UPS Store - corporate B.S.

[Leee]

You betcha!
A mom and pop shop that takes care of business is the way to go!

The problem here is that I am in Midland, Texas - and the Permian Basin is NOT typical small-town Texas.

The best customer service I have seen in four years was at the department of motor vehicles office, if that tells you anything.

 

[Pop1655]

I fed the Midland Christian Academy varsity football team on their way to play Boerne the other night. Really nice group.

 

[Leee]

Oh, very cool!
My wife works for a similar school system.

What part of Texas are you in?

 

[Pop1655]

I-10 exit 505

 

[Leee]

Oh, yes...
You're in heaven there in the Hill Country.

 

[Tone deaf]

I had to get a strategic relationship agreement signed with my European counter party. Dropped off the documents at FEDEX for about $260, guaranteed two-day delivery. The recipient never got them. I resent the documents DHL for $60, they got them several days later. Another week or so later, the original FEDEXed document package was returned to me. Yes, I have requested a return of my funds.

Flew to Germany last week. My coworker had two small bags. The lady at check in made him check one (I travel with computer backpack and suit roll - I don't check bags). He got the bag delivered to the hotel the night before we returned to the US. No apologies, no compensation, no nothing.

These global logistics companies live on getting things right most of the time and "F*ck the customer" the rest of the time. That's life.

 

[Dolebludger]

I have a solution to much of this customer abuse. I put all goods and services I get on AmEx Platinum. If there is a problem, and after I have contacted the seller (or tried to and failed) I call AmEx and challenge the charge. You’d be surprised how many corporate sellers don’t respond within the allotted time, and get paid nothing.

 

[CB91710]

I had to get a strategic relationship agreement signed with my European counter party. Dropped off the documents at FEDEX for about $260, guaranteed two-day delivery. The recipient never got them. I resent the documents DHL for $60, they got them several days later. Another week or so later, the original FEDEXed document package was returned to me. Yes, I have requested a return of my funds.

Flew to Germany last week. My coworker had two small bags. The lady at check in made him check one (I travel with computer backpack and suit roll - I don't check bags). He got the bag delivered to the hotel the night before we returned to the US. No apologies, no compensation, no nothing.

These global logistics companies live on getting things right most of the time and "F*ck the customer" the rest of the time. That's life.

Walked up to the American Airlines counter and presented my ticket to Chicago.
I explained that I wanted the duffel to go to Atlanta, the golf bag to JFK, and the garment bag to Dallas.
She said they could not do that.
I asked her why not because they did it last week

 

[six-string]

I have a solution to much of this customer abuse. I put all goods and services I get on AmEx Platinum. If there is a problem, and after I have contacted the seller (or tried to and failed) I call AmEx and challenge the charge. You’d be surprised how many corporate sellers don’t respond within the allotted time, and get paid nothing.

Agree on that. Been an Amex member for nearly 30 years and if I ever have a problem I can't resolve directly, Amex will make sure I don't pay for it. And...on the flip side I have received no charge upgraded hotel rooms, rental cars and even restaurant reservations thanks to Amex. (hope that doesn't sound like a promo? i don't work for them-honest)

 

[Leee]

Been an Amex member for nearly 30 years...

Hah!
I understand.

Twenty years ago I went to work for a Fortune 500 spin-off company that was building a power plant in Arizona.
I was one of the first 9 employees, all of us were operations specialists to oversee construction and then start up the plant.
It was amusing to see the office staff get hired and come in, the "indoor" folk who were housed in a modular building up the hill from the plant site for the first several months.
Our business new manager Paul came in with ZERO construction experience, and we teased him about looking like a scared rabbit when he had to leave his temporary office and come down into the plant for any reason. Smart guy, an MBA and all, but he was completely out of his element.

"Man! Everything out here is BIG!"

Great guy, a devout Christian from Wisconsin who moved his family away from the winters.
This is all notable because I had just emerged from a devastating divorce that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. I had just closed out the last credit card I will ever have, and the two of us sort of bonded over our conversations of financial philosophy and strategy.

Credit is an important tool for leveraging, and the arguments over usury go back to Biblical times.
But regardless of philosophy, a few simple facts are unbending.
Like the magician spinning plates, if one little thing goes wrong then the consequences may be quite catastrophic - far beyond what was ever anticipated in advance.

Well, that was my experience from said divorce, so I quit cold turkey.
No credit for me, thank you. To this day, I even pay cash for cars.
It's not easy, but it's simple.

Anyway, fast forward 3 years, and he left the company.
Partly to end the 60-mile commute from Phoenix to the middle of nowhere in the desert.
He went to work for American Express in a corporate office there in town.
Stayed with them for a number of years, moved up pretty quickly in their management chain.
Professionally, it was a great move for him and his now-grown family.
But at the time I was giving him a ration of crap.

"So, Mr. Bible Thumper has gone to the dark side? Sold your soul to the Gods of Usury?"

He has since left the company, but he had a lot of nice things to say about American Express.
Their legendary customer service, mentioned above, and their corporate culture.

And I've met a couple ladies who bounced from call center job to call center job who worked for Am Ex for a period of time - same opinion. Especially when compared to the bottom feeders that occupy most of the consumer credit world, be it credit cards or car loans.

And I say this as the guy who will NEVER have another credit card in my wallet.
Maybe American Express ain't all bad.

 

[rfrizz]

Agree on that. Been an Amex member for nearly 30 years and if I ever have a problem I can't resolve directly, Amex will make sure I don't pay for it. And...on the flip side I have received no charge upgraded hotel rooms, rental cars and even restaurant reservations thanks to Amex. (hope that doesn't sound like a promo? i don't work for them-honest)

I have contested charges more than a couple of times, and it failed only once on a NewEgg purchase from Discover.

 

[Dolebludger]

I don’t work for AmEx either. In fact, I no longer work for anybody. But we find AmEx much easier to contact than the other cards. One time I was in Germany on a river cruise and an ATM in one of the stops “ate” my AmEx card. The help desk on the boat contacted AmEx and the call was answered immediately. AmEx offered to get me a new card in Germany by the next day! As my wife’s card was still with her and good (different number) we asked that my new card just be shipped to our home in the US. But that was great service, right?