Sears Home Visits

Sears was supposed to visit us last week, and didn't, as you can see from the Blog post Can't Get Service from Sears.

In return, they promised a return visit this week.  When the person shows up this week, he says that he cannot perform service unless he charges us.

The General Manager of the Northridge Sears and all four people I spoke with at the OneCare center told me the visit is free of charge, so I asked the representative if they are all lying, and he said, "I can't say," but still refused to service it without charging me.

I have a call in to the GM of the Northridge Sears to see if we can sort this out.

More on Customer Service / Costco

For months I had been going to three different Costco locations (normally one at a time, not 3 in one day) looking for a particular cereal that I like.  They only have it about 1 in 5 times.

I e-mailed their customer service (on 11/4/08) asking if they can please assist by providing more of the particular cereal in the stores.  They reply the next day asking which store, so I reply on the same day and let them know which 3 stores.

On 11/20/08, I have not received another reply, so I e-mail the rep back asking if they can provide a reply.  Now it's 11/29/08, and I have still not received a reply from them.

I went back to their site and entered another customer service request entry noting the previous e-mails, hopefully that will get a reply.

Stroller Alarm

So I'm woken from sleep about 3:45am by an insistent alarm sound.  This isn't a car alarm or someone's alarm clock, though, it's a different type of siren-alarm, and it's not far from my window.

After trying for 20 minutes to get back to sleep, or hoping it would shut off, I got up to investigate.  I saw a flashing red light on the balcony across the way, and the lights of several neighbors apartments were on.  Faces were poking out windows, and many people were looking at that flashing red light.

I listened to it for another 15 minutes, then called the police and let them know.  They said they would send an officer.

At 5:00 I realized I wouldn't be able to sleep anymore, so I got up and shined a flashlight across the way - it's a baby stroller with some kind of alarm.  And apparently the owners aren't home, because my bright flashlight in their window, and a laser pointer on their window, aren't getting their attention.

The police called at 5:30 to say they are running late.  I described that it's a stroller alarm that's been going off for a couple of hours, and many neighbors can't sleep.

Here's the alarm:

Disable User Access Control in Windows Vista

Ever since getting Microsoft Windows Vista, I have been troubled by how much it asks my permission to do things.  For instance, I put a disc in the optical drive, browse to the drive's folder, and double-click Setup.

Now it's going to halt everything and ask if I meant to run Setup.  I tell it yes, then it goes through the setup.

Later, I want to defragment my hard drive, but it halts everything to ask if I really meant to run defragment - as if that can be a security breach.

So I decided to disable UAC (User Access Control) from Windows Vista so that I don't have to answer this silly security question repeatedly.

After I disabled it, the computer began warning me every time I turned it on that UAC was turned off, so I had to find out how to turn the UAC warning message off.

Now I've created a video to teach you how to do these worthwhile tasks.  You can see the Disable User Access Control in Windows Vista video for free right now!

Can't Get Service from Sears

The Sears One Care Center scheduled an appointment to have our freezer looked at today, 11/22/2008, between the hours of 8:00am and 12:00pm.  They called me last night to confirm the appointment.

Today at 12:30pm, I called and asked where the service rep is, and was told he is in the area, and on the way, and will be here at 1:30.

At 2:30 I call back and they tell me that the technician called us, and spoke with my wife, and she said it was OK if he comes between 1:00 and 5:00.  I asked my girlfriend, and she did not talk to anyone, nor has our phone rung all day.

The rep also told me that the original technician scheduled to come called in sick and they assigned it to someone else.  I told the rep that they scheduled a particular technician on purpose, and I want the originally scheduled technician, not a replacement, and to just reschedule the visit to next Saturday.

The rep calls me back in 15 minutes to tell me it's too late to reschedule, the rep is already local to me, and on his way, and will be here in less than 30 minutes.

At 4:15, I called back and said he's not here yet, and I wanted a supervisor.  The supervisor rescheduled the visit for next Saturday, and said they will mail me a $50 Sears gift card to make up for their miscommunication.

10 minutes later, the technician calls and says he is in front of our apartment but he can't find a place to park.  I told him if he can park and come up, I'll see him soon.  10 minutes later, I'm still waiting.

** Update - The One Care Center called, apparently the technician gave up on trying to find parking and left.  They're going to send someone next week.

Since we've had this freezer problem for over 5 years already, I suppose one additional week won't matter that much.

Pealed Bananas

My girlfriend and I go to Marble Slab, where I see this expertly printed sign.

Yes, their bananas are apparently freshly pealed.

Something which has pealed is something which just made a loud noise or utterance:  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pealed

How a banana does this, exactly, I'm not sure.  I would have asked the guy who works there, but I always make it a point to not annoy the person who prepares my food.

Another option would have been to order something with bananas, so I can listen for their pealing, to see what it sounds like for myself, but I ended up having the chocolate brownie thing instead.