After many years of waiting, I can finally get an iPhone from Tmobile! Okay, so not really, but if AT&T buys Tmobile and dissolves its identity which seems to be common in the wireless industry, but less common in Banking (Wachovia…a Division of Wells Fargo), then indeed my plan will become AT&T and I will be able to get an iPhone.

Anti Trust or Network Congestion?

Apparently their is worry that the bandwidth used by smartphones will not be adequate enough and become too expensive for consumers to meet their needs.  The solution to network congestion seems to be, “raise the price until fewer can afford it.”  Seems like a good plan as I would drop my data plan if it cost me more than $10 a month.

In a recent article, it seems that AT&T may indeed be using this bandwidth notion to help the Government overlook the fact that if completed, the merger would make AT&T the largest holding more than 50% of all subscribers.  Verizon would be a close second.  By combining the two networks, there will be fewer networks competing for the bandwidth.

Grandfather Plan

According to my recent trip into the local Tmobile store, a “Grandfather Plan” will be offered and as long as you don’t make any changes, you won’t be affected by the typically higher service prices of AT&T.

Tmobile in Trouble?

I too do miss seeing Catherine Zeta-Jones as the spokeswoman, but really, will the good rates and coverage, was very surprised to hear that Tmobile was in financial trouble.  Apparently the US wing of Deutsche Telekom has not been doing well and the German company is looking to chop off an arm and sell.

Either way I still use an iPhone

Regardless of the Government ruling, I am just glad that AT&T and Tmobile use similar technologies so I can still use my friends old AT&T iPhone with my Tmobile SIM :)

Last night was the last night at World Market.  Having fallen in love with the low prices and unique items, I applied for a part time seasonal position 3 years ago and have been working there until last night.  Ultimately I needed more time to enjoy life and with Uncle Sam taking so much in taxes over the past 3 years, it was time.

I still love the store and will be in to shop :)

When you work in Retail…

When you work in the retail market, you earn a respect for what goes on and tend to sympathize with the current working folk of a similar function.

Wegmans Sub Shop

For example, having worked in a Wegmans Sub Shop part time when living in Rochester NY I realize how annoying cell phones can be and rude customers are and try to not be that way myself.  I do admit when a customer was on their phone, I skipped them and asked the following person in line if I could help them since a hand signal with a number only seems to work in Asian restaurants :)

Shampoo Factory

The Shampoo Factory was a full time job between semesters during college and gave me a new appreciation for those bottled products and you recognize all of those funny alignment marks for labels.  I sat for days monitoring sealing of various salon tubed products and testing bottle cap tension,which by the way should be automated and not done by anyone for that is surely going to give you carpal tunnel!

While it was relatively mindless, just what I needed after 2 semesters at college, I would think if I were to do it on a regular basis I would probably become a zombie.  Not that I think anyone is really cut out for this kind of work, but we do what we need to in order to get the bills paid and this job probably just barely serves that purpose for the full time staff there.

Waiting Tables

Granted it was a restaurant I was co-owner of, but nonetheless, when I go out to eat now and if the restaurant is busy, I don’t get frustrated if service is slow and I always pile up my dishes with food scraps on the top plate for the wait staff :)

Funny how I was introverted and still am to a degree, but when waiting tables, you do need to provide great customer service if you want to get a tip and I really did open up during this chapter of my life.

World Market

I have learned that some customers always are out to get a good deal and will in some cases “break” an item in order to get a discount.  I recall one time when a customer showed me what seemed to be a problem with glue on a wreath.  She said, they are all like that and wanted a discount.  After we talked a bit more, it turned out that she had pulled off the supposedly loose flowers!  She was like, “I can glue them when I am home.”  I was thinking to myself, well, if you had not pulled them off in the first place…..  Anyway, I did not give her a discount and proceeded to fix them with our own hot glue gun.

There are others that walk around the clearance section each time they are in, or offer to “buy it all” at a discount.  Another funny time was when a customer came back to the wine dept and asked me for the bottle with the most savings and I showed them a $50 bottle which happened to be $13 off :)  That is what they asked for, but certainly they were looking for the Rene Barbier which normally $4.99 is often on sale for $3.99, but only a savings of a $1.  Perhaps she should have asked for the largest savings percentage :)

There are so many stories to tell and not enough time in a day to tell them, but you get the idea…customers can really be a pain in the neck after that experience, I will do my best to not be in a bad mood, get impatient with long lines, or harassing management to give me a better deal.  :)  I cannot promise however that I will not trample you when the store opens and holiday clearance goes on sale 90% off!

We arrived and attempted to dodge salespeople explaining that if we need help, we will ask for it. This Marlo seemed to be laid out in a odd pattern for shoppers, but like grocery stores who usually put the bread and milk furthest from the entrance to entice you as you go to pick up your staple products. For those who drink soda, you have convenient coolers at the end of each register to save you the hunt ;P Marlo seems to bunch them into collections which means you have to traverse the entire store to see all of the beds. We liked 2 of them, and the one we really liked had a sold floor model which gave me little hope. Sure enough it was the last one and the warehouse was out. I asked the salesman if he could contact other stores in the area for us to check on the floor models.

The salesman would NOT call for us. Making an excuse that he would have to do work and no one would answer the phone anyway or call them back. The latter is true, I tried to call a few stores and once I reached an operator who mumbled something and sent me to a voice mail box…another time, no one answered. Hmm..what about customer service? Basically the salesman did not want to help make a sale that he would not get commission on. Perhaps that is the downside of commission sales. I do know first hand with houses, the more money you are going to spend, the more attention you get!

On the way back to DC we saw signs for a furniture liquidation sale and headed over to the Landmark Mall. We got there and while there was no JC Penny, we did find the sale at Direct Furniture. DO NOT SHOP THERE! We had a pleasant experience in the lower floor showroom and was sent up to check out their other showroom, discount warehouse, on the upper level. I asked if the 2 were owned by the same and the saleswoman said NO! So at that point, my partner jokingly said the bed we really liked was $500. She believed him, I could not keep a straight face, and she went to check the computer to see if that was possible to “match.” At this point we were thinking they were competitors and the fact that the lady downstairs left us her card and said..”If you don’t like the price upstairs, to let her know.” Hmm…perhaps competition at it’s finest. It was a dying mall, so perhaps a sale would make or break the store.

So the saleswoman came back and basically called our bluff, joke anyway, and kind of with an attitude said the regular price that was on the bed. As we walked out, she said “For your information, we are the same.” That just infuriated me, she had flat out lied to us! She was mad at us for saying $500 which was a joke. I asked her why she lied and she had no reply. I am guessing she wanted the sale, but her dishonesty lost the sale. So, on the Internet I go looking for a good price on the bed we wanted, but will not buy from a dishonest store.