Good morning all, let the not-right right have their faux Xmas, compete with assault weapons, tRump toys and MAGA hats. It’s festivus for the rest of us, and I begin with the airing of grievances. Yes, this is my Monday morning rant, but I promise you, there is a broader point. Get out your metal pole and let’s go.
Last week I had a complete and nearly total communication breakdown. No, not the Cool Hand Luke kind, the corporate America kind. You see, my cordless phone stopped charging, my laptop computer broke, my brand new replacement laptop computer came broke and my cell phone only works if I get in my car and drive into town. It’s the communication version of being alone in a room full of people, technology here there and everywhere and no communication in sight.
To add to my woes, I am traveling for work this weekend and crushing to complete the work before I go. I booked my hotel online and after receiving the offer for an early check-in ($25) snapped that sucker up. Only to get an e-mail confirmation from Hilton that said, “Confirming your request for early check-in. Ask whether the request can be fulfilled at check-in. “ Say wut? Kind of defeats the purpose of paying 25 bucks, doesn’t it? So I went old school and picked up the phone. Nice customer service rep checked and confirmed and said not to call the hotel directly, call Hilton’s customer service line. I said if that’s the case, why did the (circular) e-mail list the hotel’s phone # and not the customer service #. Dunno, it’s a mystery.
Next up, trying to find a fix for the buggy touch pad on the brand new laptop. Lots of recommended fixes, none worked. 4 of the Dell suggested fixes failed to download. So I went old school again. Tech support blew smoke up my Christmas skirt for over 2 hours with a “trust me, this will work.” Of course it didn’t just as the many, many users on Reddit said. But, following the call I did get an e-mail from the same Dell tech support dude saying that since this was a software problem, I’d have to pay $99 to fix it. Since Dell shipped (purchased through them) a laptop with known issues including the touch pad, I told them thanks but no, they could take this nearly 1k piece of ____ and stick it. Knowing when not to throw good money or time after bad, I requested a return. No shipping label in sight which was followed by a limerick:
There once was a bidness called Dell
whose products came straight out of hell
Support just as bad
Making customers mad
and soon they had nothing to sell.
I could go on, the automated phone systems including my drug store’s covid vax booking (If you qualify, press or say 1. I’m sorry, your appointment cannot be booked if you’ve been exposed...” The online shopping who sent 1) the wrong item, 2) a broken item, 3) could not send a replacement because when it comes to customers, 3 strikes and you’re out. Not even a human being could fix the fuggery. “The system does not allow”. Had the same “the system” problem trying to buy a new stove, a glitch in the inventory records. Yes, we have the stove but the system...”
But these are common issues in a world that seems to be driven by technology and profits, not people. And that no human contact or humans without the ability to work around the broken systems adds to the frustration that no one cares, that we as consumers need to suck it up and open our wallets to fix their problems, that we have no real purchasing power or worth, that some version of A Space Odyssey has already occurred and the robots just haven’t let us in on it. If this sounds like the majority of Americans frustrations with our broken political system it should. No one is listening, nobody cares, we’re on our own, we can either STFU or go away. And that my friends is why nearly everyone is pissed off.