April 25th, 2007 Rachel
It would appear that somewhere along the way, a corporate mandate or some other thingamawhoie, maybe a memo, went around to the entire company that went something like this:
To Whom It May Concern:
Should any customer prefer to speak with a human being, it is your duty to be as cranky/misinformed/slow/unhelpful as possible - until they get the message that we’d rather have them use a kiosk or go to our website.
That is all.
Signed,
Mr./Mrs. Person Incharge
Web check-in is pretty much the only way to go now. Waiting until you get to the airport, and insisting on standing in that line that’s twice as long and five million times as slow now serves as some sort of indication that a person is a sucker for pain and enjoys moving two feet every five minutes. However, if you’re unsure of how this process works and you haven’t flown since 1983, clicking your way through check in on your computer, while a rousing game of solitare occupies the other half of your brain would be beyond uncomfortable…like most of us, you’d probably stand in that darn line a few times first before finally saying “never…ever…ever again…”
Now my flights back and forth between Los Angeles and Toronto are usually uneventful - since I’m usually on the redeye or taking the first flight out, I’m generally cranky enough that talking to an overworked/underpaid check-in employee is probably not in my (or his/her) best interest. With a few clicks, I’m checked in, and at most I have to interact with someone briefly to get tags for my checked bags (shoes, people…it’s the shoes that generally make carry on not an option…). But last night provided a new dilemma, as well as a fresh example of the lack of customer care that Air Canada is now oh so well known for.
While I was supposed to be boarding in about 50 minutes, it only took a couple minutes of pouting and one good “pleeeease” from a certain someone for me to roll over and decide to stay through the weekend. On top of that, the last five days have been too full of angst and fretting to really enjoy being back in Toronto. So I called, since that seemed like the right thing to do, and was told it would cost me $650 in fare difference to change the flight.
Silence…a few cricket noises…
“Okay then…well…thanks.” Grrrrrr…..
So I check to see if there’s anything I can do on the website. I don’t know what it is, maybe just because I haven’t done it before, but the thought of changing my flight online seemed weird - very weird. But you can, and I did, because I can (and will) take the exact same route on Sunday as I was supposed to take today for a whopping $40…which consists solely of the mandatory change fee.
Why this option was not presented to me on the phone, other than to see if I’d fold and say “$650 it is…”, I haven’t a clue. Between Saturday and Monday, there were at least three different flight options (two of which that would have been direct even) that I could have switched to for the same price. Ms. Customer Support merely asked what day (”Sunday”) and time “Morning/Mid Day”) I’d like to switch to. Not helpful, not helpful, not helpful…….
Of course, I’m probably more irked by this than I’d normally be since I’ve had far too many run ins with misinformed/unhelpful customer support lately. And that organization just so happens to hold way too many cards for me to risk pointing my finger more directly (at least in writing - buy me a beer…I guarantee your mouth will drop open and “You’re kidding me…” will escape your lips once or twice…)
Could someone please get Canada 3000 up and running again…pretty pleeeeeease?
(Hey, it’s worth a shot - it worked for Adam.)
Posted in Observations, Toronto, Traveling | No Comments »
April 23rd, 2007 Rachel
I’m getting a little too used to this whole jet setting, on the edge of your seat, ‘what the hell is next week going to bring?’ lifestyle. First of all, I appear to have trained myself that no matter how well rested I am, as soon as I buckle my seatbelt on a plane, it’s time to snooze. Lights out, game over - wake me when we land. Which is a sweet deal for the long ones, but kind of annoying when you’re aboard a 53 minute jaunt across the province (”circle the airport a few times!! i’m in the middle of REM!!”).
For those who’ve been wondering where my heart and morale went and when it would return, all is better (mostly) now. We’re in the homestretch…an uneventful interview, which even included a touch of humour, and an entire weekend together (finally)…I couldn’t be happier. We came to Montreal armed with photos, cards, letters, love notes on post-its, emails about new kittens, and photocopies of our yearbook where Adam talks about how smitten he is with me (you might ask why it doesn’t include my sentiments as well…long story…another time). But as expected, just seeing the purple velvet box of memories (”Are you kids going to perform some magic tricks?”) seemed to be enough to solidify the fact that we are just a regular ol’ married couple.
SO…what’s next?
I’ll be back in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and Adam will follow a week or so later. As I said…homestretch. While I hate leaving him once more, there’s a puppy at home who would like to come home, Jblog needs a ride, and I’ve got to get back to work.
Thank you so very much for everyone who asked how things were going and wished us good luck on this mini adventure. If I’ve been less than timely in my responses, I apologize…sometimes a weekend where 90% of the time the computer continues sleeping (100% would be just crazy talk…) is just what the doctor ordered.
Posted in Family | No Comments »
April 15th, 2007 Rachel
I don’t think I see a problem here…
Source: GapingVoid
Posted in Music, Random | 2 Comments »
April 15th, 2007 Rachel
So, as of Friday it’s official - in between jokin’ good times and lots of laughs, I will be lucky enough to get to work with Rob Kaye and the amazing MusicBrainz crew as the recently announced Treasurer/Secretary of the MetaBrainz Foundation. I’ve gotten a chance to work with Rob indirectly through MusicIP, as well as enjoy two SXSWs in a row with him…so I’m uber thrilled about this opportunity and keen to do what I can to make a difference as part of such a wickedly awesome community!
(See, I told you not all was lost for a positive outlook to reappear…)
Posted in MetaBrainz, MusicIP | 2 Comments »
April 13th, 2007 Rachel
It’s amazing how disorganized the most important of things can end up being. Agencies and officials who shouldn’t be so difficult to get a hold of, should have more information handy, and should inspire more confidence that taking their word for it is a bright (or at least the right) idea.
But so often they don’t. And though I’m not going to go into details and I don’t want point specific fingers, I do need a place to write, think and work things out. And here that place is.
I’ve written before about thinking twice about what you publish, since it could so easily bite you in the ass as quickly as you can Google “incriminating”. But recent events have stalled and inhibited every post I’ve attempted in the last five days. Since Sunday I’ve been at a loss for how to phrase things, what to say. On Tuesday, things got brighter. “Maybe…” I thought, “I’ll be able to close this chapter, look on the bright side, and be able to formulate what life will be like past the next two weeks. It’s possible…right?”
Various people have offered stories and hints that have pointed towards a happy conclusion. Well, all things considered, any conclusion would be a happy one. Even a hint at what this conclusion might be would provide solace. Instead I have a variety of factors, situations, consequences, and undocumented/misinterpreted phone calls swimming around in my brain and giving me more than just a headache.
So no…I can’t, or won’t, talk about what’s going on. But I can talk about the knot in my stomach and the perpetual lump in my throat.
Yes, one way or another - it’ll sort itself out. But the road to getting there is quite frankly a real pain in the ass.
Anyway, please excuse my random/vague rant. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled confidence/optimism shortly.
(I hope.)
Posted in Personal, Random | 1 Comment »
