Why Did Apple Have to Fuck Up Their Laptops?

 

I've been a loyal Mac users for years - hell, decades. I'm on my third (or maybe fourth?) laptop of theirs, and we have an old, workhorse desktop that my late father bought years ago. They were always the easiest to use, I happily spent extra money for the reliability, and proselytized to anyone who would listen.

When my previous MacBook died several months ago, I bought a new MacBook Air without a second thought. I seriously regret that decision.

The new set up makes it a ridiculous struggle to save a document ON my computer, rather than in their damn cloud - where I can NEVER find it. Every time I need to attach a document to an email - which is multiple times a day - it's a fucking struggle. 

 I have no objection to Apple offering cloud storage. What I HATE is how they try to force that choice on me.

Apple took a great and simple product and fucked it up.

I'll think long and hard before I buy another one of their laptops.

Things I Learned In The Pandemic (AKA Good Bye to 2020)

 

1. I should have bought a digital meat thermometer years ago.

 

 

 

2. The red “oven on” light goes off when it reaches its target temperature. This was a revelation!

3. My grandmother’s apple cheese topper recipe isn’t just for Thanksgiving. I made it for Christmas too - and it's on the agenda for Valentine's Day.

4. The miniature Christmas tree that I bought 10 years ago for $75 and thought was over-priced has been a long-term bargain.

 

 

5. Zoom rocks, even though it makes me feel like a fool when I end up in the wrong room.

 

6. I’m every bit as anti-social as I thought – I miss going places more than I miss seeing people, except my mom.

 

7. Cats rule.

 

Happy New Year - and here's to a better year ahead!

The Joy of Good Service in the Time of Covid 19: GoDaddy

 I bitch and moan frequently (and justifiably) about shitty customer service and the infuriating tendency of companies to blame it on Covid 19. I wrote about it last time re ENT & Allergy and my mom's hearing aid; I also have learned to truly hate Optimum Internet. So when I had to call GoDaddy this morning, I feared the worst.

GoDaddy hosts several sites for me: most notably one for my first feature, Surviving Family, my personal website, and the one that gave me agita this morning, for my second feature, DETOURS. (Required pitch: check out our father/daughter road trip comedy for free on TubiTV or on Amazon Prime Video.)

I woke up to an email from GoDaddy that informed me that I needed to do something about the SSL certificate. I'm not sure what that is or what they wanted me to do, but I DO know that I got heart palpitations immediately. I pay a bit extra to get them to take care of this stuff so the KGB doesn't hack my site - why they'd do that, I don't know but it seems like a good goal.

I didn't know what the email wanted me to do but I was pretty sure I couldn't do it, whatever it was.

So I gritted my teeth and dialed GoDaddy's phone number. Got a machine - of course. It asked for my customer number - oh shit! Where can I find that? Turns out if was on the email they sent. Gotcha.

Typed the number into my phone. The machine told me that all customer service agents were busy. Of course they were. Wait time: Six minutes. SERIOUSLY? Not sixty? Or six hours? Can't be right.

Then, the thing that truly brought joy to my heart: "If you want to wait without any music or further announcements, press pound now." YES! Be still my heart. I pressed pound and prepared to wait.

It wasn't six minutes - it was barely four minutes. That's right - 10 AM on a rainy Thursday morning in November, and I got a person in four minutes. Not only that, he told me that they'd already taken care of everything - the email was simply generated automatically. Don't worry. Be happy.

They didn't even ask me for a customer review. So here I am, letting everyone know who might possibly care that I had a really good customer service experience today. Thank you, GoDaddy.

 

Time for Businesses to Stop Using Covid-19 as an Excuse for Lousy Service

 I scream - loudly - about this issue on a regular basis, and will probably write about it frequently. But today I was especially pissed off by the abysmal customer service and non-existent technology of the company that provides my mom's hearing aids: ENT and Allergy Associates. 

My parents started going to ENT and Allergy Associates many years ago, and I've taken over handling my mom's relationship with them since my dad died in 2016. They have - according to their website - 44 offices in NY and NJ. Which means: this is NOT a tiny company.

I needed to replace Mom's lost hearing aid, and spoke a few weeks ago to the (very nice) audiologist. She called late Friday afternoon to say that it had arrived and I should call to make an appointment to pick it up - great!  No, not great.

She left the voice mail at 4:25. I called back at 4:35 - closed for the weekend. OK. I hoped I'd be able to leave her a voice mail - nope.  No directory or any other form of message option.

Monday morning - I called again. Got stuck listening to the same long and supremely useless message about everything they're doing re Covid-19. The message finally ended, and I expected the receptionist. Nope. Hang on - we'll be with you in about 40 minutes. FORTY MINUTES? Seriously?

I hung up and went to their web site - they've gotta have a direct number for the audiologist, right? Nope. I found her educational background and a photo but no direct phone number. How about an email address? Nope!

An hour of listening to recordings of - you're #14. You're #12. Hip hip hooray you're #3.

Finally, ultimately - a receptionist! YEAH! Got to leave a message and the audiologist called me back.

So here's the bottom line:

1. Stop telling me what you're doing to keep us safe and buy a damn phone system that's been designed within the last 20 years.

2. Add email addresses to the list of people - I don't care what the audiologist looks like but I DO want her email address.

I can't switch my mom now to someplace else - she's 86 and this isn't the time.

But odds are that I'll need a hearing aid eventually, and I am NOT going to ENT and Allergy unless they get their shit together.

Have a lovely day.