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• Dear Customers: Stop Making My Call-Center Employees Cry
Top Posts Of The Week And Open Thread
By August 3, 2012
This is weird. MIL called the other night but the caller ID was a New York area code 347, it also said AtoZ Marketsite. We’re both in OK. She was using her cell on Verizon and calling our landline. How does that happen?
If you find out, let me know. When I am at home (Vonage) and call my wife at work, her caller ID shows the incoming number as being a 702 number and the ID just says “Nevada”. (We’re on the East coast, and that’s a Nevada area code all right.)
I blame Art Bell.
Watch out for them ETs.
So…no takers for the “I Survived the Consumerist Blackout ’12″ t-shirts???
Hey, blogger…your name suggests an internet presence…are you on G+?
Yep. I don’t use it that much though.
Okay…no worries…I have an active group that posts on this site and thought you might be interested, given the wasteland-like nature of the current comments, but if you don’t use it, ain’t no thing
Mind sending the group link to me? I’ve never used G+ that much, but I don’t really know anyone that does.
Oh joy, the “new” system has no profiles, basically.
Coffee used to have his e-mail (congress.gov@gmail.com) in his profile, but now there’s nothing but our usernames and we can’t change it.
I’ve seen that email, but I always thought it was a fake.
Nope! And I like you, Rexy…hit me up.
You single-handedly made me want to join G+
I’ll also single-handedly make you want to leave it o/
Seriously, though…if you’re interested, let me know…shoot me an e-mail and I’ll be happy to send you the circle
I’ll send you one. I wanna be down!
Sounds good!
i’d comment here more myself now that the comments are back, but i’m locked out of consumerist at work. it’s read only…
Phil, is that you?
LOL!!! I wish! Hahahahaha!!!
Come join us on G+
I will!
Just send me an e-mail to the address Max wrote and I’ll get everything in order
Light crowd today. Hope everyone had a good week! It was a long week here, but I’m looking forward to spending time with my brother for his birthday on Sunday. I don’t get to see him nearly enough, and of all my siblings he and I are definitely the most alike.
At any rate, I’m about to go make good use of a 25% off Joann’s coupon for my lunch break.
Have fun with your brother!
Shitty week here, and people are burning me because I am not gung ho about taking a trip I was supposed to take with HIM. Like yeah, can you not understand why it’s going to be excruciatingly painful to go to the same place, stay in the same hotel, and have you drag me to the same stuff we did last time?
Also, local news posted this on Facebook. It’s a very good disaster preparedness video about what to do in a shooter incident. It’s a bit hard to watch (kinda scary), but I think you should. No blood or anything.
Just remember, this type of incident is extremely rare. But regarding any dangerous situation, a few minutes spent thinking about what you should do is time well spent. If it does happen, you will be able to react better.
Hopefully you’re still able to have fun. If anything, remember your old pals on the G+! We’ll try to help keep your mind occupied. That’s what we’re there for!
Remember, the police responding to an active shooter WILL NOT help you. They are after the shooter.
This is the video we had to watch in SORA training: http://www.les.sc.edu/CPCR/Shots_fired.asp
Yep, this is addressed at the end of the video I posted.
OK, has this happened to any of you, and how did you deal with it?
I have always been larger than the average bear, since childhood. I have never, ever been thin in my whole life. I’m not a People of Walmart candidate, either. BUT…one of my coworkers has apparently decided I should lose weight. She’s left aerobics videos on my desk. Every week, sometimes twice a week, she comes to my desk and starts off with, “do you watch Dr. Oz?” Me – no. Her – “well, I DVR’d a show that said it you eat [insert weird food here], you will lose weight” or “you should cut back on that diet soda because it has bad chemicals in it. Dr. Oz says to substitute seltzer water with lemon slices”. She’s quick to point out that fruit has sugar in it, that salad dressing has this or that in it, etc.
Please keep in mind I eat raw fruits and veggies every day for lunch, along with a small sandwich of lite high fiber wheat bread with peanut butter. Not exactly junk food.
Yes, she is extremely thin, to the point of having no butt or chest to speak of, but I would never, ever say “you know, they have implants that would make you look more female” or “your skunk stripe is showing on your hairline again, better get out the dye”.
Scales have also shown up in the bathroom, and the office started a “Biggest Loser” challenge. I declined, because as someone who was bullied in school because I was the tallest, largest girl in gym class, ain’t no way I’m gettin’ on scales in front of my coworkers!
So – short of swatting her, any kind suggestions?
You could start leaving literature about treating anorexia on her desk…
Tell her if she won’t stop bullying you about your size you’ll have to go to HR.
Supposed to be to lovemypets
I like this idea.
This is almost too easy.
Link her to these and it should shut her bony hole up.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/04/04/dr-oz-promotes-quackeryagain/
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/a-skeptics-in-oz/
http://www.randi.org/site/jref-news/1260-pigasus-2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmet_Oz#Controversy
http://www.politicolnews.com/calling-out-dr-oz/
http://www.ktradionetwork.com/news-stories-2/dr-mehmet-oz-is-a-fraud/
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2011/03/16/when-faith-healing-isnt-enough-woo-for-d/
Only idiots listen to T.V. “doctors.”
I want to like this comment so much…references to Respectful Insolence and JREF! But arguing with the deluded, image-obsessed busybody will probably not be productive. The point isn’t that she’s wrong (which she is), the point is that her advice is not wanted.
But deflating her could be fun if she doesn’t take the hint.
I find that with people like this, sometimes they’ll go away if you show a marked lack of interest, as in, answer in monosyllables if you have to answer at all. Or try “I’m sorry, I’m busy/on break, and I can’t talk now.” Do NOT suggest that she come back later, even though it may be rolling off your tongue as soon as you say you can’t talk. If she asks when she can harass, er, talk to you about it, tell her you’re not sure, and if pressed, say you’ll let her know. Then don’t.
This may seem a little rude and a little passive-aggressive, but I’m assuming that 1) you’ve tried dropping hints, and 2) you don’t want to really tell her off, you just want her to go away. This is the only middle ground, especially since she doesn’t seem to have much of a sense of boundaries or cues (I’m assuming that you’re not enthusiastically thanking her and asking her to explain more when she does this). Now you should at least retreat from your polite tolerance of her meddling and hope she picks up on it.
Good luck, we’re all pulling for you.
Oh, Max…there you go actually being helpful
Max and Rexy – thank you. Especially for the websites. I think this is where she got the idea you’re supposed to drink some sort of natural vinegar with mother(?) something in it? Yuck! She tends to corner me in my office, so I may have my office mate interrupt with “questions” too…about WORK, who’da thunk it.
Starting on Monday, I’ll start using these tips. Mondays are usually the worst as she catches up with the DVR over the weekend.
You’re much nicer than me apparently, because I think making a snarky comment about her lack of boobs & ass is a perfectly fine response. Swatting her sounds good too.
OMG I think about it, and I can barely contain myself. But I try to be nice to my coworkers, as we work in a small office (about 20 or so people) and I just want to get along, do my thing, and go home. But sometimes I am so sorely tempted!!
Say to her, “Jane, I appreciate your concern for my health, but it’s none of your business. Please stop.” If she doesn’t stop, then report her ass.
Tell her to stop. Period.
No passive aggressiveness, no waffling or trying to soften the blow. A “My health is my business. Kindly lay off,” should suffice.
If she doesn’t, talk to her manager.
Sounds like workplace harrassment. And she has fostered a hostile environment for you as well. I’d seek advice from a lawyer, or the EEOC.
You typically have to go through a company’s procedures first. If you don’t, you have nothing.
In times like this, I sometimes look deep inside myself, thinking of a particular long-haired individual who wasn’t always understood by those around him, and I consider how he would have handled the situation. Clearly, he would have roared at them and ripped their arms from their sockets. Quick, decisive, and to the point.
Of course, that might not be entirely feasible, so when she mentions Dr Oz, you might counter with “He sounds like a very learned man. Do you perhaps think he might be able to procure some courage for me as well?” Or perhaps you could volunteer that you wanted to watch his show, but felt uncomfortable petitioning Oz the Great and Powerful without first presenting him with the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Just a thought.
Ask her what Ana/Mia forums she is a member of.
“OMG! I love Skinny Gossip! I had no idea that you wrote that blog!”
i’d be a bit repetitive about myself – just say “thanks, but no thanks” when she says something and return any workout videos to her with the same phrase.
Oh, forgot to add this.
My EVO 3D (Sprint) finally got Ice Cream Sandwich! Now I’m only one OS update behind.
Lol right
I wouldn’t anticipate Jelly Bean, though. As bad as the fragmentation of Android is, it can’t hold a candle next to what Microsoft has done. I think they’re gonna set history with the first flagship phone to become outdated in the same calendar year with WP8 this fall.
What do clothing manufacturers have against men with a 28” inseam? I can’t find pants in my size simply because nobody makes them. If they do, no stores stock them. I can’t even find them online. Teen sizes are just a bit too small and men’s pants start at a 29” inseam.
I’m tired of walking around with my cuffs dragging the floor or paying to have all of pants hemmed.
Based on my experience in the garment industry, it’s just a matter of economics when cutting. There are a lot fewer 28″ inseams than all the others, and I think companies just don’t want to cut extra units they don’t have orders for. You may want to try to write to the companies who produce the pants you like. Most likely, there’s a men’s sportswear buyer who just doesn’t order the 28″ inseam for whatever reason. No order means no production order, and no pants in that inseam.
GOOD NEWS!! pH test strips have arrived. Soap making can proceed.
Bad news…hot and humid this weekend, in the 90′s again…so I may have to wait a little while longer due to the clothing requirements for working with lye (long sleeves, goggles, etc.).
Will you be kissing anyones hand?