Plumber

I was at work when my wife sent me an email with the title, "Water Leak?".

Not the kind of title I want to see. But she's at work also; maybe it's in her building.

No. It's at my house. Apparently my neighbor left a note on our door that there was a leak at the curb, and they shut off our water. I left work at 3, and headed home. The leak was where the PVC pipe went into the water meter.

"Easy enough," I thought.

All I need to do is cut the pipe back a little, and I can replace it. I dig out the pipe a little, and it may be harder than I think. And my fear is I'll cut it back, and break the pipe, and end up costing a lot of money. I call one company that I have given a lot of business to, and have been pretty impressed. But they can't get out until the next morning. No water all night? No. So I call another company.

They send someone as soon as they are done with a job. In less than an hour, someone shows up, looks at it, and writes up an estimate.

$520.

Excuse me? It's PVC pipe.

"I can do this," I think (again).

So I start back to work. I cut the pipe off, and part of it broke off in the fitting in the meter. I headed to Lowe's to get the fittings, and an extractor to get the piece out. After several minutes, I find some pieces that should work. Back at the house, I start digging back. I couldn't get the piece out of the meter fitting. The pipe comes out of the the meter, and immediately goes into the sprinkler system, which we don't have anymore. Then it went straight down. Okay, so this is going to be a lot more involved than I thought.

I called a friend who does his own construction work, and found out he doesn't do plumbing. His uncle does all of his work. So I called him at 6:00.

"Do you want me to come over now, or can it wait until the morning?" he asked.

"Well, I have no water, so if you could come over now, that would be great."

He was there in twenty minutes. Within an hour, he was done, and the yard was put back together. We had water, and no leak.

"How much do I owe you?" I asked.

"Seventy Five."

I wrote him a check for one hundred and twenty five.

Here's a guy who dropped what he was doing to come get me out of my problem. He may have been finishing dinner, or just sitting down to relax. He worked in the 100+ degree heat to fix it. The job was done right, and he barely charged enough to make it worth his time.

Anyone who needs plumbing work done, his name is Ben Stevenson, owner of Stevenson Services. He does excellent work, and more reasonably than just about anyone else.

AT&T U-Verse

I hate Charter. 

Being a Christian, hate is a term I really shouldn't use.  But somehow, "I strongly dislike Charter" just didn't seem to capture the depth.

Two and a half years ago, we moved from Grapevine to North Richland Hills, TX.  In Grapevine, I had Verizon FIOS.  It was awesome.  Fiber directly to the house, incredible speed, and in the two years I had that service, I only had them out twice.  Neither time took more than ten or fifteen minutes to fix, and I was back up and running.

North Richland Hills isn't part of Verizon's coverage area.  Bummer.  In fact, when we moved in, the only company that offered anything other than dish was Charter.  I only thought I hated Charter.  Finally, one day I saw that AT&T offered U-Verse in our area.  I couldn't change over quick enough.  And, on top of everything else, they gave us $250 back.  It couldn't get any better than that, right?

Wrong.

AT&T came and got everything hooked up, and ten minutes after they left, I turned the TV to one of the music channels.  I went to the bedroom, and turned on the same channel, and they both froze.  Odd.  So I changed one to another channel, and they both came back on. 

"Why can't you watch the same channel in two rooms at the same time?" I wondered.

In less than a week, I had my answer.  It had nothing to do with what channel it was on.  I was all about the fact that U-Verse has an issue with the picture freezing. 

"The Cowboys a first down at the Eagle's forty with just over four minutes left."


"And the Eagles cap a successful drive with the extra point, and it's Eagles 21, the Cowboys 14 at the two minute warning."

"What happened?!?"

Getting involved in a Criminal Minds episode, and just at the most exciting part, the picture freezes.  It comes back on and they are in their plane, ending the show. 

I only thought I hated Charter.  Turns out, I was only aggravated at them.

I hate AT&T.

So I call their service department, and, first off, you have to go through one of those stupid auto attendants.

Recording:  "I see you are calling from 214-555-1212.  Is this the number on your U-Verse account."

Me:  "No."

Recording:  "Okay.  Please give me the phone number associated with your U-Verse account, or you can say, 'I don't have one'."

Me:  "I don't have one."

Recording:  "Okay.  Give me your U-Verse account number, your primary social security number, or the first thirty-seven prime numbers in descending order in Ancient Aramaic."

Me:  "I...what?"

Recording:  "I'm sorry, that was not a valid response.  Please wait while I locate a thirteen year old who is sitting in their living room playing X-box to assist you.  Don't worry that they are only thirteen.  They won't be able to help you anyway.  And thank you for being a valued AT&T customer."

Me:  "Great, now I need another cell phone."

So the first guy who came out replaced the connections in the attic, and the connections outside.

"That should fix the problem," he said as he was leaving. 

It worked flawlessly for almost an hour. 

So we lived with it for a couple more weeks before I called back to go through the same frustrating experience. 

The second guy told me he changed out all the connections outside, and in the attic, and my problem should be solved.

I don't think he appreciated the fine art of scoffing I was trying to entertain him with.

"The last guy who came out said he changed out all that stuff," I explained.

"Hmm."

This guy gave me his card, and said the problem should be fixed. 

"Call me if it happens again."

So ten minutes later, I dialed his number.  He came back out.  He said he needed to check the box in the neighbor's yard, and then down the street.

I never saw him again.  But it was okay for a week or so.

The third guy who came out replaced the modem.  It froze before he ever left.  So he also drilled another hole in my wall, and ran a new cable from the outside box to the modem inside. 

"Well, that will fix your issue," he assured me. 

He also was underimpressed with my scoffing ability, which was becoming quite polished by then.

It froze an hour after he was gone.  I called back, and got his voicemail.  (surprise).  I never heard back.

The next time I mustered the strength to call, I told them in no uncertain terms that the next time I called, I would be telling them their equipment was sitting in a box on my curb, and if they wanted it, they should come get it.  That was several months ago.

The problem seemed better in the last couple of months.  It only froze once every other day or so, and usually only for a minute or two.  Until this last week.

It was out all day, but started working when I got home and reset the modem.  Saturday, I reset the modem five times before calling them.  They set up a tech to come out between 4 and 9.  No one ever showed up, and no one ever called me to tell me they weren't going to show up.  They are supposed to be out today between 12 and 4.  I'm sure he will replace the connections in the attic, and outside, and tell us it should be fixed.

The next time I take a day off, I'm switching back to Charter.  Have I mentioned how much I love Charter?

Compared to AT&T, at least.

Customer Service?

Whatever happened to customer service?

Watching television the other night, there was a gas station, where an attendant filled the tank, checked the oil, the washer fluid, tires, and cleaned the windshield.

I'm only 44, and I can remember going to the gas station with mom or dad, and the attendant would do all of that, and usually even smile. We never had to get out of the car. I understand in the changing economy, stations aren't able to pay someone to do that anymore. But customer service seems to be dead now.

In the last few years, I have noticed that more and more, I get a waiter or waitress who seems to think I'm there for their benefit. They seem put out if I actually have to ask for a refill. Nevermind that, for the last fifteen minutes, I've been gulping large amounts of spicy food while slurping at the last few drops of watered down coke. If my meal is wrong, I seldom say anything for fear of what will happen to my meal while it is back in the kitchen being fixed.

Since when is the customer wrong for getting the meal the way he or she asked for it?

I'm something of a big tipper. Even if the service is poor, I'll usually leave at least fifteen percent. I've waited tables, and I know it can be long hard hours on your feet, dealing with rude customers, and sometimes hostile kitchen staff or management. And I always give the benefit of the doubt. But there are times that just doesn't work. No matter how I try to justify it, sometimes it just comes down to bad service. If the service is good, I will tip as much as thirty percent. Why?

Because I want to server to know that I appreciated them "putting up with" my special order. So I don't like onions. Isn't it just as easy to leave them out as it is to put them in?

And I can't be the only person receiving this kind of treatment. Why does it continue? Because enough of us don't complain. My thinking used to be that I would just put up with it, not say anything, but never go back. All that does is leave the sorry waiters to the next customer. A successful restaurant will never miss one family.

There is a Mexican restaurant we used to dine at most of the time we had Mexican food. But as time went on, the service got slower, and sloppier, and the quality of food just wasn't good enough to make it worth it. They have closed at least three restaurants that I know of. There is still one in business incredibly. And it is the one closest to where I live now. But I will not step foot in the door. I tried several times, and three different restaurants before giving up on the chain.

Yet, in spite of all of the bad experiences, the continual optimist in me will continue to eat out. And I will continue to hope to get a waiter or waitress who enjoys their job. Someone who will keep an eye on my glass when they pass by, and will bring refills before I'm sucking ice cubes. Someone who understands that I'm spending good money to enjoy a meal out, and that their job is to ensure I get what I pay for. Someone who smiles when they stop by the table, gets the meal out, and makes sure it's right. Someone who makes me feel like they are there to serve me. After all, isn't that what the word "server" means? And when I find that person, I will happily leave a big tip to let them know how much they are appreciated.