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Everything Else

Where service is king

Two recent experiences in the world of shopping and dining have left me very happy.

I don’t want anyone to think, based on my recent negative commentary on the Home Depot, that I only blog about the bad. I’ve always believed that doing good work and providing great service is worthy of a pat-on-the-back (as well as repeat business).

So here are a couple of outstanding examples of great service:

Nichol’s Market —“ Voorheesville, New York

Nichol’s Market is a mid-sized grocery store, typical of many small towns. It is also one of the few independent markets still left out there.

New York’s Capitol Region has two powerhouse chains as the primary grocery outlets for the area, Price Chopper and Hannaford. Most people shop at those outlets.

Nichol’s has found a niche that makes them successful.

They are small town with all the personal touches that make for a pleasant trip to the grocery. Neighbors meet each other there. The kids know each other from school. The associates care about your needs, and first and foremost, deal with customers as they would with their neighbors.

Nichol’s offers specialty products that cannot be found at the major chains. They make their own ‘Mom’s Kitchen’ deli meats —“ fantastic, fresh, great taste. They have a full service dinner menu, a catering service, a snack bar (coffee for mom and dad, ice cream and Italian sodas for the kids). They prepare their own specialty meats (fresh Polish (white) kielbasa, Italian meatballs, stuffed peppers and giant mushrooms, etc.) and their entire meat case carries fresh, premium quality items (try the boneless chicken thighs on the grill). You can even find kluski (Polish egg noodles). Finally, they carry locally grown produce (Shaul Farms corn, and local apples —“ yum).

If you live in New York’s Capitol Region head out to Voorheesville and shop Nichol’s. You can even order ahead on-line. And, if you see a guy walking around the store with his kids and a clerical collar say hi Deacon Jim.

Miyako Japanese Steak House, Albany (Guilderland), New York

Two Saturday’s ago the family was getting a little —“ well unhappy. It was later than usual, I didn’t feel like cooking, and we had to run over to OfficeMax. My wife wanted Chinese and the kids weren’t interested.

We passed by Miyako Japanese Steakhouse. I had noticed that the restaurant had opened a while back, taking over the location of a former pool hall. I made a command decision and said —“ we’re going there.

We arrived and were greeted very nicely. The owner asked us if we wanted a table. Not knowing better, and never having been there before, I said yes. After our order had been taken the owner and his wife came out. They explained that we would be much happier at a hibachi table and that the kids would have more fun. We agreed.

They, and the waiter, took us to a hibachi table in a separate room.

We’ve had hibachi before (when the kids were too young to remember) —“ and it is entertaining, but sometimes the entertainment takes the place of food quality.

Well not at Miyako. The hibachi chef was great fun. He really focused on the kids and they were in stitches laughing and having a great time. Beyond that, the food was great —“ excellent individual flavors and great quality. My son told the whole room that Japanese people are magicians…

Again, the owners’ personal touch and attention to detail win the day. If you’re traveling Route 20 (Western Avenue) in the Albany, New York area stop in. They have a great looking sushi bar and lunch specials too. It’s well worth it.

Perspective

Home Depot – get it, got it, done

We received a call from a trucking firm on Monday advising us that our patio furniture would be delivered Wednesday. Yesterday afternoon at about 4:30 the driver called to advise me that our stuff was at the house. It was indeed there when I returned from Holy Mass last night.

I took a look at the shipping manifest. The shipment was prepared on July 31st, the Monday after I placed my order. It’s been traveling the country for sixteen (16) days.

All-in-all this whole process would have gone better if Home Depot’s staff were better trained, if their customer service knew how to communicate with a concerned customer, and if they had been honest in the first place, stating that delivery can take up to three weeks…

I appreciate the fact that customer service is difficult. I appreciate the fact that service itself is difficult (hey – I’m a deacon). Getting answers like ‘I’m stressed, busy, I haven’t been trained, I don’t know, etc.’ is not helpful.

What happened to the classic notion of getting satisfaction from having helped someone and knowing that you have done your job well? That would pre-suppose a connection with classic values born out of Christianity. It would mean that people understood that there is more to life than the paycheck and the bottom line.

Everything Else

Home Depot —“ further adventures

A Home Depot associate got back to me last night. The information I received on Monday was incorrect. It would take 10 to 13 business days for my patio furniture order to arrive.

I’ve got the steaks, beer, hotdogs, and burgers ready for —“ well perhaps August 18th at the earliest. I best not get my hopes up.

There are so many Home Depot S**ks websites out there. They echo the same story and others even sillier or more horrible. The main Home Depot S**ks site is pretty informative. Just use caution —“ there’s a lot of bitter language out there.

Current Events

Home Depot – the horror continues

It’s almost one week past the date my patio furniture was to be delivered, almost two weeks since I ordered the stuff.

I’m on the phone with Home Depot right now. I’ve already had two calls disconnected. The man answering the phone, Ralph, seems very nice, and very frustrated. On the second call Ralph told me that there was no one at customer service. Robbie was at ‘lunch’ (by-the-way, it’s 5:35pm) and wasn’t expected back until 6:15. He tried to connect me with a manager.

On the third call I was finally connected with a manager, Dick. I left my name, order number, and cell number with him. He tells me that he will call me back in an hour. We’ll see.

Again, Dick seemed like a decent person – very frustrated – and it seemed rather overwhelmed. He told me that he’s swamped.

Perspective,

Shopping and dinning, oh the pain —“ Part II

Red Lobster

My family and I went to Red Lobster after church on Sunday.

Everyone knows how these restaurants do their little shtick when someone is having a special occasion (birthday, anniversary, etc.).

My wife’s birthday is coming up so I ask the waitress if they can bring a desert and do the song thing.

Sorry, we don’t do that anymore.
Huh?
We don’t do that, too many people complained.
Huh?
People wrote to corporate telling them that they come here to eat and not be bothered into celebrating anything. We were told to stop.

I wonder what kind of response corporate received. Did the Jehovah’s Witnesses get offended because people were celebrating an occasion and conduct a write-in campaign?

Has some vast majority of our nation decided to take offense at others celebrating an occasion publicly? Is our new motto F-you and your silly celebration too!!!?

Aren’t these types of restaurants supposed to be less formal, easier going, laid back, and family oriented? Aren’t restaurant experiences supposed to be social?

I guess not. I didn’t realize that I was eating at Chez Langoustine Rouge…

Perspective

Shopping and dinning, oh the pain —“ Part I

Two recent experiences in the realm of spending my money have left me flabbergasted.

Home Depot

We put a new deck on our house this summer. If anyone in New York’s Capital Region is looking for a very skilled and dedicated contractor —“ let me know. This guy did a great job.

Now that we have an aircraft carrier size deck we need deck furniture.

My wife and I were in no hurry to buy it. We wanted to shop around and find the right thing.

We found a very nice set on the Home Depot website. I put the items in my wishlist to save them for later.

I had some reward point gift certificates coming. I chose Home Depot as my reward so I could offset the cost of the furniture ($500 worth of offset —“ cool).

I received the certificates and guess what —“ Home Depot doesn’t accept its own gift certificates on its website (poor IT department I guess —“ can’t integrate the gift certificate database with the website —“ ooops).

So on Friday, July 28th I ventured to the nearby Home Depot (Washington Ave., Albany).

We’ve always had a lot of luck in the store. The associates were helpful and knowledgeable. We purchased a lot of major stuff for our house there.

I shopped around some and looked at what was in stock. They didn’t have the patio set we wanted but I did find a Home Depot Direct display. Big sign, catalogue, and some cards —“ fill out the card noting the SKU and description marking where you want the stuff sent, and take it to the service counter to order it. This is going to be easy.

I went up to the counter and asked a few questions.

Can your order this?
Sure, I just have to call Home Depot Direct to make sure the stuff is still in stock.
Can I pay with a Home Depot gift certificate?
Sure, no problem.

So I went home and checked the SKU’s against the website. It’s what we wanted. After devotions at church that night I stop by Home Depot to place the order (I’m wearing my black clerical clothes). Patrice is at the counter.

Hi, can you order this for me?
I don’t know what this is. I’ve never seen it.
It’s an order form for patio furniture.
No, can’t, we don’t sell patio furniture anymore —“ it’s out of season.
Ummmm, but your sign and the man I spoke to this afternoon, and ummmm.

Now note, Patrice at the service counter was the only staff member there. She was making calls to let people know that their special orders were in.

The conversation continues:

This afternoon I spoke with the service rep and he said it would be no problem.
The sign is wrong. We don’t sell patio furniture now.
It’s July. Ummmm, he said if you call Home Depot direct and the stuff was available it could be ordered.
Do you want to talk to a manager?
Sure.

Bill the manager shows up. I take him to the catalogue and sign, show him the cards, etc. He gets a phone number out of the catalogue and goes back to the counter. He tells another associate to call Home Depot Direct.

The associate calls and low-and-behold they can order everything.

The service rep is not happy. Patrice has calls to make, stuff to do.

I’ve been there a half-hour already. A line is forming behind me with all sorts of special requests and cart loads of returns. Bill the manager is standing by the door in plain sight with four or five other associates. They’re enjoying the evening.

Patrice enters all the info in her computer. As she’s doing this she explains that she works one evening a week. She’s not used to this stuff.

Patrice places the order and gives me all the papers telling me to sign an agreement. I look it over first.

Ummmm, where is the delivery information?
It will be delivered here; you have to pick it up.
Ummmm, I checked the box on the form that said I want it delivered to my house.
We can’t do that. Nothing can be delivered to your house.
But the form says…
I don’t know.
Well, I can’t pick it up. I have no means to do so and I can’t handle it physically anyway.
We can’t deliver.
Please back out the order and give me a refund, I don’t want it if it can’t be delivered.
Let me see.

She spends a long while trying to add delivery to the order. She cannot figure out how to do it nor how much to charge for delivery.

The line is about twelve people long. They are getting ticked (and slightly amused in a fatalistic sense) and we all watch the manager and the other associates milling about.

Patrice has been pounding the computer now trying to enter delivery.

I don’t know what to charge you.

Another associate wanders by. He volunteers to get involved.

We should check the website.
OK
The website says shipping is free
Huh!?!
It’s free

Patrice tells me that she can’t enter any shipping info in the current order.

Why don’t you just order on-line?
Because the on-line store doesn’t take gift certificates.
That’s why you had to come here?
Yep.

The manager and other associates are still standing by the door. They were watching a train wreck as it occurs.

An associate wanders over attempting to help the other customers in line. It’s been an hour and fifteen minutes. Patrice scolds him, telling him that he doesn’t have the appropriate customer service access levels. I bet the manager could have helped…

Patrice proceeds to cancel my order and re-enter the order. She’s now done the same keystrokes three times. The line is long and a woman begins arguing with Patrice about customer service and God.

Well then God bless you
I already have His blessing
No, God bless you, etc., etc.

I almost fell over.

I look it all over. Everything looks fine. It says that the order will be delivered on Friday, August 4th. After an hour and a half I leave the store.

Yesterday was August 7th. I called last night to see where my furniture was. They say I’ll have it today. We’ll see.

I have experienced really lousy service before. I’ve experienced people who do not know anything about what they are selling. I’ve experienced bad manners and rudeness. On July 28th I experienced it all and more, and the experience was brought to me by the shareholder-associates of Home Depot.

If I were a Home Depot executive I’d cash in those stock options and convert them to cash ASAP.

Everything Else,

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra

My family and I, along with several other families from our church, went to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra today.

It was a wonderful experience on many levels and I would like to just note a few here:

Our Parish supports its children and young people:

The fact is, children pay for nothing in our parish. The Parent-Teacher organization provides for all the religious education needs for our School of Christian Living. There are no book fees, material fees, teaching fees, or any other kind of fees. Rich or poor, nothing hinders our children or their parents from approaching the Lord.

The PTO paid for the tickets for all the children today. It was a great Christmas gift for them. I am grateful for the PTO’s support. The PTO also assists with the annual youth retreat and the youth Valentine’s Day Holy Mass and party.

The men’s organization, the Young Men’s Society of the Resurrection (YMS of R), along with our fraternal organization, the Polish National Union of America (Spójnia) provides for an annual after Christmas bowling party. The YMS of R also covers the full freight for our children’s Church summer camp (KURS) attendance and for attendance at the biennial PNCC Youth Convocation.

God bless these dedicated men and women for their support.

The children’s reaction:

It was wonderful to see the children’s reaction to the TSO’s stage show, lighting, pyrotechnics, and music. My 4 year old daughter was a little scared at the beginning, but once the initial razzzle-dazzle was done, she settled right in. My 6 year old son just though everything was great. He be-bopped right along.

My children love the arts. It was great to see their wide-eyed reaction to everything.

TSO:

What can I say? I was surprised! My wife researched the group in advance, I did not. I was expecting a secular Christmas experience. Instead I got theology —“ and pretty good at that.

The group told the —Christmas Eve & Other Stories— tale. What I found in this story was an affirmation of God’s abiding presence with us. Christ is real and present. God is not a disinterested, distant observer, but actively engages man where he is. Christ’s action continues to inspire man to act.

The other amazing thing is that they did not slip into secular humanism or equating all religions on an equal plane. This was, in a sense, a rediscovery of Christianity and the Arts working together to better humanity.

Once when asked what Trans-Siberian Orchestra was about, Paul O’Neill replied, “It’s about creating great art. When asked to define what great art was, Paul said, “The purpose of art is to create an emotional response in the person that is exposed to that art. And there are three categories of art; bad art, good art and great art. Bad art will elicit no emotional response in the person that is exposed to it, i.e.; a song you hear in an elevator and it does nothing to you, a picture on a wall that gives you the same emotional response as if the wall had been blank, a movie that chews up time. Good art will make you feel an emotion that you have felt before; you see a picture of a forest and you remember the last time you went fishing with your dad, you hear a song about love and you remember the last time you were in love. Great art will make you feel an emotion you have never felt before; seeing the pieta, the world famous sculpture by Michelangelo, can cause someone to feel the pain of losing a child even if they’ve never had one. And when you’re trying for these emotions the easiest one to trigger is anger. Anyone can do it. Go into the street, throw a rock at someone, you will make them angry. The emotions of love, empathy and laughter are much harder to trigger, but since they operate on a deeper level, they bring a much greater reward.

Having read this I recall the great patrimony held in our churches, the very same ones our ancestors built with love and which, it would seem, we are so bent of closing and selling. These buildings are not only property and assets; rather they are about lifting our eyes and hearts to God and the magnificence of His love for us. Our ancestors, in their poverty, recognized the need to glorify and magnify the Lord. If only we, blessed by riches, would support these churches. At the same time, wouldn’t it be great if the new churches being built would reflect God rather than the mall.

Everything Else,

Thanks be to God

I wish all of my fellow U.S. citizens a very happy Thanksgiving Day.

The naysayer and skeptic will probably say, “What is there to be thankful for this year?”

As I updated our church sign tonight to read: “Thanks be to God for every gift” I could not help but reflect on the tremendous suffering endured this year. At the same time we sit with one of our parishioners in the final days of his earthly pilgrimage.

Thanks be to God for every gift, including and especially for the gift of suffering.

Help me to reflect more intently on the fact that You shared our joys and celebrations as well as our tears and sufferings. In the end you suffered beyond all suffering and died completely alone, abandoned. You tied yourself completely to us for our salvation.

Help me to be thankful for each gift given for our salvation. Help me to remember that Your good gifts include things that are both joyful and sorrowful.

Amen.

Everything Else, ,

Holy Mass, Exposition, Novena, and Benediction

Another Wednesday evening service completed. The wonderful thing about our Catholic faith is that once the worship is completed we take Jesus home with us in our hearts. He is inside of us, strengthening us through the sacramental grace we receive in the Holy Eucharist.

The Church was hot, but all gets forgotten when you are before the Lord in adoration. Every Wednesday evening we offer Holy Mass followed by Exposition, a Novena to Our Lady of Czestochowa, and Benediction. People think yoga and meditation can heal all… They should spend an hour in quiet contemplation before the Blessed Sacrament. It’s not just the power of the peaceful moment, but the strength we receive from God real and present to us – physically, spiritually, eternally.

If each of us could just make time to spend an hour with the Lord each day. The power of His love and the working of His grace in our lives – if we allow it, would work wonders across the world.

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