What's bugging you? (2013)

[Patrick425]

I don't recall the checkouts being any better or worse than anyplace else. I'd estimate that the check while exiting the store takes about 15 seconds per shopper (if that).

 

That's 14 seconds too long. I don't need to be "interrogated" on my way out of a store.

 

The most important things to keep in mind are that merchandise isn't necessarily cheaper than elsewhere and that you can't use Visa/MasterCard.

 

Ok..well then, that's item C) on my list of reasons I don't go to Sam's Club.

[1992casey]

For Milwaukee area customers, Costco is far from centrally located. The stores are in Grafton and Pewaukee.

 

I agree with Patrick on the proximity thing. The closer to home, the better, at least for stuff like groceries.

[DatHoser]

Strangely enough, the Pewaukee Costco is right next to Wal-Mart.

[Bikeage77]

What's bugging me right now is how some of my friends manage their money. I have a few friends that used to get 10 packs with us, and now they don't be cause they can never afford it for one reason or another. It's not a ton of money considering you get 11 games. The tough part is that we always renew at Christmas time (which makes sense for the Brewers to do renewals a few months after the season ends, and far enough in advance before the season starts).

 

He wants to go to opening day but can't believe tickets are 50-ish each for the Terrace Reserve. However, he knows it's the hottest ticekt in town. I try to tell him every year to put 5 bucks aside, it's a minimal deposit, as much as a beer at the bar, and when December comes up they'll have enough, and then some.

 

So any rate, I'm scouring Stubhub for my buddies, two guys wanna get their tickets, and one guy now doesn't wanna spend the extra money, and wants to hold out. Yet he will go out to dinner, to an admirals game, and maybe a bar after, and that's 50 bucks in a night.

 

Drives me mad.

[Blancofan1]

Got home from work around 6:00 tonight to a house that was only 58 degrees because the furnace wasn't working. Went to the basement to see what the problem was to realize the entire basement smelled of gas. Sent the wife and pets to her parents and went outside to call the gas company's emergency line to report the leak. First thing was a recording saying the wait time on their EMERGENCY line would exceed 15 minutes! After being on hold for 10 minutes the call was disconnected.

 

Starting to get worried, I gave up and called 911 to get someone out to check on the leak and had my wife call the emergency line and wait on hold. The local volunteer fire department was there within 10 minutes which was great. They made sure everything was shut off and that more gas was leaking into the house. By now our tank had leaked down to empty which meant there was at least 100 gallons of lp leaked into the house.

 

Wife finally calls, 45 minutes after our first attempt, and has the gas company on the other line at 6:45. Explain the situation and that we need someone out tonight to check the leak and put some gas in the tank to make sure the leak was fixed. I let them know the fire dept. was going to wait for them to make sure everything was ok before leaving. It will cost us $200 for an emergency call and I have to pay for the gas up front on my credit card before they will send someone out. That sucks but its winter and we have gas heat so I really don't have an option so I tell them just to get someone out.

 

8:30 rolls around and no one from the gas company has shown up yet so I call the emergency line back. Wait on hold another 10 minutes to find out that they just contacted a driver/service tech at 7:35 and they would have him call me with an ETA. the driver calls to tell me he was just filling his truck and he would be to our house around 9:25. For those keeping track that's almost 3 and a half hours from the time we found a GAS LEAK! Until the gas company could be there for an emergency call that cost me $200.

 

In the meantime I've spent the better part of three hours hanging out in a fire truck, which was kind of cool, because the fire dept. didn't want anyone going in the house. Not to mention having to explain to several neighbors why there was two fire trucks at our house that were just sitting there with lights on.

 

Finally the driver from the gas company arrives about 9:30 and tries to tell me that we just ran the tank empty and if we were on the company's keep fill program this would never have happened. I tell him that I just checked the tank 9 days ago and there was over 150 gallons of gas in it. We normally use about 75 gallons in a winter month so there was no way we used 150 gallons in just over a week. He rudely tells me again that we ran the tank empty and the pilot light went out causing the smell, but we will check it out.

 

Low and behold when he runs the pressure check it shows a gas leak in the house. Next he insists we left a burner on the stove or something. He goes in the house to find out no burners were on and that was no reason why the test failed. He runs the test again which fails and finally goes into the basement to look at the gas lines. Comes out of the basement and guess what, he realizes there is a leak somewhere and it really smells like gas down there. Surprise, surprise, we've been saying this for almost four hours by now. His final solution is that he can't do anything tonight to fix the leak so he is going to have a specialist come out in the morning to find and fix the leak.

 

As he is getting ready to leave, he shows me the bill for the emergency call and realizes they charged us 75 cents a gallon more than they should have by "accident" for 400 gallons of gas that he couldn't put in the tank because he couldn't fix the leak but that had already been charged to my credit card so we will have credit next time with the gas company when they fixed the leak.

 

Sorry I've ranted so long but now I'm staying at the in laws for who knows how long after spending four hours and $1200 dollars (who knows what the charge will be for the 911 call) to have someone tell me that we had a gas leak which is what I knew as soon as I got home from work. Just can't believe the "emergency" service level of a company that has spent all of March giving away prizes on Facebook for customer appreciation month. For some reason I just don't feel very appreciated.

[Patrick425]

Wow, that crazy Blancofan. Do you live in Wisconsin (was it WE energies?)? Also, you have to pay for 911 calls?

[RobDeer 45]

Brutal Blancofan! I would have lost it I think!

[DatHoser]

No apology necessary, Blancofan. That was one miserable night. Once things settle down, I would file a complaint with both the gas company and the state PSC. You have, at least, three separate complaints - the long wait for the emergency, the driver's complete lack of professionalism, and the overcharge on the bill. The long wait for an emergency is a frightening prospect that especially needs to be brought to the forefront, with a few other notable gas leaks fresh in the mind (Oconomowoc immediately comes to mind). Good luck!!

[NeedMoreFans]

Wow. I remember we had a gas leak at the regulator outside the house. We called the gas company, and a guy was there in less than 20 minutes with no fee. I would think that the fee would discourage some from calling (though a gas leak is one of those things that is serious enough that all should call, but I can see situations where they wouldn't to avoid paying it).

[Invader3K]

Yeah, at our old house we had to call out We Energies on 3-4 locations for various issues while we lived there, and they always had someone there in less than half an hour.

[Blancofan1]

We live between Stevens Point and Junction City so we have our own LP tank that is serviced by a local gas company. The biggest kicker of my night was going to Facebook after posting my rant here to see a Ferrellgas posting about March being customer appreciation month and them giving away prizes to loyal customers. Needless to say, I about lost it then and was up sending out emails to their Facebook site, the regional Vice President in my area and the company's CEO until about midnight. (Sidenote--these names and emails are usually pretty easy to find with a couple of Google searches and browsing through a company's about us link on their website.)

 

Service tech was out this morning to find out the leak is actually outside the house where the gas line runs along the basement wall. Since we have a split level house with basement windows right above ground level, the gas was seeping into the house for who knows how long. He figured we leaked about 200 gallons or more of LP into the ground around the house. The good news is that he was able to disconnect the old lines and install new ones, albeit above ground for right now, and we have gas and heat in the house as of right now. That was another $189 to finally get it fixed, most of which was the charge for the actual new copper pipe which I totally understand.

 

Shortly after the tech arrived the Regional VP personally called me to tell me that he was looking into the situation and had already listened to the call with their emergency line rep from last night. In his words "I couldn't believe what I heard so I had to listen to it again and when I looked at the timeline until we actually called a driver I was shocked." He was great to deal with and assured me that we would be getting a credit for the $200 emergency call fee, a credit for the gas overcharge and whatever else he would be able to for us. He told me that he personally knew that tech that was out this morning and talked with him before he got here. That tech is actually a first responder from another local community fire department and he had heard the 911 dispatch at 6:15 last night and he couldn't believe that he wasn't called right away so he figured it must have been a different gas company. Even the tech personally apologized before he left and said we never should have had to wait until this morning to get it resolved.

[Blancofan1]

Wow, that crazy Blancofan. Do you live in Wisconsin (was it WE energies?)? Also, you have to pay for 911 calls?

 

 

I know I've heard of people being charged for 911 calls and emergency responders being dispatched, not sure if we will get charged or not. Already called our homeowners insurance and if we do get charged that would be covered after our deductible, which of course is another $1000.

 

I'm actually just really glad that we've had the cold weather this year. Last year we had a big party and cookout for Opening Day complete with a few nights of fires in the backyard firepit. If that would have been this year and there was hundreds of gallons of LP gas leaked out into the ground, we could have easily burned down not only our house but several of the neighbors yards and houses as well.

[Patrick425]

Good to hear that at least someone at the company acknowledges that their response was not acceptable and/or appropriate. While I'm really hating this cold spring, I'm very glad to hear that it may have prevented a disaster from occurring at your residence!

[Invader3K]

*sigh*

 

I probably shouldn't even post about this, but I'm going to.

 

Some of you know I co-own a small group of fitness centers. I stuck my neck out a while ago and hired a young woman (while she was pregnant no less) to be a manager at one of our locations. She had a great resume, great experience, was a great interview, etc. Ended up hiring her...well, she's now quitting because her young baby has been sick a lot, and she needs a job with "benefits and paid time off". We're a small company so we can't really afford to give much in the way of benefits. I have been very flexible with her in terms of giving her off when she needs it, schedule flexibility,e tc.

 

It's understandable, but just frustrating. It will make me much more reluctant to hire people in her situation in the future.

[gypcasino]

I live in an apartment building and I haven't had to turn my heat on all winter. The temperature in my apartment has dipped below 70 to 68 or 69 for the past week or so but earlier this winter it would be as warm as 78 or 79. I'm not sure if it has to do with what side of the building I'm on or what. It's kind of odd. It's a brand new building so maybe it's well insulated or something.

But anyhow what's bugging me is those two dorks on the Sonic commercial eating lunch with their seatbelts on.

[Patrick425]

*sigh*

 

I probably shouldn't even post about this, but I'm going to.

 

Some of you know I co-own a small group of fitness centers. I stuck my neck out a while ago and hired a young woman (while she was pregnant no less) to be a manager at one of our locations. She had a great resume, great experience, was a great interview, etc. Ended up hiring her...well, she's now quitting because her young baby has been sick a lot, and she needs a job with "benefits and paid time off". We're a small company so we can't really afford to give much in the way of benefits. I have been very flexible with her in terms of giving her off when she needs it, schedule flexibility,e tc.

 

It's understandable, but just frustrating. It will make me much more reluctant to hire people in her situation in the future.

 

While you may be reluctant, I'm sure you understand that it's illegal to not hire someone because they are pregnant. I completely understand where you are coming from, but I would be careful if I was you.

[Invader3K]

 

While you may be reluctant, I'm sure you understand that it's illegal to not hire someone because they are pregnant. I completely understand where you are coming from, but I would be careful if I was you.

 

Yup. But I'm not going to go out of my way to help anyone either.

[Nottso]

I suspect that people working in hospitals are trained to answer every question they get with "I'll check" and then walk briskly out the door. This has been going on for a few years now, in several different hospital systems, with me as the patient or with anyone else as the patient and even the wording is always the exact same: "I'll check".

 

My surgical experience this past Tuesday was over all extremely positive, except for they taped my head to my shoulder in a manner that was excruciatingly painful with all of my cervical spine issues. Every time someone walked in the door I asked them to please do something about it and of course the answer every time was "I'll check" and then they scurried out of there as if the room was on fire.

 

Maybe I'm just paranoid and crazy, but I really suspect that this is being trained into people. The medical professions are just like any other industry; training methods come and training methods go with some becoming wildly popular. Perhaps "I'll check" is in a set of training videos or in some seminars that have made the rounds in various medical settings over the past several years.

[1992casey]

It sounds kind of like Apple employees, who are trained to say "as it turns out" rather than "unfortunately." I recently caught one saying "unfortunately," though.

[jerichoholicninja]

Those VW commercials with the horribly obvious and terrible voice overs. Apparently whoever they hired to do their commercials doesn't know how to mic properly.

[Nottso]

It sounds kind of like Apple employees, who are trained to say "as it turns out" rather than "unfortunately." I recently caught one saying "unfortunately," though.

 

And then there's "some people say"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYA9ufivbDw

 

Edit: The above references only the fact that certain people in certain places are trained to use certain words or certain phrases. Certainly.

[Point Beer Is Best]

First, Walgreens. They are my wife's employer since 2005 as an assistant manager when we graduated from college (we both started there but I left in 2008 after adding an accounting degree and passed the CPA because there is just no career advancement there). Back when we started, the pay was about $14 an hour and you had a guarantee of four hours of overtime at time and a half. Plus they had generous "promotional monies" paid if you would upsell customers on certain photo packages, so she grossed probably around $35k a year. After I left in 2008, they scaled way back on the PM's and eliminated the overtime. At the hourly rate she was at, I calculated that it was a loss of $6k gross income annually. Now, they've decided to eliminate her position entirely but replace it with a new position that has the same exact responsibilities, just a different title and a 25% reduction in pay. Her new hourly rate dropped from over $19 an hour to $14.50, so she'll lose about $10k in gross income annually this time, and will make less annually than she did as a new college grad in 2005. Thankfully the job I scored after adding the accounting degree and CPA pays twice what she makes so it won't be a fatal blow to the household income like it would have if we were both still working there. So, lesson for the kids: if you want to go to school for business, major in accounting or finance because if you just major in business admin, you'll either wind up in sales or retail management. You can do anything with an accounting degree that you can do with a business major, plus a whole heck of a lot more.

 

Second, we are in the process of listing our home and looking for an upgrade since we need more yard and more space for our two toddler boys. We met with an agent on Tuesday afternoon, and he emailed me that night saying he had someone who wanted to see the house ASAP, so I worked my butt off to get the house ready for a showing the next afternoon. The buyer wrote up a offer that night, and we were pretty excited because we hadn't even listed the house for sale yet. The next day I tried to email our realtor (who was out of town already for Easter) the signed documents to accept the offer. Unfortunately, his inbox was full and so the documents didn't get delivered. By the time he noticed and asked me to send to another email address, I had left to pick up my kids from daycare. When I got back, he had sent another email that the buyer had changed her mind and pulled her offer. Had his inbox not been full, we would have had a binding acceptance. I was pretty upset since I feel I had executed my portion of the contract, but I guess it is what it is.

[1992casey]

Fire the realtor.

[Baldkin]

Yep. Fire them. That is inexcusable. And contact their company and tell them what happened. Any company who runs a business like that and cannot handle attachments (of any reasonable size) then they don't deserve your business or anyone else's. That is completely unprofessional and wreaks of an inability to manage their business.

[James Zumstein]

I stumbled upon a show on NFL network last night called "Top 10 Brett Favre Games", so I watched it hoping to relive some great old Packer games. I kid you not, 5 of the 10 were Vikings games! Half! Ridiculous.