La Florida

Je me suis dit que mes lecteurs et lectrices francophones devaient sans doute s'ennuyer un peu. Voici donc.

J'ai récemment été en vacances à Fort Lauderdale où mes parents louent un condo. Partir en vacances m'a toujours paru tellement agréable. Par contre, une fois sur place, l'effet peut être désanchanteur. Et le retour à la réalité montréalaise pire encore! Ne vous méprenez pas : je suis une véritable enfant gâtée d'avoir pu bénéficier de ce voyage et j'en remercie mes parents. Voici les hauts et les bas de Ma Florida 2010.

Les hauts :

• le pina colada de T.G.I. Friday's à tous les après-midis. À mon avis, LE meilleur cocktail mix "prêt-à-boire" vendu.  Disponible à la... SAQ.
• La chaleur et le soleil.
• Sortir en gougounes cheap ou en sandales chics, mais vivre pieds nus dans mes souliers!  Comme une collègue m'a déjà dit: "J'ai les orteils claustrophobes!"
• Passer du temps de qualité en famille.
• Magasiner.  Acheter des trucs vraiment bien à des prix tellement doux sur le portefeuille!
• Manger un steak de pepa sur le BBQ :o)
• Lire au soleil.  J'ai lu le livre The Devil In The White City qui relate la foire universelle de Chicago en 1893 et, parallèlement, l'histoire de l'homme qui a probablement été le premier meutrier en série aux États-Unis.  Un peu sombre pour une lecture de vacances, mais fort intéressant.  Qui eût cru que le mélange à crêpes d'Aunt Jemima, les Shredded Wheats, la gomme Juicy Fruit et la bière Pabst Blue Ribbon émanaient tous de cette exposition universelle?

Les bas : 

• Les Américains ne semblent pas recycler. Il n'y a aucune dispositif de recyclage ni aucune collecte au complexe de condos. Mais ça ne s'arrête pas là. Dans les centres commerciaux, il n'y a que des poubelles; aucun dispositif pour jeter ses bouteilles en verre ou en plastique. C'est pratique courante dans les aéroports canadiens de mettre à la disposition des voyageurs des récipients pour les journaux, bouteilles et autres items à recycler. Je me suis tapé Détroit, Atlanta et Fort Lauderdale sans jamais voir un seul endroit dédié au recyclage. À L'AIDE! Je mets habituellement jusqu'aux étiquettes de prix et les attaches en plastique qui les pendent après mes vêtements au recyclage, pouvez-vous vous imaginer mon malheur de carrément jeter à la poubelle tout ce que j'aurais normalement recyclé à la maison? Je rageais en dedans.

• PIRE. À la maison, j'utilise des bacs de plastique pour l'épicerie, des sacs durables et réutilisables pour les commissions et un sac en nylon pour le magasinage.  J'avais amené 2 sacs en nylon pour mes achats :o), mais rien pour l'épicerie.  Et ils en mettent des sacs en plastique!  Vous achetez des bananes, du lait, un pain et de la viande?  Vous allez sûrement vous retrouver avec 4 sacs parce qu'ils ne mélangent pas la viande aux autres éléments, le pain sera écrasé si vous le combiné à un autre item et ainsi de suite.  À la caisse, quand je le pouvais, je fourrais moi-même mes sacs pour éviter le gaspillage tellement ça m'horripile.

• Me badigeonner de crème solaire avec un FPS 50 et réussir à rôtir comme un poulet au four.  PIRE.  Les filtres solaires chimiques me donnent des points blancs.  Pas pire pour une esthéticienne, non?
• Avoir fait une réaction allergique au soleil.  Merci à ma prof en esthétique qui m'a indiqué que ça devait être une lucite estivale bénigne (en effet!).  "atteint pas de moins de 10 % des adultes. Son parcours est simple : épargnant le visage dans 80 % des cas, elle se localise sur le décolleté, les épaules, les bras, les jambes sans oublier parfois le dos des pieds et ce, dès le 2^ème jour d’exposition solaire intense ou prolongée de l’année. Aussi inconfortables qu’inesthétiques, on la remarque par l’éruption de petites taches rouges légèrement saillantes ressemblant à de l’urticaire ou de toutes petites cloques associées à de vives démangeaisons. 
  La lucite estivale touche surtout les femmes (dans 90 % des cas)."  Pile poil.  Je me serais grattée au sang! 
  • Rentrer à Montréal et être obligée de porter des bas et des souliers fermés :o(  
  
  
  
  
  J'attends impatiemment que la chaleur s'installe pour enlever mes ti-bas!

SAQ replies to "When Miss IPP Goes Shopping!"

First and foremost, thank you to my friend and reader, Dee, who sent an email to the SAQ's customer service suggesting they read my blog!  I thought that was hilarious and, well, it gave me more exposure.  Lol.  I apologize for the English readers as the reply came in French.

"Nous avons pris connaissance de l'article que vous nous avez suggéré de lire. Nous comprenons votre mécontentement concernant la situation. Nous sommes aussi conscients que vous déplorez la manière dont le gestionnaire de la succursale a réagi et non pas le fait que nous n'acceptions pas temporairement la carte de débit.  Nous sommes sincèrement désolés du déroulement de cette situation et tenons à nous excuser au nom du directeur.  Cordiales salutations,".

They thought she had written the article and that is besides my point.  I might have assumed the same thing.  Ain't it funny how monopoly allows certain companies to be so boring in their replies?  They don't care.  And I am not talking about offering me a free bottle (it would have helped) or sending me a discount coupon (not the end of the world, but they know I will have to go back to one of their stores for sure since I can only get great wines, liqueurs and strong alcohols at SAQ!).  They did not even bother asking at which location I had wasted my time.  They did not care to ask which store manager they could better train in order to help him achieve greater customer service. 

The fact that they do something or not with this specific information after obtaining it from the person who complains is not even that important.  What is important is that it would have given me the impression, and I use the term loosely, that they cared.  They obviously don't.  They apologize in the store manager's name, end of the story.  The guy will never hear about it, so why apologize in his name?  He's most likely to do it again (bad service).  Does this make me feel better about the kind of service I will receive upon my next visit?  Absolutely not.  Does it put my consumer frustration at ease?  Again, absolutely not.  It tells me that they deleted the email my friend sent and that was it.  Big whoop.

My article was about the lack of quality in their consumer care and service. I do not feel like this matter has been adressed.  They just apologized for having someone in a position he's not entirely qualified for.

En conclusion, le mandat de la SAQ est d'offrir d'excellents conseils et vin et spiritueux, et non pas d'offrir un service complet à sa clientèle.

Guess where I shall be driving to next week-end?  Ontario is less than an hour away. With cheaper prices on many bottles; LCBO, here I come!  ;o)

When Miss IPP goes shopping!

My first job was as a salesgirl in a kids' clothing store. I was 16 years old. Then I started as a CSR ("Customer Service Representative") working for Budget Rent-A-Car at the Montreal Airport. That followed by working as a cashier for the Airport Improvement Fees (a.k.a. the worst job EVER), then as an esthetician in a beauty salon and, finally, doing what I have been doing now for almost 10 years with the same company.

I currently am "Director of Public and Consumer Relations". The public relations part is fairly recent and, although I love what I do, it is still new to me and my story today mostly concerns the second portion: consumer relations or, for lack of a better expression; customer service.


I have been doing customer service all of my professional life (read above for proof). My professional life is resumed with one expression: serving people. Honestly, I have done other tasks in my work life and, although I am not usually one to toot her own horn, I know this is what I shine at. I have basically been doing customer service for half my life. I therefore have high expectations. Or... not really. I am very appreciative of great service. On the other hand, when something goes out of whack, this Customer is unhappy!


It's New Year's Eve and I am going to my mom's cousin's for dinner and then to my best friend's house for the late party. I needed at least two bottles of wine and so to the liquor store I went (communément appelée la SAQ). I arrive at the first location and go through the outside doors. I find myself reading a posting on the inside doors which goes: CASH and CREDIT ONLY. The store manager, who obviously noticed the question mark on my gorgeous pasty-white face (hey, if I don't compliment myself, who will?), peeks in and repeats what I just read on the door. "So..., no debit?", I ask, trying to make sure I am getting this right (the Holidays have been kinda rough on me and emptying my grandma's appartment made me a tad emotional. I feel in a little bit of a haze so I wanna make sure I clearly get the message). "No, no debit cards", he answers. Well, darn. I'm a debit kinda girl and I don't do credit cards! Back to the car I go and I think to myself: "Should I go to the bank, get money and come back or should I just drive to the other nearest location?" Nearest location it is.



I park near the second liquor store. I look on all the doors; no signs. I figure I am good to go. I walk in and I am greeted by the store manager who offers me a tasting of some white wine. I politely decline and move over to the Italian section. Or should I grab one of my favorite Australians (wine - that is)? I grab my two bottles and take my turn waiting in line for the cashes.


I wait. The store manager offers more customers a small glass of wine. He asks who is paying cash and moves them to a specific cashier. I wait some more. More customers. More wine offerings. I move over one step. "Paying cash? Right this way please", I hear him say again. This is not something unusual at this time of year. Cash transactions are much faster to complete and cashiers are often reserved for "cash only" so I am not startled. Yet. Did I mention I have my debit card in my hand? Wait another minute. Move one step further ahead. "White wine?" I have been in the store a good 15 minutes and waiting for at least 10, but I have the bottles I need and I am not the impatient type. The store manager tells a customer: "Right here if you are paying cash, this line for credit". I move forward. He notices my debit card. Now I feel somewhat impatient. "No debit?", I inquire. "No, no debit. The entire SAQ system has shut down and none of our locations are able to do debit transactions". I can now see inside my head. Two wires come closer together and, in my head, a short-circuit happens. I DEMAND better customer service!!! I hear other customers sigh and grunt.


Keeping calm (I can be very blunt, but not impolite and making a scene at any time is out of the question), I move toward the so-called store manager who has spent the last 15 minutes offering his customers a free small glass of wine. I remember the episode which happened about 40 minutes earlier at another location. "And you were not able to post a sign or something to let us know in advance instead of making us wait in line?", I tell him. "It only happened 30 minutes ago", he lets out. Whoa buddy... Wrong answer to the wrong person; I will beat you at this game, I promise. "This means, sir, that you have had 30 minutes to put up a sign!" I figured the other store manager was brilliant enough to work that out and tell his customers before they even walked into the store.


I open my recycled shopping bag and grab a first bottle, which I originally had the intention of buying. I put it in his hand. I grab the second bottle and he puts the plastic glass of wine down to grab my second bottle. "You could have put the bottles back on the shelves", he verbalizes. (Oh no, you didn't!, is what I hear inside my head. He hasn't heard a thing because I am talking to myself, but I have already warned him that I will beat him flat at this game. Can't he take a hint? Doesn't he see my eyes are loaded and ready to fire?) "Well, yes, I could have. On the other hand, you also could have put up a sign and inform your customers properly" I tell him, before putting my recycled bag back in my purse and heading out the door. He didn't risk a smart reply. Good for him.


I ended up taking with me bottles I already had at home! Nobody likes to waste time, even for a fine bottle of wine!


Happy New Year, everybody!