Customer Service???

In the past 48 hours, I've had 2 customer service episodes that have left me wondering where we've gone wrong.  Being a customer service person isn't anyone's dream job (I'm assuming), but I wasn't an "angry customer" so I was surprised to have encounters with a couple of people who were puzzling.

Story #1
Yesterday I had to activate a new phone for Nolan.  His antiquated 1960's flip-phone screen broke so he couldn't see who he was calling, who was calling him, or read or send texts.  Yes, the phone still worked, but all the deluxe features that made it better than an attached-to-the-wall rotary phone didn't (other than the fact that his phone wasn't rotary or attached to a wall).  I splurged and bought him a new $10 1970's flip-phone... this one has video capability!  Well, the new phone needed to be activated, which could have been done via the internet except that I wanted to transfer his minutes and his phone number, so I called the 1-800 number for Tracfone and talked to Cindy.  The experience was less than pleasant.  Cindy was rude.  She seemed to be annoyed that she had to do her job.  Cindy started off by asking me what the number I wanted to transfer was.  I gave it to her, she typed it in wrong, then told me I gave her a incorrect number.  I restated the number, and on we went to step 2.  Cindy then asked for the phone's serial number.  I gave her the number next to the letters "S/N".  I assumed that "S/N" meant "serial number", but no, she rudely told me the numbers I gave her were not the serial number, and the numbers she wanted were next to the letters "IMEI".  Why didnt' she give me that hint in the first place?  Moving on... we had issues with the SIM card number; she asked for my zip code and evidently it didn't match with the zip code on file (because I gave her Lindon's zip code instead of Pleasant Grove's), then I didn't know which email address she had on file, and she couldn't help me with that, so I started rattling off possible email addresses, and finally said that if the address she has on file is a Juno email, then I don't use that provider any more (and, of course, it was a Juno address).  Anyway, in the end, Nolan's "new" phone works, his number was transferred, and everything worked out.  But Cindy was not nice.  Cindy made the whole process much more difficult and complex than it should have been.  Grrrr to Cindy.

Story #2
During the time of the United States Quarter Craze #1, I traded "D" mint quarters for "P" mint quarters with some guy in New Jersey.  He wanted an insane number of quarters... I think it was 4.5 rolls of each "D" mint quarter.  I only wanted 1 roll and 6 individual quarters of each state released by the "P" mint.  Since it cost the same to mail 1 roll of quarters as it did to mail 4.5 rolls of quarters (thanks to flat rate envelopes), I received a lot of "P" mint quarters.  They've been living in my night stand cabinet.  On Tuesday, I decided that I was tired of having all these quarters, so I took them to the bank to trade them in.  All the quarters were rolled.  Most were still bank wrapped.  I had 122 rolls of quarters.  I took them to the PG branch of Zion's bank where the teller told me that she couldn't take them.  She claimed that the bank would only take 9 rolls of quarters per day, unless I wanted to pay a 10% service fee.  Really?  A fee for swapping denominations of US currency.  I wasn't trying to do a foreign currency exchange; I was just tired of having a lot of quarters.  It seemed to me that the teller was making things up as she went along.  Her story-line wasn't smooth and she seemed to be doing a bunch of quick thinking in her head as she tried to get out of doing a transaction she didn't want to do.  Well, I wasn't about to pay a service fee for turning quarters into paper money, so handed over 9 rolls of quarters for 4 $20's and 1 $10, and left the bank.

Realizing that it was going to take me 14 business days to play the "9 rolls per day" game, I decided to go visit a few nearby branches of Zion's Bank and unload some more quarters.  I visited the American Fork, Lehi, 8th North Orem, 13th South Orem, 10th North Provo, and 200 N Provo branches of Zion's Bank, who all accepted between 10 and 13 rolls of quarters without question, and most importantly, pleasantly.  (Okay, I didn't try  hand off the remaining 113 rolls of quarters at any one location, but no one tried to claim they'd have to charge me that 10% service fee since I was off-loading more than 9 rolls of quarters).  I also visited the American Fork, Lehi, Pleasant Grove, and Orem branches of Bank of American Fork, and they all took 10 rolls of quarters without hesitation.  I visited 11 banks on Tuesday, and only one person at one branch (Zion's in PG) had an issue with the rolled quarters.  To that teller, if you don't like helping people, get a new job!  By the way, after visiting 11 banks on Tuesday, I still had 8 rolls of quarters to off-load. Yesterday, I went back to the PG branch.  Tuesday's teller wasn't there.  I had no issue trading in the last 8 rolls of quarters.

Honestly, I don't think my requesst in either situation were particularly extreme.  Perhaps the volume of my quarter swap was a bit unorthodox, but a casino in Las Vegas would have been accommodating.  In the end, I got everything I wanted from both situations, but I've been left with a bad taste in my mouth.  I've never loved tracfone, and I'll be looking into other cheap options for a non-contract provider for Nolan's phone.  As for Zion's Bank, I've been a customer there for 20 years.  Last May, new accounts were opened at a competitor, but those accounts haven't really been used.  The quality of service I've received from Zions has steadily declined over the years, and I think I'll be switching over the direct deposits to the competitor and using them as my main bank.

First Soccer Season

I hesitantly signed Miles up for soccer.  He wanted to play; I wasn't excited about it.  His first game was 3 Saturdays ago.  He started out really timid... hands over his mouth as his anxiety was taking over. 

Then the ball found itself in front of Miles' feet.  Instict took over and he dribble the ball from one end of the field to the other, then he scored!  Miles decided that soccer was great, and went on to score twice more.

Well, that was the first game.  Each successive game, Miles has become more and more timid.  He still likes it though.  He still manages to score goals... for the other team.  So long as he's having fun, right?

Costa Rica

While we were off enjoying Alaska, Jonathan was having his own adventure in Costa Rica.  He spent 10 days there on a "Eco Tour".  He visited jungles, nature preserve, hot pots, volcanoes, the beach, a cloud forest, a school, and more.  He went kayaking, ziplining, and whitewater river rafting.  He saw a plethora of animals... sloths, lizards, parrots, hummingbird, and more.  Unfortunately, since he's not here, I can't give details of his trip.  Here are some of my favorite pictures that he took...

Portable Fruit Stand

A Sloth

Blue Butterfly

Poas Volcano

Horse Parking!!!

Monster Sized Leaf

Parrot

Iguana

Washington!

We planned to spend 2 days post-cruise in Washington.  The first day, we planned to visit Mt. Rainier.  We drove to the park, but it was a typical drizzly Washington day, so we couldn't see the top of Rainier.  The weather forecast in one of the visitor centers said the next day would be lovely.  We changed our Seattle day plans and decided to make a return trip to Seattle/Vancouver, Canada, and spend another day at Rainier.  We left Rainier and drove to Mt. St. Helens to see if it was less obscured by clouds.  It wasn't.  So we decided to drive to Oregon and eat dinner (mark off another "state visited" for the boys).  The next day, as predicted, was gorgeous.  Loved seeing Mt. St. Helens,

and Mt. Rainier, as well as the entire park, was gorgeous.

Obscured Mt. St. Helens

"Character" of the day!

Alaska 2014- Odds & Ends

The most random thing was that Nolan ran into someone he knew on the cruise- Mrs. Linville, the lady from his junior high that runs the 4-H program

Thanks to Aly, Miles got a surprise delivery from the cruise director- a trophy, a medal, and a plate of chocolate dipped strawberries.

Nolan was an adventure eater- lobster, escargot, frog legs, shark, scallops, tons of shrimp, mussels, calamari, oysters, and crab cakes.  

Miles was not an adventurous eater, unless you count the ice cream and french fries creation he ate.

Miles had a thing for the ship's chapel.  Don't know why, but he wanted to visit it often and "read the scriptures".

Sometimes, even on vacation, Miles needs a time out.

We had awesome servers who made Miles rats and squirrels out of napkins, and an origami boat, chihuahua, and transformer.

The Mad Hatter's Lounge decor is ugly.

Miles still likes to knock over the large chess pieces.

The sun sets super late in Alaska- after 11 p.m. and rises at 3:55 a.m.

Wildflowers are awesome!

Sometimes the ice looks like a whale tail!

Random "animals" were found wandering the decks.

Sometimes Miles was bribed with Froot Loop art to eat.

You gotta watch where you step in Juneau or you'll be cleaning bear poo off your shoes.

Victoria has a groovy sculpture.

Victoria has funny signs.

The scenery is amazing!