Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

snakeweasel · April 2023

I heard that some king wanted people to go populate one place, so they named it Greenland and not to another, so it was named Iceland.

Greenland was discovered during a time called the little climatic optimum at which the climate was warmer than it is today. So it might have been greener then.

jmonroe1 · April 2023

@abacomike, so much for the sandy soil taking care of your rainfall. Time to start running drain pipes like the rest of the world.

jmonroe

snakeweasel · April 2023

Today we escorted a fellow post member and legion rider to his final resting place at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. We had a motorcycle escorts led by a WWII era jeep. I really dont think I got my bike past 3rd gear more that two or three times. The post now has a vacant chair at the bar with his favorite drink in front of it.

May you rest in peace Pappy.

jmonroe1 · April 2023

@snakeweasel said:
Today we escorted a fellow post member and legion rider to his final resting place at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. We had a motorcycle escorts led by a WWII era jeep. I really dont think I got my bike past 3rd gear more that two or three times. The post now has a vacant chair at the bar with his favorite drink in front of it.

May you rest in peace Pappy.

————————————————
So, a free drink for me. I just hope it hasn’t evaporated by the time I get there.

jmonroe

carnaught · April 2023

On another subject I saw the new Rivian R1S SUV in the wild today, white in color. Have to say without driving it or having time to snap a live photo, that it is very squared off looking, just…well…..ugly. There is a lot of tush behind the rear wheel. Looks better in the picture but maybe it will grow on me.

https://images.app.goo.gl/GyHzHx3GeXswcEWWA

jmonroe1 · April 2023

@carnaught said:
On another subject I saw the new Rivian R1S SUV in the wild today, white in color. Have to say without driving it or having time to snap a live photo, that it is very squared off looking, just…well…..ugly. There is a lot of tush behind the rear wheel. Looks better in the picture but maybe it will grow on me.

https://images.app.goo.gl/GyHzHx3GeXswcEWWA

————————————————
Given what you said, do you really want something like that to grow on you?

jmonroe

Sandman6472 · April 2023

Working on Wednesday was miserable as the rain just wouldn't stop. Luckily I had my baseball cap and my rain jacket had a hood so we made due. Traffic up in West Palm Beach on I-95 was a bumper to bumper dance and took forever to just go a few miles.
My wife just called from downtown Ft. Lauderdale and said traffic is moving at a snails pace. She's been in the car for almost an hour and is still miles away from home. Looks like it's going to take her a couple of hours , give or take, to get home. Said there were a bunch of vehicles on th side of the road just flooded out. Gotta feeling our drought conditions will be gone soon & it ain't even the rainy season! That starts in May. I did turn the sprinklers off when I got home last night as will be a waste to have them run for awhile.

driver100 · April 2023

carnaught said:
On another subject I saw the new Rivian R1S SUV in the wild today, white in color. Have to say without driving it or having time to snap a live photo, that it is very squared off looking, just…well…..ugly. There is a lot of tush behind the rear wheel. Looks better in the picture but maybe it will grow on me.

https://images.app.goo.gl/GyHzHx3GeXswcEWWA

Would anyone buy that because they like the way it looks?

It looks like an electrical appliance, do they offer them in harvest gold and avocado?

stickguy · April 2023

looks hideous to me. and dang, that is a real barge.

I don't get it, but some people like this kind of stuff.

qbrozen · April 2023

I think we should celebrate another startup getting past 1 model.

oldfarmer50 · April 2023

stickguy said:
if this was a mild winter, I am moving back down south.

Wow, if you think this winter was bad, you should start packing. 😩 This was what we call a “rear wheel drive” winter because the snow was just an annoyance.

oldfarmer50 · April 2023

abacomike said:
Ft. Lauderdale International Airport has been closed since yesterday afternoon. They are hoping to reopen the north and south runways to air traffic tomorrow which is dependent on getting the taxiways free of 3-5 feet of standing water overnight. The other runway is still under water.

27+ inches of rain fell over south Broward County in 4 hours yesterday. They call it the 1000 year rain event. That’s half the annual average precipitation for Ft. Lauderdale that fell in 4 hours. Most of southeast Broward County is still under water.

It’s raining right now and they are expecting another 3-5 inches from these thunderstorms this afternoon. They just announced on the news that FLL may not open tomorrow because the retention ponds are at 100% capacity with no where for the water at the airport to go.

I heard that on the radio yesterday. Amazing. I assume that the airport is located in a flat area and the drainage was overwhelmed.

stickguy · April 2023

At the old place they got zero snow. That is perfect! Also not quite as cold. Or windy.

kyfdx · April 2023

Two feet of rain. I don't think it matters what the drainage is like. Also, all of South Florida is basically flat.

oldfarmer50 · April 2023

stickguy said:
At the old place they got zero snow. That is perfect! Also not quite as cold. Or windy.

I’ve been working in NJ so much lately maybe I can start hauling some of your furniture back for you.

How much do you think we can load into a Nissan Versa?😚

venture · April 2023

I stopped at the local Audi dealer yesterday. They had 7 new 2023 SUV's and zero sedans, etc. They had some 2022's.

I asked the younger sales dude why they were having trouble getting inventory and he said they weren't having trouble.

There were only 2 salespeople there and the first guy the receptionist took me to, in the Toyota building, didn't know about Audi's so he led me over to the, evidently, Audi specialist. This guy told me how superior their 4-wheel drive is by telling me about when Audi was banned from racing because of their Quatro. I have learned not to argue with people.

It doesn't appear that they are living up to their potential.

I looked, online, at our closest Mercedes dealer. They are somewhat better, but not by much. I may make the 40 mile drive to have a look.

driver100 · April 2023

kyfdx said:
Two feet of rain. I don't think it matters what the drainage is like. Also, all of South Florida is basically flat.

....and how do you build to face a once in 1000 years event?

driver100 · April 2023

venture said:

I asked the younger sales dude why they were having trouble getting inventory and he said they weren't having trouble.

It seems that when there was a shortage of chips they tended to use the chips in models that were more expensive.
Now, there seems to be a business plan where the automakers can make fewer cars, make larger profit on each car, and they come out ahead by not flooding the market.
Everyone has learned from the oil companies....make a shortage, boost prices, keep a lid on supply......

explorerx4 · April 2023

Highest point in Florida is just under 350 ft above sea level.

Michaell · April 2023

explorerx4 said:
Highest point in Florida is just under 350 ft above sea level.

...and the lowest elevation in Colorado is right around 3300 ft above sea level.

qbrozen · April 2023

On our way back to the States today. Will be happy to sleep in my bed again. Our bed here was terrible.

When I dropped off the Xtrail (Rogue), I commented how it is ready for retirement. When I listed the problems, he said “Oh, its good for at least 2 more trips around the ring.”

ab348 · April 2023

kyfdx said:
Two feet of rain. I don't think it matters what the drainage is like. Also, all of South Florida is basically flat.

Good thing it is also mostly sand.

driver100 · April 2023

explorerx4 said:
Highest point in Florida is just under 350 ft above sea level.

Where is the highest point in Florida?

Britton Hill
If you don't know about Britton Hill, Florida, you're probably not a mountain climber, and you're definitely not a high pointer. At 345 feet above mean sea level, Britton Hill is Florida's highest natural point – and the lowest "high point" in the United States. You can summit without a Sherpa.

28firefighter · April 2023

@qbrozen said:
On our way back to the States today. Will be happy to sleep in my bed again. Our bed here was terrible.

When I dropped off the Xtrail (Rogue), I commented how it is ready for retirement. When I listed the problems, he said “Oh, its good for at least 2 more trips around the ring.”

This sounds like exactly something I would have expected to hear - in a very pleasant, you’re silly kind of way.

venture · April 2023

driver100 said:

venture said:

I asked the younger sales dude why they were having trouble getting inventory and he said they weren't having trouble.
It seems that when there was a shortage of chips they tended to use the chips in models that were more expensive.
Now, there seems to be a business plan where the automakers can make fewer cars, make larger profit on each car, and they come out ahead by not flooding the market.
Everyone has learned from the oil companies....make a shortage, boost prices, keep a lid on supply......

You may be correct. When they don't have even one A4 or A5, you can't test drive.

roadburner · April 2023

venture said:
I stopped at the local Audi dealer yesterday. They had 7 new 2023 SUV's and zero sedans, etc. They had some 2022's.

I asked the younger sales dude why they were having trouble getting inventory and he said they weren't having trouble.

There were only 2 salespeople there and the first guy the receptionist took me to, in the Toyota building, didn't know about Audi's so he led me over to the, evidently, Audi specialist. This guy told me how superior their 4-wheel drive is by telling me about when Audi was banned from racing because of their Quatro. I have learned not to argue with people. It doesn't appear that they are living up to their potential.

I looked, online, at our closest Mercedes dealer. They are somewhat better, but not by much. I may make the 40 mile drive to have a look.

Nothing drives me crazier than salespeople who have absolutely no idea of what they are talking about.

jmonroe1 · April 2023

@explorerx4 said:
Highest point in Florida is just under 350 ft above sea level.

————————————————
I don’t think it’s that high anymore after you adjust for their latest rainfall.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · April 2023

@driver100 said:
It seems that when there was a shortage of chips they tended to use the chips in models that were more expensive.
Now, there seems to be a business plan where the automakers can make fewer cars, make larger profit on each car, and they come out ahead by not flooding the market.
Everyone has learned from the oil companies....make a shortage, boost prices, keep a lid on supply......

————————————————
That can backfire when the masses are forced to buy used cars. Sure, that will drive up used car prices but to stay in business the car manufactures will have to produce enough cars or they’re out of the car biz.

You can only gouge so much. The oil companies can get away with it because folks can’t buy used oil. Yes, they can buy electric cars but that won’t happen fast enough. And the guy who makes the most of them quickly will get the largest market share.

Car manufacturers are just enjoying what they can get away with now. Capitalism still works.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · April 2023

@roadburner said:
Nothing drives me crazier than salespeople who have absolutely no idea of what they are talking about.

————————————————
Like I’ve said before…”shooting from the hip is a cover up for lack of knowledge”.

jmonroe

stickguy · April 2023

actually if they price the customers out of their new products, mostly they will just keep the old ones. Especially the large number of buyers that really don't "need" a new car, they just feel like getting one.

if you are driving a perfectly fine, just boring, 2018 Camry say, and get the itch for something cooler and the BMW dealer only has top line models at $70K+, that itch can disappear real quick and you keep driving the appliance!

jmonroe1 · April 2023

@stickguy said:
actually if they price the customers out of their new products, mostly they will just keep the old ones. Especially the large number of buyers that really don't "need" a new car, they just feel like getting one.

if you are driving a perfectly fine, just boring, 2018 Camry say, and get the itch for something cooler and the BMW dealer only has top line models at $70K+, that itch can disappear real quick and you keep driving the appliance!

————————————————
Of course that’s the case with a lot of owners but there are many more that will NEED to replace their worn out clunker that they’ve been nursing along for too long. So, off they go for a replacement.

Awhile back I thought about getting another car just because but gave up on that idea. The two I have now are as perfect as you can get (my ‘15 Genny with less than 12K miles and Mrs. j’s ‘18 Legacy with under 26K miles). So, why role the dice to get something different and pay more to get the same satisfaction and reliability? I’m not saying I’m never going to buy again but I have to be tempted, which doesn’t seem likely for awhile.

jmonroe

stickguy · April 2023

Yes some people still have to. But overall they will tank sales. And many of the must buys can’t afford new anyway so brands will be doubly hosed.

driver100 · April 2023

jmonroe1 said:

@driver100 said:

It seems that when there was a shortage of chips they tended to use the chips in models that were more expensive.

Now, there seems to be a business plan where the automakers can make fewer cars, make larger profit on each car, and they come out ahead by not flooding the market.

Everyone has learned from the oil companies....make a shortage, boost prices, keep a lid on supply......

————————————————

That can backfire when the masses are forced to buy used cars. Sure, that will drive up used car prices but to stay in business the car manufactures will have to produce enough cars or they’re out of the car biz.

You can only gouge so much. The oil companies can get away with it because folks can’t buy used oil. Yes, they can buy electric cars but that won’t happen fast enough. And the guy who makes the most of them quickly will get the largest market share.

Car manufacturers are just enjoying what they can get away with now. Capitalism still works.

jmonroe

Used car prices are even worse in relation to what you are getting. People couldn't trade-in their cars so they kept them longer......it is really hard to find a low mileage used car right now. There are lots of scams going on with used cars too, they can roll back the mileage, there are flood cars, and in our city they found a record 18 cars that had their VIN numbers deleted and new ones put on.....all done by curb siders.

Because of the cost of workers, keeping lines going, overbuilding etc. sometimes your profit is greater if you can charge more, and produce less. One day they may over-produce, but by then we will adjust to the new prices.

Last year I could buy 12 cans of soda for about $6 and often they had buy one get one free (BOGO), this year a 12 pack is $7 or $8, and the best I have seen is buy two and get one free. Soon I'll adjust to the new price......and they know that, and there probably isn't a shortage at this point.

driver100 · April 2023

jmonroe1 said:

@roadburner said:

Nothing drives me crazier than salespeople who have absolutely no idea of what they are talking about.

————————————————

Like I’ve said before…”shooting from the hip is a cover up for lack of knowledge”.

jmonroe

How come you know so much about that

(just joking.....really

)

stickguy · April 2023

from my recent experiences with the car market, absolutely buying new and keeping it longer term is the best way to go. Used got nuts because there was at least some supply.

and considering I can buy a new maverick for less than any used one advertised, really makes no sense not to go new.

and the scams these days make me even more leery of used cars. Would need to find a local person with proof of the cars history and maintenance records, and even then not sure I could trust them!

laurasdada · April 2023

Spent most of the day in Hyannis, recall for the A7, which, as it turned out, wasn't required. But, a gorgeous day for a ride, gave me a new A5 loaner, gave the A7 a bath and vacuum. And, of course, I filled my pockets with free chips, cookies and Diet Cokes.

They had very little new inventory, the highlight a '23 R8 'vert with an ADM of $30k (including $995 Mop & Glo). So, $271k before TTL. I was tempted, but the color clashed with the Diet Coke cans in my pockets.
Had a nice deli lunch downtown, drove over to the BMW dealer (same group); not much to look at. But, the GM must know his customers, several new 'verts, 4xx and M8s.

PSA: Avoid going to The Cape during Sagamore Bridge maintenance. It took me 40 minutes to go 2 miles, the backup started ~1.5 miles before the bridge. Total trip 100 minutes vs a normal 45. Not quite as bad coming home, but wait until Sunday...

driver100 · April 2023

@stickguymax
Exactly....that's what I was trying to say.

Data from AutoTrader found that the average price of a used vehicle in October was $37,000, 19.9 per cent higher than the year before. The average price of a new vehicle is $57,519, an 18.5 per cent increase over the year before.Jan 17, 2023

$57519 is a lot of money, but $37000 for a car that could be a total lemon and worth $0 is a much bigger risk, at this particular time.

stickguy · April 2023

the average is not that relevant. There are still plenty of cars available for $30k or less. You just don't get a fully loaded luxury SUV for that.

venture · April 2023

Today is the 8 month anniversary of paying off the Ascent and I still don't have the title. I've seen a lot of incompetence, but this is gigantic.

The 3 stooges are Chase Auto Finance, my Subaru dealer, and the PA DMV. Each of them say they will take care of it yet 8 months...

I finally contacted my State Representative. They assured me they could get it after proving to them that the lien was satisfied. That has been almost 3 weeks and no joy!

I can appreciate the humor, but it really isn't very funny to me anymore.

oldfarmer50 · April 2023

stickguy said:
from my recent experiences with the car market, absolutely buying new and keeping it longer term is the best way to go. Used got nuts because there was at least some supply.

and considering I can buy a new maverick for less than any used one advertised, really makes no sense not to go new.

and the scams these days make me even more leery of used cars. Would need to find a local person with proof of the cars history and maintenance records, and even then not sure I could trust them!

You just summarized my feelings exactly. Maybe I’m just getting cautious in my old age but when you hear about all the scams, flood cars, mileage rollbacks and even vin switching, it can make you paranoid.

I’m surprised that I’ve had such good luck buying used CL cars so far. I can only assume that every car I’ve bought was from older and elderly sellers who might be less likely to be curbstoners or scammers.

oldfarmer50 · April 2023

venture said:
Today is the 8 month anniversary of paying off the Ascent and I still don't have the title. I've seen a lot of incompetence, but this is gigantic.

The 3 stooges are Chase Auto Finance, my Subaru dealer, and the PA DMV. Each of them say they will take care of it yet 8 months...

I finally contacted my State Representative. They assured me they could get it after proving to them that the lien was satisfied. That has been almost 3 weeks and no joy!

I can appreciate the humor, but it really isn't very funny to me anymore.

I’m sure they are all pointing fingers at each other but who do you think is causing the roadblock? Maybe an attorney letter to one of them would motivate some action.

ab348 · April 2023

oldfarmer50 said:

venture said:
Today is the 8 month anniversary of paying off the Ascent and I still don't have the title. I've seen a lot of incompetence, but this is gigantic.

The 3 stooges are Chase Auto Finance, my Subaru dealer, and the PA DMV. Each of them say they will take care of it yet 8 months...

I finally contacted my State Representative. They assured me they could get it after proving to them that the lien was satisfied. That has been almost 3 weeks and no joy!

I can appreciate the humor, but it really isn't very funny to me anymore.
I’m sure they are all pointing fingers at each other but who do you think is causing the roadblock? Maybe an attorney letter to one of them would motivate some action.

If I had to guess, I'd suggest either Chase or the DMV. The dealer would probably say it has nothing to do with them even though they may have made a mistake in filling out a form. Once that leaves their hands, it is on the other two to straighten out.

Between a massive banking empire and a govt bureaucracy, there is not much urgency to do the work required to help out an individual customer.

stickguy · April 2023

reminds me of my recent experience with filing a claim with a state agency. All seemed in order, they asked for some extra info I supplied (all online) then, black hole. Weeks of trying to call in, always too many calls so could not go into queue. No other way to contact them other than snail mail. I finally made an appointment (for an office 2.5 hours away) for no reason other than to ask for a status update as to why I was not hearing anything.

luckily the week before a miracle happen and I got into call queue, and 3 hours later someone got back to me. Looked everything up, said they were waiting on something specific that had been requested from my company, but should be done "this week" Seemed sketchy but at least I knew they had me in the system.

the next week, no response as promised so I somehow went in a different way and got put through to a higher tier person (I think it was the back office instead of the front end call center). This woman knew her stuff. I said what the last person told me and she pulled up my record, and basically said that was nonsense, that they had everything they needed for the last month, it just got lost in the shuffle. 15 minutes later, she had directly called the person that needed to do something (which seemed to be click off a "this is OK" radio button), told the next (final) person in line to do this one first, and that was it. 5 minutes later I get the email I was all set.

that was 6 weeks or so ago. I am pretty sure if I had not gotten to that person I would still be waiting for a call that would not come. Or at least, would have driven 5 hours to hopefully find a competent person!

the TL/DR version: Once a process goes off track, need to hope you can finally get to the person that can (and will) resolve it instead of passing the buck.

driver100 · April 2023

venture said:
Today is the 8 month anniversary of paying off the Ascent and I still don't have the title. I've seen a lot of incompetence, but this is gigantic.

The 3 stooges are Chase Auto Finance, my Subaru dealer, and the PA DMV. Each of them say they will take care of it yet 8 months...

I finally contacted my State Representative. They assured me they could get it after proving to them that the lien was satisfied. That has been almost 3 weeks and no joy!

I can appreciate the humor, but it really isn't very funny to me anymore.

That is ridiculous....no accountability. State Rep sounds like one avenue. Is there a department of transportation.........someone should be fined or sued for not getting it done!

venture · April 2023

driver100 said:

venture said:
Today is the 8 month anniversary of paying off the Ascent and I still don't have the title. I've seen a lot of incompetence, but this is gigantic.

The 3 stooges are Chase Auto Finance, my Subaru dealer, and the PA DMV. Each of them say they will take care of it yet 8 months...

I finally contacted my State Representative. They assured me they could get it after proving to them that the lien was satisfied. That has been almost 3 weeks and no joy!

I can appreciate the humor, but it really isn't very funny to me anymore.
That is ridiculous....no accountability. State Rep sounds like one avenue. Is there a department of transportation.........someone should be fined or sued for not getting it done!

As important as I am to everyone involved, a person would think someone would do something.

ab348 · April 2023

venture said:

As important as I am to everyone involved, a person would think someone would do something.

In big organizations and especially government organizations there is little to no reason for any individual to do something outside the lines to help a client because they are not rewarded (and in fact may be penalized) for doing so.

Let me go down memory lane if I might. Maybe 10+ years before I got to work with the provincial liquor board here, I got into playing golf. One day I was in one of our liquor stores and they had a display for Dewar’s scotch with a golf theme that included a Dewar’s golf umbrella. I saw it and since Dewar’s was my scotch of choice at the time I immediately wanted one. Eventually a store clerk came by and I asked him how I could get one - I would have been happy to buy one. “You can’t “ he said dismissively before walking off, which made me very unhappy. Years later I discovered that such promo items were routinely taken home by store staff as the company reps used them to gain favor in stores in an under-the-table way, so maybe he wanted it for himself, who knows.

That attitude was typical once I joined the company and we worked hard to instill a better kind of customer focus in store staff because it was more than just making a sale, though that was important. But so is building an image of an organization that values customers for other reasons and doing the whole “surprise and delight” thing when dealing with them. It’s difficult especially in government organizations but we found ways to reward good deeds like that that worked well. Years later now, sadly most of those have been dismantled as government didn’t like that kind of thinking. The level of service and engagement in stores here is now far less than it was, unfortunately.

The moral of the story is that big bureaucratic organizations do not like doing things for one-off situations even if they screwed something up.

driver100 · April 2023

ab348 said:

venture said:

As important as I am to everyone involved, a person would think someone would do something.
Eventually a store clerk came by and I asked him how I could get one - I would have been happy to buy one. “You can’t “ he said dismissively before walking off, which made me very unhappy.

The moral of the story is that big bureaucratic organizations do not like doing things for one-off situations even if they screwed something up.

We still have LCBO stores in Ontario, people are too immature to shop in a real liquor store so the government stores carry liquor. Lately beer is available at grocery stores.
The problem with the LCBO store is the government workers are hard to fire, they aren't that enthusiastic to help, they aren't rewarded for going out of their way, they probably feel that they are underpaid for the work they do.....and they have no incentive to do something extra for a customer. If you wanted that item and it was a private business, the owner would have gone out of his way to find out how you could get that item, and you would go out of your way to keep buying from him.

oldfarmer50 · April 2023

stickguy said:
reminds me of my recent experience with filing a claim with a state agency. All seemed in order, they asked for some extra info I supplied (all online) then, black hole. Weeks of trying to call in, always too many calls so could not go into queue. No other way to contact them other than snail mail. I finally made an appointment (for an office 2.5 hours away) for no reason other than to ask for a status update as to why I was not hearing anything.

luckily the week before a miracle happen and I got into call queue, and 3 hours later someone got back to me. Looked everything up, said they were waiting on something specific that had been requested from my company, but should be done "this week" Seemed sketchy but at least I knew they had me in the system.

the next week, no response as promised so I somehow went in a different way and got put through to a higher tier person (I think it was the back office instead of the front end call center). This woman knew her stuff. I said what the last person told me and she pulled up my record, and basically said that was nonsense, that they had everything they needed for the last month, it just got lost in the shuffle. 15 minutes later, she had directly called the person that needed to do something (which seemed to be click off a "this is OK" radio button), told the next (final) person in line to do this one first, and that was it. 5 minutes later I get the email I was all set.

that was 6 weeks or so ago. I am pretty sure if I had not gotten to that person I would still be waiting for a call that would not come. Or at least, would have driven 5 hours to hopefully find a competent person!

the TL/DR version: Once a process goes off track, need to hope you can finally get to the person that can (and will) resolve it instead of passing the buck.

I had a similar result with the NYS tax department last year. I had made a minor transcription error on my return so I called the agency. I was lucky enough to get a guy who knew what to do and one button click fixed it.

jmonroe1 · April 2023

C’mon guys, let’s get back to dishwashers.

jmonroe

venture · April 2023

ab348 said:

venture said:

As important as I am to everyone involved, a person would think someone would do something.
In big organizations and especially government organizations there is little to no reason for any individual to do something outside the lines to help a client because they are not rewarded (and in fact may be penalized) for doing so.

Let me go down memory lane if I might. Maybe 10+ years before I got to work with the provincial liquor board here, I got into playing golf. One day I was in one of our liquor stores and they had a display for Dewar’s scotch with a golf theme that included a Dewar’s golf umbrella. I saw it and since Dewar’s was my scotch of choice at the time I immediately wanted one. Eventually a store clerk came by and I asked him how I could get one - I would have been happy to buy one. “You can’t “ he said dismissively before walking off, which made me very unhappy. Years later I discovered that such promo items were routinely taken home by store staff as the company reps used them to gain favor in stores in an under-the-table way, so maybe he wanted it for himself, who knows.

That attitude was typical once I joined the company and we worked hard to instill a better kind of customer focus in store staff because it was more than just making a sale, though that was important. But so is building an image of an organization that values customers for other reasons and doing the whole “surprise and delight” thing when dealing with them. It’s difficult especially in government organizations but we found ways to reward good deeds like that that worked well. Years later now, sadly most of those have been dismantled as government didn’t like that kind of thinking. The level of service and engagement in stores here is now far less than it was, unfortunately.

The moral of the story is that big bureaucratic organizations do not like doing things for one-off situations even if they screwed something up.

I get it. When I worked for the state of Pennsylvania, I occasionally got a phone call from some poor soul who had been transferred multiple times. Why they eventually got to my phone is anyone's guess.

Instead of passing them along, I found out who they actually needed to talk to and gave them their name and direct phone number. I also gave them my name and direct phone number in case something went kaflooey. I transferred them to the proper person, hoping that they got their problem resolved.

A few times they actually called me back to thank me.

The belligerent disregard is amazing.

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