I’ve Become a Squeaky Wheel

So for whatever reason, I’ve gotten some bug in my bonnet and am suddenly unwilling to take any crap from anybody.

Not the actual buffet, but you get the idea.

The other night, we went to the Eldorado Hotel with my brother and his kids. Remember we live in Reno, so we have to do the buffet every time they visit from Dallas — it’s sort of a tradition and moral imperative. So I called earlier in the day because I heard there was some “locals deal” going on. Even though we live here, we never actually go to casinos, so I don’t know any of this stuff.

But I did my due diligence and talked to some not-particularly-friendly person on the phone who informed me that no, sorry, you’re sort of an idiot. So okay, fine.

When we got there, low and behold, there’s some crazy card that can get you a discount. Normally I would’ve just let it go, but I was really bugged. Next thing you know, we’ve got a manager coming over, and I’m “pushing her into doing something she could lose her job over” (which I’m guessing was a slight exaggeration, but then what do I know about the world of high-stakes, casino-buffet management).

Next day, I’m on the phone with the Hoover people who were supposed to send me a part for our busted vacuum cleaner last week. As it turns out, the part was on backorder and they kinda, oops, didn’t tell me about it. No big deal. I mean, who really NEEDS a vacuum cleaner when you have two kids, a puppy, and a gardening husband.

I’ve been known to get into my fair share of squabbles on the phone with service people. I’ve been blown off, hung up on, and practically mocked for asking for what’s rightfully mine. I’m not exactly sure what made this different. Maybe I just knew I was right (although that hasn’t seemed to matter in the past). Maybe the people on the other end were weak, and I could smell blood. Maybe I’ve developed negotiating skills so smooth and subtle that they could bring peace to the Middle East. Hard to say. . .

Anyway, I was really bugged and next thing you know, I’m on with a manager, and my part is now free. I think the guy finally gave in because I was dealing with a barking dog, kids that sounded like barking dogs, and the inability to immediately recall the model of my vacuum cleaner (I told him it was some upright, bag less dealy. Very helpful). Let’s face it — a person can only take so much (they should try substituting this sort of thing for water boarding).

What both of these problems had in common were that they weren’t my fault, and yet I was still being expected to pay for them. I’m still bitter and shocked by my run-in with some lady over at AT&T who not only admitted that one of her representatives was a liar but then told me she wasn’t going to do anything about it (I know, alert the media).

I think what businesses don’t understand is that as customers, we don’t expect the moon. We just expect to be acknowledged for our trouble. In most situations, a minor discount, some tiny special treatment, or even a seriously heartfelt apology would be enough.

Otherwise, we just end up leaving a restaurant with a bad taste in our mouths. And feeling like everything really sucks. Or in the case of the vacuum cleaner, doesn’t.