Wednesday, March 24, 2021

 Couldn't let it go. Well I guess I could have but she was being rude and extremely curt.

Referencing a cashier at Kroger's.  The sign above her lane said "Express Lane, about 15 items".  I had 19 items and there was no one in her line. 

So I put about 3/4's of the stuff on the conveyor when she looked at me and huffed at me then said in a loud voice: How much stuff are you going to put on here?  

What? This isn't that many items and you don't have anyone waiting in line....

She insisted I go find another line to get into.  

OKKKKKKKKKKK...........I know for a fact it's not a policy at all for Kroger's to make people get out of line once they are in it regardless of how much stuff they have. I could have had an overflowing shopping cart in that line and they won't say anything.  I never do that - take a loaded cart through express lanes - I just know their policy for I have seen it in action several times.  

I asked for a manager.  A lady comes, uhh no, no offense but I want the store's general manager on this one, please.  Amazingly the dude came right up.  2 minute wait at most.  I told him what had happened.  Express lane, pointed at the items in my cart, 19 items, most of my stuff I had already put on the conveyor, and more importantly no-one was waiting in line anyway.  .

He got a look on his face, looked at the cashier and said, well that should never happen.  That's not the way we operate.  Exactly, I replied, what she did was outrageous.  Well I can assure you it won't happen again, he replied and said he'd deal with her.  

I don't want her fired, she's been there a long time according to another person working there that approached me after the fact and asked me what had happened.  But she certainly needs an attitude adjustment.  When I told that person what happened - she was also in management - she also got a scowl on her face.  Kroger's is all about customer service, I can assure you of that.  

So, I got in another line, saw her eyeballing me so I said to her, I just reported your crass behavior to your boss.  If you're digging yourself a hole, at the very least, stop shoveling.  But, by eyeballing me, she had continued with the shoveling activity.  

When you are in customer service, you are the face of the company and you are expected to show professional decorum and treat customers like they're gold. I get that people have bad days sometimes, I've been there, so maybe that's all it was with her.  But I wasn't rude to her, said hi to her when I came into her line, everything a base level of courtesy and respect should be.  

Whatever the case, I was given another Oklahoma run for today.  So, this is going to be a low paying week for next pay period.  Certain drivers - namely the owner operators - get mostly Brownsville runs when they're available and the rest of us get them sporadically.  I don't mind doing longer runs if it means getting the paycheck, but 2 low paying runs in a row doesn't work. I'm not going to say anything, yet, I'll see what happens with the next run. She claimed Brownsville would be next, she must know by now that is the most coveted run - whether there is detention pay or not.

Well I take that back, she tried to give me a Cheniere run which I can't do.  This is a new dispatcher, she has a learning curve to go through so I'm going to be patient and see what happens before I go complaining.  I'll take an Oklahoma run over cheniere any day of the week.  

But, I don't load until 1:30 pm, so I'll be out late tonight getting as much of this done before I get sleepy and decide the heck with it, I'm going to bed.  I figure around midnight.  Without doing anything but looking at the history of this run - the time I start the loading and the time I get back, I can safetly predict I will be back at the yard tomorrow around 3:30 - 4.  

I'm also glad that I got a very good night's sleep - those come and go, when they come they are relished and I will sleep in if possible to get more sleep.  Which I did by a couple of hours today. 

My mind is freshly filled with the thoughts of all the properties that I discounted because of county "zoning", which I have now found out doesn't exist, from the county itself.  I don't know if the realitors word it that way because that's what's in the area.  But the properties I have seen with "residential" zoning outside of city limits have houses that are well spaced apart and they all have plenty of land.  

Do they want an RV park in their area? I don't know, not really concerned about it.  That's the advantages of living in the county - or the pitfall.  People can do whatever they please, including having their own personal car junkyards and no one can do anything about it.  

But I have to say it was refreshing to find out this information. Very refreshing.  Hearing it from other people who don't work for county was nice, but it wasn't "official".  Now, a municipality could still exert some control by denying access to their utilities, such as the situation with the 32 acres I was looking at yesterday.  I'm still waiting to hear back from the other town as to access to water.  I won't even make an offer on that property until I know that I at least have water and electricity.  Sewer is pretty much guaranteed that you have to have a septic system installed.  

Oh, my pay for the PA run.  Just got the statement from the company.  It's over $1,800 for 5 days, that's pretty good.  But, I had to good paying runs on the trip, so the amount I grossed is excessive, meaning the government took a very large chunk of my money.  $551 worth.  Retirement took another large chunk, around $350 worth.  The first is involuntary, the latter of course voluntary.  In all, one thousand dollars was removed from my pay before I got it.

Well, yet another property I was looking at may go by the wayside.  It's not in the city but the city apparently offers utilities there.  I think there is more misinformation being given to me.  Why would they offer everything else that isn't a business water and sewer, that is also outside of their city limits?  That doesn't make any sense and I will be visiting yet again down there to inquire about this apparent disparity in who can get what. Not like I'm asking for the stuff for free.  Weird.  

Time to get ready to go.  I need to make another visit to the County Appraisial district and ask why they assessed my hunting property up to $330 per year in taxes.  It appears they are assessing me with all 12 acres worth of taxation instead of the 2 acre interest I have in it.  That needs to be changed.  The bill should be around $50.  

Okay, I'm outta here.

G'day.  









4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Been reading you LONG time Ben and am 100% fan.

But lately it feels like you are on verge of a major stroke.

More than a little scary.

Wish I had some useful advice for ya, truly.

Hope you find a good way to chill out somehow.

All the best.

BenB said...

Hmm. I have never been a fan of rude customer service. I have written about those experiences many times over. Maybe I don't write about the joys in my life enough, I dunno. The little ones love me and give me hugs and tell how much they love me all the time. I have a great relationship with Taylor - we talk a lot. My work can be a source of stress - I'm really sick of working for other people. I want out of that lifestyle so maybe that's what you're seeing. Perhaps the pains of going through so many property searches over such a great length of time and coming up with nothing is wearing thin on me. Perhaps other things I don't talk about on here going on in other people's lives. I have dogs that show me a great deal of good attention. There are a lot of things that need to be done beyond any business venture, I find my current lifestyle to be inhibitive to the freedom I want and need. Trucking pays the bills, it doesn't offer a consistent lifestyle. Probably a few things. Haven't been on a vacation in a long time, either. COVID struck all of that down. We are talking about a 4 day weekend in Hot Springs, AR. Or even a bit later in the year. I dunno, there's a lot of things that have been on my mind, I probably do need to sit back and take a look at everything.

Anonymous said...

All fair points and thanks for the response. As I also write a long journal entry every single day, I know how a mood can affect the composition and tenor of an entry.

I do indeed share your distaste for bad customer service and have myself gotten embroiled with Verizon and Direct TV just as you have and do.

One thing glaringly stands out in this instance, and I hesitate to mention it, but we've been pretty gut level honest with each other for decades. In this case, you were wrong. Showing up with 19 items with a 15 limit is insulting to her and to any other poor customer who may show up behind you with a loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter only. One of the tenets of a successul self help orogram is "when we were wrong, promptly admitted it".

As it is, I am 100% certain that the manager had to later tell the cashier that the customers was wrong and in fact being a jerk, but try harder next time. They may both just possibly believe you are the checkout girls' worst nightmare.

BenB said...

Actually I was 100% correct. They have no "limit" policy. The sign actually says "about 15 items", it isnn't conclusive of whether its a few more or a few less, no one is going to count what they have in their cart, they look at it and say well that isn't that much. Further, if some "poor soul" had shown up behind me with a loaf of bread I would have let them go. Beyond that, Kroger's doesn't tell customers to take their items elsewhere. You are quite wrong in your assertions and I will tell you that all day long. If I thought I were wrong, I wouldn't have bothered to write the entry. But I have been going to Krogers and it's affiliates for decades now. Management will not tolerate an associate talking to customers like that. Beyond that, I was quite cordial with her, there was no reason for her to explode like that even if I WERE wrong.

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