One of the things that I noticed last week while my wife and I were at Disneyland, was the attention to detail.

Sure everything is really well done, that’s pretty well known about Disney, but the things that really impressed me were the little things.

Never did I see a light bulb that was burned out (trust me I looked for one), nor did I see any maintenance workers working on anything, repairing anything, or anything that appeared to be closed for maintenance reasons, though I’m sure that it existed, it just didn’t appear to be that way.

The other thing that kept going through my head was just the pure logistics that must go into keeping that place up and running everyday.  With all of the food that the serve up each day, never did I see vehicles driving through the either park delivering it, nor was I told that they were out of a particular item.  Figuring out and managing all of that has to fall to a staff of people somewhere.

For a person that thinks in very logical patterns that would be a dream job and one that would also likely put me in the grave early, but I’d probably love every minute of it.

I took one of my guns in for some repairs.  When I took it in, I was told that it would be 10 days.  That was 16 days ago.  Since then I’ve heard nothing.

So today I called them and asked about it.  It hadn’t been returned to their store yet (it had to be shipped out for repairs) but they told me that I could call the place that they shipped it to and find out the status.

So I called (a long distance call for me and no 1.800 number).  I was on hold for 20 minutes just trying to get to the point to talk with someone about it.  Once I finally did get someone on the phone I had their attention for all of about 17 seconds and they passed me on to someone else (the Gunsmith) and instead of speaking with him I ended up getting his voice mail.

He called me back a couple of hours later and told me that he had just received the gun today, but that he would start looking at it and get back to me soon.  Today!?  They’ve had it for over two weeks and I know that they don’t ship the guns out, they hand deliver them.  Frustrating.

He seems like a nice guy and it sounds like he knows what he’s talking about but what a pain.  After this experience, I already know that I’m not going back to them for anything.

I had a Doctor’s appointment first thing this morning.  I had a raging headache, so even the smallest thing, especially noise, was causing additional stress and frustration levels for me.

As we (my wife went with me) were sitting there, once of the Medical Assistants and one of the Receptionists were arguing about what I can only assume was an issue with one of them.

From what I could tell the MA was telling the receptionist that she had messed up and that it had lead to a problem with a patient.  I think that the receptionist had caused the patient to wait an extra long period of time while at the clinic.

Sadly, they were arguing about this out in the open and it sounded as if the receptionist was making up excuses as to why it wasn’t her fault.  From my perspective it’s tough to judge who, if anyone, was at fault because I was simply a patient (customer) there, but I can tell you that after hearing them argue the way that they were, I have less confidence in the office staff at this particular clinic.

Combine that with the fact that I only started going to this clinic in the last couple of years and have not real tie to it, it will make me think twice about going back.  For the moment, I’ll consider this the “First Strike”.  I’ll likely be going back a few times over the next little while, so let’s hope that they don’t get the second and third strike anytime soon.

In this economy, any business is at risk and Customer Service is always a must.  How difficult would it have been to have held the conversation until another time or to have gone into a different area of the office?  My guess is that it would have been quite simple and it would have certainly been more professional.

My wife and I are starting to get into a routine for our weekly date.  We go Grocery Shopping (without the kids).  Sure it’s not the most glamorous date but we get to spend some time together and away from the kids.

We went this evening as a matter of fact.  Once we were finished putting everything away I started to read the “paper” online and ran across this article.

I kind of see it from both sides.  On one hand, it’s great that a Grocer can provide these types of things to their customers and it certainly brings the individuals back instead of them chasing deals at other stores.  Everyone likes to save a little money and in this economy where people may be choosing to pay a bill or get food for their family, coupons are extremely helpful.  The Marketing person in me thinks that it’s fantastic, and to not worry about what it can appear to be.

However, it kind of scares me what type of data can be extracted from this sort of thing.  To be honest, it’s exactly why I’ve avoided these Preferred Customer cards at grocery stores.

Obviously from the article they are able to determine what items you’re mostly likely to purchase or purchase the most and send you coupons based on those predictors.  This isn’t where my major concerns lie.

Based on the data, it wouldn’t be too difficult to predict when you’ll be in the stores, and how much you’re likely to spend when you’re there.  Think about it, in a poor economy when are people most likely to do their shopping?  Probably on or shortly after their payday.

If they are tracking your purchases you can bet that they are tracking the entire purchase not just individual items.  So they can predict when you’ll be in the store (near your payday), what you’re going to buy (based on previously purchases) and how you pay for your purchases.

I’m sure that they are also able to predict (again based on your purchases) what type of person you are, your habits, the make up of your family (spouse/significant other, kids, pets).  This is not information that I really want collected on me without my consent.

Sure all of this is pretty far fetched (I hope), but there is the potential for compromises to your safety and personal life, all from simply being a “Preferred Customer” at your local grocery store and by just providing them with your name, phone number and address.

I really hope that the data is well protected, because if some freak were to get a hold of it who knows what strange things could happen.

If you pull into a parking space at a restaurant with a sign that says “15 minute parking – Take Out Orders Only” are they then obligated to get your food to you within the 15 minute time limit?  Also, what happens if they don’t get your food to you in time?  Do you get a ticket?  Does your car get towed?  If so, does the restaurant  become responsible for any of the towing and impound fees?  Is it false advertising?

So many question and so few answers.