An Open Letter to AT&T Wireless

Dear AT&T Wireless,

I used to brag about your customer support and how great you guys were when I had an issue with paying my monthly bill; that just changed.  When you shut my service off today because I was one day late I went to the store with the money that I had saved up for the bill and paid it...All $340 of it. (Which NO one can explain to me why my bill is that high for 3 lines and two smart phones.  They all keep telling me that they will "get back to me" with ways to lower my bill -- NEVER HAPPENED.)  I was told by the retail store in Jersey City, NJ that my service would be back on in 5 minutes... I waited...

It takes me 15 minutes to get home and my service still wasn't on.  I walked to my grandmother's house to use her phone to find out what the hell was going on and why my service still wasn't on... "Oh, it shows your services are active." I was told... I had to fight with the agent to tell them my services were in fact NOT active because I couldn't use my phone.  I was put on hold for an absurd amount of time before she told me that she had to manually start the initializing of my services being restored... She told me within an hour they would work.

I gave you guys two hours, actually...

Still nothing.  I walked to my grandmother's (once again) to use her phone and I got a little more angry with your agents this time.  Two hours had passed and no services were restored.  I was told, once again, that my services were all connected.  I had to argue (for the second time) that my services were not restored.  I was put on another long absurd hold only for them to tell me it was still initializing.  Seriously?  Two hours and 15 minutes?  She told me that unfortunately there were so many new iPhone activations that they were all lagged for now and some were put on hiatus.  I'm a long time AT&T wireless and iPhone customer but unfortunately I guess that doesn't matter with AT&T.  I was told that some of these people waited hours for a new iPhone and they have to activate those first.  Is this how you care about your long time customers? She told me there was no guarantee when the service would be active again and I think that's complete bullshit.  I want my phone working the way it should be.  You're so quick to take my money every month and I have to wait hours and hours to use my own service?  Complete and utter bullshit.

Thankfully, I'm not the only one complaining about this.  I searched on Twitter to find many other customers who were one day late dealing with disconnection and activation lags as well.  I'm really ready to throw in the towel with AT&T and go to Verizon Wireless or Sprint.  Maybe there I wouldn't have to deal with the type of customer service and attitudes that I received today from the AT&T Wireless Customer care.

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An Open Letter to Sears

Dear Sears,

I have worked in Customer Service and Retail for 10 years and I have never encountered the rudeness that are Sears call center associates.  WEEKS ago, I placed an order for a car charger adapter.  It took Sears THREE WEEKS to e-mail me telling me the order had been canceled.  Meanwhile, I had been calling and inquiring, they would always tell me the order was on it's way when it was not.  After I received very late e-mail telling me the order was canceled, I called back to place the order. The first agent I spoke to RUDELY told me that she could not give me the sales price of the item that I PAID FOR and I would have to now pay full price.  Now, come on, Sears, I've worked in retail long enough to know that your rude agent was bullshitting me.  (And oh yes, she was very rude to me too. She treated me like I was a 5 year old who got scolded for not listening to the rules.)  I hung up out of anger and because I had other things to do. 

Calling back the day after actually gave me the one nice agent that I had spoke to.  He placed my order again for me and told me that he would give me the sale price that I had originally paid.  I was happy to actually speak to someone who cared for a customer.  (Or at least seemed like it.)  My order was placed and I was a happy camper.  Unfortunately, this isn't the "happily ever after" ending when I STILL had not received my item.  Called numerous times to rude associates who told me the item was shipped, I should be receiving it soon, etc...  Two weeks later I got the package.  They told me 5-7 business days when it took 15 to send it?  Come on, Sears...

Fast forward to Thursday night... I go online to check my credit card bill and to tally how much I spent this Holiday season when I see Sears took $79.00 off my card.  Oh really?  For what?  I call sears to get ANOTHER angry and rude agent who told me that I had not cancelled my ShipVantage membership and that's why I was charged.  I told said agent that I had an agent cancel it for me after the second order that I placed. Agent gets VERY angry with me and tells me that I'm feeding him a line because I didn't want my card to be charged.  No, I had canceled it and was angry that they still charged my card.  That agent rudely hung up on me.

I call back an hour later and speak to an agent who said she cancelled it, but I would have to wait 10 days for the shipping department to call me to tell me if I can even GET a refund.  No, no, no, I'm not going to do that.  I demanded to speak to a manager.  After asking me many questions that I REFUSED to answer, I got a manager on the phone.  Oddly, this manager told me Sears' computers were down.  It was shocking especially since the agent prior was able to tell me the information from the computer, but this girl couldn't even pull up any information?  Hmm...  I was told I would get a call back in 2 hours.  Friday passed, Saturday passed, Sunday passed, Monday passed and part of Tuesday.  I wasn't waiting any longer.  That 2 hours was turning into a week very quickly. 

Today when I called I encountered 3 rude (very rude) reps who refused to transfer me to a manager and EACH of them said I was acting irrationally and hung up on me.  IRRATIONALLY?!  DO YOU WANT TO SEE IRRATIONAL!?  TELL ME AGAIN THAT YOU DON'T KNOW WHEN I AM GOING TO GET MY MONEY BACK!  I called a third time, hoping not to go completely nuts on the agent, when this agent asked me over and over again, "What is your name?" "What is your order number?" "Why are you so upset?"  Listen, if I have to tell you my name (and spell it) 5 times, there's something wrong.  When I have to explain to you 5 times that I DO NOT HAVE AN ORDER NUMBER, you're not listening to me. AND THEY WONDER WHY I AM UPSET.  I eventually refused to answer anything else until I got a manager.  After being put on hold for 15 minutes, I finally got a manager.  (Who had absolutely no compassion for me.)  This manager tried for 35 minutes to pull up my account with my name. 

"Are you sure you used your name for the order?"

No, I used Abraham Lincoln's name...WHAT DO YOU THINK?

"What is your order number?"
For the 100th time, I DO NOT HAVE AN ORDER NUMBER.

"Ok, then we can't pull your account, are you sure you shopped with Sears?"
No, not at all. I just feel like calling and telling you off for nothing. It's amusement to me.


"Maybe we canceled your order. If so, you'll get a refund."
Ok, let me say this like I'm speaking to my kids... I... DO... NOT... HAVE... AN... ORDER.


"Oh, you don't have an order? Then why did we charge you $79?"
I am just the customer! I found it on my credit card statement! Why don't YOU tell me, Sears Supervisor... (if that is your real name.)


After going back and forth with this unhelpful supervisor and a long ("brief", they called it) hold, she came back and told me that the agent prior who said she canceled the ShipVantage NEVER DID and she would do it for me now.  She also told me that I would have my money back in 3-5 business days.  I'm praying I do, but after the crap I have gone through with Sears, I'm not holding my breath. 


The kicker, before she ended the call, she asked me "Do you have a Sears credit card and would you like more information about signing up for one?"  No, no thank you.  I'm never shopping with Sears again.  JC Penney has much better customer service and I'll use THEIR credit card.  I WAS a Sears card holder, but no longer.  Not after the way the agents made me feel small and insignificant when customers are supposed to be one of the most important part of the company.

So much for good customer service with that company.

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Dear Krissy...

One day I had a writers block and started looking through Mama Kat's blogging prompts.  This was one that jumped out at me.  Of course, it's a few months old, but I don't care! I still wanted to write it!

The prompt was, "Write a letter to the 10 year old you were..."

Dear Ten Year Old Krissy,

As much as you think you have to try to impress others and as much as you think you have to be someone you're not, YOU DON'T!  If people are your friend when you are completely yourself, they're worth your time and they are actually your friend.  If you feel you have to change or impress them, and if they don't like you for who you really are, forget them.  It's not worth your time!

Having low self confidence will scar you for life.  Trust me, I know.  Forget about the "Kick Me" sign on your back and the kid who tried to tie your shoe laces to the desk, that stuff is just a temporary humiliation.  As much as you think your life is going to end when the entire class laughs at you, it won't.  The moment will pass, the day will go on, and when the next day comes there will be something else for them to laugh at.  Kids. Are. Cruel.  You can't let that stuff get to you.  Letting it impact you will make you even more of an easy target.  They bully kids that they know they can get a reaction out of.  It gives them some sort of sick satisfaction to see someone cry.  Be strong, stand up for yourself, and keep your head held high over every bully who tries to put you down.  Bullies are like wild animals, they can smell/sense your fear.

The most important thing is concentrating on school and studying.  Image and how you are perceived to others is the least of your worries.  Dwelling on the negative and thinking of how you can impress people instead of being a dork will just make you slack in class and make your grades go down.  It will also cause you to be depressed.  It's not worth it.  

You're a strong person, even if you don't realize it.  You can overcome the feelings of vulnerability.  You can change your priorities before it's too late.  

Love,

The older, smarter, 25 year old you.

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An open letter to Target Stores...

Dear Target,

I shop used to shop there all of the time, probably more than I should.  Your store is was my guilty pleasure.  The fact that our local store is become a Super Target with the fresh meat and fruit is a very great idea for our area since it will give other local supermarkets a run for their money!  However, I do have a complaint big complaint.  

Your employees of the Jersey City, NJ store definitely need to learn the coupon policy as well as becoming a little more knowledgeable about coupons themselves. (Especially the one casier, a few months ago, that didn't even know you could get coupons for Target...Really, now? And she's employed there?) Three different incidents within the past 2 months have really frustrated me.  Especially since my coupons and I shop shopped there all of the time. (We don't go anywhere without each other.) I have had many great experiences at Target but unfortunately, the three extremely bad experiences I have had have probably ruined it for me.

The first experience I had in late January, the cashier refused to use any of my coupons because she was almost off her shift and scanning the coupons would cut into when she left. (Oh, I'm 100% serious about this.  I wish I was kidding! I can't believe how selfish people can be.)  I complained to the manager on duty and was told, "Well, I don't blame her. She has been here since 9 a.m."  Although, she also did say that while she understood, she should have taken my coupons anyway rather than my going to customer service to get the money back.

Second experience, I was purchasing Kashi Cereal, Kashi Snack Bars and Juicy Juice.  I had target coupons as well as manufacturer coupons and was told by the cashier that they couldn't use two coupons on one item.  I explained to them that you can use one target coupon and one manufacturer coupon without a problem on an item, but the cashier was still very rude and told me I didn't know what I was talking about.  (Which I found very insulting.)  She eventually pushed my coupons through once I threatened to get a manager to come assist.  Though she was mumbling under her breath about how I'm "cheating" Target.

Then today...Oh today...the other two experiences could have been forgotten if it wasn't for today.  I wasted an hour and a half of my day standing at the cashier's counter arguing with the cashier and manager as well as holding up customers who did not deserve to be aggravated.  

First, I wanted to notify Target itself (since my local store didn't give a damn) that the Physicians Formula mineral powder makeup that is on sale for $3 is NOT ringing up as $3 at the counter.  It is coming up regular price.  This is where I encountered my FIRST issue. 

I had notified the cashier, upon scanning the items, that they were $3.  I had taken a picture of the sale sign when I found they weren't pricing right on the self scanner, so I showed the photo to the cashier.  He told me he couldn't accept the picture as proof because he had to hear it from a manager.  Ok, understandable.  I waited patiently for someone to find out.  I got this very nice male manager who told the cashier that they were, in fact, $3.  He fixed the price until a female manager came over and said, (AND I QUOTE) "There is no damn way in hell that the makeup is $3.  That's expensive make up and must be an advertising mistake!"  - Professional language, btw! -  She then proceeded to FORBID the cashier from using the sale price for me.  I kept arguing and was called a bitch by the female manager because of the fact that I wouldn't "give up".  To make a very long (and 35 minute) story short, eventually the male manager came over to tell the cashier to just give it to me for $3 already since the line was getting held up. 

Next, I was chastised grately by the cashier for wanting to use my coupons when I took the coupons out of my purse. (How dare I use a coupon!)  He told me that I was essentially "stealing" from Target because I'm getting all of my items for practically nothing.  I explained to the cashier that it was not stealing since I was paying some money and giving him the coupons.  I also told him that Target will be reimbursed for the value of the coupons.  He then went on to make another excuse and said that if he scanned all of my coupons he would be fired.  Again, I know that is a huge lie.  I told him that I have worked in retail and have never heard anyone get fired because of scanning too many coupons. He then started to have an attitude with me and told me that it wasn't fair since I would end up paying a lot less than what I bought.  This entire argument took ALMOST AN HOUR.  It was a long drawn out argument that involved the two managers and my cashier.  The male manager was the ONLY one who showed some normalcy and kindness.  The female manager called me a bitch, yet again.  She also told me that customers who disrespect their "uppers" were not welcome in the store.  After that comment, I told her that I would no longer be shopping at that Target store because of the attitude and disrespect shown to their customers.

I am not going to stand there and take blatant disrespect, cussing and degridation from ANYONE who thinks they're better than me.  What ever happened to "The customer is always right?"  I guess that is no longer correct in some stores.

Honestly, I love Target and would love to continue shopping there, but those three experiences (especially the last) really ruined me.  I am very upset and very angry that ANYONE can treat another person that way. 

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