Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Service

If there is one thing that I can appreciate it is good service. I know when a server is going above and beyond his or her job without being completely irritating. I know when a CSR [customer service representative] knows what he or she is doing.

Right now, I'm kind of irritated with Virgin Mobile [VM]. I order a new phone [LG Optimus V for the curious] last week [V-Day present for myself]. As of this point, my order has been submitted [which I can see courtesy of some clever google searching]. And has been for a week now.

VM has some questionable wording with shipping. Here are two answers to what I found in their FAQ under "Shopping & Order Status":

Question: What kinds of shipping options do you offer?
Answer: Any order that contains a phone can be shipped FREE OF CHARGE using FedEx Ground , and should arrive within 3-5 business days (Limit 3 phones per order)
Question: Does Virgin Mobile offer free shipping on phones ordered on their website?
Answer: Yes, FedEx Ground Shipping is FREE on any order that contains a phone. Place your order by 11 a.m. Eastern Time and you'll have it in your hands in 3-5 business days. Free and easy.
I've contacted VM 4 times. 3 times through their little e-mail messenger thing and once via their twitter account at VMUcare. And it's all sorts of frustrating.

The first time I used the e-mail messenger thing , I sent this on 2/18: "I ordered from the website a few days ago. Is there anyway for me to track my order?" I had already found the page with the submitted message but I wanted to know if there was anything more I could really know. This was the response I got 12 hours later:
Thanks for contacting Virgin Mobile Customer Care. First let me extend my apologies for any inconvenience this has caused.

In regards to your email, at this time your order is still in submitted status. As soon it is shipped we can then provide you a tracking number from federal express.

If you need additional assistance, feel free to let us know how we can assist further or contact us at 1-888-322-1122 (or *VM from your handset). You can reach us Monday through Friday 6am-9pm PST and Saturday and Sunday from 6am-8pm PST.
So basically I was told what I already knew. I could deal with that but still... Annoying to be told what you already know. I decide to wait a little longer. As of 2/21, the message of submitted is still the same. I'm thinking "Shouldn't they have sent my order out by now?" I'm kind of irked [I really wanted this phone]. So I send another e-mail message thing: "I placed an order for a new phone on 2/14. According to your FAQs, I should have received my phone by now. Is there a problem with my order? Here is my order number: ***********"

And the response [again, more than 12 hours later]:
Thanks for contacting Virgin Mobile Customer Care. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

We can certainly help resolve your question, but first we must verify we have the right account. Can you please respond and provide your correct Virgin Mobile Account PIN (numeric security code), in case you do not remember what your Account PIN is, please respond the secret question correctly:

"What is your pet's name?"

Once we have that, we can get right to business and get you on your way!

Hopefully you can understand - you wouldn't want just anyone getting your private information. Without the information requested we can't divulge information through email, it's a privacy thing.

If you need additional assistance, feel free to let us know how we can assist further or contact us at 1-888-322-1122 (or *86 from your handset). You can reach us from 4am-9pm PST.
First, they don't even tell me if I should just reply to the e-mail or what. I send a reply e-mail with the information... This is the reply I got back [well over 24 hours after the fact and after I contacted VMUcare]:
Thanks for contacting Virgin Mobile Customer Care. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

I reviewed your order and it changed from pending status to submitted, we do not yet have a tracking number for it. Due to a number of system issues we experienced, our orders are taking longer than our normal timeframe.

I just want you to allowed us some more time to have this issue resolved at once, be sure that your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated.

If you need additional assistance, feel free to let us know how we can assist further or contact us at 1-888-322-1122 (or *86 from your handset). You can reach us from 4am-9pm PST.
First off, I don't like how this CSR makes it sound like my order just changed from pending status to submitted. I do like how he explains [even if it isn't truthful] that they are having issues with orders. So far he is the only one to give me any clue as to what the heck is going on.

As mentioned before, I contact VMUcare on twitter before I even got the last message. So I decide to try the twitter account at this point. The response is much faster, which is sad because it looks like it is just the one girl doing the twitter. Again, there is still the waiting but it's cut down to a few hours tops. But again, I get a similar response:
I see that your order is still in submitted status. We need to see it say "Shipped" for it to be on its way.
They don't seem to get that I want to know when my order will be shipped. Even if they were to tell me "Well, I don't know when exactly..."  would be better than all this "Well, it's submitted right now..." 

Oh, and of course I submitted another report via the e-mail messenger thing today and they got it at 1:57 pm: "I placed an order for a new phone on 2/14. According to your FAQs, I should have received my phone by now [it said it was in stock when I ordered though now it says it is out of stock]. Is there a problem with my order? Here is my order number: ***********"

Have yet to hear about that but at this rate, I'd suspect they will send an e-mail sometime in the early morning hours.

I must also admit that I haven't been perfect in this situation either. I haven't been using any of these incident numbers they have been giving me. It may have made their lives a little easier and may have made the information I wanted a little more obvious. Honestly, they've gotten either my phone number or my order number every time and you'd think they would put any issues any particular customer is having under something like that. But I can get the other side too that it is just easier to assign each case a number because sometimes people don't want their number or something in an e-mail.

However... Keeping track of incidents would be better by phone number. Since every phone has its own number, there is still no chance of repeats. Also, a CSR would be able to see any past problems. If one person is having constant problems with something, whether it be a company or a particular product, could lose a customer.

However, from what I've seen online comments wise, VM has always had a bad CS reputation. And while it is not the only not so hot thing about this company, it is probably the most problematic for the company and for its customers.

Virgin Mobile, get it together. Price cutting will only get you so far before you hit the dead end.


_____
Update!
 
So it's been almost 24 hours since I sent the last e-mail message thing and still no message back.

Also, I didn't note that in the DM [direct message] I sent to VMUcare via Twitter, I asked in the same DM later "Is there a time frame of when that will happen?" [After the "I see that your order is still in submitted status. We need to see it say "Shipped" for it to be on its way."]. 16 hours and no response. And I know someone is on the twitter account now. -sigh- There is just no winning with VM, is there.

I'll probably try calling them tomorrow if I don't hear anything back within the next 24 hours.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Cars

If there is one thing I don't know an almost insignificant amount about, it is cars. I know how to fill my gas tank, how to drive it, how to put more antifreeze in and now, how to change the light bulb of the headlight. But other than that, I know nothing.

Why am I talking about this you wonder? Well, my [parents'] car [92’ Chevy Cavalier in case your curious] has been acting up for a little while now. It started with the car wobbling and shaking. Not know what the problem was, I took it home to find out [which is about 100 miles away]. 

Anyway, my dad is all "Well, one of your tires was really low... And another was sort of low but not too bad." So he fills my tires. My mom recommended getting a wheel alignment. So I still wanted to do this and we took the car to Pepboys. I noticed the wobbling was gone but the shaking was kind of still there. However, on the roads to Pepboys, there is no chance to really get up to 60mph to see.

When I get there, I talk to the guy behind the counter a little bit. And he tells me maybe it’s a wheeling balance problem and recommends doing that. It’s about $30 cheaper. Unfortunately, I was in on a Sunday and they were super busy. And I had to head back to school that night for my internship in the morning. Basically, they would have time to do one but not both. So I went with the wheel balancing because my dad had mentioned that may be the problem earlier.

Picked up the car and on the way back, my brother [who drove the cavalier] said he noticed the difference but couldn’t tell if it was different from what I was experiencing after my dad had filled the tires. Since I don’t really have a choice, I head back to school… And I feel like it is possibly worse than before…

I’m driving back and I hit a little over 60 mph and the car starts shaking rather violently. Almost enough to make me pull over [which for me, is a pretty big deal]. But as soon as I drop back below 60mph, its back to rather mild, “I’m just an old” shaking. So I keep the car at about 55mph on a 65mph road.

And I’m back at Pepboys again [it’s Friday and this is a different Pepboys]. After having told them about the wheel alignment [was once again recommended to do a wheel balance so at least there is some sort of consistency], I’m being told that it may actually be a wheel belt or something. Gonna cost me about $80 which may be about $78-ish if they are ball parking like the guy at the first Pepboys did.

It is times like this that I wish we had a mechanic in the family. But no, I’m not science oriented and my younger brother has a knack for business. And my older brothers all found their niches before I could have even thought to influence them.

What I like about this Pepboys: They are keeping me updated. While I may not understand everything about a car, it’s nice that they are telling me what is going on. Of course, I cannot use this compare this Pepboys to the other one because I did not stay around for the wheel balancing or anything [mostly because I did not have to]. I was even shown a diagram of what is in alignment on my car [which is pretty much nothing].

Though the overall feel I get is that they [at least pretend to] care. Which is nice considering that I don’t know a damn thing about cars.

It reminds me of my project for a basic marketing class I took. We had to make a fake business and make a basic business plan and advertising/promotion plan for it. We did Customer Care Auto Repair [C.C.A.R.]. It was an auto repair business that was specifically targeted towards women who may be intimidated a Pepboys or a hometown auto repair shop. 

But I digress.
Anyway, turns out they replaced a tire and did the wheel alignment. Overall, cost me $156. But it worked, which is what was probably most important. But now I really want my own car. I'm tired of investing in this piece of junk [for more reasons than I can describe]. 

But buying a car is even worse than getting the junker repaired at this point. Because getting my own car means paying for insurance to boot. Right now, my parents pay for the insurance on this car. Of course, you can't get a quote on insurance until you know what kind of car you are getting.

I'm so over this being an adult thing.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Singleness

Right now, there is nothing that I would rather talk less about than weddings. But unfortunately, I know far too many people who are engaged. So half of what they tell me has something to do with a wedding. I'm kind of sick of it.

And not because I don't like weddings. While I'm not the "I've been planning my whole wedding from birth" kind of girl, I'm not a wedding hater. Weddings are nice and a loving way of showing everyone around you how much you love each other. It's sweet and cute [even if the guy doesn't always participate as much as he should].

But when you are single, it's miserable. It's even worse when you've never even been on a date. That's kind of where I am at this point. It just makes you depressed when  people your age are already planning their entire futures with a significant other.

And I get it, I cannot force a relationship. It doesn't work that way [at least not well]. But being lonely sure does suck... A lot. It's like this vicious cycle that I feel will never end. And these people just remind me of my loneliness. How I've never had someone who even seemed interested in me enough to have ever considered a relationship.

And of course,  today is one day of the year... The one that can be viewed as two different things: Valentine's Day or Singles' Awareness Day. But I'm not going to celebrate either... Because I'm that awesome. I'm celebrating February 14th instead. And by celebrating, I mean buying myself a new cellphone that I probably don't need. Maybe put a little optimism in a day that has usually been cloudy and kind of depressing in my mind.

But back to what the day means to others and singleness... I know people who go out and party and celebrate being single and those who go out with their beloved with a nice dinner or something.  And then there are the people who are even more desperate than me who need to have a Valentine every year [regardless of whether or not it was the same person as last year or if they really like the person].

Really, I just don't know if this day would mean anything more to me if I did have someone. I don't know if I'd actually want to go out and eat or get something nice for him or whatever. Part of me is kind of jaded because of the commercialization of this [and any] holiday. Part of me thinks getting a card and flowers is a nice reminder that at least someone is thinking of you...

Anyway, that's all for today. I'm done reminding myself of how single I am. I need to focus on the 1 million other things I have going on with my life.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Mentality

I don't know what I'm going to title this post... I know what I want to talk about but I just can't find a single word that can really sum it all up.

There is one thing that I've known about myself for quite some time... I rarely relate with people my own age.  I mean, I did when I was a child. I wanted pretty toys and all sorts of stuff growing up... But once I hit about 16, I had a lot of realizations. While I still wanted things, they didn't feel like a needed them much like I did as a child.

When you're a kid, all your wants feel like needs. You absolutely have to have that toy or whatever. You'll die if you don't get it. If it's not under the Christmas tree on Christmas day, you're entire Christmas is ruined.

Many times, I feel like people my own age aren't quite at my level of thinking. I just feel like they are below me mentality wise, caring mostly about superficial things. Or they don't think about money. One big issue I have is that they don't seem to understand the value of money. They blow tons of money on name brand clothes or alcohol or anything that I would consider to be fairly useless.  It's quite amazing actually.

I don't own an iPod but I know lots of people who do. And I personally think it is a giant waste of money. What is so spectacular about an iPod in comparison to any other MP3 player? Any MP3 player will do pretty much the same function as an iPod for significantly cheaper. And I know I posted about my love of music before but that does not relate in this area. I don't really own that much music. I have no need to have an MP3 player that holds 100,000 songs or something. I only have maybe 400 songs total [and maybe 250 I actually listen to]. Basically, with an iPod, you are paying more for less and that's not my mentality.

Now... This does not include the iTouch... Which if I had the money, I would buy it in a heart beat... But that is more related to my desire to have a portable internet device that is not a laptop/netbook. Not an iPhone though. I don't want one of those to be honest. I'm not big on actually calling people and what I have now [ghetto phone Virgin Mobile's ARC] is sufficient for what I want to do... Sometimes... *cough*

But back to mentality [which I've now decided to use as the title of this post]. Thankfully there are some people I can easily relate to... Older people. I just get along with them so much better than people my age. I find it easier to talk to older people. I mean, I'm not have super intellectual conversations with them or anything but it's way easier to talk to them. I don't know if it's because of my almost significantly older brothers and their wives or maybe I've just been through some tough times that relate me to them.

And I love talking with people who are older than me. They just have so much to say and wisdom to impart. I feel like I learn so much more from these people I talk with than from my professors or teachers of the past. They've experienced life and know the ups and downs that can come a person's way. Teachers pretty much should keep their personal life and struggles out of their teaching and half of the professors don't really know what they are talking about.

Anyway, these are the basic things to get out of this post:
I don't relate much to people my own age
I relate better to older people who have life experience [kind of feel like my video gamer came out with that]
iPods are expensive MP3 players and you are really paying for the Apple logo.

*Spoiler Alert* < - Maybe, depends on if you really care what I post next.
I'm currently working on a post about all the things people should know upon leaving high school. And
most of the stuff on the list I learned outside of the classroom.

Another *Spoiler Alert*
I may be posting about my one professor in the near future who makes me question the class said professor is attempting to... lead [would be the best word].

P.S. I've also decided I hate people who change their facebook profile pictures at least once a day. It's annoying and the people doing it I notice tend to be annoying people.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Playlist

After my ramblings last night about music, I realized that I didn't even put my playlist on this blog. Crazy, no? So I'm putting my most played playlist up here.

I made this playlist specifically for the fact that I will only have a maximum of 25 songs on it at any point in time. I hate having to siphon through a million songs just to get the one I want. So, I limit my selection and it's a careful process of who stays and who goes. And if anyone is really curious, it can tell you what's playing in my mental playlist with the last song probably being the last one on my mind.

Of course, I had to leave a few older songs on there, even if I'm not really into listening to it right now [My anthem mentioned in my last post]. Basically, the songs at the back half of the list are really what I'm listening to right now. Those are the ones that are likely to change the most.

Like the song I'm listening to now, "Hate [I Really Don't Like You]" by Plain White T's, was probably added in the past few weeks. While I can't personally relate to the song [you need to have a relationship to start with] it's got that angsty thing going for it. And I generally am not fond of people in general. Guess it's kind of my anthem for my feelings on people in general. But I also like Plain White T's sound.

Which reminds me of their new song "Rhythm of Love" which is just so cute. Can you even describe music like that? I think it's great that they've changed it up a bit, which is generally risky for most bands. Usually the lead singer is the lead singer and everyone is just backup. For anyone not know what I mean, the guy who sings this song is not the lead singer of the band. But he's fantastic and they still have that lovely dreamy quality to their love songs [for lack of a better definition of some of their songs].

myspace records volume 1 cover
While many people first heard their hit "Hey There Delilah" that was not the first song that I heard from this band. I was probably one of the few who actually purchased the Myspace Records Volume 1 CDs back when it was first released. It was a compilation of a variety of myspace artists and the Plain White T's made that list with a track called "Take Me Away." Again, more teen angstiness to relate to [ and again not me in particular] but a good rhythm and it was in the half of the songs on the CD that I actually liked.






So while this started as a post about my playlist, it kind of ended up being half about the Plain White T's... Guess that's why I call it ramblings.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Music

For those curious, I didn't choose any of the songs listed on my previous post as my ringtone. Decided on a fabulous late 90's song "Closing Time" by Semisonic.

I've been going through music like it's nobody's business lately. But then again I guess it is someone's business because you know, people wanting to sell music and all.

Music has always been a big part of my life. I know it sounds cheesy and all but it got me through my teenage angst and the hard times of growing up. Not being the pretty girl and accepting myself for who I am, where I come from and all that jazz. It's touched most aspects of my life.

I've been interested in music probably since the 3rd or 4th grade. I guess it started with obsessions with musicians. I'll admit, the first band I really listened to at all when I first got interested was Hanson. Yes, I liked the little brother boy band and to this day, I'd never deny that... I was obsessed with Taylor but I was young and thought it was meant to be. Thinking back now, I amazes me that my brothers did not ridicule me for this obsession. While I didn't buy the magazines [I had a friend who did], I did have their pictures on my walls along with others [the only non-musician that I recall was Devon Sawa].

And I'm sure you are all wondering if I was N*Sync or Backstreet Boys [because that is probably what my childhood era will be remember for, which side did you land on...]... And it was definitely N*Sync. My obsession was probably only slightly out of hand... I wanted to name my dog after Justin Timberlake... It was vetoed by the family but in the end, I kind of did get my way... Cause Lance was my second favorite and my mom was ok as long as my dog's full name was Lancealot. Fun fact, I was in an amusement park the same day the band was to perform at the nearby arena and Lance Bass passed by us on a golf cart... Not that I saw anything but I do remember thinking that girls really can scream pretty damn loud.

Another childhood favorite was the Spice Girls. What little girl didn't want to be like them? Female power and all that. And their pop sound was catchy. I liked Ginger Spice [Geri Halliwell] and I couldn't tell you why. Maybe it was the red hair. Again, where my obsessive behavior was kind of obvious. For those who don't know, this girl power band also had lots of promotional products including lollipops! Naturally, my mom wouldn't buy them for me so it was something that I saved my allowance for and retained the wrappers [which were placed in a notebook with all my other Spice Girl pictures and stuff]. Sometimes I do wonder about my younger self... Then I look at myself in the mirror and I'm like "Eh, haven't changed much, have I?"

However, I would say that one album that probably really changed me and was probably the beginnings of my evolution in musical tastes would be No Doubt's "Tragic Kingdom". At this point in my life, I didn't have any CDs [my family wasn't really well off but we managed] but my older brothers did. And that's how I found this gem. There was just something about Gwen Stefani's singing that lured me in. Which is interesting because a lot of her solo work does not interest me in the slightest today. I would say that this CD probably reaches at least my top 10 of greatest of all time [to me which probably doesn't mean much to you but what do I care?].


At this point in my life, I've probably discovered MTV [when the M still stood for Music]. The first music video that I can remember seeing... Was entirely inappropriate for someone my age but it was before the 8 million different television censors that are in today. It was "Bitch" by Meredith Brooks. I consider that song to be my personal anthem to this day.  It's that song that you just feel like it describes everything and nothing all in one go... And you still don't know how the heck it does it. It's why the song is number one on my top 25 playlist.

I remember watching TRL [Total Request Live for the youngin's] when I got home and just... Evolving from there. I found what I liked [generally rock and pop] and what I didn't like [country and rap in general].

I started listening to the radio more often. I learned about new music and I could just listen for hours if I had the time.

It's hard for me to answer the question "What is your favorite song of all time?" or anything similar. My tastes change from day to day. I can become obsessed with a song, listening to it for hours and hours and then suddenly, never want to listen to that song again. I could tell you who my favorite band is: The Killers. They are probably one of the only bands I found to be consistently good. I usually like most of the songs on any album they've made to this point and they get better with time. While they do something different each time, it's not so drastic that they've forgotten their roots like many musicians do. They know what they are doing and they seem to enjoy it. It's fantastic.

Bad Romance music video [my favorite to date]
I must confess though that Lady Gaga has been moving her way into my musical heart. There is just something about her energy and devotion to her fans that is endearing. Her music is catchy and fantastic. She's second to The Killers and would probably never overtake them... But she may be able to share the top spot. But she is a whole package of quirky and different which makes her so appealing. From her crazy fashion to her moving beats, she may be the Madonna of our time [not that they are entirely comparable].

Of course, I don't only like songs for their sound, even though that sounds kind of silly, no? I have an appreciation for the lyrics too. Eminem is the perfect example of what I'm trying to say here. While his songs [if you can call some of them that] are good, they have a good rhythm and it's catchy, his lyrics are just too much for me. "Love the Way You Lie" freaks me the heck out. He basically talks about this mutually destructive relationship and I get it. He's kind of going through his own therapy... Doesn't freak me the heck out any less. He talks about tying his girlfriend/wife/other to a bed and setting a house on fire as oppose to an alternative. I mean really?! On the topic of rap, most of their lyrics are distasteful. While Eminem tends to sing from his very being, others like 50 Cent [is he even still doing anything anymore?] just... Is a wannabe. I can't explain it any better.

And my life doesn't always relate to just listening to music. For the last 12 years of my life, I have played the flute in some capacity with a band. I remember the first time I was in school and they were telling us how we could get lessons. It was this mini concert that the music teachers in the district gave. It was how I knew I wanted to play the flute.

I've also dedicated 7 years of my life to marching band which was the best thing I could have ever done. I wouldn't have met half the wonderful people I have if I didn't play in band. I can't even imagine where I would be today. Probably still the shy shell of a person I once was and very far from where I am now in relation to how I feel about myself. I'll admit, not very good at the whole playing thing [never could get the hang of the whole practicing stuff] but I'm ok. But I hate playing solos.

I also love to sing. I've done and been traumatized by school choirs and I've did two musicals in elementary school [Bye Bye Birdie and the Wizard of Oz for those curious]. I'm not awesome but I like to think I can carry a tune. I'm pretty good at the karaoke games but again, doesn't actually have to require singing skills as long as you hit where the little bar thing is, right? Though being an alto as a girl kind of sucks cause we never get the good parts.

Basically, this post was about how awesome music is and maybe pimping out a few of my personal preferences. Oh, and watch Glee after the superbowl because the Thriller/Heads Will Roll mash up sounds freaking awesome!