Painting through customer service

Spring has arrived, for the most part, and it is the season of paint and deck stains.  This is that time of year when people dolefully look at their decks and realize they need to do something to slow down the aging process.  This is also that very important time of year when retail associates, especially those selling paint and stains, need to polish off their customer service skills.  While the vast majority of customers we deal with are honorable, we also need to deal with the liars, scam artists, and thieves.  Here is a prime example from yesterday.  Late in the afternoon an irritable customer came up to the paint desk complaining that earlier in the day a paint associate had sold him the wrong color stain.  Now occasionally this will happen when we will accidentally mix the color to the left or to the right, mistakes do happen.  The customer claimed he had asked for 4 gallons of Bordeaux (a dark purple color) and my associate had mixed Grand Cayman (a pale orange color).  There were seven different color paint chips between the Bordeaux and the Grand Cayman, and the associate in question has been mixing and tinting paint for 17 years.  That kind of mistake never happens.  But, demonstrating good customer service, I offered to mix him 4 more gallons.  He was happy with that, so, grabbing a swatch book and put a check mark in the correct color and asked if he wanted the premium or the regular stain.  He pointed to the premium, so I put a check there.  I had just started tinting the 2nd gallon when he began complaining I was mixing the wrong stain, that he did not want the premium quality and that I had made a mistake.  When I showed him the swatch book, he claimed that I had checked the wrong box.  Ha ha.  For those of you who don't know, this is an old trick.  Think of it as bait and switch from a customer perspective:  they pick an expensive finish and claim you made the mistake, that they wanted the cheaper finish, so you need to give them the paint or stain at a cheaper price.  His problem was that he thought I was farther along in the tinting process.  I demonstrated my good customer service skills by smiling and mixing him 4 gallons of the cheaper stain.

Now I'm not saying that this customer was a scumbag, but his behavior does fit the pattern.  Each one of those gallons will be retinted, each to a different color, and marked down as a mis-tint.  You see there are people who have a bad habit of changing their mind after they've returned paint.  The lower, mis-tint price has a way of making the color more attractive.  I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up on Tuesday to see to see if those 4 gallons were now in a color he could live with.  It's a sad way of trying to keep some people honest.  

Of course, I suspect if you were to question this customer about my customer service skills he would probably rate me a little below average.  I didn't really give him what he wanted.  On the other hand there are many more customers who think I'm a joy to work with because I do really give them what they want.  All of my associates are reliable and tenured, they rarely make mistakes and all of us provide the customer service people expect.  Of course, if you're a scumbag, beware.

Marco Rubio - The GOP's bait and switch plan

Of course there is a lot of chatter out here about Marco Rubio's lunge for a glass of water while giving the GOP rebuttal to the State of the Union.  I suspect the GOP has a bigger problem then a thirsty spokesperson.  It seems like almost every time I turn around his face is being flashed on the TV screen or there is some sort of really not so very newsworthy item on the Internet.  I suspect this is because there were a lot of lessons for the GOP to learn after the 2012 election, one of them being they did not appeal to Latino voters.  Duh.  So, their game plan changes and they pick a nice looking Latino man to become part of their changing public image.  You have to admit he does look rather clean cut and is evidently not from the barrio.

Unfortunately he has already had some sort of GOP fallacy issues, one them being his claim his parents fled Cuba to get away from Fidel Castro.  This seems not to be the case, in that they had actually emigrated to Florida three years earlier.  The hook is to get Latino voters interested, and then run two other candidates president and vice president.  I mean, how bad can a political party be if Mr. Rubio is a member? 

I've seen recently Mr. Rubio has already stated he would not be running for president in 2016, of course this is one of those statements politicians have been making since the dawn of time.  However, I believe this statement might actually be true.  Another thing the GOP learned was just how racist their base was, which is rather telling in regards to the possibility of Mr. Rubio making a run for the White House.  I sure both he, and the GOP hierarchy, realize they have quite a problem on their hands.  If these Tweeters weren't going to vote for a black man, they're not going to vote a Latino either.  The only thing the GOP can do is the old 'bait and switch,' bait them Rubio and pray Latino voters will vote for some white bread guy instead.

I saw where Mitt Romney made some sour grapes comments alleging Obama's victory had more to do with gifts to young blacks and Latinos then anything else.  Doesn't this sound a bit racist, especially when coming from an older white guy?  I suppose he must be appealing to all of those racists whose whose election night tweets were a reflection of the ugly side of America.  Like so many Republicans he is in denial.  In their minds there is no logical way they could have lost this past election which means they need to blame somebody or something.  This is quite normal with Republicans.  There is never a moment when they look at themselves in the mirror and admit to screwing up.  No, they are like that aging woman who paints her face with pounds of make up in order to convince herself she is still a porcelain beauty.  Like that old woman, they will eventually die still unaware the porcelain has cracked.  While there is some apparent bipartisanship jockeying right now history tells us the Republicans will shit it away because in their minds they can not be wrong.  If  you see anything even remotely resembling change it will only be one faction attempting to throw another faction under the bus.

Has the GOP already lost?

And you can bet they are already plotting the next presidential election.  I suspect they will run a white man for president and a token black, Latin, or woman as vice president.  Why?  Because they've tried using that playbook before:  McCain and Palin, a party ticket made in hell.  They don't understand.  For some reason they feel all they need to do is run a token to get votes.  People aren't that foolish.  They're not going to fall for the bait and switch.  Unless the GOP begins roasting some of the far right chestnuts no one is going to believe they've moved even marginally to the center.  What I suspect you'll see is more blame.  They may need to lose three elections in a row before they stop hitting the snooze button on realities alarm clock.