Facie’s Ramblings

On Thursday evening, the first day of "The Verizon Plan," the kid and I walked into a local Verizon store ready to make my soon-to-be 7th grader a smartphone owner. A woman greeted us, and I proceeded to tell her exactly what we wanted: the new plan for two smartphones for $20 each monthly one new smartphone for my kid, a Galaxy Core Prime, which I wanted to pay for outright 1 gig of shared data for $30 monthly Nicole mentioned a cool phone case she had, and I told her we would look at it, but we had already found something on Amazon we liked. Then she went to the back to get the stuff. After a few minutes, Nicole returned with the phone, a case, and a cover, and explained the plan she recommended, which contained 3 gig. I said that I had yet to use 1 gig in any given month, and my child would be using wifi only at home, so there was no need to spend the additional money ($30 versus $45, not including the 20% off the bigger plan with my Pitt discount). She then mentio...

I have a few thoughts on my noodle today, things I just don't get. Older kids and public restrooms Yesterday, as I was walking out of the stall in a hospital restroom, I saw a boy who appeared to be 9- or 10-years old at the sink with a woman. I tried not to stare, and if I had been feeling better, I may have made some off-handed comment. I really, really wanted to know the woman's reasoning behind bringing a boy that old into a woman's restroom. What does she think would happen if she allowed him to go into the men's restroom while she waited outside? Most boys I know don't even wash their hands, so he probably would have been in there for only two or three minutes... Hospitals and communications I spent about 10 hours at the hospital today, probably about 6 hours more than I needed to. I hung out with my dad until he went into surgery around 9:40 a.m.. The woman in the waiting room told me he would probably be done in 1 to 1.5 hours, the doctor would talk t...

Over the years, Kohl's has been one of my favorite department stores. The biggest reason? It is a stand-alone store and not in a mall. Have I mentioned how much I hate malls? And shopping in general, for that matter? Back in August, I found a nice hooded navy cardigan for J that I thought would be great for school and that she actually liked (the non-hooded version she was much less impressed with). Unfortunately, the medium (8 to 10) size barely fit her, and there was no large. But Kohl's has this neat little kiosk in its store that allows you to order the size or color of an item that is not in the store, and said item will be shipped to your house for free. And for charge customers, it could not be easier to do. You just pop your Kohl's card in, and your info is already there; you just have to touch your way to the item you want. I ordered the large (12 to 14) hooded navy cardigan at the kiosk in about two minutes flat, and was almost excited when it arrived at my ho...

I am sitting here waiting for the oven repair guy (or gal) to show up. Earlier this year, our oven, which looked brand new when we bought the house 10.5 years ago but was probably several years old, would randomly shut off during baking. Fortunately, if we turned it back on, it was fine, so we chose to ride it out. Then, a few weeks later, it would not light/start (whatever happens with a gas oven). So hubby scheduled a repair and mentioned only that the oven would no longer light/turn on. The repair guy fixed that, but within a day or two, the oven would shut off again. Since hubby failed to mention the randomly turning off issue, we knew we would have to pay for another appointment, so we, once again, ignored the problem. Unfortunately, it has gotten worse, and the oven hardly stays on now. And that is why I am waiting for the repair person and hoping beyond hope it won't set us back more than $150. Wall ovens are not cheap to replace! But wait, there's more. Back in July, ...

Right now I am sitting here waiting for two HVAC companies to give me revised quotes. We originally met with four different companies, one of which was our current one, another was recommended by a friend, and the other two we found via the Monroeville Home Show. This process is nothing like when we got new windows two years ago, which was challenging enough for me. We have received quotes for five different brands (Carrier, Comfortmaker by Carrier, Bryant, Lennox, and Trane). And the varying options are almost dizzying (single-stage or two-stage, 95 or 96 percent efficient, ECM or some other motor, 13 SEER or 16 SEER). Prior to last week, I had no idea there were so many variances. Last month, during our annual furnace inspection, we found out that our heat exchanger was cracked, something that happened when we first bought the house. Since our furnace is 21-plus years old, over-sized, hardly efficient (80 percent, which furnace people say is really much lower due to the age and...

In the middle of January, I blogged about how my 2.5-year-old tires had worn out with fewer than 27,000 miles on them.  When I got my new/replacement tires, I tried to convince the Flynn guy that rather than my paying his quoted price of $500 to replace the tires, I instead should pay less than half of what the last set cost, which was a little less than $750 (so less than $375; you are welcome for the math). The Flynn guy explained that Goodyear does not make those tires anymore, so I needed to be moved up to a better (i.e., more expensive) tire, and on top of that the price of rubber has gone up. But, he said, if I used my Goodyear credit card, I could get a $120 rebate, so in his eyes I would be paying about half of the original tire cost. His answer did not satisfy me, but I dropped it. Until two days ago. We started pricing furnaces because our heat exchanger cracked (remind me again what is so great about home ownership?). With this latest, large expense and having to he...

A few months ago I blogged about my 14-month old TV that died unexpectedly. Unexpected because one would think a TV would last at least five years. I, being naive and optimistic, was actually hoping for at least 10 years, because, you know, my last TV is over 15 years old and still works. I am still trying to bring myself to write a complaint letter, but I am hesitant because I know exactly what will happen. Nothing. But this week's dilemma is brought to you by tires and, apparently, PA roads, which are consistently ranked in the bottom five. But first, let me back up. About 2.5 years ago, when my car had about 26,000 miles on it, I had to replace my tires, which I believe were warranted for 60,000 miles. At that time, the guy at Flynn's told me that original tires never last long, and when combined with PA roads, my tires did as well as I could expect. Or something like that. So I painfully bought new tires, which were quite pricey thanks to my car (stupid Saturn Vue). But ...

I still very strongly dislike Westinghouse, and that is not going to change any time soon. I am hopeful, if only slightly, that I will be able to post an update at some point that states I am getting something from Westinghouse. If you don't see that update, well, then you know Westinghouse, like many other businesses, cares only about money, not about quality products or customer satisfaction. So, yes, I am pretty sure you won't be reading anything else positive about my TV situation. But I am already on to another customer service-related post. Remember how last month I blogged about my annual appointment, and I threw in a comment about how I once again had to pay a specialist copay? I called my insurance company a week later to question this, and the CSR informed me that this year I should have paid nothing, thanks to the health care reform, which, admittedly, I don't know all the ins and outs of. The CSR said that last year I probably could have gone copay-free; the ...

About 14 months ago, as I blogged about , my neighborhood had yet another power surge, which resulted in my trusty, but not exactly spry, 26" TV (among many other things) meeting its demise. I was willing to go back to our even older 19" TV, which we had kept in our storage shed, but Brian insisted it was time for a new TV, hoping that Duquesne Light would help cover the cost. We found one we liked, a Westinghouse 32" LED HDTV, and it worked just fine until two nights ago, when all of a sudden the screen turned green and everything froze. I tried turning the TV off and on, and I unplugged it, but the TV would not come back on. Brian tested the power supply, which was fine. We tested it again the next day, but still no life. Of course, our TV is no longer under warranty, and apparently not a lot of companies fix Westinghouse TVs. Right now, I am waiting for two companies to call me back (does no one answer the phone anymore?!); one may not even service that brand. I ca...

Well, my brake-car conundrum did not turn out as I had expected. Not surprisingly, the gurgling sound my car was making pretty much stopped after I made the appointment with my mechanic, which is precisely what happened the last time my car was making funny noises . But since I needed an oil change anyway, and my new brakes do squeal, I went ahead with my appointment. According to a guy at my mechanic's, my brakes are fine . He said a "different" material was used on the brakes, and I am probably just not used to the sound. Although I feel good (well, better) knowing that there does not appear to be a problem with my brakes, I don't feel great knowing that I can most likely expect to hear these various sounds again. One would think with the money I spent on my brakes in June, I could expect them to be noise-free. One (i.e., I), however, would be wrong. Worth noting is my mechanic did not charge me to try to figure out what was the wrong this time, although let me ...

About 2.5 months ago, I wrote about my brake rip-off at Monro . Unfortunately for me, I neglected to do a follow-up post. If I had, I would have told you that I filled out an online survey about 10 days later, completely bashing my experience. The very next day, I received a call from J, the guy at the local Monro, who tried to explain himself. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say he did nothing to convince me to come back. Around this time, my car started to make funny noises, some of which sounded like knocking. I took it to my usual mechanic, who simply tightened my caliper mounting bracket. When I asked what this was about, my mechanic asked if I had recently had brakes put on. Grr. Apparently, had my mechanic not made this fix, my brakes could have eventually fallen off. Lovely. I called Monro that afternoon to tell J what happened. He told me if I brought the bill in, he would pay for it. Or I could have two free oil changes. I, stupidly, opted for the...

Coming on the heels of my last post, I have another customer service issue. Except this appears to be less about customer service and more about my being a woman. Today, I brought my car into Monro for my 8:30 a.m. brake appointment. When I made the appointment yesterday, I explained that my brakes have been squealing for the past couple of months, and more recently, they have felt spongy. Today, J, the store manager (the same guy I spoke with yesterday) again asked me what was happening with my brakes, and I repeated the information. I also added that when I had my car inspected at my "regular" mechanic's back in December, he said that my brakes should be good for a few more months. [As an aside, at that inspection, I told my mechanic if my brakes were "close to failing," he should replace them because I would rather have new brakes through the winter. My mechanic said my brakes still had some tread and replacing them would be like throwing out half a loaf of...

I am afraid a rant is coming on. I know, it's hard to believe that I would complain about something. But here I go... It seems to me that expressing thankfulness has gone by the wayside. Or, at the very least, people showing their appreciation is more the exception rather than the rule.  Apparently, it is too much for the people checking me out at Giant Eagle to say thanks (in all fairness, I don't live near one of those fancy-shmancy Iggles, where perhaps they do say thank you). It is not as if I am looking for "have a nice day." Just a simple, even if insincere, thank you would do. But considering that most of the cashiers don't even bother to speak to me, I am probably asking for the impossible. And I bet not much more than half of the kids in the cafeteria bothered to say thanks when I handed them a requested napkin or spoon or helped them open something the numerous times I volunteered in the cafeteria this past school year. As many times as I have had ...

I have been pretty nice over the past year and a half. Well, generally speaking, I have always been a nice person; not too many people would describe me as mean, moody, or bitchy. But as much as I try to be kind (or at least not hurtful or rude), today I just have to say that some people are stupid, as mean as that sounds. Yesterday, some idiot on a bike biked right in front of me. Why was that stupid? Well, I was the second car in line waiting for the green light. Once it turned green, the first car went. Then I started to go. Except I had to stop because this moron bicyclist crossed right in front of me when his light had been red for at least 10 or 15 seconds. And he was biking on the sidewalk. At least he was wearing a helmet... ****  Last week I received a letter from a law firm that represents Duquesne Light (you may recall, we had our second power surge in just over eight months, and many of us think DL is responsible). The letter asked that we complete an inventory s...

I am not the best when it comes to making decisions, sometimes even simple ones. But in my defense, I am also pretty easy-going, so for most things, I could really go either way. I have been a Verizon customer for years. Probably since before Al Gore invented the internet. At some point during our long-term relationship, Verizon rewarded customers with a "new-every-two" deal. I swear years ago it was better, that you pretty much could get any phone you wanted once your two years were up and you signed on for two more. But phones today are so much more glitzy and complicated that there is no way they would do that now. So you get 50 bucks towards something. Fortunately, for what I want, that and whatever special they have pretty much hooks me up. I was up for a new phone this past October. Since my phone had been working fine, I waited until just before Christmas to see what my options were. But after looking at the array of choices and pretty much becoming overwhelmed, I ...

I have a number of thoughts swimming around my head, so I thought I would put them down, in no particular order. Here goes. I think this holiday season people are less rude and crazy. Am I the only one seeing this? Maybe it just seems that way because I am in a better place emotionally and I am doing my best to be kinder and more observant. But so far, I don't think I have witnessed a single rude act (traffic not withstanding). In fact, people seem friendlier than I remember. I know that people saying "Happy Holidays" bothers some of my Christian friends. Me? Not so much. It is a holiday season after all, and there are Jewish people out there shopping for Hanukkah gifts. On the other hand, I have never forgotten when one of my Jewish friends from college actually scolded me for sending her a Christmas card. I was not trying to offend her; I simply wanted to send her a card as I did all my other friends, and as a poor college student, I did not have the extra money to get ...

Nowadays, it seems as if it is nearly impossible to find good customer service. I wanted to share some recent experiences. Hopefully you have had better luck than I, at least in the automotive area. Jiffy Lube Jiffy Lube is overpriced, but years ago I decided my time was more important than saving something like $10 by going elsewhere. I knew I could take my car in on my Wednesday off, and be out of there in about 15 to 20 minutes. Except in April, I was there about 45 minutes, which is ridiculous for JL during the week. So I filled out a comment card with scathing reviews, answering things like I was very unlikely to come back, that I was highly unsatisfied with the wait time, that the services were overpriced. Almost two months later, even though I included both a phone number and email, no one at JL bothered to contact me. Bye-bye, Jiffy Lube. Giant Eagle Last month, and I called GE to see if a $99 gazebo on display was in stock. The woman said yes, so I told her I would be ri...

As much as I hate computerized "customer" service, based on my recent experiences, I am starting to think maybe humans are over-rated in that area. I recently signed up for Verizon's triple package, with FiOS phone, cable, and Internet. Before the installation, I called Comast to see how far in advance I would need to cancel my cable. The rep said you can cancel anytime you want, even the same day, but if you don't specifically request that the day you call be your last billing day, Comcast will try to charge you for two more weeks. Fast-forward more than two weeks, our FiOS was installed, and I called to cancel our cable. This rep said there was a two-week disconnect period. I told her that was fine, but after today I was not going to pay anymore, referencing what "Mark" had told me a few weeks before. When she said she would cancel it in two days as a courtesy, I asked to speak to a manager. The manager said two weeks is standard, but as a courtesy, she wo...