Days Inn - Don't Call Us. We'll Call You (NOT!)

We drove an extra hour to the Days Inn at Cleveland, MS, because it advertised gym/exercise facilities. After several days of relative inactivity due to visiting friends and long hours of car travel, we were looking forward to a bit of a workout. After checking in, I inquired about the gym and was told that it was out of order! Imagine our disappointment. Actually, we felt more than disappointed. We felt cheated!

Wanting to make sure that we had not been mistaken, we checked the website once more and saw that these facilities were still advertised as being available. Okay, I know we could get semantic here and make a distinction between the facilities being available (which technically speaking, they were) and functional or operational (which they were not). However, I believe that the average traveler would equate facilities that are listed as available as also being functional, and felt that if they were not functional, this should be clearly indicated on the website.

I phoned the Days Inn customer service number and was told that a fax would be sent to the hotel management immediately and someone from the motel would get in touch with me shortly, at most within a day or two.

The next morning, upon checking out, I inquired about this. The desk clerk knew nothing about the situation and the motel manager had not yet come in, despite the fact that it was already 11 o'clock in the morning. When I asked the clerk if she could give us a discount on the room rate or some other form of compensation, she said she couldn't. So I had no choice but to pay the bill and leave.

Two mornings later, we had still not heard anything, so I called customer service again. This time I got a representative that was definitely less sympathetic and helpful. She told me that according to Days Inn's agreement with its franchisees, the motel manager had up to 7 days to get back to me before they could do anything. SEVEN DAYS! Holy cow, which century are we living in?!!! We're not talking about creating the universe here! In today's high-speed world, customer service organizations have GOT to do a lot better than that! This issue should have been dealt with before we left the motel, because the only compensation that would have meant anything to us at that point is a financial discount of some sort. What is that particular motel going to be able to do after we're gone that will mean anything to us at all? We will probably never pass that way again.

In my humble opinion, any motel manager that doesn't deal with an issue before the customer leaves the premises just blew a great opportunity to turn a negative experience into some positive and very economical PR. For the cost of a 10% price discount, they could have had a far better return on advertising investment than most anything their marketing department could have come up with. I'd have told everyone about it!

And any motel chain that gives its franchise managers up to 7 days to respond to a complaint negates any claim to take customer service and satisfaction seriously. Days Inn offers decent facilities for decent rates. But our customer service experience at their Cleveland, MS, motel, and at the corporate level has us seriously reconsidering our plans to stay in any more of their facilities.

Sure, we could call ahead to verify things before we arrive, but we shouldn't have to. What we see on their website should be exactly what we get when we arrive there. However, I realize that screw ups can happen to anyone. That's okay, provided they are quickly and appropriately dealt with. But taking up to 7 days to do anything about a customer complaint merely adds insult to injury, and turns a simple molehill of customer dissatisfaction into a whole mountain of it. They're darn lucky I'm the type of person that just suffers quietly under injustice instead of whining and complaining to everyone about it! :P

Hooray for PayPass, I Think...

One of the things I loved about Starbucks when I first made the switch from Tim Hortons, besides the great coffee, was the fact that they took credit cards! No more having to worry if I had enough money with me to buy a coffee, or having to fumble around trying to get the right change out of my pocket. Just hand over the card, get it swiped, and get it back. At first I had to sign the receipt, but then they even did away with that. It was great! In fact, I would often say to the baristas, "I love the fact that you take credit cards! It's my second main reason for coming to Starbucks instead of going to Tim Hortons." But I had to laugh at the response I sometimes got: "So what's your first reason?" Ha! If they had to ask that question, maybe they were in the wrong job!

However, I'm not above going to a Tims when there's no Starbucks available. I was delighted when they began taking credit cards too. I was even more delighted when I saw that they had PayPass machines! I learned to love these little things at Zehrs where all you had to do was pull out your card, tap it on the machine, and presto! The transaction was done! No more handing over the card and standing there waiting for ages to get it back while the transaction was approved by the powers on high. Now it was quick and easy.

So it was with great anticipation that I went into Tim Hortons a few weeks ago. There was a line-up so it was several minutes before I could place my order. Once that was done, I prepared to pay for it the quick and easy way with PayPass, sure that the people waiting in line behind me would be impressed with such speed and efficiency, allowing them to move along a little faster than someone fumbling for change or waiting for credit card approval.

The young lady behind the counter just looked at me. "You want to do what? PayPass? Um, I don't think I know how to do that... Hang on a minute, I'll have to find someone..." I stood there, waiting... and waiting... and waiting... afraid to turn around and look at the people behind me for fear that they were thinking, "Who's this jerk making life complicated and holding up the whole darn line?!!!" Finally the young lady came back with another employee, and slowly, they went through the correct procedure that allowed me to access the PayPass machine. This little device was supposed to speed things up! But because the employees didn't know how to use it, it actually slowed things down significantly. Oh well, I thought, I helped the young lady learn it for the next guy that comes along.

A few days ago, I went into the same Tim Hortons and placed my order. The young lady behind the counter gave me the total, and I said "PayPass, please." She just looked at me. Sigh....

A Great New Business Idea!

You know what we really need when it comes to cars and garages? Independent diagnostics and inspection centres, places where they won’t do any of the actual repairs for you, just check over your car and let you know what’s wrong with it and what needs to be done to repair it. Unlike today’s garages, there will be no benefit for them to tell you that you need something done on your car that you really don’t. And they won’t lose any business if they tell you that all you really need is a shot of lubricant in your door lock rather than replacing the entire locking mechanism. Then if you actually want the work done, you’ll have to go to the garage of your choice for that.

This will eliminate what I believe to be a serious conflict of interest that currently exists at all car repair facilities. When they inspect or diagnose problems on your car, it’s in their best interest to recommend not just what really needs to be done, but everything that possibly needs to be done. The problem is that they don’t always distinguish between the two. If you know anything about cars, you can sometimes tell what really needs to be done and what’s optional when presented with a repair estimate. But if automobiles are rocket science to you, you're at the mercy of the mechanic or customer service agent. And they're not above making things sound far more serious than they actually are, sometimes frightening you into work that is optional rather than essential.

I don't care how much they talk about serving the customer and doing things in your best interest, human nature is human nature! My experience shows that in most cases, a repair facility’s interest in maximizing revenue takes priority over your interest in minimizing expenditures.

Independent diagnostics and inspection centres. A great, new business idea from Mike! Well, actually it was my wife’s idea… But I’m sharing it with you :P

Who Needs Airbags Anyway? Car Repairs - Round 2

Okay, never mind the droning noise for now, I told the friendly, helpful customer service agent at Georgian Pontiac-Buick-GMC the next day. I need to get the locks and lights problem fixed before I get stranded with a dead battery again! No problem, she said, we'll get on it right away and let you know what we find.

I headed back to the nice customer lounge, found a seat near an electrical outlet, and powered up my laptop to do some work while I waited (I read all the newspapers and magazines of interest the day before). Almost two hours later, a technician came looking for me.

Well, he began, we hooked our diagnostic equipment up and took your car out on the road 3 times trying to get the "Door Ajar" light to come on and the locks to start cycling. It didn't happen. And unless it does while we've got the equipment hooked up, we can't tell what the problem is. Terrific! I replied. It does it virtually every single time I get behind the wheel! In fact, it did it while I was on my way over here to see you! (Remember I told you what a tricky beggar this car is? I rest my case.)

So what does that mean, I asked? It means you may need to just get the entire door locking mechanism replaced, probably in the driver's door, he said. It comes as all one unit, so it won't be cheap and we'll have to tear the whole door apart to install it. I could feel the credit card in my wallet begin to vibrate in anticipation...

Okay, what about the airbag warning light? Well, he said, there seems to be a problem with the airbag control module. It's access code seems to have been erased, so when the car's main computer tries to talk to it, it's not talking back. So the computer turns on the warning light to tell you there's a problem. Will the airbags work if I have an accident, I asked? No, he said, but hey, we didn't have airbags back in the 70s and we're still here! Ooookkkaaaaaayyyyy...

I thought I'd better start looking elsewhere for help to solve my problems! So I called Jim Wilson Chev-Olds in Orillia, the place where the car was originally bought, and made an appointment. Driving in, I poured out my woes to an equally friendly and helpful customer service agent, who assured me they would see what they could do and pointed me to the nearby customer lounge.

An hour later he came to see me. Your airbag control module seems to have lost it's access code, he began. What can we do about that, I asked? Oh, we just reprogrammed it, he replied. It's fixed now. Wow, I exclaimed! What about the "Door Ajar" business? Well, he went on, we couldn't get that light to come on, or the door locks to cycle like you said. But it's probably just a bit of corrosion in one of the locking mechanisms so that the lock sensor isn't making contact like it should. I looked at him nervously... Does that mean I'll need to get the mechanism replaced? Oh no, he smiled. We just applied some lubricant to them all. You shouldn't have any more problems.

And you know what? I didn't. Now why couldn't Georgian just have done all that? I'll give you three guesses as to who I got to diagnose and repair the droning noise I was still hearing from the front end. And the first two won't count :)

What's That Sound? Car Repairs - Round 1

Our 2000 Chev Impala had been a great car so far, but it was now starting to give us some grief. First there were the warning lights: airbag and ABS to begin with. Well, you can ignore those for a while :)

Then began the droning noise in the front end, low at first, kind of like a tire slightly out of balance. So I got the tires balanced. No change. I kept driving.

Then the "Door Ajar" light came on while I'm going down the highway, and all the door locks began cycling like crazy. Sometimes a good doorslam would solve the problem. Other times, we'd try to find a tune on the radio that had the same rythm as the locks opening and closing so we could at least sing along with the beat!

But what finally provoked me to action was the interior lights. Sometimes they wouldn't go out (I guess the car figured the doors were still unlocked). Or if they did, they'd come on later after I'd gone in the house (tricky beggars!). After twice having the battery drained and waiting hours for a boost, I'd had enough.

Thinking that I'd better have a real GM dealer look at the car, I began phoning around Barrie to see who could take it as soon as possible. Georgian Pontiac-Buick-GMC, a large, well-known operation in the city said they could take it right away. Great! So off I went and in no time I was pouring out my woes to a top-notch service agent. As a demanding consumer, I was really impressed with Georgian's customer service. Friendly, knowledgable, and helpful. Now this was service the way I liked it! I sat back in the customer lounge, watching TV and reading newspapers and magazines to my heart's delight while the mechanics went to work on my sick machine.

An hour later, the verdict was in. That droning noise and the ABS light? A wheel hub & bearing unit. That's what the test equipment indicated. By the way, they said, it looks like it's been replaced before, along with a bunch of other parts in that area. Has the car been in an accident? Yes, a couple of years ago, I replied. It was an insurance repair. Well, it needs to be done again because the part has given out, they said. Total replacement cost? $700. Ouch! But they had the part and could do it the same day, so I decided to bite the bullet.

Several hours later, bleary-eyed from watching too much TV and reading too many magazines and newspapers, along with a nice little addition to my credit card bill, I waved goodbye to the friendly folks at Georgian and headed home. Guess what? That noise was still there! Didn't anybody take this thing for a test drive after the repair? Only a totally deaf man could have missed that annoying droning sound! I did a U-turn and went back to see my friendly customer service agent. Well, she said, it must be another wheel. Why don't you bring it in tomorrow and we'll have another look at it? But, I replied, your test equipment said it was that one wheel hub and bearing, and that the others were okay! Well, we must have missed something, she rejoined. Besides, we still need to look at your other electronic problems: the locks, the lights, and the airbag warning light.

It was with a slightly diminishing sense of confidence that I made another appointment for my car the following day. When I got home, I checked the insurance repair bill. Such enough, the right front wheel hub & bearing unit was on there. And it looked like it was under warranty! I called the dealership that had done the work. No problem, they said, just bring us in the old part and we'll see what we can do. I called Georgian again. Oh, sorry, they said, we've already thrown the part out. Not a chance of finding it again.

Suddenly, questions began coming to my mind. They knew it had been an insurance repair, so why didn't they recommend that I check the warranty on it with the dealer that had done the repair? Why were they so quick to throw the old part out? Had the old part actually been thrown out or were they just saying it had been so no one else would see it? My confidence in Georgian began to drop even further. Did I really want to take my car back there again...? (to be continued!)

Sorry, You Don't Qualify!

What is it with these credit card companies? Almost every week, my wife or I get credit card applications in the mail offering high credit limits, low introductory interest rates on balance transfers, and (usually) no annual fees. All you have to do is provide every possible form of contact information, some personal information for security purposes, employment information, and financial information. Then sign it, attach the special sticker, and send it off. Sounds like a shoe-in, right?

Guess again! Invariably you will receive a letter telling you, sorry, but you do not qualify for their credit card offer. If you follow this up with a phone call to find out why, you will be told that you already have too many credit cards, or that your combined available credit exceeds your current income, etc., etc., etc. In fact, it soon becomes clear that the credit card company has more information about your financial history and situation than you do! (and you've just given them a whole lot more personal information for their database, free of charge!)

So tell me, why do they bother to send you an application in the first place?!!! Credit card companies, do your homework first and quit wasting our valuable time! Only once did I get an application that was pre-approved. That company had obviously done it's homework and wrote to tell me that I qualified for their offer. All I had to do was sign and send in my acceptance form. Do that, and you've got a customer. Everything else will be going straight into the shredder!