It's Sunday morning, and I'm still working on my first 24 hours in NY. So, both my parents realize I am in NY, much to their amazement. I think they were extremely surprised, and happy that I was there. I mean we don't have too many more Christmas together on this planet, because of many reasons, but mainly because we are getting older, and of course the health issues. But let's not be too morbid here, let's be happy! Oh yeah, no luggage yet.
Our family has this tradition which has been going on for decades, that being the week or so before Christmas we all go out to eat together, all the families, in-laws, everyone, and my dad picks up the tab. This started, and has morphed from when we were little children, and our dad gave each of us kids a money envelope, which started with $5.00, so that we would have money to buy Christmas presents for each other, and for mom and dad too. As we got older, the amount gradually increased, and then he started giving us these Commemorative U.S. Mint Coins, usually in silver, for different occasions. I still have a few that I did not pawn. Then came the dinner out when we all reached adulthood, and I think the money part ended while I was on one of my multi-year vision quests. I don't know the exact year though, and then the coin thing also ended. So, today it is just the big get-together with the meal. This is the 1st one I attended since my last visit to NY in 2004. This year it was at the Copperage in Waiting River, NY. I didn't have any casual dress clothing because, you guessed it, my luggage was in Northwest Airlines limbo land. This brunch took place @ 11am Sunday morning on December, 21 2008. It was really nice, even though I was the only one there not dressed appropriately. I do travel a lot, just not to NY, and I always carry an extra set of clothing, usually a pair of shorts, t-shirt and socks. So, there I was, in the Copperage, in a pair of shorts, a Pirates tee shirt, sneakers and socks, and no one said a word, although I did get some strange looks. It was enjoyable, and I love seeing everyone after 4 years.
Northwest Airlines has a web page on their website where you can check on your luggage. All you have to do is enter the number the Baggage Service office gave me when I filed the missing luggage claim. It says 2 things, one being when they received your luggage (At LaGuardia) and when it was delivered. It doesn't qualify what those 2 things actually mean, but what would one expect from these idiots.
When we got back from the Copperage, it was contact NWA (From here on, NWA will stand for Northwest Airlines.) time, as the luggage had not yet arrived. There was an 800 number both on my missing luggage receipt, and on their website, and they were identical. Amazing! So, I checked online, and lo and behold, it did not show that they had received it yet, although the night before we were told it was coming in on the next flight from Minneapolis. Oops, somebody told a lie. You will notice that we were lied to on a regular and constant basis. Now that is what I call great customer service. Oh, and it gets better. So, for the next couple of hours I kept checking the website, and nada, nothing, blippo on my luggage's' status. So, now I start using the PHONE! It is now around 3pm, and the promise that my luggage would be on the 10am delivery or 1pm delivery seem to ring hallow. More lies!
We all love those calls to customer service when we get recordings, and multiple numbers to push to get certain information, and nothing really gets accomplished, ever. My 1st call was basically an audio version of what the website said, with the final comment, "our information is updated regularly with the latest information". Tell me, what would they update it with? The oldest, 3, 4, 5- day old information? And the thing about these calls was that there was no # or button to push to get a live human being, either from here or Bangladesh! What were they thinking? Then on my 3rd or 4th time calling, an error occurred, and I somehow got patched through to customer service (I thought it was customer service for just luggage claims or complaints, but I was mistaken, as @ NWA, that does not exist. You end up at customer service for reservations, but they can check on your luggage on their computer, sort of like I could on my brother's.) and spoke to my first human. This was on Sunday, around 4:30pm EST. She said it appears my luggage was checked in a LaGuardia that morning, and no, it did not come in on Flight 184 the night before like I was told the previous night (Imagine if we had waited for it that night? We would have been some pissed off campers!) and so the lies started on Saturday Night, with Lies #ed- 1,2, and 3 happening that night. If I counted them all, it would probably end up in the dozens. Just to say this now, there was one young lady, Wendy who was either a truly compassionate person, who actually tried to go above and beyond the call of duty, or just a kind and dedicated employee, not yet jaded by her job. But this didn't happen till Monday Night. She even gave us the actual land line phone number for the Baggage Services Office at LaGuardia, when many others said they couldn't (Or wouldn't) do that. Kudos to her, and only her. NWA should take some lessons from her, because they said every time before you were actually going to get a human, that they may be recording this for training purposes. These assholes are basically clueless!
Well, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (Texas vs Ohio St.) will be on soon, and I just love football, so to be continued...
1 comment:
"And the thing about these calls was that there was no # or button to push to get a live human being, either from here or Bangladesh!"
I hate going from menu to menu with nothing useful happening and no opportunity to speak to a human.
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