Customer Service Hits and Misses

Because I've had a few highs and lows on the customer service train this week...

Southwest Airlines is "Sky High" with their customer service. No hitches or bumps in the road (minus the turbulence from the Tropical storm in the Gulf, but that's no one's fault) booking my flights or receiving regular updates on flight status. The curbside baggage check-in was awesome in Little Rock and Denver. And baggage claim went off great as well. All of the flight attendants were fantastic and cheerful. On my flight from Denver, they even made sure this 6'4" guy had a chance at the extra leg room in exchange for sitting in the emergency exits seats! If only they'd ask me to sit there every time, I'd be more than willing to help in an emergency! Oh and with Rapid Rewards, I'm half-way to a free flight already! If we could just do something about that annual fee on the Chase card... Overall, Southwest gets an "Awesome!"

Dish Network is... Well, how low can we go? Over the past 3 weeks, I've made 4 phone calls, sat on hold for what seems like hours, and exchanged several emails. The customer service agents recommend other service plans or recite what I can read on the bill in front of me instead of answering my questions directly or informing me of all options for my plan. After three attempts, I have failed to be put in touch with any supervisors. Dish is merciless to individual circumstances and instead throws the book of "rules" at anyone calling a support line.What I expected to be a $5 statement for putting my service on pause, turned out to be a $300 cancellation notice because Dish failed to record sending me a new receiver and instead just shut off my service when I followed directions and returned the old one. If you're looking to get any response at all contact the Dish guys via Facebook or Twitter, at least they'll respond to your questions... Overall, Dish gets an "Epic Fail" and once I find some dough, I'll rid myself of their service and never recommend their service to  anyone.

My bank gets a middle of the road rating. The teller demonstrated how he can't read a printed check or deposit slip today when he messed up my deposit. However, all is fair and good in the land of Oz because we got it all straightened out in 5. (But I could still use that $1 million)

Now that I have that off my chest... How's the customer service world treating you these days?

Traveling Times

Southwest airlines was awesome to me last week. 4 flights, nothing was lost, everything was on time (minus a bit of rerouting at the end, but what ya gonna do about a hurricane?). Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas all look different from the sky. Taking off and landing are like a ride on the roller coaster. I experienced my first rough landing the deserved a big applause that we made it safely. And I spent 14 hours in the airports and airplanes Saturday. Oh and how could I forget catching up on a week's worth of messages after my break from social media and computers? I'm done for...

8 hours in the air and more in the airports made for a good time to crack open a new book. 100 pages in and I can't put it down. Anyone already read this one?

Travel 100 miles just to ride in the rear of a cattle move? Yeah that sounds like the kind of trip I would take,

Got to watch the sunset from Houston on the way to Little Rock. Late flights to LR are always fun! Not only because I'm headed home, but the people are always awesome and ready to strike up a conversation. Let's call those Hogs!

More photos from my trip to come on Wordless Wednesday!

Photo Friday: Life from a Cardboard Box

This week has been crazy stupid. I've done more packing, traveling, and driving around town than I really care to do. I moved out of my house, threw my junk in a storage unit and carried a few cardboard boxes and my clothes to my dad's house. Traffic in town is crazy since public schools started back and Harding University (Private Christian School of 7,000+) starts next week. And it only goes up from here. Nashville next week. Denver and Colorado Springs the next.

And by packing, I mean throwing all my junk in the back seat

Rusty finally hit 98,000

Look! There's GREEN grass in North Arkansas!

Sure, dad let's me drive his pickup and this is what I find.

At the end of the day it's nice to take Five under the ole oak tree on the home place.