Service Please!

Every now and then I get into a store where the service just does not meet my expectations. Don't get me wrong, I know the limitations of our Previously Disadvantaged Individuals, so my expectations from them is quite low, but hey, is it my fault that the Limpopo province Education department decided to throw all the school text books away, instead of delivering them to the schools? Is it my fault that in 18 years the ANC Regime has been unable to deliver a reasonable level of education? Is it my fault that the PDI's have the mentality, and attitude of people born to beg? Be beaten? Be really stupid?
No.

So, I can be your best customer, or, if you wish I will be the customer from hell. I leave the decision to you as the service provider, salesman, customer facing person.

Saturday, 14 July 2012. LuckyL and I go into the local Makro store (LIU). We are on a mission here to procure, at the best possible price, with the minimum disruption a 30" flat screen TV, a DSTV decoder, and a wall bracket to mount the TV on the wall. All of the above items to be procured are for installation in the Matriarchs home.

We had done our on-line investigation before leaving home, and found what we wanted, at what store, and for how much. This should be a quick in and out excursion into the realms of the retail world.

A requirement here in sunny South Africa when you want to buy a TV, is that you must produce a valid TV license. It's stupid really, because a) The license fees go to the State owned (and run) broadcaster - SABC, and even though you might never ever watch any of the boring, politically incorrect, and grammatically challenged channels that they broadcast, you have to have a license to get a TV. OK, so we have one in the family. It happens to be on the Princess's name, but it's OUR FAMILY TV LICENSE!

So, armed with the TV license, my ID Document, credit card, debit card, and cheque book (you never know), the two of enter the bellows of the Makro monster, where people are spending money they don't have, salesmen are either non-existent, or un-knowledgeable, (or both) and the queues are not for the feint hearted.

We quickly move over to the area where we know the good we want to buy are displayed. We find a salesman - yup, PDI, but then today you don't find too many sales people in this kind of environment that are not PDI's. I have a very low expectation of / from him. "Do you have stock of this TV product that's on special?" "yes." "OK, get me one." And I need a DSTV Decoder, and a wall bracket. We get the wall bracket, look at the DSTV decoders, and don't find the model we want, so park that, we will get it elsewhere. OK, go get me a TV from the stock room. At this point he needs my TV License, and ID Document. The names don't match. License is on the Princesses name, and it's my ID. "Sorry, we can't do that", he says. I explain that I bought a TV from another retail this way a few month previously. All they need is to make a copy of the license, my ID document, then enter the Princesses ID number into the system to verify that the License is current and paid up.

Blank look. This is not how it's written on the blackboard which doubles up as his brain. "Call me a manager please, and we can resolve this," I say. Expecting that the manager might have a blackboard with side notes that would explain this deviation from the process, and take us through the next steps without hiccups.
Ah, I have too much faith in my fellow earth dwellers, and give too much credit where it's oh, so not due! I should in fact have asked for "Get me a white manager!", that may have been better, but I was not in the mood to insult the salesperson, yet. The PDI manager arrives. (How did he become a manager I have to ask myself? Is it because he's been with the company for the longest of all the other salespeople? Is it natural progression based on sales achievements. or, and I suspect this is the reason, it's the Makro way of getting BEE points! (BEE - LIU)

Anyway, I explain the situation to him. He says we can't do that, we need the ID book of the person named on the TV License. I know that's crap, but decide I'll take my business elsewhere. I really was not going to get into this with these cretins at this time.

My parting comment was "Ah, that's bullshit!", and I start to turn to go. His comeback to me was "Maybe you must take your bullshit somewhere else!" I heard it, but didn't react, well, not immediately anyway. LuckyL, who had been standing by all this time, went ballistic straight off the blasting pad. Calm to suicidal murderer in one second. "Come outside and I'll teach you about bullshit!" he says to the PDI manager. I spin around to check for reactions, and this fucking moron - who is a manager - and is standing with one of his salespeople - comes back with - "We go outside and I will fuck you up!"

That was my cue - ballistic in 1 second - I reach out for him with the sole intention to rip his head off, shit on his lungs through the now open cavity, and then report him for having bad breath! I intended to rip his arm off, and beat him with the bloody end. I really pictured how I would put his head through the front of a 40" HD LCD flat screen TV. But before I could deliver the 'coup de grace", we were surrounded by more PDI sales people than I ever imagined worked at this place!!!! I challenged him, a few times, he kept giving me lip, so at the first opportunity I had that I got within reach of him, I gave him what is affectionately referred to in South Africa as a solid POES KLAP!

The level of surprise on his face was priceless. The efforts of them who were trying to keep us apart increased tenfold. I was mad. This mother was going down! It took a few minutes for a white manager to turn up, take control. At this time - he who had the stinging face was telling the others not to let us leave - was on his phone, apparently to phone the police! Good idea I told him, then they can fuck you up as well!

The white guy (Risk Manager) calmed things down some, asked what was going on, got a bit of the story from me, and asked me for my details. "What for?" I asked, and he just gave me his card and said, thought I could maybe of help to you, but here's my card, you can contact me if need be. At this point I calmly said, tell that fuck to let me leave, before I really get pissed off. And that was that!!!! One of the security / salespeople (not sure what he was other then PDI) seemed to follow us out. Probably to get my registration number. No problem.

Yesterday I went onto the Makro website, and sent them this email:-

Makro StrubensValley
On Saturday morning I went to the above store with my son. We went to buy a TV, a DSTV decoder and a wall mounting bracket. I had the family TV license (on my wife's name) and my ID Book. I had previously bought a TV this way, so thought it would be OK, as the TV license gets verified online with the wife's ID number anyway. One of your salesmen told me it could not be done, as, according to him, the process had changed. I asked for a manager - some guy came over and said that's how it is, the rules had changed. My response was "That's bullshit"!(I accept that maybe it's not the way TV license checks are done, but that's a different discussion.) His response to me was "Take your bullshit and go somewhere else!" At this point I did not react, but my son called him out "Come outside and I'll teach you bullshit", or words to this effect. The salesman's response was "I'll fuck you up!" That put me on tilt, and I took him on. There were several Makro employees stepping between us, with him continuing to bait me, till I slapped him. Then he was all about calling the police, refusing to let us leave, etc. Eventually, the Risk Manager introduced himself, calmed the situation, gave me his card, and allowed us to leave. Well Done Mr. R/Manager - however, if this is the way your sales people talk to their clients, well, suffice to say I have cut up my card and will never be back. I am disgusted, and he's lucky to have got away with just a slap! Once outside I noticed one of the security people had followed us out, and probably made a note of my registration number. I don't have a problem with that either way, not too sure what he thinks he can do with a registration number. However,  I trust that Makro will, at the very least, make sure their staff know how to talk to the clients! Interested to hear your response in this matter.
Mr. X Xxxxxx - ex Client.


We went to another store, and bought what we wanted, with no problem. Methinks that kaffir was having a bad day, and I just gave him a reason to have a worse one!

Salagatle!

Gimme a break!

Trying to access DSTV from the office. I want to look at options available for the Matriarch with regards her DSTV. She really wants to be able to watch RAI, and some church channel on Sunday mornings.
No problem, I have an account with them, so will look at what she can / should get, add it to my account, and we are done. Or so I thought.

 So I emailed them -
I am trying to access my account online.
Every time I try, I get a message that says "It seems you are trying to access from the UK. Please select.... blah, blah, blah... crap!"

"You seem to be accessing the South African Customer Care Website from United Kingdom, Please select your country from the Country Selector at the top right of the web page."

I am sitting in my office in the XXMill office park next to xxsta Shopping center! So what if my company's network connects via the UK?
Why, as a South African who might be in the UK on business / holiday, should I not be able to access  my account to make some changes if needed.
That's a load of crap, and poor customer satisfaction must be guaranteed in this case.
Please sort it out.
Thanx
Lets see if they respond.

Then, when I open my blog, and select to create a new post, this message appears on top of the screen:-

Your browser is no longer supported by Blogger. Some parts of Blogger will not work and you may experience problems.
If you are having problems, try Google Chrome. | Dismiss

Anyone out there know what this means in the long term? Do I have to download and install Google Chrome? If so, why?

Salagatle!

Blog Update

I really don't like the new look of the blog "back office" stuff. That's this page where we go to when e want to write and post a new blog. It's not user friendly, I can't find half the stuff I want to, and it looks like a predecessor of the ark. Really backward stuff. Some things are best left alone, and this was one of them.

That said, there has been a whole lot going on here.
Matriarch, is settling in well in her apartment, and you can see improvement everyday in her walking and use of her arm. Added to that, she has started complaining about stupid little things again, so we know she's getting better.

Queenie is unchanged. Still drives me up the wall with her querkie things she does, but that's just who she is. I suppose we can't all be "normal"! Not that's she's abnormal, but she has "habits" which are just crazy. We think she's a bit OCD - and that explains a lot of why she does these little things she does!

GMan has decided he's going to the UK. Initially I thought it was a good thing, a) It would get him out of this bad environment he has got himself entrenched into, and away from the whole poker scene, and loan sharks, etc., b) It would get him away from the "girlfriend". Every other day he's telling us she's moving out, they have broken up, etc., but she's still there, still around.
So a) is on the button, b) is way off the mark. The girlfriends mom lives in the UK, with the new husband, and she's going to be going over to stay with them, and look for a job as well, and apply for a work permit / study permit / residency on the basis that her family are now resident in the UK. SO, instead of getting away from her, they going together. Ah well, it's his choice and his life. He plans to work as a dealer in the more legal gambling dens in London, London area. Apparently they pay quite well, and he will be staying (so he says) with another dealer friend who comes from there. Will see how that pans out. Ultimately, I think he's wasting his time, and hope he will find a real job once he's there.

LuckyL - well, where to start. Work wise he is really putting his everything into his job. So much so that he now has been told he's getting a 60% increase! it's not off a big base, but it was also not expected. Only worry I have is that come the end of the year he might not want to stop working, and go to varsity. But for now, I'm not giving him that option - and I plan to stick to that! He's also still enjoying the bikes (on and off road), but apart from me, does not have anyone to ride with him on-road.  So he's getting a bit disillusioned. It's no fun just riding to work every now and then on the bike. He wants to get out on a Sunday and burn up some miles, and it's not always fun doing it with Dad.

With GMan deciding to go overseas, they have given up their apartment, moved all of the girlfriends stuff into storage, and moved GMan's meager belongings into our place. Amongst his stuff is a big flat screen TV, a Playstation 3, and some other odds and ends. He also has a PVR Decoder. SO LuckyL and I installed the PVR into the lounge, and took my DSTV decoder up to our bedroom. We then, with much hassle, got the DSTV people to connect the second unit as a dual view so we have 2 x DSTV but only pay one subscription plus a nominal R60 a month for the second. It's worth it. We did all the rewiring through the roof ourselves, and had to redo, retry various options till we got it right. Then we split the cable going from the Lounge to the bedroom, and fed a line off it to LuckyL's bedroom. He has GMan's big flat screen set up there, and he has a "boom" channel changer. So, now when we go to bed at night, if the Princess wants to watch the end of a story, she can watch it in the room, with her own decoder, and can change channels there. LuckyL can watch DSTV from his room, via the downstairs decoder, and using the "Boom" channel changer, can change the channels from his room! Great stuff, especially for now with winter on our doorstep. Rather lie in a nice warm bed at night to watch a bit of TV, than sit downstairs in the lounge!!!

In the news recently has been quite a bit of interesting stuff. The Joe Public court case against the State and Sanral to stop the eTolling of our highways was successful! Well, to the point that they could not start tolling us yet, until further court action takes place, or the State find an alternative means to fund the "new" roads. And following this, the Sunday papers were full of information of who would be benefiting from the tolling - and it seems the ANC has more than just a small part in this. Talk about corruption! These Muther Farkrrs have taken it to a whole new level! And the way they plead ignorance to the fact is so pathetic. Just because the masses are too stupid to see through their act they think everyone will believe their drivel. Bunch of farking morons! From the president down to the sweeper in the Home affairs department. Complete farking morons.

Ok, go that off my chest.

Another interesting bit of news was some FHM model who was (again) sexually harassed by some kaffir! And the tweeted something about it, but used the word k@&&!r. And immediately the whole world took her on, FHM withdrew her position / nomination / status as MISS FHM 2011, and some of her sponsors withdrew their sponsorships as well. OK, they don't want to be associated with some one who uses the word k@&&!r. I get that. But nowhere has anyone said anything about that fucking k@&&!r that sexually harassed her! And to me that is the bigger issue here! You can sexually harass a woman, but she can't be calling you names, and especially not k@&&!r - because that's just not PC. Well fuck you very much world! It's like saying it's not rape if the attacker used a condom!!! Interestingly enough, another model (a darkie in this case) attacked her (tweeting - not physically) and made even more serious racial attackes!!! But I suppose because she's a previously disadvantaged k@&&!r, and was reacting to a "very serious racial slur" it will be accepted and forgiven!


Another interesting position in SA now is the Dept. of Education looking at banning cellphones from schools. There are many pro's and con's to this argument, which I am not going to expand on here, but suffice to say I think it goes against our constitutional rights to even consider this banning.  In today's time, communication and the ability to contact parents is a fundamental right, if not necessity, for any school pupil.

With regards the accident we were involved in in January, I have initiated talks with a friendly attorney who will assist us with the Road Accident Fund claim. This is more for Mom and her friend than myself. However, the amount of paper work required is frightening! Going to take me a few weeks to get it all together. But I know it's a long slow process, so will just keep at it.

With regards the new job, it's also slow going. Major problem is that the company cannot afford to pay me what I want at this time (want = need as a minimum). So for now I am doing some stuff for them in the background. I'm hoping to bring in a new client, who will buy a plant, that way I can earn a 10% commission (or more if I can wangle it) and use that to get rid of my bond, which means I can then work for a smaller salary! here's hoping I can pull this off!

This is my latest post on my facebook status:-

Interesting situation - You can get lambasted for Racism when reacting to a situation and posting a comment (defamatory I know) on it - But hey, nothing gets said about the Clown / Idiot / Previously Disadvantaged individual who sexually harassed her!!! So, in context, I understand that's it's OK to sexually harass a lady, but not be racist. That's a really severe crime! Tell you what - come and harass my Princess, and I'll show you racism, coupled with extreme violence, bad language, and if you really lucky, a 24" baton where it would hurt most!!!

 On the sporting front,  it looks like Chelsea are on a roll - here's hoping they beat BM. Locally, our rugby teams are performing dismally in the super 15 / 16 - what is it now? As for the rest, who cares. I know the SA mens hockey team beat the crap out of a lot of other teams to qualify for the Olympics, but I now hear that they will have to fund the trip themselves! WTF?!?!

Anyway, enough for now.

Salagatle!