Back to Bank of America

I made a deposit. Turns out they input the wrong amount. After going through their phone menu system 3 times through 4 levels, I finally found a person. "I can fix that" she said, "please hold." 20 minutes later it was fixed but in the middle she comes back to me to tell me it is taking a while because of a computer glitch. I ask why I need to stay on hold, can't they just fix it without me. Apparently not - "we are accessing your account." So after another 10 minutes they say it is fixed. I say thank you and that is it - so why did I have to sit and listen to the elevator music?

AT&T - avoid them like the plague

When we moved here we signed up with Bell South - after all they had to be better than our local cooperative in Brunswick County. Then disaster struck when Bell South was swallowed by AT&T - a company I would never choose to do business with. Since then we have been bombarded by calls from non-native English speakers trying to change our DSL. I told them a million times to speak to my husband in the evening but still they call when he's not home. Finally this morning they called again. I told the guy what I told them all. He said "I know, I called you a while ago, but I'm not responsible for all the other people calling you, that's not my fault." I hung up.

Then I called customer service and waited. After asking me for my phone number 3 times - don't they have caller ID at AT&T? - I explained the problem and they said they would take me off the solicitation list. Next they asked for my social security number. This is a pet peeve of mine - I don't see why all these companies should use my private information for their databases. So I told her I would not give it to her. She said she had to verify my identity - anyone would think I was trying to get money out of them instead of getting off a solicitation list that probably no one wants to be on anyway. Now I was supposed to provide my billing number, the amount of my last bill, the pin number on my bill and the name of my long distance carrier. Are you kidding me? I can get through airport security quicker. After all this she puts me on hold to confirm I'm off the list and CUTS ME OFF.

If AT&T can't handle a phone call, what hope does this country have?

Target Rant

I went to Target to buy 2 items. When I went to check out, there were 3 lines of customers. Each line had 2 people in it. Only one line had the light on, but the people there had more stuff to check. So I stood in a different line. An employee named John walked up to my register. He stood around a bit, then shouted to the checker at the next register to put their light on. The checker took no notice so he walked directly behind me to her register and switched the light on himself. He then walked directly behind me again and stood next to my register. After a few moments just standing around he turned to the lady in front of me, and me, and said, "Sorry this line is closed." We both looked at him because this seemed a little odd. He indicated that the light was not on. Nor was the other one until he turned it on. I told him I thought he could have told us this when he first walked up, rather than letting us stand there longer. He just shrugged.

After being checked out elsewhere, I went over to customer service to speak to the manager. When he comes over - it is John. His badge doesn't say manager which is a little weird, so he probably wasn't the manager anyway. I gave up!

Dyson Vacuum

This is a rant and a rave. First the rave. I love my Dyson vacuum cleaner - it works so well and is easy to empty. By far the best sucking vacuum I have ever had.

But:

How can you design such a great vacuum cleaner and make the attachments so awkward to use? I have given up on them. I get my hand vac out. So if you can't make them easy to use, get rid of them. Reduce the weight and charge me less.

Plus:

Again, with such a great vacuum, how come no one in the testing phase noticed that the vacuum is too high to go under a standard toekick? So in my bathroom and kitchen, I cannot get to the last 2 inches of floor because the Dyson stands too tall. Just 1/2 inch shorter would have worked.

That said, still a great vacuum.

Discount Cards

On the subject of those discount cards - there are too many. Even with the ones that you can put on your key ring, they still take up too much space. My key ring got so full that I couldn't move the cards anymore. Take a leaf from the Publix book - GET RID OF THE CARDS.

Publix

Writing about the restaurants reminded me that I intended to rave about Publix. I have never lived in an area with a Publix supermarket before. I have to say that I really like them. They are clean and the service is excellent. Kroger, Bi-Lo and particularly Food Lion (my least favorite) take note. Plus I like the fact that I don't have to carry a stupid card to get the deals each week - everyone gets them. And the mystery coupon is a brilliant idea. I look for my coupon in the paper each Sunday and look forward to going to the store to see what I am going to get. For those who don't know, the mystery coupon lets you buy one item, determined by the store each week, for 1 cent. This week I got Bounty paper towels. I think it is a fun idea.

Two good restaurants

We have been trying things out in our new location and a couple of restaurants are worth a mention. For Thai food, Mai Thai on Washington Rd, near the Publix in Evans. For Indian food, a new restaurant in the Bi-Lo shopping center on Fury's Ferry Rd in Martinez. We had good meals at both restaurants, with just the right amount of attentive service, i.e. not hovering over you, but not slow either.