Customerhell

Shaving the shower annoyances-Part 2

I will edit and finish this by end of the week!

Shaving in the shower annoyances-Part 1

 
I have been shaving in the shower for years. I find it relaxing and I get a better shave with fewer cuts and scrapes. 

For as long as I can remember, I used a product called Skinimate (gel) for sensitive skin. I really loved the way it left my skin soft and smooth. Without a doubt, a great shave!

Costly Change in Cannister Design

Then one day they changed the top from an easy-to-use one to what I am sure their marketing folks think is more streamlined. The costly and annoying problem is that if you drop the container in the shower, it cracks and sometimes falls off completely. Once it falls off you have lost access to the gel. Ugh!

Why the change from the tried and true valve system?  Maybe some member of this successful family-owned firm came up with what he or she thought was a brilliant idea? Who knows? The end result is that they lost a loyal customer. And lord knows how many more?

Needless to say,  I looked for a brand with the “tried and true valve system” that could not fall apart if dropped on the tile floor of a shower. It took awhile to find a brand that also did NOT irritate my skin.

For all you shave-in-the shower-folks here is the winning brand:

Aveeno Ultra-Calming Shave Gel
It is "Dermatologist recommended. Helps visibly reduce redness. Calms dry, easily irritated or sensitive skin. No added fragrance. With naturally calming feverfew. This uniquely formulated shave gel helps to calm and soothe red, dry, irritated or sensitive skin. The nourishing formula contains naturally calming feverfew - an ingredient known for its soothing properties, and leaves skin feeling moisturized and calm long after shaving. Aveeno Ultra-Calming Shave Gel provides a close, smooth shave and helps protect against razor bumps, nicks and cuts. You'll notice improvements in your red, sensitive skin, and your skin won't feel dry, tight or irritated. Discover Aveeno Active Naturals. Simply put, Active Naturals are ingredients derived from nature and uniquely formulated to reveal skin's natural health and beauty. Essential Active Naturals: Skin-calming feverfew."

No question in my experience with this product that what they say about it is right on target. Great shave that leaves my skin soft and happy!

Moreover, it is available in supermarkets and chain drug stores. In some cases less expensive than my old brand!

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Safety Tops, Aren't You Sick of Them?

I grew up in an “adult centered world.”  Children were expected to be polite and respectful of adults.  Parents were responsible for their children's welfare and behaviors. Parents kept dangerous materials away from their children so only adults had access to them.

Today, we live in a child-centered world. We use the “child-centered” politically correct focus as an excuse to censor the Internet, books, television, and to create irritating package and product designs in the name of child safety.

You know what folks, enough is enough. Child safety has reared its ugly head in my life and now I have to change my brand of dish washer detergent:

 

The brand on the left which I like a lot and have been using for years just changed to a “squeeze to remove” safety cap. So annoying. Every time I do the dishes I really get ticked off.

1. Did the Cascade cap design people forget that older folks have to open this too? It can be very painful (or impossible) for a senior citizen with arthritis to open the container!
2. Did they do a usability test with adults before changing the cap configuration?
3. Did they consider that even without arthritis, it is an annoying change for their loyal customers?
4. Did they consider the pharmaceutical industry's solution to safety caps?  It is a  reversible cap. One configuration for adults and another for the children who are not being properly supervised by their parents.

Obviously, I will be moving to the Palmolive product on the right which has an easy open flip top!

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Who Stole My Baking Soda Toothpaste?

It seems to me that as time goes by the “young, Gen Y” hotshots in the marketing departments of many great companies are intent on losing old-line, tried and true customers by discontinuing the product that brought their company loyal and  repeat customers!

Case in point. Arm and Hammer Baking Soda is probably in every household in the USA. When I was a boy, my mother taught me that baking soda right out of the yellow box was a great toothpaste if you could get beyond the taste. Years later, Arm and Hammer came out with a mint flavored, baking soda toothpaste. Doing what my mom said, I quickly adopted it!

For years I was a happy camper, cleaning my  teeth with mint flavored baking soda and honoring my mother’s folk wisdom at the same time. Alas, this state of bliss was doomed, I suspect by Arm and Hammer’s marketing folks.  It was supplanted by Arm and Hammer’s versions of “White, Whiter and More White” toothpaste (each version chock full of things like Fluoride or Peroxide or  what have you)  to match the competitive toothpaste whiting and botox craze that has descended upon us all!

Even if I could make the transition taste-wise there is a major catch for me here. I have caps on my front teeth. Whiteners DO NOT work with caps. If you use them, some teeth will become whiter than others!

So here we are a victim of the Arm and Hammer’s marketing department. The question that I  have for A&H is why not keep the old tried and true toothpaste on the shelf along with the other versions? On the other hand, you can understand the approach. There are so many choices for toothpastes on the shelves in all brands that it has become a consumer nightmare!

In the meantime, I guess I will have to open a yellow box of baking soda like my mother taught me 60 years ago. And yes, I have an open yellow box  in my fridge. It still keeps down the odors!

We also use their A&H Laundry Detergent, the hypoallergenic one for sensitive skin. In recent years I often have to special order this version at the supermarket. Is this product next in line to get the market department’s guillotine?

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How Federal Express sent me to Hell and back!

We moved. Our advice is: ‘don’t move!” or plan to spend 2.5 hours trying to get your address corrected with Federal Express.

My recent encounter with Federal Express’s web site is an example of how an otherwise good company with an excellent performance record (we have a nearly 20 year history with them) really ticked me off, sucked up tons of my time, and sent me to hell and back trying to change our company address so I could send a document to a waiting client before a 4:30 p.m. drop off time. Talk about anger and frustration.

The address change problem stemmed from the fact that there are not one, not two, but three places illogically located on their website where addresses must be changed separately.

I found one of the places and dutifully filled out the online form. However, when I printed out the airbill, it still had the old address on it.

I went back to the drawing board and eventually found a second place to change the address. When I opened that link it was quite clear that this address change link did not talk to the previous address change link because the form was blank. So I filled out the second online change of address form. However, when I  printed out the airbill again, it still had the old address on it.

I proceeded to go through the telephone help cycle process (another form of purgatory). In the end, I lucked out and found a help desk agent who knew how to change our address in all three places.  Of course, it meant that I had to fill out the address form THREE times to complete the process.

Now you ask yourself, why didn’t a huge, successful company do a usability study before building the site. If they had, this annoying change of address conundrum would have been caught and fixed in the early site development process.

With UPS, DHL and USPS among other competitors just a click a way, it doesn’t make sense does it? In fact, I am seriously looking at the possibility of changing to one of the competitors. My basic concern is will the competitor’s website be easier to use?  Ease of use is what ALL customers want!

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What Does" Grandfathered" mean?

We just moved (only 4.5 miles) and our Time Warner monthly charges went up $15.00 /month for the same services. We were supposed to be "grandfathered" on the monthly charges but apparently you are not if you move even if you elect the exact same services. Seems very unethical to me.

This is the kind of behavior that makes customers want to go to a competitor. I am now considering AT&T. Will I be going from the frying pan into the fire?

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