Rant Thread-Tell 'em off Thread

officerripley said:
I have a feeling, though, that there are some robots who'd treat me better than some people. It's already happening: my phone seems to find me better company than any people do.
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Some robots are very helpful. The roomba, for instance, saves DH & my backs. Alexa's most used feature in my house is as a hands-free timer ("Alexa, set a timer for five minutes.") and reminder ("Alexa, in 30 minutes, remind me to check the laundry.").

When my mother and parents-in-law had stints in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), the help was overworked, underpaid, harried, and too few for the number of patients. I'd visit daily, but more than half of my time was spent chasing down employees to get help or information. Patients without visitors to advocate for them were screwed - and these were "better" SNFs.

I'd be all for a Rosie-the-robot type machine to help care for me in a SNF, rather than pushing the call button for human help and waiting 20 minutes or longer for a response. Or not having anyone available to get me to the bathroom and being told via loudspeaker over my bed to "just go in the diaper." :cry: :mad:
 
I'm surprised at the shocked emoticons over my comment. It's hard to imagine my experience is rare. Every SNF I've visited - at least half a dozen since the late 80s through late 2020 - has been similarly understaffed.

I'm curious, @Jules and @Pepper, were your experiences different or have you been blessed to never visit someone in a SNF/Convalescent center?
 
The last time I had such a visitation @StarSong was in the nineties for my father's mother, also in her nineties. I didn't like what I saw, it was sad to see so many elderly people doing nothing but sit in their wheelchairs in the hallway. When they saw a new face, mine, they would eat me up with joy, so glad were they to break their monotony.
 
Pepper said:
The last time I had such a visitation @StarSong was in the nineties for my father's mother, also in her nineties. I didn't like what I saw, it was sad to see so many elderly people doing nothing but sit in their wheelchairs in the hallway. When they saw a new face, mine, they would eat me up with joy, so glad were they to break their monotony.
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Yes, I've seen a lot of that, too. :cry:
 
My surprise was because you’d mentioned before that your family were in a high end, quality places. I haven’t heard of someone being addressed over an intercom. It’s been over a decade since my mother passed. Things seemed reasonably good in her final residence. It was a small town and mostly everyone knew each other and if they didn’t, they knew their family. She’d even taught some of them.

Thinking about it, a friend talks about how awful some local places are. If someone is in reasonable health, there are some good places.
 
Jules said:
If someone is in reasonable health, there are some good places.
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Trouble is, around here anyway, those good places usually have long waiting lists. A former co-worker had to take a leave of absence without pay from her job because there was a 2-year waiting list for the one nursing facility here in town that would (eventually) take her mother in. (The mother was on Medic-Aid and the daughter couldn't hire any in-home care workers for the mother because the mother was violent and would try to hit the workers.) A spot finally opened up for the mother, the exhausted daughter went right back to work, worked about 5 years longer than she had planned and lost her house because of the financial hit she took while off work taking care of the mother.
 
Jules said:
My surprise was because you’d mentioned before that your family were in a high end, quality places. I haven’t heard of someone being addressed over an intercom. It’s been over a decade since my mother passed. Things seemed reasonably good in her final residence. It was a small town and mostly everyone knew each other and if they didn’t, they knew their family. She’d even taught some of them.

Thinking about it, a friend talks about how awful some local places are. If someone is in reasonable health, there are some good places.
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My family members were in very nice Assisted Living facilities with qualified, caring staff in sufficient numbers, but when discharged from hospitals to step-down care (SNFs), those were the places where the care wasn't up to snuff.
 
StarSong said:
My family members were in very nice Assisted Living facilities with qualified, caring staff in sufficient numbers, but when discharged from hospitals to step-down care (SNFs), those were the places where the care wasn't up to snuff.
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I’ve never heard the term SNF in Canada. There certainly are a variety of places where someone can end up in.
 
Not to go too far off on this tangent, but with the exception of one, all the Assisted Living facilities I saw were quite nice. We shopped around twice. My mother was in one for about 18 months (2013-14) that served her needs well, my FIL (2014-15) also for about 18 months when he could no longer live alone. Both places were mid-range in price, $3500/month ish for private rooms. Mom needed memory care unit, FIL did not.

I'm guessing AL's have gone up considerably in price since then.
 
Roomba is a waste of time at the Papa place. Too much stuff. Its move
furniture as we both vacuum and help each other. It's a monthly re-
distribution of stuff. I just collect too much stuff. haha
 
I've had it with inflation! I can't afford much anymore except food
At least y can eat good I guess.

The car companies have. made cars cost as much or even twice. as much as a home would cost long ago, like 1950s. So I am stuck with a piece of rusty junk for a car.

Where are all these high prices going. No one can afford anything anymore and where's it going to end!
 
People that work in retail establishments don't even act like they value your business any more. What ever happened to making the customers want to come back or at least letting them know you acknowledge that they're there! When I applied for retail jobs, the employer wanted me to smile and be helpful because you didn't want them to shop any where else. Those were minimum wage positions, too! Nowadays I thinks there's just too many people out there. If you don't like the way the clerk treats you, then go shop somewhere else. There seems to be plenty of other buyers to fill the hole you left!
 
There's definitely been a shift in customer service in recent years, especially in retail. Gone are the days when employees were encouraged to go above and beyond to make customers feel valued and appreciated. Now, as you said, it's almost like they're takin' your business for granted.
There are a few factors at play here. For one, the rise of online shoppin' has made it easier than ever for customers to take their business elsewhere. With just a few clicks, you can order whatever you need from the comfort of your own home, without havin' to deal with a potentially rude or uninterested salesperson.
Another factor is the pressure on retailers to keep costs low in order to compete. This often means cuttin' back on trainin' and incentives for employees to provide exceptional customer service. When workers are underpaid and overworked, it's hard to expect them to be smilin' and eager to help all the time.
It's definitely a shame that the focus on customer satisfaction has dwindled in many retail establishments.
 
Ruthanne said:
I've had it with inflation! I can't afford much anymore except food
At least y can eat good I guess.

The car companies have. made cars cost as much or even twice. as much as a home would cost long ago, like 1950s. So I am stuck with a piece of rusty junk for a car.

Where are all these high prices going. No one can afford anything anymore and where's it going to end!
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Write to your members of Congress. I'm serious. I doubt they will do much, but people rant online now instead of taking rants to the legislature. Rant at them. They have much power to make our lives better or worse. They should know.

And don't be ashamed to go to the Food Banks. I have gone to those for years. If they had a gasoline bank, I'd go there, but they don't. So use the Food Banks and save your cash for other stuff.
 
Paco Dennis said:
There's definitely been a shift in customer service in recent years, especially in retail. Gone are the days when employees were encouraged to go above and beyond to make customers feel valued and appreciated. Now, as you said, it's almost like they're takin' your business for granted.
There are a few factors at play here. For one, the rise of online shoppin' has made it easier than ever for customers to take their business elsewhere. With just a few clicks, you can order whatever you need from the comfort of your own home, without havin' to deal with a potentially rude or uninterested salesperson.
Another factor is the pressure on retailers to keep costs low in order to compete. This often means cuttin' back on trainin' and incentives for employees to provide exceptional customer service. When workers are underpaid and overworked, it's hard to expect them to be smilin' and eager to help all the time.
It's definitely a shame that the focus on customer satisfaction has dwindled in many retail establishments.
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The flip side of this is that many customers have become incredibly entitled, impatient, demanding, insulting and threatening. The very thought of being a flight attendant or working retail these days is enough to give me the shivers.

Public behavior had already been sliding downhill, but examples being set by some politicians has made outrageous behavior seem acceptable to their followers.

When I was a kid, when a grocery store was out of something on her list, my mother's response was to shrug it off, buy something similar, or shift her meal plan. She wouldn't have dreamed of storming the front desk demanding an explanation. Nor would I.
 
Paco Dennis said:
So the business doesn't help the customer and the customer responds by being upset and rude. How is this supposed to be resolved?
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When I worked in retail - both for other people and in the retail component of our small business - it became very easy to spot customers who were easy to work with and those who were gunning for an argument.

People who are difficult to please in arena of life tend to be pain in the neck everywhere. By the same token, folks who are pleasant and kind bring that with them to all their encounters.

Case in point: About 15 years ago the AC at the school (our host for the sale) was on the blink. Most of that day's customers had delayed until the last minute to buy required supplies for their children's return to classes a few days later. Mind you, we had publicized numerous previous sales at that campus over the summer, offering incentives and begging people to shop early, but as always happened a whole lot of people put it off until they could no longer do so.

Mid-August in Los Angeles, so over 100° outside and hotter still indoors with the AC on the fritz. Lines were long, and people who should have been irritated with themselves for procrastinating were taking it out on our staff (DH & me plus about 8 late teen staff members). Lots of snarky remarks and unpleasantness - and this by parents sending their children to a Christian school, no less.

Our staff was sweltering by a couple of hours in. One woman walked to the side of my line and said, "Oh my gosh, you poor things. I'm going to run over to Jamba Juice (5 miles away) to get you some drinks." I protested saying we had water bottles but she wouldn't hear of it. She walked over to each of our staff and took their order. I thrust $100 at her from the cash register.

She and her kids returned about 45 minutes later with a receipt, the change, and drinks for everyone plus a few to put in our cooler in case anyone wanted more.

Not one of us never forgot her kindness. When she'd come in from then on, we were all tripping over each other to wait on her. When her kids got older, we hired them on as staff.

People bring who they are with them through all encounters in life, and their behavior gets reflected back. Put employees on the defensive with rudeness, and guess how they'll respond? Engage them with a smile and kindness, and that will almost certainly be the treatment you'll receive.

Another example: My mom had died recently and I was going to her house to work on cleaning it out. Mid-morning, I stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up lunch and snacks for myself and my husband who was going to meet me there. The clerk smiled as he checked me out and said, "Looks like a great day for a picnic!"

A few tears welled up in my eyes as I quietly said that my mom had died and I was heading to her house to clear some of the stuff. He walked out from behind the register, grabbed a bouquet of sunflowers from the flower section, handed them to me, and said, "I hope these will help you get through the day."

The next day I called TJ to tell them how much that meant to me. The manager said he would mention to the employee, and bring it up in their next team meeting. He said TJ employees are intentionally empowered to make spot decisions and he was so pleased that the gentleman who waited on me had shown me such kindness.

You can bet your boots that I've remained a loyal TJ customer. Also that I'm choked up as I type this.
 
I'm going to rant if my shaky haNDS LET ME, AT THIS IDEA of
getting free money from the health insurance on a debit card,,,,,
I've tried to place an order for some OTC stuff thru the online
catalog they have and 3 times it has told me I am charging too
much and need to use my personal credit card to pay.....grrrrrrr
I've got 150 bucks credit and stuff i was ordering only came
to 45 bucks ,,,,,,,how is that too much !!>!>!>!?!?!?! crap on them....
 
@hawkdon Try ordering them on Walmart online or use your card in person at Walmart. Target, for some reason, will not accept my OTC benefit. IDK why. All the pharmacies will, of course, but their prices can be high. But Walmart seems to have the best technological relationship with all these OTC benefit cards and plans.
 
VintageBetter said:
@hawkdon Try ordering them on Walmart online or use your card in person at Walmart. Target, for some reason, will not accept my OTC benefit. IDK why. All the pharmacies will, of course, but their prices can be high. But Walmart seems to have the best technological relationship with all these OTC benefit cards and plans.
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Hi, Vintage, well sorry to say it is wal martss website that has
given me all the trouble...so I just gave it up...perhaps the
social worker thats visiting today can assist me...thanks....don
 
Why on god's green earth would an unnamed political party think that harassing me is going to make me vote for them? I get at the very least one call and text a day. I block the number. The next day, same thing! Area code and prefix is the same but last four digits have changed. Some of them can even be vaguely threatening. One in particular said I was the "only person" who had not contributed money. Another said this message was "just for me". They are out of their minds. I would not vote for anyone with this mentality. I can't imagine what their view of the American public is if they think this is going to work.
 
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