Purely Random Thoughts
My Dark Side
I was driving my SUV (yeah, I know) on a 30mph road watching a car in on a side road on the left waiting to go the same was as me. He could see me (if he looked) for a 1/4 mile. I was doing about 35mph. I could clearly see the little old lady in the passenger seat. Sure enough, as I got right on top of him, he takes his left right in front of me. I stopped short right on top of them and faked terror (hands up, "I'm gonna die" expression on my face). I think the lady moistened her depends. As they went down the road I could see a silhouette of her finger wagging at him. For minutes. Continuous wagging. Mouth going. Probably not sweet terms of endearment.
Now that was so much more satisfying than a ticket.
-Evil Steve
Customer Service
I have found that about 75% of the time companies will respond positively to a polite request that is beyond the bounds of the rules. Discover card has dropped the finance charges for payments that were are few days late - I'm a good customer. Walmart is amazing it taking back items. Verizon on the other hand, was not so pleasant. My 80+ year old mother-in-law had a verizon cell phone for emergencies. We moved her onto our family plan to cut her costs. She didn't know she had to file an 'AOL' with Verizon. So, they billed her $120 (3 months) and $70 termination on the old phone. She talked to them. They agreed that since she was on a verizon plan with a 2 year contract, they could waive the $70. They wouldn't wave the $120, even though the phone was not used. I politely talked to 3 people going up the food chain and they wouldn't budge. So, when our plan has met the contract, I will shop around. No reason for loyalty here.
Buddhapesto
I bought some great locally made (Woodstock NY) pesto at the farmer's market on Saturday called Buddhapesto. Amazingly, they showed great restraint. Their tag line is “It’s all in the tasting, so go ahead and enlighten your taste buds”. Personally, I couldn't have resisted "Perfect if you are feeling Hungary."
I was driving my SUV (yeah, I know) on a 30mph road watching a car in on a side road on the left waiting to go the same was as me. He could see me (if he looked) for a 1/4 mile. I was doing about 35mph. I could clearly see the little old lady in the passenger seat. Sure enough, as I got right on top of him, he takes his left right in front of me. I stopped short right on top of them and faked terror (hands up, "I'm gonna die" expression on my face). I think the lady moistened her depends. As they went down the road I could see a silhouette of her finger wagging at him. For minutes. Continuous wagging. Mouth going. Probably not sweet terms of endearment.
Now that was so much more satisfying than a ticket.
-Evil Steve
Customer Service
I have found that about 75% of the time companies will respond positively to a polite request that is beyond the bounds of the rules. Discover card has dropped the finance charges for payments that were are few days late - I'm a good customer. Walmart is amazing it taking back items. Verizon on the other hand, was not so pleasant. My 80+ year old mother-in-law had a verizon cell phone for emergencies. We moved her onto our family plan to cut her costs. She didn't know she had to file an 'AOL' with Verizon. So, they billed her $120 (3 months) and $70 termination on the old phone. She talked to them. They agreed that since she was on a verizon plan with a 2 year contract, they could waive the $70. They wouldn't wave the $120, even though the phone was not used. I politely talked to 3 people going up the food chain and they wouldn't budge. So, when our plan has met the contract, I will shop around. No reason for loyalty here.
Buddhapesto
I bought some great locally made (Woodstock NY) pesto at the farmer's market on Saturday called Buddhapesto. Amazingly, they showed great restraint. Their tag line is “It’s all in the tasting, so go ahead and enlighten your taste buds”. Personally, I couldn't have resisted "Perfect if you are feeling Hungary."