Staff or Customers - Who is Important??

Friday lunch has been a weekly ritual for the staff at my office for nearly 15 years... we haven't missed a Friday lunch date in 14 years [give or take a year]. This Friday [Oct 23 2009] we chose to go to CremaCafe in West Perth. 4 previous visits had been great... and we needed to eat quickly and be back at the office for 1.30pm.

Matt ordered "roast duck salad radicchio, witlof, tomatoes, spanish onion, hazelnuts, yoghurt & honey dressing for $28.50" as he is on a health kick and fancied some duck. Tahya loves fish and chips so chose that from the menu "fish & chips beer battered, garlic aioli, green salad, for $28.50". My choice was "local calamari shallow fried, leaf salad, french fries, garlic aioli for $28.50"
Matt asked for his duck salad without the "yoghurt & honey dressing", Tahya was happy with the menu selection and I asked for my squid to come without the "garlic aioli".

We grab a Crema Plate as starters and enjoyed the "buzz" of West Perth.

Between ordering and service we witnessed the waiter drop a wine glass that shattered across the floor in the reception space... and customers were guided to tables whilst someone worked out who's job it was to sweep up the glass... but never mind, people could be careful and not "cut their feet?"

Service was quick and friendly and the mains arrived... however, Matt counted just 4 pieces of duck and lots of salad... and Tahya wasn't making too much progress on the fish and chips as they were VERY OILY and overcooked. My meal was OK and the garlic aioli was replaced with tomato sauce which actually added to the squid dish.


When the obligatory question was asked by our server... "How was everything??" I answered... "you know we come regularly and never complain... but we have a few comments about the meal today."

So Matthew said he believed there wasn't much duck in the "duck"salad, and I prompted Tahya to explain why she hadn't eaten more than 3 mouthfuls of her Fish and Chips...


Our server listened intently and took the meal plates away and discussed them with the proprietor and the chef.


She returned and this is what transpired:

"The chef says that the duck salad would have been more substantial with the "yoghurt and honey dressing" but we will take the charge off your bill." She looked at Tahya who is just 17 and in her first job out of school and said: "The chef looked at your fish and it is OK"


Now, my take on that is... duck salad doesn't need much duck just lots of yoghurt... and someone just 17 has no idea what fish and chips should taste like... apart from the fact Tahya had enjoyed her fish and chips at Crema on the previous 4 visits and had described her meal on those occasions as AWESOME...


Well I settled the bill and said to Lena who IS THE OWNER OF CREMA, "maybe you should review how a genuine complaint from a regular customer is handled as I thought that our concerns were dismissed without any acknowledgement that maybe we had a valid point to make."

Her reply was extraordinary... "I believe the duck salad would have been more substantial with the Yogurt dressing and I checked the fish with the chef and I agree with him it was OK. After all, I have to support my staff..."


My leaving leaving comment was; "Lena, I think you have your priorities wrong... without returning customers you can support your staff as much as you like but you will have nobody to server... you have dismissed the concerns of two of your regular clients as unimportant.."

And I guess Crema Cafe will not be on our lists of regular lunch venues for a while into the future...

Isn't this cool girls

Join in!!

Stupid Stupid Stupd me not eBay

CAnt access account because all stuff being sent to OLD STAFF MEMBERS email address that I disabled for "obvious reasons"... so I in my quest to get back into account we have no idea that the said exstaff member changes the password...

eBay will ONLY send stuff to old email address [duh!] but now says $35 is owing and we must pay to re-instate account...

Here are the instructions:

> 1. Go to:
>
> http://cgi3.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?OneTimePayPalPayment
>
> You may be asked to sign in.

Without said password... can anyone tell me how?? we can sign in??

They OWN PayPal for Heavens SAKE!! [post 999 wow hoo!]

36 hours for this response from eBay about $35.24 I owe them that needs paying so I can re-access an eBay account:

> Hello Wayne,
>
> Thank you for writing back about this issue.
>
> We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry. We are
> currently experiencing a very high volume of emails but we want to
> respond to your inquiry in a timely manner.
>
> Meanwhile let me further explained about the status of the
> "MaverickPartnership" account.
>
> As I have made further investigation, it appears that it has been
> suspended for non-payment. You will need to pay the full amount due to
> regain access to your account.
>
> The total amount due is $35.24.
>
> While you are suspended you will not be able to access My eBay or change
> any details.
>
> Meanwhile, to avoid going through collections efforts and to remove the
> suspension, we recommend you pay your due balance by Cheque or Money
> Order since you can't sign- in to your account.
>
> To do so:
>
> Click o Site map; Make a payment to your account, mail in payment, then
> copy + paste the information. All you needs to do is to print, and
> attach it to your cheque or money order.
>
> eBay's postal address for cheques or money orders is:
>
> eBay International AG
> GPO BOX 5257
> Sydney NSW 2001
> Australia
>
> To print a coupon to send with your payment, follow these steps:
>
> 1. Go to:
>
> http://cgi3.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?OneTimePayPalPayment
>
> You may be asked to sign in.
>
> 2. Click on 'Mail in a cheque or money order' and print the payment
> coupon.
>
> *Note*
> eBay does not accept cash.
>
> To learn more about eBay seller fees, go to:
>
> http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/account/payfees.html
>
> Finally, you may opt to create another account as well if you want to
> use the eBay site but with a different email address and user ID.
>
> Wayne, I appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter.
>
> Regards,
>
> Sandra N.
> eBay Customer Support Team
> _______________________________
> Buyer protection on eBay.com.au has improved! PayPal Buyer Protection
> will now cover eligible items for AU$20,000. Conditions apply.*

That's right... the owners of eBay wont accept payment by paypal... what the!!

College Funds

A kid called up his mom from his college and asked her for some money.

Mom said, "Sure, sweetie. I'll send you some money. You also left your calculus book here when you visited two weeks ago. Do you want me to send that up too?"

"Uh, oh yeah, OK," responded the kid.

So Mom wrapped the book along with the checks up in a package, kissed Dad goodbye, and went to the post office to mail the money and the book.

When she got back, Dad asked, "Well, how much did you give the boy this time?

Mom said, "Oh, I wrote two checks -- one for $20, and the other for $1,000."

"That's $1020!!!" yelled Dad. "Are you crazy???"

"Don't worry, hon," Mom said, as she kissed Dad on the top of his bald head. "I taped the $20 check to the cover of his book, but I put the $1,000 one somewhere between the pages in Chapter 19!"

Zen and The Umbrella

Great mind testing fable form Paulo Coelho's Warrior of the Light Newsletter:

As tradition dictates, upon entering his Zen master’s house, the disciple left his shoes and umbrella outside.

“I saw through the window that you were arriving,” said the master. “Did you leave your shoes to the right or the left of the umbrella?”

“I haven’t the least idea. But what does that matter? I was thinking of the secret of Zen!”

“If you don’t pay attention in life, you will never learn anything. Communicate with life, pay each moment the attention it deserves – that is the only secret of Zen.”

eBay at it's MOST unhelpful best!

Sacha

Hello and thank you for contacting eBay Live Help, my name is Sacha.
May I have your eBay User ID and first name please?

23:19:06 maverickpartnership

maverickpartnership
wayne

23:19:29 Sacha

Thanks, Wayne!

23:19:34 Sacha

How can I help you?

23:20:53 maverickpartnership

Sacha I am having problems logging in. The staff member who used to operate this for us has moved on [about 3 years ago!] and after a change of computer we have been unable to ;ocate the password

23:21:33 Sacha

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about that. However, I'd be glad to assist you here.

23:21:44 Sacha

Just to confirm, you tried the "Forgot Your Password" link from our sign in page, but it didn't work for you?

23:21:49 maverickpartnership

When trying to reset the password, you [eBay] send the details to jemma_turrell@optusnet.com.au BUT that email address is inactive... how can we resolve this??

23:23:20 Sacha

Ah, I see! In order to help you, I need to verify your information. Could you please provide me with your complete name, address, and telephone number? (Note that eBay would never ask you for sensitive information like passwords and social security numbers)

23:23:48 maverickpartnership

In simple terms we need the password to be sent to my new address

23:24:40 maverickpartnership

My name is
Wayne Mansfield
the person who was operating the ebay account was Jxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx
the phone number on file was 08 9xxxxxxxxxxxxx

23:25:18 maverickpartnership

the original address was 47 W m Street E the current address is 19/200 W th 6000

23:26:00 Sacha

Thank you for the additional information.

23:26:18 maverickpartnership

new phone during business hours is 08 9221 0300 and my mobile is 0429 823 325

23:26:25 Sacha

However, the account is not registered under Jemma Turell.

23:27:15 Sacha

In order for you to regain the access on this account, it will be best for you to write an email at aucswebhelp@ebay.com and request the account to be access by you.

23:27:20 maverickpartnership

it is her email address as I have been talking with eBay on Thursday
Maverick Partnership is my company

23:28:28 maverickpartnership

I have written to that address, got there answer this evening and they say "log in and change the email address" well obviously I cant do that because that is the problem

23:29:11 maverickpartnership

If you give me the initials of the owner I can confirm full name
we had 16 staff!!
It could be
xxx xxxxxx

23:29:32 maverickpartnership

xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx
???

23:29:41 maverickpartnership

or ME!

23:29:50 Sacha

We have those name on file.

23:30:00 Sacha

However, your account has been suspended, too.

23:30:09 maverickpartnership

why??

23:30:29 Sacha

Your required payment amount: AU $35.24

23:30:34 maverickpartnership

becuase of too many log in attempts??

23:30:40 Sacha

It has been suspended for non-payment.

23:30:40 Sacha

No.

23:31:10 maverickpartnership

becuase the email account is wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can give you a paypal to fix it now??

23:32:14 maverickpartnership

so please how do we fix this ??

23:33:00 Sacha

You will need to write back to aucswebhelp@ebay.com and let them know that you are suspended for non-payment.

23:33:16 Sacha

Then, they will be able to provide you the correct steps to pay.

23:33:34 Sacha

Once, you have paid the account will be automatically reinstated.

23:33:44 maverickpartnership

but I need to be able to log in???? and they took 36 hours to respond

23:33:58 Sacha

I understand that you would like immediate assistance with your concern, however as we have advised you, we do not have the necessary tools or access to help you here in Live Chat. We encourage you to use the email option that we have provided you for the fastest assistance.

23:35:27 maverickpartnership

I need to change the contact address [email] or I will be no better off than I am now... isn't there a phone option?? to take 36 hours to respond isn't an acceptable level of service - as it is now it is 11.35 pm here in Perth

23:35:48 maverickpartnership

Do you have a surpervisor who has more "power" to assist??

23:36:00 Sacha

I'm sorry but there is no phone number you can contact as of this moment.

23:37:02 Sacha

My supervisor is not yet available, you can contact us again after 6 hours if you may wish to be assist by my supervisor.

23:37:08 Sacha

Is that okay with you?

23:38:13 maverickpartnership

No, it is NOT okay. I thought that ebay was a 7 day 24 hour a day company responsive to clients needs?? It doesn't seem that way to me after try since Thursday 10am to resolve this problem....

23:39:04 maverickpartnership

I have been trying for nearly 72 hours to fix this...

23:39:25 Sacha

We are here 24/7 to assist you over the chat. However, there are concern that needs to be fix by using the email option.

23:39:44 maverickpartnership

but they do not respond...

23:40:10 Sacha

Please send at least one follow up email.

23:41:29 maverickpartnership

this is the item number

Subject: RE:GS=C11008 The problem you're having with registration isn't
listed [#AU ?00 ] (KMM7046598I15977L0KM)

23:41:50 maverickpartnership

and the answer was totally irrelevant to my questions....

23:42:51 maverickpartnership

surely you have someone who can assist me to at least progress to having the contact email address changed so they respond to me and not some DEAD email address

23:43:15 Sacha

It's a problem with your registration. Since, you have no access on the email address we have on file and you are not even the account owner registered on the account.

23:43:40 Sacha

In addition, the account has been suspended for non-payment.

23:44:12 Sacha

So, the best thing you can do is appeal the account to be reinstated and request the steps on how you can pay without having any access.

23:45:01 maverickpartnership

I am the legal owner of the business Maverick Partnership.. I can answer the security questions because it is my business but the password was changed

23:46:10 Sacha

The password is never changed since September 2005.

23:46:28 Sacha

It will be best for you to try using the Forgot Password link again.

23:46:54 Sacha

Or, try paying using the password you know. I'll give you the steps now.

23:47:08 maverickpartnership

Sacha I intend to post this message on the Internet to show just how "unhelpful" ebay is to someone trying to reinstate their account, pay outstanding fees, and change the email address... in an age of companies being responsive obviously ebay haven't got the message

23:47:37 maverickpartnership

You are not reading me... I do not know the password - it should have been 2301mans but that doesn't work

23:47:51 Sacha

We account change the email address on file or send you a temporary password if your account is suspended.

23:48:16 Sacha

You will need to write into our web form to request an access to it.

23:48:41 maverickpartnership

Again I have done that and the answer ignores my questions...

23:49:00 maverickpartnership

You OWN paypal and I can give you those details to pay now

23:49:25 Sacha

We cannot pay on your behalf.

23:51:41 maverickpartnership

I have written back to the email help....

23:52:13 maverickpartnership

They took 36 hours to respond first time... how long this time??

23:52:52 maverickpartnership

Obviously you have no authority to help so why would you be on the "Live Help?"

23:52:54 Sacha

It will be 2-72 hours depending on email volume.

23:53:29 Sacha

That's a very good question!

23:53:52 Sacha

Some issues are only addressed through Chat at this time. For example:

Known Good issues
Complex Image Services issues
Complex listing tools questions.

23:54:30 maverickpartnership

I have copied the full text of this Live Chat and will post to my blog waynemansfield.blogspot.com and keeping trying to get a sensible answer somewhere in your system

23:55:40 Sacha

Not a problem. You can also take note of Information on Session Number: 2331560 as our chat reference.

23:56:30 Sacha

Before I let you go, is there anything else I can assist you with?

TinkerBell Wisdom

The Window

Great story from my Facebook friend Phil Turner

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

Moral of the story:

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.

The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are like programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging, and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips just before we begin to grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.