Pet Peeve of the Day

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

InCOMPetent USA's continued practice of not bringing in enough stock for ad items. An ad just broke yesterday for a bunch of stuff, including a 1 gig USB jump drive for $12, which according to their website, the Kaka'ako location had IN stock. So I go in yesterday and what? ZERO. ZIP. NODDA. NOTTIN'.

The guy tells me, "our system shows negative 30, so that could mean the corporate sales department sold all of them to a school or somethin'."

Jeeze - that's definitely peeve-worthy material, Pomai. Just curious - do you think being in Hawai`i also means that a company like CompUSA doesn't keep their Island stores stocked as well as they would Mainland ones, or is that just an old way of thinking?

[frankyP4lover]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

Ace Hardware Employees. What's the deal? Every Ace I go to on the island has disgruntled unfriendly employees. It's the worst customer service on the islands. Why don't people say hello back to you when you say hello when purchasing something? Is that too much to ask? They will be joking and smiling with other cashiers, then look at you with a frown. What is it about me that pisses them off so much? I've even tested it by smiling largely and being extra friendly. Still nothing.

This is not only a peeve with ace. I notice this in other places too, but always at Ace.

ahhhhh.... I feel better. Mahalo.

[frankyP4lover]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

1. Arsonists. Not only are the crimes they commit despicable and cowardly, these individuals are a drain on society. If they're looking for attention, one might suggest they immoliate themselves in the Afghan mountains with a wide-dispersal Napalm charge in protest of Dubya's ever-changing Iraq occupation goal. It might kill four birds with one stone: a) flash fry Osama in the process, b) prevent the terrorists & secterian combatants harming any more of our troops, c) prod the windbags in D.C. into pulling out of Iraq and ... d) get rid of the arsonists.

I agree. I got stuck in Lahaina overnight in my car the other day cause of these schmucks. I had to go back to work after sleeping in my car.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

Ace Hardware Employees. What's the deal? Every Ace I go to on the island has disgruntled unfriendly employees. It's the worst customer service on the islands.

Makes you wonder if it's a crappy place to work - the effect on morale of a bad company can be tremendous.

[Pomai]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

Jeeze - that's definitely peeve-worthy material, Pomai. Just curious - do you think being in Hawai`i also means that a company like CompUSA doesn't keep their Island stores stocked as well as they would Mainland ones, or is that just an old way of thinking?

Indeed there's shipping issues that factor in with retail in the islands, which is why planning ahead is crucial in running advertisement campaigns.

Not speaking for whatever CompUSA does from a corporate perspective, but as a CUSTOMER, I've encountered this problem way too many times attempting to buy items on ad from them.

Either that, or there's just way too much demand (over-populated) in Honolulu for the average retailer to keep up.

Frustrating.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

On Ace employees: Working for Home Depot we get a few from Ace. They tell us that management is not as good as HD so that tells me that Ace needs to work on their management team really badly.

On Ace sales ads: Yes being in Hawaii we do get shipments late. Home Depot in Hilo is as bad as the sales ads are nationally printed and distributed to local newspapers in time for the sale...however weather permitting, stock may or may not arrive on time on the docks in either Honolulu or the neighbor islands.

On Hilo we are dependant on Young Brothers to get the merchandise to us in time.

One of the problems with a national store such as Ace or Home Depot or even Sears or CompUSA is that the pricing is tied to a regional area such as the west coast pricing using UPC barcoding. This coding system tags an item into a national pricing scheme that is adjusted by the regional areas affects all stores in that region. So if on a sale date a certain UPC registers a sales price, every item with that code will ring up that way all across that region.

Once the sales are over, the UPC is readjusted to it's non-sales price. Okay so here we are in Hilo and YB couldn't sail because of bad weather or something. We get the sale products in three days after the sale ended and you try to buy it. The UPC will ring up the regular price instead of the sale.

Home Depot doesn't do rainchecks but if you squawk loud enough each store manager has the descretion to honor the sales price depending on inventory and sales plan projection conditions. A store manager cannot simply honor a sales for everyone simply because sales is reflected on staffing.

If your sales plan isn't met on a daily/weekly or monthly basis, your staffing is adjusted to meet the sales volume. Low sales plan = low staffing. Low staffing = low sales. If the manager allowed too many rainchecks on a given week, his sales plan is reduced due to the markdown prices. That in effect causes staffing to drop as well. When staffing drops, sales drops.

It's a catch-22 but national stores are tied to this and it affects everyone in a negative way. The store managers duty is to maintain stock and staffing. He cannot maintain staffing if his stock is sold lower than projected sales plans for that period. It's like cutting his own throat by offering prices lower than what the regional sales plan allows.

Hawaii and Alaska are unique that national sales affect us in a negative way. Is there a way around it? Unless the regional district distribution division sends out their products to facilitate Hawaii and Alaska's geographical situation we are sh*t outta luck. Can they do it? Regional can only ship out product to us when they receive it and there in lies the real problem.

Our (Home Depot) west coast distribution system is dependent on the manufacturer's ability to ship out product to our regional warehouses on the mainland. Manufacturers won't ship out special sale products or promotional goods until they decide to. This is due in part to ensuring product and/or pricing of products is not prematuraly retailed or advertised.

Why is this important? Because these manufactures sell to everybody. And each retail organization has a unique relationship with them so pricing is a guarded secret. If Lowes knew that Home Depot was selling a Dewalt 9-piece cordless tool set with a Home Depot $100 gift card as a cash reward, you can bet they'd use that information and make the jump to market their own store brand product to counter the projected loss sales when the sale goes public.

So manufacturers hold onto product until the last moment. Product usually gets out on time for the sales but for Hawaii and Alaska? Like I said, weather permitting.

It's all about marketing strategies and corporate pricing schemes. Too bad because in the end all of that ends up hurting the very people they're in business for...the customer.

[Sprite]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

Pomai, I can understand the frustration! They have told me on the phone that they have something; then when I physically get there, that they DON'T have it!

I don't know about you but when I want something, I want it... NOW! So, I have actually driven to Kapolei just because that inCOMPetent USA had what I wanted.

In all fairness, they have been good most of the time, but the bad stuff is like a bad stain, it's hard to remove from your memory when it happens -- especially when it happens more than once. Oh, and over-populated we are!

By they way, I asked you this on your blog, what kind of camera do you use?!? My stomach is always growling when I leave your blog! Your pictures are awesome!

[cynsaligia]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

"Cyn," are you using "Eric"'s account just to confuse us? Someone will probably get peeved about that.

no one is more peeved about it than me. eric's got the "remember me" thing turned on for his laptop. i signed him out, signed me in, and posted...under his name. admin can vouch that i asked late last night if it's possible for that post to be labeled properly with my name on it. i need to remember to preview post first, esp on his computer. my apologies to anyone who is confused, but hey--it's clear eric and i have very different writing styles and ways of expressing ourselves, eh?

You know, I've noticed that a number of your posts have to do with finding fault with other drivers' habits. Perhaps you need to find ways to chill out more when you have to deal with traffic lolos; they will always exist, they will always do things that put others at risk, they will always remain clueless about what they have done. The only thing you can control or change is how you deal with the situation.

Their behavior is never worth having a stroke over. The more you can relax and slough it off, the better your own driving experiences will be, and the less susceptible you will be to road rage (or causing it in others.) Drive nice!

admittedly, a number of my posts have to do with others' bad driving habits. what this should tell you is that i don't have a myriad of little peeves which get to me. bad driving is one of two things in this world that inspires such passionate aggravation in me (only the bush presidency has the same kind of effect).

let me also point out this pet peeve is something not as innocuous than let's say, oh, people parking in your reserved parking spot without your permission, or people giving you fake phone numbers or going to a movie only to have rude people yack throughout (all of which are very valid pet peeves) in that bad driving can have very severe consequences for others. people can die because of this thing that you suggest i "chill out" about.

their behavior might not be worth literally having a stroke over, but i wish more people would speak up and correct others (with a honk, or by calling their plates in to the cops) when they drive so poorly. that most of us allow such bad driving to become the norm by being silent and saying it's not worth having a stroke over just bites the big one. keep on this way, and more and more drivers will make left turns from lanes that aren't meant for left turns, will run red lights, go down the wrong way on one way streets, and talk on their cell phones, pick their nose, and smoke a cig all whilst driving.

i do drive nicely by the way. i check my mirrors, glance behind or to the side, as appropriate, i signal, i don't use my cell when driving, i abide by traffic rules and i do not bully my way through traffic. i make mistakes, sometimes, but they're rare. i know this sounds totally arrogant of me, but really--in terms of driving habits, i wish more people were like me.

the question is, leo--and you keep your answer to yourself--are you the kind of driver who would tick me off?

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

i wish more people would speak up and correct others ... that most of us allow such bad driving to become the norm by being silent and saying it's not worth having a stroke over just bites the big one. keep on this way, and more and more drivers will make left turns from lanes that aren't meant for left turns, will run red lights, go down the wrong way on one way streets, and talk on their cell phones, pick their nose, and smoke a cig all whilst driving.

Perhaps I should phrase it more directly. In today's world, yelling at someone in traffic, or leaning hard on your horn, or blowing an airhorn at them for what you judge as bad behavior on their part can get you killed.

Will it have been worth it then?

the question is, leo--and you keep your answer to yourself--are you the kind of driver who would tick me off?

[cynsaligia]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

Perhaps I should phrase it more directly. In today's world, yelling at someone in traffic, or leaning hard on your horn, or blowing an airhorn at them for what you judge as bad behavior on their part can get you killed.

Will it have been worth it then?

hey, people who make the deliberate decision to stand up for what's right have to be able to accept the possible consequences. this is my conviction, and you can wink at it all you want--just don't wink so hard when you're driving. you might cause an accident.

side note-i should correct a previous statement i made about there being only two things in this world that tick me off to this level. there are two things, and in a way, they're related: domestic violence, and the slow but definite trend towards reducing women's reproductive rights.

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

hey, people who make the deliberate decision to stand up for what's right have to be able to accept the possible consequences.

I guess we just put it on different levels of importance. I see a difference between "standing up for what's right" and imposing my judgement on the behavior of others. In the case you described, yes, the other driver was quite reckless - but you've also described situations where you reacted towards someone who simply blocked an intersection - stupid behavior on their part, to be sure, but if that's what you view as "standing up for what's right," my hope is that you choose someday to refocus your energies on other issues.

Like the ones that you said really raise your ire - those are all issues where you can look to your side (to the left, of course), and you will see me marching along with you. And all the cars will have to stop for us!

(And the "wink" was at the cleverness of your question in the previous post; I smiled when I read it. Let's keep my responses in context, please.)

[cynsaligia]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

I guess we just put it on different levels of importance. I see a difference between "standing up for what's right" and imposing my judgement on the behavior of others. In the case you described, yes, the other driver was quite reckless - but you've also described situations where you reacted towards someone who simply blocked an intersection - stupid behavior on their part, to be sure, but if that's what you view as "standing up for what's right," my hope is that you choose someday to refocus your energies on other issues.

Like the ones that you said really raise your ire - those are all issues where you can look to your side (to the left, of course), and you will see me marching along with you. And all the cars will have to stop for us!

(And the "wink" was at the cleverness of your question in the previous post; I smiled when I read it. Let's keep my responses in context, please.)

leo, you know what they say about unsolicited advice, and you also know what they say about the vagueness of non-verbal cues. i will leave it at that.

my pet peeve today is mysterious funny tummy. it's not quite the flu (thank god) but it's annoying enough.

[adrian]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

... when you use the bathroom and no one told you that the water is turned off.

[tutusue]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

... when you use the bathroom and no one told you that the water is turned off.

And, hopefully, you don't have ericncyn's "mysterious funny tummy"!

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Pet Peeve of the Day

leo, you know what they say about unsolicited advice

Best to remember that when offering it to other drivers, too.

Sorry to hear about your tummy. Hope you're feeling better already.