up and down and up and down and...

[susandennis]

The pool is not fixed. Now it is not only cold in the water but the cold water is now chilling the entire pool room. After swimming for 40 minutes, I decided that I enjoy swimming too much to endure this torture and I got the fuck out.

The front desk had a sign up yesterday saying the pool heater was broken and guy was coming at 9. This morning's sign said that pool guy was coming at 7. So I asked the young woman if she had any real information on when it might be fixed. She said "Well, the pool guy is coming today but we don't know when." I was getting ready to explain what kind of information I was interested in when a guy behind her stepped in and said that their swimming pool parts come from France.

"So," I said "It will be at least a couple of weeks before it is any warmer in the pool?" And he said they were working with corporate to get permission for fast shipping. And he added that they were hoping to get it fixed by next Monday or Tuesday. I was not happy at all this "pool guy is coming" info when the real info was "don't count on a fix before Christmas". And I was not all smiles.

I left the club and felt guilty all the way to the sewing machine place. The people at the gym front desk are not bright and should not be expected to give me any more information than is printed on their signs. It would be nice if they were more forth coming and would at least try a little but my expecting that is just torturing me.

One of the people on my friends' list who works in retail, just this morning posted an entry about how much harder the job was this time of year because people are mean and rude. It struck me and I pledge not to be one of those people. A pledge that I broke in less than half a day.

So, sitting in the parking lot at the sewing store, I called the gym. The two people I had been not nice to didn't answer the phone but the guy who did was shocked when I explained my call. He promised to find both people and extend my apology. And then he went on for a really long time about how wonderful it was that I had called. He was practically in tears. I really am sorry that I was not at least kind to them.

At the sewing store, I had already decided to just play it straight. I walked in and gave the first person (someone I had not seen) my name and the kind of machine I was picking up. He found it and then went to ring up the charge. He did about 5 double takes and finally said "Wow, this is your lucky day." The $170 service charge had been wiped to zero. I did pay $30 for a new part.

Oddly, they had no record of the loaner. I'll bet I could have kept it and they would have never asked for it back. Weird place. Really weird. But, at least I have my machine back and it's fixed. Although I have not tested it yet.

Swimming is going to be different for awhile. Tomorrow, I think I'll go to the city pool that is south of here. It's a great pool and not too far out of the way and open from 8:30-9:30. Sunday, I'll probably go the Ballard LA Fitness. It's crowded and the water is too warm but, at least there won't be any traffic and there's a great little breakfast place next to it for after. I'll worry about next week, next week. At least I have options. And, heck, it won't kill me to skip a day or two either.

Now I think I'll go set up my hopefully now fixed sewing machine and at least test it and maybe make a doll!

Comments

[mindyklasky.livejournal.com]

I've lost my patience a couple of times with retail people before (most notably at my grocery store, when forced to use the "check yourself out" option, which inevitably malfunctions and requires staff correction). Inevitably I feel terrible later -- as you note, these people are earning very little money to work very boring jobs that generally make my life much easier. I've apologized on return visits which inevitably leaves *me* in tears -- ashamed of my bad behavior and really grateful for the chance to set things right.

And yay on the sewing machine repair folks doing something right -- I hope the repaired machine is, um, better than new!

[susandennis]

I am really really really (hear me telling myself) going to make a strong effort to stop being mean to clerks and service people. It's against my nature so may also be a nice growth opportunity for me!

Nice to know I'm not the only one :)

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

I don't currently work in retail, but I have in the past and I can vouch for how much your apology probably meant to them.

[susandennis]

Thank you! Very nice to know.

[opakele.livejournal.com]

It is so stressful this time of year. I have been sharp twice with people in the last two weeks. I do try to be kind and empathetic, but even with best intention fail.

The poor technician doing my mom's MRI... He was totally on board when we decided to try the MRI. All I could do was continue to thank him profusely for working with us.

Good for you, owning your own shit.

[susandennis]

:)

[rsc.livejournal.com]

It's sometimes difficult, but it's an effort worth making, to avoid taking out one's frustrations with a retail-type situation on the frontline workers, who are almost certainly not responsible for the situation. I know I've occasionally been snippy with airline personnel who were trying to resolve the problems induced by a cancelled flight or missed connection, and I always feel bad about it afterwards (sometimes not soon enough to apologize i person).

Good for you for making that phone call.

(Then there was the time when we had a really frustrating time at a major car rental company, and my normally mild-mannered husband briefly lost it. But the guilt was somewhat mitigated by the agent (actually the on-site manager), who was clearly having a difficult day, being rude in return and refusing to accept his apology. She claimed that she was putting him on the "Do not rent" list for future transactions; we don't know if she carried through on this threat, since we have avoided that company ever since.)

[susandennis]

So you put her on your own Do not rent list! fair enough!

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

The managers never actually let us know what's going on, so most retail workers only know what we are told. I had a woman last night who was super nice when I was helping her find the frozen noodles she wanted, but then it all changed when we didn't have them after all. She went nuts and started yelling and lecturing me about every disappointment she had ever had with our store - as if it was all my fault. I hope she felt bad later. Ha. :)

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

Well at least the repair for the machine was a bargain