Boynton Beach Home Depot Fiasco

We had to paint the outside of our stucco house because it probably hasn’t been painted in 30 years and it was looking rough. A lot of paint had flaked off and showed bare cement or the original pink that it was first painted. Since it is impossible to find people to do work on the house, we knew we had to paint it ourselves.

So, after doing research in Consumer Reports, we learn that Behr paint is the best exterior paint to use and it is only available at Home Depot. When we go to the paint department at Home Depot, we ask the guy about the paint. He agrees that the Behr Marquee is the best (at $51 per gallon) so we ask him to give us 4 gallons of flat white exterior paint to paint the outside of our house. He gets the paint for us and even helps us get rollers and brushes. When asked if we have to add white to the paint, he says no because it is already white and we just need to get it stirred at the desk.

Due to the heat, we can only work a few hours each day and spend about 4 days painting the house with the first two gallons. (Remember, we are not professional painters so it takes us a little longer than a professional). Finally, we have half of the house done and we have used 2 gallons of paint so far. When we open the 3rd gallon and we notice it looks a little wonky. When we roll it on the house, it doesn’t even cover the old paint. So, we thought that maybe they didn’t stir it well and we open the 4th gallon. But we have the same results.

We load the 4 cans in the car and head to Home Depot. When we get to the paint department and explain the problem, the first guy tells us that it is our fault because the numbers are different on the paint. We explain the Home Depot guy gave them to us. Another paint person tells us that we didn’t get white added to the paint and the paint was just a base so we explained that their guy told us we didn’t need to get anything added. So, we asked to speak to a manager. They walked away and started helping others but no one called a manager. I called the customer service desk on my phone and asked for the manager to come to the paint department.

Judy, who was a customer service manager, showed up and we explained the problem to her. Again, she said we didn’t get the same paint numbers. I told her that while I was on the phone asking for the manager, the two guys were looking at the cans. One guy told the other that he needed to get the cans with the same numbers when he gave them to customers. She looked at me and asked, “You mean the new guy was telling the tenured guy what to do?” Then she looks at the paint and tells us that we had gotten the wrong paint! This stuff was an unpigmented base paint and it wouldn’t cover the paint on the house and would probably fade next year. We asked if we had to repaint over what we had already done in the past 4 days. Judy scoffed with disbelief and didn’t believe that we had been painting for 4 days! My husband got upset that Judy was calling him a liar but she finally backed down from that and said we would have to repaint it because that base paint was going to fade quickly without pigment. My husband was irate because he just wasted 4 days of painting! At least she gave us 4 gallons of the correct paint (we hope anyway) but there is no way to make up for the labor that we had put into the house already.

Things I Learned:

• Always check the numbers on the paint can even if the guy tells you it doesn’t matter.
• Base paint always needs pigment in it.
• Ask for a second opinion even if it makes the first guy mad.
• Home Depot employees will tell you anything to sell you a product.
• Consider going to Lowe's for home improvement supplies

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Spinning Wheels

In Waste: Finding Balance in a Demanding World from  Cool Cat Teacher Blog, coolcatteacher@gmail.com, Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher, asks,

“Did you complain pointlessly at any time? Are you pouring your time and energy into too many things? Even worse, are you pouring them into things that aren’t really a calling for you anymore?”

Usually at the end of every day, my husband and I talk about our day. We talk about how productive we were, whether it was a good or bad day, and the highlights of the day. I don’t know when we started doing this but I enjoy our conversation as we evaluate our day. I feel proud when I’ve had a good day, disappointed when it isn’t, and it is nice to have his support as I share about it all. I hope I do the same for him.

It is hard when I look back and see that I didn’t get a lot done during the day. We call it “spinning our wheels” where we feel we were busy but nothing got done. I think it helps to reflect about the day to see why it happened.

Where did I lose my productivity? Was I too disorganized? Usually this is my biggest problem. If I can see where I had the biggest problem, I can correct it the next day. Usually the next day is better because I have analyzed the day before.

Sometimes I realize that the project I was working on isn’t that important or necessary. I ask myself why I bother to continue doing something that doesn’t give me joy. When I was growing up, my parents always pushed me to finish what I started. Now that I’m an adult, I have to remind myself that if it isn’t necessary, I don’t have to finish it!

Sometimes what I am doing is not fun but necessary. Usually if I make a list of all the steps that I need to do, I can check each one off as I finish it. This really helps me get it done when I don’t want to do it.

All of these things are great to talk about with my class. Many of them feel the same way at times and I  need to show them that even adults feel that way in the real world. They need to learn how to handle these feelings. That is the hardest thing for teenagers to deal with. Helping them deal with their feelings means they will be more successful in other ways.

How do you handle waste time? How do you help your students deal with this problem? Please share.

Original photo: https://flic.kr/p/bAgDm1 

Fighting Negativity

In Stay Positive: 7 Ways to Cancel the Noise of Negativity from Cool Cat Teacher Blog, Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher, asks,

“Think of those people or places where negativity clouds the space like fog on a warm spring day. What can you do to cancel out the noise?”

Hearing others express negativity can be annoying, especially if it is something that happens on a regular basis.  If it is a one-time thing where strangers are involved, I tend to just remove myself from the area if at all possible. If I can’t remove myself, I usually suffer though it because it isn’t worth the grief and heartache to have a confrontation. If I’m alone, I will put some earbuds in and try to distract my brain from hearing the negativity around me.

There are several things I do to fight negativity when it surrounds me at the workplace.

I try not to hang around places that breed negativity such as a teacher’s lounge when it starts.

I try not to hang around people who are constantly negative. I like to surround myself with positive people.  Sometimes these positive people may have a negative attitude but it usually isn’t a common practice.

If someone approaches me with a negative opinion and they want me to agree with it, I usually try to stay neutral. I don’t want to feed a negative attitude with a negative attitude. I may try to say that I haven’t made up my mind yet or I’m still thinking about it.

If I strongly disagree with someone with a negative opinion, I may voice my own opinion in hopes to change their opinion.

I may try to bring humor into the situation to diffuse the negativity.

What do you do when you encounter negativity? Please share.

Letter To Verizon Wireless

(Yesterday I had crummy service at a local Verizon store which is unusual because I normally have good service there. When I tried to email a complaint to the company I found it impossible. You can contact support about anything except a problem with customer service. I called and was told that I could mail a letter or fax a letter but that was the only way. In today’s world and with Verizon wanting to show that they are technologically advanced, this is not the way to show it. They sell data plans but they don’t want people to have a way to email the company if there is a problem. I felt like they were making this as difficult as possible as a way of hoping that I would go away. Instead, I’m posting my letter on line and would be interested in seeing if I get any response. )

To Whom It May Concern,

I was very disappointed in the customer service I received today (11/3/14 at 11:45am) at the Verizon store at 365 Harrison Bridge Road in Simpsonville, SC. I have been a loyal customer for many years and if you look at my record, you will see that I have purchased numerous items from this store. Over time, I have recommended Verizon to many family and friends. I usually rave about how great Verizon is and the great customer service that I normally get but today was not that kind of day.

I went into the store because I wanted to know what plan was available to add on to my phone because we are going on a cruise to the Caribbean and Mexico. I know I could have called but I wanted to have a live human help me. A couple of months ago I did the same thing when I asked about adding Canada on my plan and the customer service rep immediately helped me get this information. I had hoped to do the same thing today.

I also wanted to know if you could see when I bought this LG Bluetooth mono headset (HBM – 260) and see if it was still under warranty. It has broken in two places: the hook that holds it on my ear and the cushion on the sound piece. If it was not under warranty, I planned on buying a new headset.

I was helped by a tall man wearing a gray sweater with a distinct accent but I didn’t notice any name tag. I asked him for help about the available plans and he told me that I needed to call to get that information or he could call there and put me on the phone but it was going to take a long time. If I wanted to do that, I could have done that at home.

When I asked about my headset, he immediately had a rude attitude and did not look up the information I asked for. He told me that it wasn’t under warranty and that Verizon would go broke if they replaced things like this. This is not how I feel that I should have been treated. When he kept making me feel like I was trying to get something for nothing and that I was not a valued customer, I walked out without even considering buying a new headset.

Please let me know if this is the trend for how Verizon plans on treating their customers. I would like to know this so that I can consider looking at other options for meeting my mobile needs. Thank you.

Image: 'Deepak Chopra No matter what the situation,+remind+yourself+I+have+a+choice'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/85608594@N00/12024129713
Found on flickrcc.net

Where do Complaints Go?

Recently I had a situation with United Parcel Service (UPS) where I was sent an email from UPS My Choice saying that they would deliver a package between 12 and 4pm on a Thursday. Since I needed to sign for it, it was important that I was there to receive the package. I arrived home at 11:15 to find a note stating that they tried to deliver the package but no one was home. It also stated that they would return on Friday but no time given so I guess I could expect it any time in a 24 hour period!

When I called customer service from the number on the website, I was given an option to pick it up at the distribution center which is an hour away from my home. I was frustrated by the email that was sent and stated if I had known it was going to be delivered earlier, I would have planned to be there. I asked who I could file a complaint with and was told there was no such person. They told me that the email system (UPS My Choice) had nothing to do with the delivery system which I found extremely contradictory. Then I asked to speak to the person in charge of the deliveries and the person kept telling me that there was no one. I finally asked to speak to a supervisor who talked to me after I was on hold for 15 minutes. She told me the same type of story and I asked to speak to her supervisor. After another long hold, I talked to the third person who told me that there was no one in charge of the company for me to file a complaint with and that there were no regulatory agencies over them. She suggested I send an email to customer service on the website. This was the same customer service department that I was currently talking to on the phone. Finally after 40 minutes of trying to find who to file a complaint with, I hung up. I did file complaints with the Better Business Bureau and sent a letter to the Board of Directors.

It would have made sense for this person at UPS to ask for my contact information to give to a supervisor and have someone call me within the next few days. Instead they wanted to deny any kind of complaint process. I find it hard to believe a company that big would not have some way for customers to file a complaint. But maybe I’m wrong.

Now, I know you are wondering, what in the world does that have to do with education!

Many times parents and students are unhappy and want to go talk to the administrators when things don’t go the way they hope for. I try to keep the lines of communication open so they know the process for complaining and who to go to if they don’t achieve the results they need. I ask them to first come to me to see if we can resolve the problem and then tell that what steps are available if that doesn’t happen. This saves a lot of time and aggravation for the parents, for me, and for my administration. Many times it is a simple problem that I can address quickly.

For example, I had a parent of a student with Down syndrome who was very upset about something that happened in class. She could have easily called the main office and scheduled an appointment with an administrator which may have taken days. The administrator would follow up with me which may have taken more days. By the time the problem was resolved, it would have taken too much time or the type of problem it was. Instead the parent called me at home and let me know she was upset. We discussed the problem and when I told her my side of the story (which was different than the student’s story), we got the problem resolved. I understood why the mom was upset and didn’t deny that she had a right to be mad. I asked for help in avoiding this situation in the future and she appreciated that. This problem was dealt with and resolved immediately instead of being blown out of proportion.

What process do you have for handling complaints? Do you deal with them or do you send all of them to the administrator? Please share.

Image: 'Complaint Squircle'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72516959@N00/51737298
Found on flickrcc.net