Customer Shmervice

I moved this past weekend and prior to the move chose to use DirecTV. The set-up was incredibly easy and fast, the service is so far so good, and I got a great deal for the next 12 months. Today I tried to set-up internet. Charter is Charter. I feel they have the majority of the markets business when it comes to internet. No complaints. The pricing however without a “bundle” is a little high, so I started to look elsewhere. I called AT&T to get pricing and to talk with a customer service representative. The conversation was going great. I gave him some info (first mistake) so he could see if my place was good for the service and then I started asking about options. He asked for my email address so he could send me the info. I gave it to him (second mistake).  At this point he tells me, “Sorry my computer is going really slow”….I responded, “I hope it’s not your internet”, he actually replied, “haha yea, ours is really slow, don’t worry yours will be better”…..right (third mistake). Even with all that it still seemed ok- - everything except for the ridiculous charges he wanted to charge me for setup, which he still said were “deals”, the modem costs, etc. At the end of the conversation I asked if I could call him back first thing tomorrow morning, with every intention to actually call back. AT&T was still a contender….at the time. I wanted to call around and get other pricing and options though – Nick, the customer service rep, apparently knew this. He did the whole, “Well you may not be able to secure these same deals tomorrow…” yada yada yada (**cough**bullshit**cough**). What a guy. Then I said “fine, call me back after 4pm today”.

Ok, great, this will give me enough time to look around. Or so I thought. Nick took it upon himself to place the order anyway, so when I got the confirmation in my email box letting me know that my service would be activated on Thursday, and my bill would be mailed to me, you can imagine the words I may have chosen to use. Frustration really set in when the strong accent speaking gentlemen who fielded my call to cancel, asked to put me on hold for a minimum of 4 minutes, yet left me on hold for a solid 15. I gave up. After I calmed down a little I called back. This time a woman answered. I told her my situation. Same conversation that I had with the gentlemen ensued. She asked to place me on hold, this time for a minimum of 2. I asked, this time Anita, if there was a number I could call should it take a while. She said to ‘trust her’. Great. At this point I’m on my way to a doctor’s appointment. I arrive, still on hold. I wasn’t giving up. Passing the NO CELL PHONE area with my phone to my ear (I know what you’re thinking – what a badass) I walked to the counter. I told the lady briefly that I was on hold with AT&T and apologized and told her that I wasn’t giving up on cancelling, she told me…. “Darlin, say no more”. After telling her what was going on (while I’m STILL on hold) she told me her brief horror story with them from weeks before. Anita’s ears must have been burning, that or she finally got tired of seeing the blinking light on her phone that I was still hanging on the line. She told me it was cancelled and that I do not have service with them. I asked for a confirmation be sent to my email. “Yes ma’am”, she said. I have yet to receive an email…..it’s been hours. I have a pretty good feeling it’s not gonna happen. Makes me wonder if at the beginning of the calls when they say, “This call may be recorded”, they’re serious. In this case I hope so.

Congratulations AT&T, you suck at life….if not your company, then at least Nick from Customer Service. Not sure who that is? Well, look for the guy who refers to himself as “The Internet Gooroo”. He said that’s how he is known around the office.

Prank Wars

In college we did a lot of pranking to our friend Rocky - @rakeshpatel254. What started it all was the idea to Post-it note his car. This was back when everyone used AOL Instant Messenger. Rocky and I lived in the same apartment complex so when I was outside his place vandalizing his car with friends, Hannah, Byrd, and Jillian, and he was inside studying/chatting on the computer with me, he had no idea where I really was. Got to love wireless internet. Rocky, an established and articulate student, was inside working hard and preparing for an accounting exam the next day. That in mind we left him a hole in the windshield. He didn't find out it was us for a few days.

Funny right? Well, they (as in, not even Rocky but his roommates) got me back by, what I feel was slightly inappropriate and not funny at all - - shoving hamburger meat, loaves of bread, and basically anything in their fridge into...... my mailbox. Yea, the postman HATED me and my innocent roommates for the rest of the year. It was disgusting and as best as it could be cleaned out, started to create mold. As revenge, Hannah and Byrd got "innocent" Rocky back. This was his room filled with tiny Dixie cups full of water. A pure delight to come home to. These pranks continued.

At B93.7, Kato from the Hawk and Tom Morning Show, decided he wanted to prank Heidi. His idea - post-it noting her car. I told him I was an expert and offered to help......



Twylah

Have you heard about this Twylah thing? I feel like it could be the "next big thing". It basically is a twitter brand page, but to me it seems like the mix between having a website and/or blog without having to do the posts/work.....maybe?
Celebrities and public figures seem really into it, so it appears.

On the left hand side of my blog you'll see a column where I suggest other blogs that I read sometimes, or at least like to bookmark. One of them is Chasemradio - or rather, Chase Murphy's guide to marketing/radio/life. It's a good read and pretty educational. Anyway, one of the guys he follows and reads books from is Greg Verdino, author of "Micro Marketing". I started to follow @gregverdino on Twitter and one of his posts was about Twylah. Curiosity lead my search and I came across Twylah.com. Tough find, I know.....If you have extra time and a Twitter account, go to the website, and request an invite. It literally takes zero effort and in return they accept the request, then set up your page. If I am being honest it doesn't seem like there is a point, but like half the social media sites you are probably on, is there a point to any of them? Personally, maybe not, but for your business or company, perhaps and most of the time, yes! Twylah organizes every tweet and posting you make into its own category, such as your videos, pictures, and then also goes by topic. For example, when I got mine back I realized I tweet about our station contesting, my blog, and surprisingly a few Justin's (I am assuming Bieber and Timberlake? How embarrassing) quite a few times. I have also mentioned my Hennessey In the Home site, too. As I just did again :) Anyway, my Twylah page can be found at http://www.twylah.com/Lhennessey . It basically in a nutshell shows what's trending on that particular page. Like I said, I don't really see where I may find a need for this site other than to see what I constantly talk about too much (like I don't already know), but perhaps in the world of marketing and advertising, it may be the next thing. I had my 10,000th hit on my blog about nothing this past weekend, and am already up to 10,200+ and haven't posted since. If it weren't for Twitter and Facebook, no one (with the exception of a few members of my immediate family) would probably have even seen it!

I used to be against Twitter, blogging, and my freshman year at college when Facebook was only for certain colleges, I was even against it (Thank you Meghan for changing my mind). But each time someone has involved me or given me a reason to start in a new trend, even when reluctant at first, I seemed to have dived right into the social media world. So where you may never hear of Twylah again, at least I brought it to your attention.....yea, that sounds good, right? Follow @chasemradio and @gregverdino to give you a better idea of where this is coming from......and at least check Twylah out.

We're all gonna laugh at you

I couldn't help but share this. Thanks to my friend, Taylor, I had a nice little chuckle during lunch. I find such fascination in the fact that humans find great humor in those that fall, get hurt, or are embarrassed easily. Sense of humor is one of the finest traits a person can have. If you can't laugh at yourself, you're in big trouble. I find myself to be incredibly sarcastic, and sometimes borderline inappropriate with my humor. I'd like to attribute that to my father. He is hilarious and when in a room full of people, is normally the one cutting the jokes, doing the impressions, and having the crowd rolling. I know he will enjoy this.

RIP Soggy Shoes

The unthinkable happened…..almost 2 months ago. And I am just now coming to terms that what I thought I saw is actually true. Soggy Shoes is dead. My homeless man is no longer loitering the overpasses of Greenville, but free loading the heavens above.

Soggy Shoes got struck by a car. My homeless man seemed to be trying to crossover the street when a car merging onto hwy 385, clipped him. At first I couldn’t believe my eyes and didn’t want to believe it was him, but as I approached the man laying in the fetal position on the side of the highway with people standing all around on their cell phones, I took a good look and felt strongly it was him. Long, grey beard, same army green jacket, and of course most likely what once was a pair of soggy shoes. Plus, I thought I saw that wrinkly memorable face. You don’t get hugged and told ‘God bless you’ by a damp stranger and forget them. I didn’t want to believe it because he didn’t seemed to be carrying the umbrella I once gave him either, but let’s be honest - - while seeing someone get struck by a car may be awful with a slight slip of “holy shit” from the lips, it also is something only a few may actually see in a lifetime. It was not pleasant, but it could have been worse. Much worse of a hit for sure, but it still didn't look optimistic….Though emotionally come to think of it, he was headed towards the movie theatre. The exact theatre that I gave him several left over movie passes, too. Naturally I thought oh dear, I hope this wasn't my fault. The irony was even worse, I gave him tickets to a movie called: Gone. The plot wasn't ironic, but the title hit the nail on the head. I immediately called my mother with whom I’ve discussed this homeless man several times - - first name: Soggy, last name: Shoes. Our conversation went something like this.

Mom, Oh my god, I think I just saw Soggy Shoes get hit by a car

What?

My homeless man, Soggy Shoes, I’m almost positive I just saw him get clipped. He’s laying there next to a mini-van on the side of 385 and Woodruff

How did it happen?

He was trying to cross the road and just got hit

How do you know it was him?

I don’t, it just looks a lot like him and this was his territory. An ambulance just arrived.

Well, what are you gonna do?

(Which probably meant, why did you call me? What am I supposed to do?)

What do you mean?

Does he look dead?

I don’t know he’s not in the ambulance, but he’s definitely not moving. I’m passing them now

Well why don’t you go to the hospital

…….long pause…..is she serious? I couldn’t help but start to laugh at the situation. Yes, I am a horrible human being……

And do what mom? I don’t even know his name, what do I say, “um excuse me nurse, did a homeless man just get hit by a car?”

(at this point I think we are both laughing...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree)

Well, I can’t imagine a lot of homeless people all being just hit by a car on the same day, just go in and ask

And then what? Say, I don’t know his name but I gave him an umbrella once and some free food, but we are kind of friends because I waived to him a lot. Can I sit with him? Then get a no, he’s dead, or yea follow me. And then what? I’m either planning my best homeless friends funeral to which I’d say Dear Friends of Soggy Shoes….or I’m left with a homeless man who needs more help. And I’d probably end up trying to give it to him.

Yea. Yea, I guess that is a little odd.

I’m not gonna lie, I thought about it but that was a moment when I decided I got a little too into this unspoken friendship between me and Soggy Shoes. I have waited 2 months. His corner has been since taken over and I haven’t seen him once. RIP Soggy Shoes. May their continue to be Hardee’s in Heaven and may your tooth forever let you chew.  

*For the story of Soggy Shoes, click HERE*

Bunny you should say that!

In the spirit of the Easter holiday, this weekend we (B93.7) are doing a winning weekend/text-to-win contest entitled "Little Bunny Shoe Shoe". A few days ago Tias, WFBC's new Program Director, came down to the promotions office where Keaira and I work and started brainstorming ideas for a promo video. We knew we needed to use Buzzy the Bee, the stations mascot, and of course a Bunny. Me being Me and feeling the need to be involved, I volunteered to wear the rabbit suit. Roy, our intern, was forced to be Buzzy the Bee - - who lets just say has been worn one too many hot, sweaty days. Very stinky. Anyway, the idea was that Buzzy needs shoes and the Bunny could give him the gift card but he'd have to work for it....the idea and conversation led to a lot of inappropriate comments and 'scenes' for the video, but in the end this was the result.....so strange, but another day at the office. Life is tough.

Follow Tias on Twitter  - @sgntias
Follow B93.7 - @B937AlltheHits

@Lhennessey