service

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Curbside Service Is Not As Simple As It Appears

Today I’m trying out curbside pick-up and it’s not as simple as it is made out to be.

Curbside Service Is Not As Simple As It Appears

It sounds simple – you order something, drive up to the store and someone hands you your ordered product.

It’s sort of like A&W back in the 50’s and 60’s. You would drive up to a stall, order your food through an intercom and then an employee would run out or roller skate out to your car with your food order. 

It was pretty easy, but everything you ordered was known to you. Everyone knows what a french fry looks like and, though different restaurants sell them in different sizes or shapes, each restaurant only has one size for them.

The other day I needed to order some hardware products – one item was a threaded rod. 

It sounds simple, but I needed to choose the size of the threading and the online pictures of the different rods were all the same picture! 

I couldn’t tell which was larger and which was smaller. And the sizing was weird – M5 32×24. I’m not a handyman so these numbers didn’t help me at all. 

I didn’t know if a M5 was thinner than a M6. … I do know that with electric wire, the sizes go in the opposite direction: the higher the number the thinner the gauge of wire.

Who does that anyway? The electricians guild long ago must have thought it would be funny to mess with people’s minds and make 10 a really thick gauge, while making 18 a really thin gauge of wire. 

My problem was I didn’t know if people did that with threaded rods too. And since the pictures were all the same, I couldn’t tell.

If I could have gone into the store, I could have picked up each size, compared them and chosen the one I wanted. But with having to order online, I first needed to take a course in hardware management … and I needed to take the course quickly, so I could finish my order and get going on my project. 

Before long I had about three or four windows open on my internet browser, scrolling back and forth. 

What I discovered is the “M” stands for metric, and the number next to it stands for the diameter in millimetres. The next number is the pitch or the thread count. We are not talking about cotton sheets here either. The last number is the length … that one I figured out on my own. 

By the time I sort of knew what I wanted to order, I could have driven to Home Depot and back two times! 

… The lengthy process was just preparing me for when I pick up my purchase, realize I need a different size and have to do it all over again … plus have to learn how to do a return via curbside drop off. 

Here’s the thing: During this time of isolation there are lots of church curbside services available to us. We can tune in and pick up a message, a talk, or a devotional here and there. But unless you open up your own Bible, you can’t really compare what you are hearing with what God is really saying. Make sure you show up online with a Bible; don’t take someone’s word for it. Compare what the Bible says to what the online service is offering and get the right message with no returns. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Have you been engaging online with your Bible or without it? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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Livestream – Keeping the Service Live

In my last post, I talked about how we came to livestream our service (check that out here). It happened much sooner than I thought it would.

Livestream -Keeping the Service Live

I have a YouTube channel (check it out here), where I post drone videos. We didn’t want to spend a lot of money on live-streaming because we weren’t sure we’d need it for more than a few weeks. Since our goal was to keep it cheap, my free YouTube channel was the perfect solution for our streaming service and platform.

But having a streaming service was just the first step. 

I could easily film myself in front of my laptop with its built-in webcam, but there was no way we could stream a service that way. 

I did have an old video camera that I haven’t used much lately. In fact, since the iPhone started taking good pictures and videos, I haven’t used that camera at all.

Fortunately it had a HDMI video port on it. 

If right about now you are thinking that this is getting a little too technical, that is exactly what I was thinking to myself last Saturday morning. 

I started looking at how-to videos on my computer, and the morning quickly turned into the afternoon.

I learned a lot from all those videos. One thing I learned was that you can’t just plug your camera with a HDMI port into your computer and see the picture. You need something to transform the camera feed into something the computer can make visual.  

That reality had me drive downtown to a store to pick up a cam link – probably one of only two in the whole city. But I got it and it wasn’t too expensive.

I remember driving back home from the store and thinking, “What if this doesn’t work with my camera?” … because the 14-year-old kid, who told me about the cam link on his instructional video, said that it only worked with some cameras.

I was fully prepared that my 10-year-old camera – almost as old as the kid in the video – would not work with this miracle connector.

When I got home I found some free software on the internet that I installed on my computer to communicate with the camera feed. I plugged it all in and it was one of those “praise the Lord” moments. The picture from the camera was visible on my laptop. 

I was amazed and grateful.

It felt like those times when you didn’t study the night before a big test, and felt bad, nervous and pessimistic that you would even pass. And then, out of the blue, beyond any possibility, your teacher was sick and the test was postponed. 

That’s how I felt. It was great.

… Then it was back to the online tutorial videos to figure out how to connect this new software with my YouTube streaming. 

I must have watched one online instructional video about fifteen times in order to finally put all the steps together and be able to livestream on my YouTube channel. 

The next day, we did it for real and the results were great. Our first livestream went off without a glitch!  

… Now we have to repeat it this week.

Here’s the thing: When you have gathered together all the equipment for livestream, you still have to learn how to put it all together. When you place your faith in Christ, that is only the start. Next you have to begin the learning curve of being a disciple. Don’t stop at faith; keep growing in that faith.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you bought that you never took the time to learn how to properly use? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Customer Service Frustration

Gone are the days when the customer was always right. I think things started to change when retail began leaning towards “self serve” rather than “we serve”.

Frustration with Customer service

Now you have to fight for everything you get from a company.

This Christmas I bought a present for my wife, Lily, and a few days later I noticed that another company was selling it cheaper.

I researched the product and whether it was available in the other store. And only with all my ammunition properly documented did I go in and get a price break.

What really brought home this change though was our satellite provider. We had ordered HD sports, so that I don’t have to struggle watching hockey in standard definition any more.

The price was clear on the website so we had ordered it. The transaction went through and we were informed that it would take up to 48 business hours for them to punch a code into their computer to give us the new service.

That was okay … the World Juniors were not starting for a few days.

However, after we received the HD channels, we got an email stating that, because we had a limited satellite package, the price of the HD channels was $3 more per month.

I guess $3 is not that much … $3 is almost the new loonie.

But the thing is, nowhere on their website do they mention there is a price difference for HD channels depending on your package.

We called and spoke with three different levels of customer service people. The bottom line was that’s their price.

… You know, if I go into a store and purchase a product with a price sticker on it, if that sticker price is lower than what they have in their register price, they sell me the product for the advertised sticker price.

Then they go and correct the sticker price for everyone else who will buy the product.

You shouldn’t be able to mislead people with your pricing policy.

Well, we stuck to our story and in the end the best they would do is give us a year free and then we would pay the increased price for the HD channels based on our satellite package.

It’s a good deal for this year, but then we will be paying more than most other people for the same service.

It took a lot of persistence and a lot of time on the phone to get the company to concede and give us some kind of deal.

They layer their customer service so that the first person you talk to doesn’t really have the authority to give you anything. I think they hope you will give up. It’s not until you talk to the next level or the level after that where you get a shot at getting some satisfaction.

Their idea of customer service?: wear the customer down so they just leave frustrated and angry.

… They are doing a good job because, even in the end, we were still frustrated with them.

Here’s the thing: Sometimes we can feel like we are not getting the service we want from God. Our prayers are not answered the way we think they should be. Unlike stores and satellite companies, God knows what’s best for us; He gives us what we really need. Be persistent but also be accepting of what God brings you. He’s looking out for your best interests.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you generally found customer service to be? Leave your comments below.

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The Secret Sauce In Serving

There is something about serving that pays back greater value than just being part of something.

church-picnic

This past week our church had two events that required groups of people to come together to serve others. On Wednesday we had a funeral at our church which included putting on a lunch reception after the service. Four days later we had our church picnic, which required a group of people coming together to serve all those attending.

Both of these events involved food, and lots of it!

They say there is a connection that is made when we eat together. And you can sure see it. When people have a sandwich, or hamburger, being mangled between their teeth, though it’s difficult to understand what they’re saying, there seems to be an easy flow of words.

Give people food and they will gather and they will talk. Food loosens us up; it makes us more social. Food gives us something to do with our hands.

Maybe it’s a distraction from standing face to face with nothing but a few inches of air between us. With food you have this other thing you’re doing on the side while you chew the fat with the person across from you.

… But when the food is gone and the conversation ends, you get up and walk away.

Serving goes deeper than that. Maybe that’s why it’s more difficult to get people to serve – more is required but more is gained as well.

When you serve at these kinds of functions you are doing more than eating and talking. You are part of making it all happen. You are the ones that make it possible for someone to feel comfortable stuffing a grape in the corner of their cheek while explaining what their family is up to these days.

You get to eat and talk too, but you’re an insider. You were there to set up, or cook, or clean up.

There is some kind of satisfaction you have when it’s done. You don’t just get up and walk away. There is a feeling of “we did it; it all came together … we helped” that those who just attended don’t have.

And that’s the secret sauce. It does take more effort, but the payoff is much greater. You don’t just walk away and forget about the event. You’re glad you made someone’s day, or that you helped make it happen. There’s a sense of connection with those you served with.

Between the funeral and the picnic this past week at our church, there were many who helped out and served. I’m proud to be part of a church that pitches in, digs down and makes something happen for the benefit of others.

Thanks KAC! You know who you are and what you did. I just want you to know I appreciate it all. And I hope you tasted the secret sauce of serving at these events.

Here’s the thing: When you serve the Lord, no matter how great or small, the secret sauce you taste is knowing that you’ve pleased your heavenly Father, that you have done something that has lasting, eternal value, and that you’re developing a deeper connection with Christ (and starting to look more like Him). Keep serving.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is one highlight you have from serving the Lord? I’d love to hear from you; leave your comment below.

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A Restaurant Service Disaster

I am wondering if there was a restaurant servers’ work slowdown last Sunday and no one made it public. It seemed like just another Sunday to me, that is, until my wife, Lily, and I went out for lunch after church.

bad service 2

We had a busy afternoon ahead of us, with some hospital visiting, so we thought we would grab something to eat at a restaurant rather than going home first.

In deciding where to eat, we didn’t really want fast food, but we didn’t really want to be a long time in a restaurant, either. We were kind of in a hurry. So where do you go when you want an upgrade from burger and fries but don’t want to wait half an hour for your food? Swiss Chalet, of course.

So we got in the car and headed right there. Swiss Chalet was a perfect choice because you know what you are going to order before you enter the restaurant (at least one of us does).

When I was growing up, their entire menu could be boiled down to three options: You could order a quarter chicken white meat, or a quarter chicken dark meat. And if you were really hungry, you could order a half chicken meal.

Now they’ve added a number of other items like ribs and salads and a few others that my eyes kind of gloss over when I look at the menu.

So, when we pulled open the doors to the restaurant, I was ready to tell my waitress exactly what I wanted on my plate. Except when we got through the doors, we realized there were several other people waiting to be seated.

I was a little surprised at this because it was after 1:00 pm, so the noon rush should have been over by then. But I thought, “This is no problem; it’s Swiss Chalet. This line will clear out in no time.”

And sure enough, we didn’t wait more than about 5 minutes before we were shown to our table.  However, on our way to our table, I noticed there was a whole section that was empty, and in the back of my mind I wondered why we had to wait to be seated.

We sat down and I did my usual thing of turning the pages of the menu, not really looking at anything, and then closing it again … because, of course, I already knew what I was going to order.

It was about then that I noticed a few things. There were no waitresses in sight. No one came to ask us if we wanted something to drink. I started to get a bad feeling that if we stayed we would be there all afternoon.

We actually decided to try another restaurant. Others stayed, but we left – no waitress had noticed us come in anyway. The crazy thing was, on our way out there was another line up of people by the entrance waiting to be seated.

If only they knew there was just a hostess working that day, and there wouldn’t be anyone to take their order.

Here’s the thing: We can get conditioned to just accept things in our lives, even things that are wrong in God’s eyes. Don’t just accept those sins as things you can’t do anything about.  Recognize they are wrong and make a move to get rid of them.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is something that you have just put up with in your life?  Leave your comment below.