Most of us engage in e commerce, and the other day, while recovering from a nasty summer cold and being annoyed I couldn't see the new grandson yet, I dealt with two disparate companies. The great news is that D1 is coming home from the hospital today, with her and Joey's NEW Little man,and I plan to race on up to the house and hold the lad. I also miss his big brother, who has thrived in his parents' short absence, with his paternal grandma spoiling him even more than usual.
Actually -- I spoke too soon. Turns out Wifey has a bacterial throat infection following HER cold, and she's on antibiotics. So even though I'm recovered, we'll hold off meeting the new guy until Monday -- at his bris. FaceTime will have to suffice for the next few days.
But back to e commerce. Monday night, Wifey and I decided to celebrate the birth with pizza. I use an app called Slice, which apparently pizza places much prefer over Uber Eats, since they charge very little. Our last pizza came from old standby DiNapoli, and it was kind of dry. So I went with another nearby place, Chicago Manhattan Pizza. We ordered from there years ago, back when I had to actually pick it up, and it was ok, but I figured let's give them a chance. I put in the order at 7:30, and the app said we'd have our pizza and wings by 830 at the latest.
830 came, and I went outside, fending off cannibalistic mosquitoes. The app said driver was "arriving now." He was not. So I texted the customer support guy, "Noah," and he said he would contact the restaurant. Meanwhile, our neighbor, who used to own the sports bar next to the pizza place, drove up, and I mentioned I was waiting for pizza from his old business neighbor. He said it should be quick -- Manhattan Chicago was "dead" -- bunch of guys standing around -- and they were probably happy to have the order on a Monday night.
Noah gave me corporate speak answers. "The restaurant is slammed tonight." No, I told Noah -- an eyewitness told me they were quite the opposite. The back and forth lasted a full several paragraphs, and finally I told Noah to just cancel. He said he could not -- the restaurant had to.
Why, I asked Noah, could Slice take my money, but not cancel the order? No answer. Finally, at 930 or so, the driver arrived -- apologetic. He said Slice never sent the order on time. A Ha! The pizza was mediocre, also.
So Spice is off my app list. Lying, slimy jerks.
In complete contrast is Filter Buy, the place I get my AC filters. I have used them for years, and although they might be a tad more expensive than Home Depot, they always have all sizes in stock and ship in three days.
I had a new AC unit installed in the Bonus Room, and it uses 17.5 inch filters. Problem was, in September I had ordered 4 14 inch replacements. Filter Buy said purchases within 60 days were completely refundable. But I wrote them anyway. The 4 filters cost about $50, which is my tipping point for following up with stuff.
I got an email the next day from Paolo. He said to give away the old filters to charity -- apparently Goodwill accepts them, and, to thank me for my customer loyalty, they were sending SIX new ones for free -- a $70 gift!
I told Paolo to pass on his company now had a customer for life, and I have 4 separate AC units! Plus, I would be happy to sing their praises on Social Media.
The food in NYC is so good because of all the competition -- any crappy place gets ignored quickly. Miami is fast approaching that status, too -- plenty of good pizza within a 10 minute drive of our house. Also, plenty of working apps to arrange delivery. We have sliced away SLICE.
But these are just minor inconveniences. We're just hoping for smooth sailing until Monday, when we will host the new little man's entrance into our tribe.
We have a hell of a band going -- sort of like the American Jewish version of the Rolling Stones, or The Who. Nice when we add a new member.
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