Communication Malfunctions (ranting about the present and the past)

So recently, I've had to deal with a few annoyances. The root of the issues seems to be failures in communication.

My apartment was recently visited by a water leak and some damage to the master bath. Upon discovery, I went to report it to the main office their next business day. They assured me that people would come that day to see it. They did, and they said more people would come that day. A week later the people showed up to tear out the bathroom cabinet and the drywall in order to fix the leak and repair the damage. They did not inform us in advance when they would be coming, so there was tons of our toiletries and personal items that I had to remove in front of them (heck one guy started bringing hand-fulls of hair-ties and other items to the unloading zone). If you've been in our closet/bathroom you'd know there is barely standing room for three people, let alone three dudes standing around with me walking through them trying to carry stuff out of there. If they had called ten minutes before they got there, the entire experience would have been quicker and more comfortable for everyone involved. My previous apartment staff was much more responsible and organized. They called in advance, knocked, left receipts once done, and were amiable. My current landlords could learn something from them.

Once they completed their work with the leak and tearing out the damaged cabinets, they left and said people would come later. Two or three hours later, a man and a woman walk into the apartment without knocking. They panicked, as they claimed to have been told the apartment was empty--yet another example of poor communication. They install a new cabinet, one without drawers (that's not really so bad, but it's very inconvenient that we were not consulted on this decision or at least informed). At the end of the day, they said someone would be by the next day to finish the job.

That was two weeks ago. After they finished the job, they abandoned multiple strips of drywall and cabinet doors in my closet. I consulted the office that day, where I was told that again they would be come finish that day or the next. I set those items outside my door. They stood there up to and after the complex manager and her water damage consultant came through a week later. (Oh by the way I almost forgot to mention the leak that began when they re-installed our bathroom sink, they fixed it the day I found it, but ignored the stuff outside and the rest of the repairs.) After a week and a half I just lugged the left over materials to the trash compactor. Two and a half weeks later, I have no idea when they'll be back to work on the bathroom again. We went ahead and moved stuff back in, but the floor still looks ragged.

At least some of that ranting could have been avoided by improved communication. If the apartment staff could give better estimates, update me on changes, and call in advance, I'd be much more content. And I'd venture to say that their overall service to their residents would be improved.

It sort of reminds me of another communication failure. When I was in Junior High, I was friends with two older guys who were my brother's age. As we grew better friends, we started talking about life, the universe, and everything. Two of us ended our friendship with the other because we were weirded out by some of those conversations with him. What went wrong? I mean, sure, people grow apart, but dropping a close friendship over a few conversations without any discussion is rude and cruel. A year or so later, I apologized to the other guy and he expressed his disappointment with our failure to let him know that we had been bothered by him in any way. He could have been like any other friend who avoids disturbing friends by avoiding certain topics. We all try to focus on the things that bring friends together. Divisions can be overcome by changing what one discusses or how one behaves, but only with communicating issues. To this day, the two remain non-friends. In fact, it has developed into overall dislike and enmity. I think they could be friends and have a good time, if only they could make up. This, however, would require the wrong party to apologize. Sadly, that is unlikely. Time heals all wounds--except of course the wounds that fester and develop into permanent damage. People should just be clear and honest to begin with.

random blogging notes

I've been trying to keep a little moleskine with me wherever I go, so I can jot down notes about this and that. One thing I use it to remember is random weird things I can comment about in this blog. Today's topic: the retail zombie.

Recently, I was in Target with my wife shoe-shopping. She was perusing merchandise and I was walking down the main shopping lane looking for her down the little aisles. To my surprise, not only did I pass one Target employee, but I passed three or four. They were not clumped together or even very close to each other. Each one was separate, but they all had one thing in common. They looked at the ground in front of them as they walked. They did not care enough about where they were to look around to see there surroundings, but it also seemed like a conscious effort to avoid eye contact with customers in order to avoid having to actually do something.

Now, I have lots of retail/customer service experience, and I know lots of customers are unpleasant (and some are downright awful). Their needs and desires, though, are certainly the business of employees, and to ignore random passersby by staring at the floor with neutral (or harumph-y) expressions is failing at their job. Retail involves plenty of tasks separate from customer relations, but helping the customers is the root of any job on the sales floor. You may have to stock something, or may need to go report for duty somewhere, but as a sales associate of any sort, you have a responsibility to be aware of what's going on in the store and to help whomever may need it.

I also acknowledge that everyone has bad days--heck, one might argue that retail employees have more than others. Such negativity, though, must be tamed by a willingness to do the job for which you are being paid. You don't have to bend over backwards or talk a customers ear off, but please, Mr. Retail man, do your job and give a crap.