Okay, enough gooey bunny stuff.

More bitching about how people have done me wrong.

Apparently, I have a never ending supply of stories about companies pissing me off, or flat out wasting my time. It drives me nuts. I actually am not a demanding person.

With customer service satisfaction at an all time low, and companies not being able to figure out why they can't retain customers - I offer the following.

Why is it is so hard to say these simple words. "I don't have this in stock - I don't know when we will get it". See.. its easy.

Instead a company would rather take the order. Tell a customer they are going to have the item. Make them wait and never get the item or have it take and eternity. Companies don't seem to understand the risk/reward system.

This is mine. If you tell me you don't have an item, I will probably buy it from somewhere else... but I will shop from you again. If you tell me you are going to get the item, never do after making me wait - unless you are the last person on earth I will never shop from you again. There are just too many vendors.

I also don't understand why some companies don't care why they are loosing customers, nor do they try to figure out why.

Here is yet another example.

My husband and I had been trying to find a solution to put shelves in a bedroom closet so we can stick the computers in there. I wanted wire rack (like these), because well, it makes it harder for dust to collect under electronic items. The shelves would be heavy to ship so we went to the only place we could find locally to make sure they fit our needs. This place.

When we walked in warehouse the gal manning the desk asked us politely if we could come back in about 45 minutes. She needed to conduct a phone meeting and she was the only one there. We were fine with that. Since the place is about an hour away, we figured we would browse some of the stores that caught our eye on the way in.

After an hour we walked back into the warehouse and exchanged niceties. She thanked us and asked how we were doing. We said "fine how are you". The girl actually said "well, I still have a job". Which should have been a warning signal, but it is only one of those things that seems big in hindsight. It did strike me as odd, but I congratulated her. What else do you say to someone who says that?

We picked out what we wanted to buy, and went to place the order. Now I have to tell you the words "do you have this in stock" are always the first thing that comes out of my mouth. For each and every purchase these days. They didn't have our item at this location, but it could be shipped from LA. Outset 7-10 days. Alright.. we place the order. She would fax us the invoice. I took it to mean later that day.. but whatever.

The next day my husband calls because still no invoice.The gal seemed surprised we would be calling so soon, but again says it will be 7-10 days.

8 days later still no invoice. So my husband calls again. "Oh sorry dropped the ball, that order hasn't even been placed, and we can't order from this company without writing them a check. The only person who can do that is my boss and he is on vacation for a week". We now realize why she is so worried about her job. She may work for a f-ed up place, but it is her job to make sure orders get placed.

This is the kicker.. when my husband calls to cancel the order the girl is like "oh, okay - click". She hung up so fast he couldn't even complain.