headed to church - she drove.  I went to Worship while she went to Sunday School, then we would flip flop.  


I met back up with her outside the Sanctuary in the Atrium and we headed back to the car.  


When I left off, I noted that I had placed an order online for prints - a total of 50 - via my online photo center account with a local store and that they would be ready after 11:00 AM today.  Our plan was to stop at the store and pick up my photos, plus she had her camera with her and we were going to select some photos from her memory stick for her to take to the get together with her mission team on Monday night.  


Well, we got there and she put the memory stick in and we brought up the pictures on it and she selected the ones she wanted and then we submitted a print order.  We followed up by getting a CD of the photos she had taken since the last time we put photos on a CD for her.  


This is when the hassles started....the clerk seemed to be unconcerned about taking care of us.  I had to ask her twice for a CD to write the photos to before she ever brought me one.  What happened was that I asked her and she was headed to bring one when someone came up to the register to check out; she dropped bringing me the CD and went to take care of that customer instead of acknowledging them and saying that she would be with them in a moment.  Finally, I got the CD.  While it was writing, my housemate realized she had forgotten to order 2 more prints of 2 pictures, so when the CD was completed, we had to put the memory stick back in and order those.  


When I first asked the clerk for a CD, I also asked her to see if the pictures that I had ordered online were ready.  I asked her a second time while the CD was writing.  She went to check, and again, while she was looking for my order, someone came up to the register to check out and she stopped what she was doing and went and waited on them.  


While she was waiting on them, the store manager came along.  I politely told him what his clerk had done and that I had asked her twice about my picture order and she kept dropping me to go wait on other customers.  He went to check on the order and said that it hadn't queued up yet to print - which I couldn't understand because I submitted the order last night and it was supposed to be ready after 11:00 AM.  It was already after 12:00 PM - we had skipped stopping for lunch to go and do the pictures.  


The store manager got a bit ugly and disrespectful with me about the print order not being ready and said he wasn't sure what the hold up was.  The clerk finally stopped waiting on people at the register long enough and came and located my print order - it was actually ready, but she wouldn't make people waiting to check out wait so she could come and get it for me.  


When he gave me the package of pictures, I opened it up to check them and found that once again, they were sticking together with some chemical residue on them.  I called it to his attention about them sticking together and that I was having to pull them apart and there was some residue on the prints.  I questioned it and told him that this was not the first time that this had happened and that I found this to be unacceptable.  In other words, I wasn't accepting those prints in that condition.  


He admitted that there is an issue with their machine and that it needs to be upgraded or something.  So he was going to reprint the pictures.  Someone else had submitted pictures from a kiosk that has to go through the regular system instead of the automatic printer machine that my housemate used.  Hers would be coming out ahead of mine.  


I kept waiting and finally I asked him how much longer it would be and he said that he didn't know - he couldn't tell me.  I began to get upset with his attitude and was in tears by that time and basically wanted to just leave, but my housemate thought it ought to be anytime and so we waited.  


Some other customers came in and were using the machine that the memory cards work with; with my housemate and I there waiting for my prints, finally, I think he realized that he had crossed the line about how to talk to a customer - my housemate agreed that he lost his cool - and while he didn't apologize, he said that if he could get the machine to work - he was having issues feeding the paper through it - he was going to give me the prints for all the inconvenience.  


Well, by that time it was almost 1:30 PM!  She went and talked to him and asked him if we could just go get my memory card and come back and do the prints off of it.  He said yes, bring the memory card in and make the prints using the automatic printer and he wouldn't charge me for them.  


I bought a couple of items and then my housemate got her stuff and we left and came home.  It was nearly 2:00 PM by that time.  I was in tears over how I was treated.  I changed from dress pants to jeans and took my top off - I had a black tank top on underneath - and I retrieved the memory card and got my wallet out of my purse.  


After a conversation with my housemate about it, we decided that it would be best if I did not return to this particular store to print my pictures.  So, even though I would have to pay for them - instead of getting them free - I opted to go elsewhere with my memory card.  I left and went to another location of the same chain.  I walked in and learned that the automatic printer machine was down, but the kiosks were working.  


I went on to put my memory card in a kiosk and order the 50 prints that I wanted.  When I placed the order, I went and told the clerk.  She went to the computer, found my order and submitted it to print immediately.  No hassles whatsoever.  I told her about the problems with the other location and she said that they had heard from other customers about the issues with residue on prints generated there and that they need new equipment.  


The entire experience in this location took maybe 15-20 minutes - and my prints did not have residue on them!  The clerk was pleasant to deal with - I was checking the prints as she handed them to me and I showed some of them to her and she was interested to hear about where they had been taken.  


Yes, I had to pay for the prints at this location, but I had decided I would prefer to never set foot in the other location ever again.  I also plan to contact the company's headquarters and file a complaint about that location when I have time on Monday.  I've not named the name of the chain on purpose - so that they won't be able to come after me for anything because I've written something negative about them.


I left with the prints and my memory card.  I wanted to get something to eat as I really hadn't eaten anything.  I headed for one place, but wound up going to another and got a "to go" order, then came on home.  When I pulled in the driveway, I parked and got out and hosed off my car, then got back in and pulled on in to the garage and parked and went on in the house.  


I ate my late lunch, then cleaned up behind myself and occupied myself with sorting the prints and then writing on the backs of the ones I was sharing about who/what/when/where.  I left them face down on the table for a few minutes to allow the Sharpie ink to dry so it wouldn't bleed onto the face of the next print in the stack.  


Then I called a class member and left her a voice mail about needing to talk to her about a couple of items to go in our class newsletter.  She called me back soon after and we talked for a few minutes - my housemate emerged from her bedroom.  She was getting ready to head to AWANA.  


The organist was doing a concert tonight but I just didn't feel like going back to church, so I stayed home and have chilled out.  I talked with an aunt of mine about last night's engagement party for her granddaughter and about my cousin's birthday and how she took turning 50.  She said the party went well and that her daughter said she got lots of calls and text messages wishing her a happy birthday.


Well, this is about all I've got for today....