Let Your Blood Flow

Back in the olden days, and I mean really way, way back, a barber pole represented multiple disciplines. My research points to the surgical role a “barber” played. Blood-letting by opening a vein and letting bad blood out so new blood would take its place. Leeches were used to suck out poisons. And the “pole” represented the staff a patient would grip during the procedure to encourage blood flow. Oh…and maybe take a little off the side and leave my sideburns alone!

When’s the last time you saw a Barber pole and thought, “Hmmm, I need to let some of this bad blood in me flow so let’s make an appointment.” 

Back in 1984, or so, I went to a barber my pastor fancied. It was an old-fashioned barber shop with massive chairs that you only see in museums today. The barber nicked a mole on my neck right at the hairline and blood started gushing. He picked up some hair from the floor and staunched to flow. I immediately went to the doctor and had that mole and 2 others removed so never to have this happen again. An $8.00 haircut cost me $175.00…

Just saying, bloodletting can be an expensive option!

I never went back. To this day I let new barbers know the experience before they get blades close to my head…I want them to be forewarned!

Well. I need to let some blood flow today so it won’t boil and ruin a perfectly good day!

Yesterday, I hung out at the church for a number of hours to wait for an installer to show up and give us some new service. No Show. No Call. No Email. No Contact. I called this morning to find out what happened and was told it was put “on hold” because the order had been “entered too late“. What? It was a planned installed for nearly a week!  Again. No show. No call. No email. No Contact.

Absolutely unacceptable!

Yesterday, Customer Service (Duane) confirmed the date and time when I called due to an “Order Confirmation” email I received at 8:58 am. Yep. Today! (Yesterday, since I’m writing about it today!) 2pm-6pm… This email was the first contact I had since I placed the order last Wednesday, 1/31. The email says to wait for another email so I can get my customer login credentials and gain access to my account online. As it stands, I’m a customer wannabe…

So. Today I called Customer Service again (Jennie), she researched and confirmed a reschedule to Next Tuesday, nearly 2 weeks after my initial order. The reason they skipped out? “The order was entered too late” for the installer. What? 7 days is “too late”?

Then, I received all the run-around in the world when I complained about their poor quality service and procedures lacking a protocol to let the customer onsight know that there was an order delay. “I can’t speak as to what they know or don’t know about the problems of yesterday,” she said. I was directed to their website because there was no one else to talk to. No one up the food chain… Really? No supervisor? Manager? No Quality Control staff? No one? Not even the President of the company? Nope!

So. I went to the web as directed and could not adequately file a report because I have no login credentials! I clicked on the web chat room (Carlos A.) who passed me off to a different web chat room (Martin P.) because it was not in their system to handle my location. The response was lackadaisical because I was confirmed to a schedule of Next Tuesday and my file shows no history of not being met onsight yesterday and there’s nothing they can do because I’m confirmed for Next Tuesday. 9am-1pm… “I’ve noted your file.” Yeah. Right.

So. I started my own file. Documenting. Dating. With names. I’ll keep adding my ammunition to the file and will see if they can recoup from their horrible customer service and lack of procedures that should include the customer in their decisions. Because, right now, I’m not a fan of this yet undisclosed company. But if it keeps us then I’ll be sure and share who they are. Okay, Mariners?

By Michael Gurley

Making Sense of Life, One Thought at a Time!