by joe on January 5, 2012
With the United States firmly entrenched in the post-industrial stage of socio-economic evolution, companies must place a greater emphasis on service offerings and customer service in general. Here are two good examples of what they shouldn’t do, unless their goals are to alienate customers and garner negative feedback and publicity.
Arpin Van Lines Loses Urns and Customers
When my father passed away last year, we inherited a house full of belongings in Arizona to deal with. Some of it went to Good Will, but the rest of it needed to come home to Michigan with us for dissemination to family members and for sale. Since the collection included several pottery urns (somewhat fragile) and a baby grand piano (extremely heavy), we decided to enlist professional movers.
Re-assembled vase with Gorilla Glue showing
First problem – delivery took over a month. At one point the company told me that the driver was bitten by a spider and had to be hospitalized. OK, I get that, but the company couldn’t say where the truck was, or when it might be back on the road. They rarely called me back when they said they would.
Once they did arrive, they couldn’t re-assemble the piano completely. Whoever took it apart wasn’t available, and the guys that came with the truck couldn’t figure out how to re-connect the foot pedal assembly. [click to continue...]
2011, 1st quarter financials are in. Gas is near or over $4.00 per gallon. Royal Dutch Shell reports earnings of $6.9 Billion. That’s about $76 Million per day. How about our old friend Exxon? $10.65 Billion, or $117 Million per day. Read that again. Exxon Mobil is profiting $117 million dollars a day. Finally, how is the beleaguered BP? With the recovery expenses of the oil spill we would expect to see the company in some trouble. The fact is, their profit was $7.124 Billion in the 1st quarter. Poor BP – they’re only earning $78 Million a day. Must be a real drag.
What’s it add up to? These 3 companies alone are raking in over $271 Million a day in profit, and we’re expected to pay $5.00 per gallon of gas by mid-summer.
The world watches as the people of Japan, still trying to assess the damages, locate missing people, and count the dead from the devastating earthquakes and resulting tsunami, worry and wonder if a nuclear meltdown is imminent. There are many ways to help – lots of charities, fund-raisers, and volunteer organizations organizing relief efforts. Perhaps one of the best is a donation to the Red Cross. On the Red Cross donation page, you can specify where you want your donation spent. You can direct the funds to the earthquake / tsunami victims, military members and their families, unrest in the middle east, countless other disasters around the world, or just choose “wherever the need is the greatest.”
The people of Japan and the Pacific region need our prayers – but they also need our direct support. Please consider a donation. You might also consider hosting a Red Cross donation banner on your own blog or web site.
I recently started writing articles for a publisher who puts out several newspapers local to our surrounding communities. The Davison Messenger, The Tri-County News, The Burton Banner, etc. Some of them were existing publications which he purchased, some are new startups. All are collectively published under the name of his company, ‘Flint Area Media’ (FAM).
Production problems and slow sales have caused some delays in getting the papers out regularly, but I have hopes that these glitches are temporary. The organization is currently moving into a newer, larger building, and I take that as a good sign.
Of course, I expect to be paid for the articles I write, but I’m also doing it for the excitement of seeing my byline in print. Plus, although FAM eventually expects to make all their articles and stories available on-line, they are not ready yet for that. In the mean-time, Mike (the publisher) has given me permission to post them on the 3 sites I write for (Associated Content, Helium, and Triond). I’ll place links in future postings.
by joe on November 24, 2007
I first started this blog mainly as a way to promote stories and articles I’ve written that are published elsewhere. Soon enough, I also started using it as a scratch-pad for thoughts and ideas related to work. Just the simple act of typing them and posting them, where anybody can see them (even if few actually do) helps me to organize them and approach the problems and challenges more logically. Gradually, I also concluded that this would be a great place to put the entire collection of short stories that will eventually be published in a book entitled “Memoirs of a Horsetrader’s Son”. This blog is beginning to see some traffic now, and I’ve decided it’s time to add some organization, while evaluating some design enhancements. Look for a new theme shortly, as well as clearer boundaries between the stories, technical articles, and ‘Other’ – which will be a place to put random thoughts about anything. Until I start getting hit with a lot of spam, the ability to leave comments will remain open (although I do approve or reject them, I’ve never rejected any). If the blog gains in popularity, eventually it will attract spammers, and I’ll have to require captcha or registration or both. If you’re one of the (still mostly infrequent) visitors, welcome, and please feel free to leave feedback on anything you see here.
Joe
by joe on October 27, 2007
By clicking the “I’m Ready” link in the footer at the bottom of the sidebar and signing up for the I’m Ready program, every time you and your friends Instant Message each other, the Red Cross will get a portion of the advertising revenue. In the wake of the California Wildfire disaster, this is a great way to stay in touch. Of course, you can always go Here to donate online.
