I do customer service for a living and I know how important pleasing the customer is, especially when you are running a store. I recently tried to go to a store and get money put on my card via Western Union. The MANAGER for that shift was called to the counter and she quickly said "Oh I don't know how to do that" and dismissed the issue just like that. She did not even attempt to figure it out! I have never had a problem getting money put on my card there before. I had bills due that day, I just got my check cashed and was trying to get the money on my card so I could pay my bill on time...needless to say this is day 2 of the struggle to find a competent person to do this for me. I called the other stores that have Western Union and again met the same issue, the girls there did not know how to use the machine and could not help me!!! Why would a business staff people that cannot use the equipment they have, that makes no sense to me. I have been involved with customer service since my early 20's. I worked in a convenient store for a few years and I now do over the phone customer service and I would never dismiss a customer in such a way. I would tell them I can "TRY" to see if I can assist them at least!
I have never ran a Western Union machine but common sense tells me that they would have to use the card number as the routing number (the place the money is being sent to)...just like any other Western Union transaction for crying out loud! I was so furious over the lack of common courtesy and customer UNsatisfaction. The woman was simply lazy and was not at all doing her job, she is a person just making a paycheck and not actually fulfilling her job description. She is lucky that I am not like some pissed off customers who would knock stuff off shelves or insult her in front of everyone, or stand there and force her to do her job. I just accepted that she was a lazy, shiftless person who should not be managing a store at all, and went to find the services elsewhere. As I have said before, I live in a small town so my options are not many. I am hoping to get this issue resolved today and if any other moronic person tries to tell me they don't know how to do it and tries to dismiss me...I am going to tell them how to do their job and make them do this service I require!
This person's lack of knowledge has now made me late paying my bill, I do not trust the banks in my town due to numerous stories of them overcharging accounts, hidden fee's and other stories that made me feel that having a bank account around here is not for me. So, I use a rechargeable card where I can go to any Western Union and load money onto my card and pay my bills with it. No big deal right!!! No big deal until I am faced with untrained, non-professional people who carry around a job title they do not deserve.
The definition of Customer Service is "the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction - that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customers expectation" This was take right out of Wikipedia people! People who work in customer service need to take their jobs more seriously and appreciate the fact that they have a job in today's economy...if this business keeps up their lack of customer service they will not be in business much longer. I hope those who are involved in customer service read this and think more about how they handle their customers in the future. Please people...if you are not sure about something at least ATTEMPT to figure it out before you dismiss someone like that, not everyone accepts ignorance as gracefully as I do, you may find yourself dealing with someone who is not willing to "let it go"!
Yes it is that time of year again where parents need to get to the stores and get school supplies and clothes for their children. Depending on where you live, school should be starting up in about three weeks. Based on last years back to school shopping spree, I was able to come away with 7 outfits, a backpack, two pairs of shoes, a jacket, and school supplies for around $150-$200. I am hoping to stay in that same price range this year. Luckily my children are still in elementary school so I am getting away cheap but I know that as my children rise through the grades, the cost will rise also. I know a mother who spent $500 on just one of her four children for back to school supplies when her children were in high school. I am not looking forward to such a dramatic price increase but I will make sure my children have nice clothes, shoes, and educational supplies at the start of every school year. Keep in mind, if you are buying for young children do not go overboard because most of the clothes you buy are not going to fit next year or will be turned into play clothes because they are going to get stained up on the play ground, etc.
There are families that cannot afford to get anything for their children for school (There should be local help for situations like this, such as churches or your local assistance office may know where to get help for school supplies and clothing.) I remember going to school with people that would show up on the first day with sneakers held together with duct tape, their backpack held together with duct tape or patched together with whatever would hold, and clothes they wore two or more years ago. I always wondered weather their parents simply could not afford to get them new clothes, or if they blew their money on beer and drugs and chose not to take care of their child's school needs. Either way I would like to remind parents of what school was like when we went...kids were ruthless to those who were less fortunate. I went to a blue ribbon school filled with upper middle class students who wore expensive name brand clothing that my parents simply could not afford. Luckily I had a brain for saving money instead of trying to keep up with the trends because I could not justify paying more than $15 for a shirt, even $20 was pushing it. So my Mom had it easy buying me school clothes, I was perfectly fine with getting my clothes from discount stores. Even today I refuse to over pay for clothing, if I can get 6 outfits for the price of one name brand outfit...I'm going for the 6 outfits. There is nothing wrong with shopping at Walmart, the Dollar Store or discount stores. The Dollar Store has some really nice outfits every now and then, you just have to catch the new stock because that stuff goes fast at the store in my town.
What I do to prepare for my back to school shopping spree is first, go through all of my son's clothes! Whatever still fits, is
not stained up or holey will be put in his closet for the school year (I
put his school clothes in his closet and his play clothes in his
dresser). Then I take inventory on what he has and what he will need
and base the quantity of what I will be buying on what he needs. I like to make sure he has at least 7-10 pairs of jeans, 15 different shirts, 2 pairs of shoes, 3 hoodies, at least 2 jackets, and new socks and undies just for school...this is not counting the clothes he has for play which are usually his clothes from last year that got stained up. This year my son had a bit of a growth spurt so I may need to buy him a whole new wardrobe. Growth spurts are sporadic and leave some mothers buying all new clothes in the middle of the school year because their child's pants are up past their socks!
I went to Walmart last year and got some good deals but my Mother is insisting I head to Kmart this year and do my back to school shopping there. Let me give you an idea of how "out in the middle of nowhere" I am. Walmart is about an hour away from where I live, Kmart is about 2 hours from where I live...ugh. I am going to give Kmart a try and see if I make out better there but based on my online price matching I think I will break about even. I do know that the Walmart in my area does not have a huge selection on shoes which can be very frustrating for a 9 year old looking for skater shoes. I was told that the Kmart in my area has a much larger selection so I am looking forward to seeing what they have to offer. I will more than likely get pencils, binders, whatever is needed for school supplies this year, at the dollar store because they have really great deals on that stuff. If you have a hoard of children and need to buy in bulk, I suggest going to www.usschoolsupply.com. You can get 50 lead pencils
for $18.25! That is amazing. Check out that website and see what other bulk deals you can find. They pretty much have everything, if any parents have any tips on where else to search online or shop please comment and help all mothers save a penny or two this year!
Good luck parents! I hope your back to school shopping spree is full of bargains and sales so we can all walk away without debt or anxiety of how your going to pay the bills this month. By all means, do some research and know your options. There is nothing that grinds my gears more than finding out I could have bought something somewhere else for way cheaper!
Sadly our society is being overcome, or should I say...is overwhelmed with a new epidemic involving bath salt. This substance is being abused by our peers, our young people...not just junkies on the street! It is sweeping through towns swiftly and as menacingly as heroin. In the past two years the abuse of Bath Salt has gone national. Unfortunately there has not been much research done on the matter because this is a new force our law enforcement is beginning to recon with.
Not only has the epidemic of Bath Salt Abuse taken over big cities like New York and Miami...it is hitting small towns just as hard. Bath Salt is cheap and readily available in stores, being sold as a therapeutic bathing product. I live in a small town of roughly 1200 people and it is grossly apparent that the young people in this town are using Bath Salt. I have seen some of them wandering around town, staring off into space...they reminded me of a zombie! They go around bragging about doing the stuff and have no idea that they are messing with dangerous stuff.
The effects of bath salt are like that of LSD or cocaine, but it is more intense to the point where the user ends up becoming delusional and see's things that are not really there. They could end up hurting people they know such as family members or neighbors. It is said that people high on Bath Salt cannot be reasoned with, they have a tendency to bite or harm themselves or others. People that are abusing Bath Salt heavily are dangerous and unpredictable. It has been reported that people on Bath Salt are hard to restrain or sedate when being apprehended by police, this is a scary factor...what if someone like that walked in your home or just hopped into your vehicle (this happened to a few people in a town in New York) How would you defend yourself if this person is all strung out and feeling nothing at all to the effect of pain.
There was an incident around town recently where a man on Bath Salt walked into some people's homes, and the man had no idea where he was or who was around him. The man walked up to people he had known for years and asked them who they were. This person was completely delusional, thinking he was in another place and time...even climbing into vehicles that were parked in front of homes and just sitting there! I saw a show on Intervention about a man on Bath Salt and it was a little disturbing to see how he acted on the stuff...I suggest watching that episode just to get an idea.
It is reported that the side effects of Bath Salt are hallucinations, paranoia, dependency, fear, delusions (may see people as devils or other creatures and try to harm them), self mutilation, heart problems (increases heart rate), overdose, and death either by overdosing or commiting suicide. Hospitals are not sure how to treat some of these cases because this is still new to them.
Everything I have researched about Bath Salt is inconclusive in the sense that they are still gathering information. We will not know the true destruction of this drug for some time, until research can be complete and the effects of the body and mind are gone over. There will be more to come on this in the future...keep your ears and eyes open to those around you. If you see someone acting strange or walking around in an "out of it" kind of manner...just stay away from them! If you see someone freaking out and you suspect they may be on Bath Salt then do not approach them...call the police and let them deal with the matter as they are trained to.
If you suspect a loved one is using Bath Salt, please contact a local support facility that can help you and your loved one get through this and overcome the addiction.
Losing weight is a fierce battle that starts with your own will power. I have gained a considerable amount of weight in the past two years after having my two youngest children within a year and 4 months of each other. I had gotten my weight down to 150 pounds a few years after having my second child and ended up gaining almost 80 pounds with the last two pregnancies. I have been eating for two for a while and it is a tough habit to break. My youngest child is a few months past a year old now and the excuses are now just that...excuses.
I am sick of looking the way I do and know that only I can change that. I have decided to finally do something about it. I used to drink soda all day everyday...so far I have cut back to like two glasses of soda and the rest of my drinks consist of water and milk. I have made it a point to drink at least two glasses of milk a day to keep my bones strong and healthy. Ever since that osteo perosis (not sure if i spelled that right) came out I am very particular about making sure I drink some milk.
I feel that if I exercise regularly and watch what I eat and how much I eat then losing weight should be easy...easier said than done! I hate exercising, that is the part that takes the most self-pep talk. It hurts and it's not comfortable so I am looking for simple ways to get the muscles burning. I found a few ideas around the web that I am going to try out but I know that if I don't put the work in then the fat won't come off. If I notice a difference when i try the exercises that I found then I will share what works for me and maybe you can try it out too.
I am in love with breads, pasta's, and potatoes...all bad for putting on the extra pounds. I am having a hard time letting those go but I am a work in progress. So, I will embark on this journey to lose weight and I hope it all works out. I have lost 15 pounds so far and hope to continue to lose. I have to lose around 70 pounds and my goal is to lose that much in 8 months. I think I can do it, I will just have to stay motivated and sweat my buns off everyday for atleast 20 minutes.
The kids and I turn the music up and dance around like crazy people for about 15 to 20 minutes almost everyday. It is fun and a great way to get the heart pumping and the sweat flowing. Wish me luck and good luck to those who are also out there trying to lose weight also.
