More Kudos for Peggy and Newman's Own

I e-mailed Peggy at Newman's Own Organics today to thank her for the quick response and the coupon. Figuring that she wouldn't get it 'til tomorrow I wanted her to know my appreciation.

Imagine my surprise when I received a reply from her a short time after sending my e-mail. It's amazing! Simply amazing. And...it's Sunday!!

Of this you can be assured...I will always recommend Newman's Own Organics for their premier customer service and desire to give their customers the best products and will also incorporate my experience with them in my customer service, sales, management, and related courses, workshops, and speeches.

Thanks again Peggy!!

Newman's Own Organics comes through

Unbelievable!

Three cheers for Newman's Own Organics!!

If you recall, back on the 24th I e-mailed Newman's Own about their Dark Chocolate Espresso bar. Peggy, the Director of Customer Relations, responded quickly and told me to send them my addrees and they'd mail me a coupon so that I could try some of their 'new' or other products. I did that on the 24th and guess what? They sent out a letter with the coupon on...hold onto your chair now...the 24th!! Got it right here.

All I can say is "Wow!"

Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, LinkedIn, MySpace and more

Social networking has always been a vital part of business and personal growth.

Years ago a friends of mine named Steve Shaiman had this idea about using the internet to create social networks. So...even before there were Facebooks and blogs, Twitters and Plaxos, there was Steve. He was so sure that it would work that we'd meet for hours about it.

Well Steve, you were right! I tip my hat to you!!

I'm a blogger and a Facebooker, a Twitterer who doesn't tweet (which, by the way, is a synonym for chirping, a word I used on my leadership blog but I didn't want to get into it there, as I am here), a MySpacer who found his space more efficiently and effectively on Facebook, and a Plaxoed LinkedInner who participates but hasn't quite gotten the hang of either of them yet.

Facebook has enabled me to connect with lots of current friends and re-connect with folks I haven't seen or heard from in years. Sometimes decades. It's a phenomenal phenomenon. In fact, I had coffee late Friday afternoon with the cousin of an old Mt. Airy (the neighborhood in Philly where I 'grew up') friend. The cousin's also originally from here but now lives in San Diego. We had a great discussion about baseball, business, music, and life. Never woulda met the guy if it wasn't for Facebook.

I love to learn and social networking gives me the ability to have interchanges with all types of folks, learn new things, and think in new ways.

I'm a relative virgin (if that's not an oxymoron...like being a 'little pregnant') at all this but my friends are showing me techniques to enhance my experience. So...Facebook me, blog with me, but for right now...don't Twitter me 'cause I might not be able to tweet you back!

Hmm - I think I'll LinkIn to my Plaxo and try to find Mrs. Childress who might be hiding on another social network called VeriZoned in another solar system. You didn't think I'd let that slide, did ya?

When is life stranger than fiction?

When you go to the bank, cash a check and then try to deposit some of the money into your account and the teller says that she can't do it because she just cashed a check for you.

So...you move to the next window and deposit the money and you ask the teller if it's ok and she says, "Of course." Yes...I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone - Do do do do...do do do do.

And yes dear readers that happened to me today.

Perhaps the first teller was actually performing Bank Karaoke - a new form of bizarre customer entertainment. No...I did not continue any conversation with her once she gave me that interstellar explanation. I figured I'd leave any additional discussions with her to the next customer...perhaps a Verizon employee.
Do do do do...do do do do.

Paul Newman would be proud

After having trepidations about the folks about Newman's Own Organics, I took Jen's advice (she's the woman who works at Whole Foods) and e-mailed them through the Newman's Own's website.

Miracle of miracles...they actually responded. And, quickly! Whoa...what's happening?! First Whole Foods, then Newman's Own. Proof that customer service lives in the good old U.S. of A!!

Peggy (from Newman's) sent me an e-mail explaining their reasons for changing chocolate (to a higher quality version - hmm...what have I been eating all along? Ok I'll let that slide). She told me about new products and ones they're discontinuing. Good information for a dark chocolate nut like me.

And, she said that she was sorry that I was disappointed in the 'new' Espresso Bar. Plus to make up for my lack of product enthusiasm she'd be happy to send me a coupon so that I could sample one of their new products.

Wow...all this in less than a day. Are you listenin' Mrs. Childress?!

Paul, I hope that you're lookin' down and reading this. You taught 'em well.

I should have known it when they changed the label

I'm a creature of habit when it comes to my breakfast. A hot bowl of oatmeal heaped with strawberries, walnuts, blueberries, and banana. All topped with a tea spoon of honey (or brown sugar). Then...after a mug of green tea, I finish everything off with a square of Newman's Own Organic Espresso Dark Chocolate...mmm...I can taste it now.

Except: Paul Newman died and they hijacked his 100% Premium Chocolate. Tu (that's an ethic "spit on the ground in distain").

I went to Whole Foods last week and couldn't find my Newman's Own. The wrapper was clean: Paul and his daughter Nell sporting the front and proclaiming it's organic heritage and how much the company had given to charities. White and Brown...easy to see, but not visible. I engaged the customer service desk and Jen came over to help me. Lo and behold, there it was - above its usual shelf position and re-packaged in a dark and light brown paper with no Paul and Nell (they turned out to be miniaturized on the back). Hmm...somethin's fishy in Newmanville.

Home I went with my two Espresso bars (not to be confused with the java joints of the same name). A couple days later my "original" bar had reached its end and I opened my "new" Newman. Tu...gritty, not as tasty, Tu.

Why the heck do companies pull that crap? Always screwin' with the formula. Usually by somebody who wants to show their "creative" worth in the employment que. "Hey...let's re-package it, now that Paul's at the great race track in the sky, and change the formula - I think it needs an upgrade." Newman would have had his or her hide (God love 'im).

So...I mosey into Whole Foods tonight on my way home from my usual Sunday activities and say hi to Jen. In passing...I tell her that the chocolate wasn't as good as it's predecessor. I figured I'd update her on the news since she was so helpful.

Immediately she came over to me, walked me to the chocolate aisle and said, "Pick out two other bars. Customers should be satisfied and I know how much you liked that original chocolate." I was floored! This certainly wasn't Verizon!!

Huh? I'm not used to that kinda customer service. I did as I was told. Dark Chocolate? Two bars? Pour Moi? Oui? Yum.

Now, how do I get Whole Foods to get into the multiple voice mailbox telephone business? Hmm...

Oh yeah, Jen suggested I e-mail Newman's Own. I'm on it like a jet!

It's Spring!

Finally we can say it's Spring. But, let's face it folks...it wasn't much of a winter here in the Philly area. Cold at times, sure...snow, not much. More Arctic ice melting as we neglect moving to electric and/or air cars (and a whole bunch of other environmentally friendly things).

Maybe if AIG gave out bonuses for curing our environmental problems it would be done by now!

Ya think anyone really cares about stakeholders and NOT shareholders? Geez, I hope so.

Get ready to smell the flowers...everyone on board? Callahan!

A superb article about Verizon's lack of customer service

Here's a link that Courtney sent me. The article gets to the heart of my (and, so it seems, so many other's) problem.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/verizon_customers_-_just_say_no.php

St. Patrick's Day, Hanukkah, and Christmas

Only in America.

It amazes me sometimes how innovative (or shall we say...expansive) we Americans can be when it comes to holidays.

Not long ago St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in Ireland as a religiously based holiday. It was America that re-defined it and made it into a version of a heavy drinking Mardi Gras (if that's possible). And then sent it back over to Ireland with its new identity!

We also made Hanukkah much bigger than it is (or was) in Israel (and within the Jewish community), since it started out as a rather minor festival.

And...Christmas as we know it is as American as apple pie. It wasn't until the mid-1800's that department store owners realized that it could be transformed into a commercial holiday.

So, there we have it! Three American holidays that are celebrated around there world...all dressed up in international commercial ventures.

But, what the heck. HAVE FUN and ENJOY 'EM!

Cavalier doesn't have multiple voice mail boxes

Nope...tried! It woulda been nice to do the old Verizon switcheroo but, no such luck.
Let's see, who's next on the list? Vontage!
Oh Mrs Childress...where are you?

A conversation with beings from another solar system

Brian posted this in his comment to my No Voice Mail Help post a few days ago.
It's awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJ3Oz5JVKs
Listen to it and you'll understand that life does exist on other heavenly bodies in the universe. Except they have a different sense of reality...THIS IS PROOF!!

Jilted by Verizon

Ehh...what can I say? I've been left at the alter by Mrs. Childress. Ok, so maybe she's already married but - she promised.

I was supposed to hear from her by 6:00 P.M. yesterday (see my http://leadershipinbusiness.blogspot.com post from March 10). Now I'm floating in the Verizon Solar System like an astronaut who's lost his grip on his space vehicle. Just drifting in the darkness towards the gravitational pull of the nearest heavenly body. Hmm...would that be Cavalier of me? Or perhaps Vontagesque?

I can see it now. Take your stinkin' voice mail system and insert it in your rocket booster! That's right...I'm thinkin' of abandoning ship. After years of being your buddy...through Bell Telephone, Bell Atlantic, and now the dreaded Verizon I've reached the precipice of the land line Black Hole. That all consuming energy source that sucks you in and spits you out into the other side of space, or...NOWHERE!! Ouch!

My mission awaits. All I have to do is figure out my strategy. I know...I'll call Mrs. Childress and leave her a voice mail! Hmm...I wonder if she'll ever be able to retrieve it. After all...she has Verizon (why do I feel like laughing one of those ghoulish laughs right now?!)

Voice mail help with no voice mail help

It's time to change the prompts on my company's voice mail system. So...rather than wait until the "work week" I figured I do it on my own.
I called Verizon's 1-800-870-0000 Voice Mail help line at around 1::00 EDT on Sunday (today - March 8th) and guess what?! It kept ringing and ringing and ringing! Hmm...I better advice them about getting voice mail. Maybe I should put them in touch with Cavalier!

You'd think they'd be the first to have it set up. Earlier today it seemed to be working. Not much help, but working. Then...BINGO! ZIPPO, ZERO, NADA!!

What the heck is it about the phone company? It used to be that someone was always available to help. Now, it's call back during "normal" business hours. Like your phone actually knows what "normal" business hours are when it needs some sort of maintenence. Guess that's why Verizon's market share keeps shrinking.

HELLO!!

The Blizzard of '09

Again! Another call for excessive snow fell flat.

I recall President Obama's amusement when the D.C. schools were closed a few weeks ago because of a little ice and snow.

The Philadelphia area was braced for 6 to 8 inches (or more) and yesterday I couldn't find a cart at the supermarket...people were shopping like they were gonna be trapped in their homes for a month. What's with that?! The store ran out of milk! Do shoppers think that all the cows will freeze to death? Don't people listen to the week's forecast and realize that it'll all be melted within a few days.

As I was pushing the white stuff off my walkway (the snow was so soft and light that I didn't have to lift the shovel to move it) I started to laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing. Fear is a great motivator (but only in the short run)...it sells advertising time on the radio and TV and gets us to listen and/or watch the news and weather. However, it can also have the reverse effect (see my Rush Limbaugh thoughts on my leadershipinbusiness blog).

I think many of us have grown skeptical of fear mongerers whether they're in politics, the supermarket, or in the weather/news business. At least I hope so. Certainly in politics and the U.S. news media so many of the personalitites have become clownish...cartoon characters with outsized egos. I know that, when it comes to snow, it's better to be safe than sorry, but...when you look at the results over and over and over again don't you start to wonder that maybe the snow was pushed harder on us than we had to push the snow!