Tag Archives: service

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Mission Accomplished: Truck fixed and Walmart saved.

My 2008 ford EscapeAs per my previous post, I have been having a small issue with my truck, a 2008 Ford Escape. I was experiencing a nasty vibration while accelerating that would shake the centre console and rear of the truck quite bad. Well, on the advice of a co-worker, I took the truck to a different repair shop than my usual place, having described the problem and letting them know what I suspected after deploying my ninja like Google skills and having a family member and friend both suggest the same thing…. bad U-Joints on the drive train.
I dropped the truck off at King Performance this morning, confirmed the issue and went to work.  I spent most of the day waiting for the “it’s done” phone call, and had to wait until 3:40pm to get it… All done! Stopped in after work and was not surprised to find out that they replaced both the front and rear U-Joints on the drive shaft… and guess what? Vibration gone. Now I just have a minor vibration at highway speed, but I suspect the tires are in need of re-balancing and rotation… but at least I can accelerate now and not feel like the truck will shake apart.

Walmart LogoOn to the next item. I had stopped at Walmart near work to pick up some soft cat food for the 3 Mouseketeers, and also wanted to grab some new dog treats for Longdog. As I was browsing through the treat selection, I noticed the O’l Roy brand, that I had previously purchased in a 3kg jar, was also available in smaller jars, and for smaller dogs, as the large jar was for medium to large dogs. I noticed something odd about the small jars… they said that they also contained 3kg’s of treats, so I picked it up… nope, didn’t feel like 3kg’s, so I compared to the big jar, and could feel the weight difference right away. I decided to take a closer look at the label and noticed that the label was exactly the same, including the UPC code. Luckily, one of the staff members was nearby stocking the shelves, so I called them over to ask them if they had noticed the incorrect label. The associate has surprised to see the wrong label on the small jar and figured that there must have been a mix up with the supplier, so she proceeded to remove the problematic jars from the shelve and thanked me for pointing it out. We both agreed that it was better to catch the problem now, as opposed to having an angry customer at the check out. I ended up getting a small jar of O’l Roy treats with gravy flavour and the correct label, for small and toy dogs.

 

 

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Walmart wins a Customer Service Star… if I had any to give.

Customer Service StarI knew when I bought my new tires and rims last fall that I was entitled to tire rotation every 10,000km, but apparently, I was also entitled to complimentary seasonal tire change service. Considering the level of service I have encountered at other establishments recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my tire change was free, since I had originally purchased the tires at Walmart.

This is the second time that Walmart has really stepped up the customer service, at least for me. Last time it was when I was trying to get new winter rims for my truck. I had originally gone to Canadian Tire, seeing as they have Tire in the name, one would think that they would be good with rims and tires. I showed up for my scheduled appointment, wondered around for over an hour, just to be told that they didn’t have the rims in-stock (after making the appointment, stating that they had them…). I decided to give Walmart a try, seeing as how they only do oil changes and tires (I guess they do some sort of under coating too), I figured they might be able to get rims at a decent price. We scheduled an appointment, after they checked that they would have rims in, and I also needed my winters tires mounted. When appointment day arrived, April at Walmart called me, while I was still on the highway, heading into work, to let me know that they didn’t get the rims in. She then said that she would find out when they came in, set 4 aside and give me a call, and also squeeze me into the daily schedule when they came in to make up for the trouble.

Walmart LogoI only had to wait a week for the call that my rims were in, and I could get the winter tires mounted. Talk about service.. you can pat yourselves on the back for that one Walmart. I have an oil change coming up soon, and I know where I will be looking to first. Keep up the good service.

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Tim Hortons, oh how you have let me down on coffee.

Tim Hortons Coffee

It’s a Canadian icon, one of the largest corporations in the country and an integral part of our plans to take over american business (especially coffee). Yes, I am speaking of Tim Hortons, the gold standard in coffee shops in this wonderful country of ours (Canada that is, just to clarify for any of you foreign visitors).

So, now time to get onto the topic at hand. I have for the past few years found that the quality of Tim Hortons coffee has gone downhill, as has their service, food quality and the value. Oh, and don’t get me started on Roll Up the Rim to Win… 2/30 this year.

Let me start with the coffee, since it is their speciality. More often then nought recently, I have found the the coffee has had a burnt taste and on numerous occasions contained coffee grounds. I know they like to push their “Always Fresh” policy, where each pot of coffee should be served within 20 minutes of brewing. So with said policy in place, one has to wonder how they get a burnt flavour… unless it comes down to the cleaning of the machine and carafe.
Service, it used to be a strong point in Tims favour, now it seems to be an after thought. I frequent the same location near work a few times a week, and have noticed that the wait times, both in-store and at the drive-thru, are to a point bordering on ridiculous. In-store has seen me (and others) wait 5-10 minutes, with the same person that takes your order, making it… which I find slows things down, and the Drive-thru, normally well staffed has seen wait times of 7-15 minutes… yes, I waited 7 minutes between placing my order and getting my coffee, and I was the 3rd car in the line!
The food quality, well… that dropped when the doughnut size started getting smaller (see the bit about value) and when they switching in 2006 to using the centrally made made pastries, which get frozen and then shipped to each store. I no longer buy any doughnuts… unless I’m really desperate or hungry.
Lastly, the value is gone. The pre-made, smaller doughnuts… and the cup size change, although it looks like a deal, was carefully attached to a price change. What most people used to consider an Extra Large, became a Large… but kept the Extra Large price… the same filtered down to the other sizes… size got bumped up, as did the price, but they marketed the change using a “You can continue to order the same coffee” campaign. This also was a careful ploy to get us buying larger coffees… and getting addicted to the larger drinks.

I for one, am switching to McDonalds coffee… or K-cups.