a blog for kate and gracie and friends
I miss Gracie. A lot. But it’s been over a year since she’s been gone and, for better or worse, I think Phoebe is here to stay. She’s still a lot and I still wouldn’t recommend getting a puppy when you have a two-year-old (or maybe ever), but we do love her. Especially on Friday nights when she’s had the chance to run off her puppy energy in day care. So, I changed the header. It’s been Gracie up there since I started this thing in 2007. I love you, Grace. And welcome, Phoebe.
![IMG_0378[1]](https://kateandgracie.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/img_03781.jpg)
It’s true! I’m hear to report that I have received amazingly awesome and outstanding customer service from two different companies in the last two months.
My first experience purchasing glasses from glasses.com has been crazy good. My glasses, purchased circa 2005, broke in two in November. I was wearing around my previous pair, which had been purchased in 1997. And had a decades-old prescription. And had been mauled by a Baby Gracie. But, buying glasses requires work, leaving my house and looking any mirrors. Kinda the trifecta of horror as far as I’m concerned. But unable to tolerate my heavy contact use or the metal digging into my brain from the dog-destroyed glasses, I knew I had to make a change. So I turned to the Google machine and quickly found glasses.com. The site advertised “free lenses” and “free shipping” so I was instantly intrigued. I will do a lot of things to avoid paying shipping costs. Including paying higher prices for the same products if the shipping is “free.” But what really sealed the deal was their awesome collection of kate spade glasses. I ordered this pair before I even realized that I could upgrade them to lighter lenses for “free.”* I think they came to the house in under a week and I was instantly smitten. After a day or so, though, I realized that they were just a little heavy so I decided to look at the website again. I found the free (I’m done with the marks – I think I’ve made my point) thinner lenses (which look like they’re not free right now) and chatted online with a customer service representative. I explained that I loved the glasses, but lighter would be nice. No problem, she said. She said to hang on to them until I received a new pair with a free return shipping label. Yowee! But I was kinda wondering where the hitch was going to be. I saw myself being overcharged down the road and having to spend hours on the phone straightening it out. I. Was. Wrong. My new glasses came even more quickly than the last ones. Hooray! I would just send the first pair back and be on my way to a new look. But, hold the phone on that. Before I could do much of anything, Phoebe found the newest pair, popped out a lens and broke the rest of them. Oy vey, this was embarrassing. But because chatting online is so much less petrifying than talking on the phone, I connected with another customer service agent and explained what had happened. Guess what? No problem, she said. Dogs love glasses, she laughed! [Just kidding. She could have been cringing for all I know.] What I do know, though, is that the third pair of glasses came two days later, I now have one awesome pair of glasses and have been charged the proper amount. I really can’t imagine buying glasses any other way again. Kudos to you, glasses.com!
My second fun (to me) story happened just yesterday. On Tuesday, I went to work in these cute shoes I bought from Banana Republic in March. Although they were cute, I realized too late that they were also too small. While I was wearing them this week, I had to take them off at work because they were just killing me in the toe box and in the heel. Ouch. As a former shoe salesperson, I know that it’s just not really a thing to be able to successfully return a worn shoe. But yesterday I thought, “If I have to have an EEG and an MRI in one day, I can email BR and beg for help. Plus, I’m 40 now. Time to take a chance. At least over email.” And guess what? They’re taking them back! Sure, I got a little bit of a lecture about their return policy, and was advised this is a one-time thing, but they are taking them back (and paying for shipping)! I mean, thank you Banana. Really, thank you.**
*I’m truly sorry about all of the quotation marks. No one hates unnecessary quotation marks more than I, but I don’t want you to think that I don’t understand that I’m really paying for all of these services in some way. Know what I mean?
**I also feel rather dumb about this entire post because I know that these products are made by people in horrible conditions who are criminally underpaid. And I know that any apology I make will sound hollow and be meaningless so I will just be quiet now and go.
Heather once told me that, in her experience, each new phase with a kid is better than the last one. But I also know that there’s a debate among parents as to whether having a two-year-old is actually easier than a three-year-old. I’m currently in the Heather Camp, but oy vey is someone being a pistol lately. And I don’t mean AO. Or Phoebe.
Things Molly currently says too frequently, too loudly, too weirdly, or all three:
I was at a conference for most of last week and last night we hosted Bear’s best friend and her parents for dinner. The conference was fine and the dinner was fun, but they’ve both left me spent. Being an introvert leaves me feeling pretty drained after lots of socialization. So, we decided to take today as a day of rest. Or, really, I did. Aaron did some grocery shopping and mowed the lawn. I enjoyed the rain and watching too many episodes of Friends.
Molly seemed pretty tuckered for most of the day, too, but recently pepped up and has spent the last hour or so running in and out of the backyard. Her cheeks are rosy and her smile is large. About two minutes ago, she came running in and said to me, “Where’s Phoebe?” I pointed to the couch. She said to me, “Phoebe’s friend is outside.” Then she walked over to Phoebe and got within inches of her nose and said to her, “Phoebe, your friend is outside!” She then went to the back door, opened it, waited for Phoebe to join her and the two of them went bounding out. Maybe Bear and Phoebe will be pals after all.
I have no idea what in the hell is going on. This morning, I got a ridiculously chipper call from Jennifer that a specialty scheduler would be calling me to schedule my tests. I asked her when she thought this special call would come. She said she imagined that it’d be today, but she couldn’t be sure. Sure. I waited. And waited. And waited.
Finally, just a few short moments ago, I steeled myself and called my doctor’s office. I said that while I didn’t know whom I should be talking to about this insanity, I’d been waiting to have tests scheduled for some time and I’d really like to get moving on it. She asked my name and date of birth and then … guess what? She transferred me to neurology and a very competent woman quickly took charge. She got two more people on the phone and within about one minute my EEG was scheduled (May 27) and my follow-up neurology appointment was scheduled, as well (June 3). I have to wait until maybe Monday to get an MRI appointment (something about something that I didn’t understand), but I have more faith in the unknown woman who said that she would call me back about it than I have had in any of these voices on the other end of the phone in sometime.
So, there you have it. Just. Keep. Calling. And calling. And calling.
UPDATE: And then, just because the story has to keep going, the Specialty Scheduler just called and offered me the May 27 appointment for the EEG. When I told her that I had already taken that one, she said, “Oh, they called you!” Uh, no. Definitely not. When she asked if I needed anything else from her, I said, “Well, I think I still need an MRI appointment.” Her response? “Someone else will be calling you about that.”
life and puppies 