I had an experience this last week with Cruise America that had me asking, what has happened to customer service. I have friends from Germany that usually make it to America once a year. The problem is that they never call me until they are here and they expect me to drop everything. This time they called me on Friday night before General Conference. It was Noreen. She told me that they had rented a mobile home and that it was broken down at Taco Bell in Sugarhouse. Her sister Gutrun and brother-in-law Raph were with the motorhome. Noreen and Igrid were staying at someone's house because the motorhome was too cold. To make matters worse, Gutrun and Ralph don't really speak English. It was 10:00 PM and Don still wasn't home from work. I knew someone needed to be with them, but I knew I would not be able to get to them in time.
I called my brother and asked if he could go there and make sure that Cruise America came and towed them to an RV park for the night. Darin went there and waited. Cruise America sent a tow truck, but the truck wasn't big enough to tow the motorhome. They said that another tow truck would be there in 20 minutes. They waited and waited, but no one came. They called Cruise America again and they said to call back at 7:30 in the morning and they would make sure to take care of them. My brother went home and Gutrun and Ralph spent a cold night in Taco Bell's parking lot.
Saturday morning I drove there to meet them at 7:30 in the morning. I gave Noreen and Igrid my car and told them to go to General Conference. I called Cruise America and they said that they don't open until 9:00 and that we would have to wait until then. So there we waited, in the cold RV, for Cruise America to come. At 9:00 we called again and they said that the local Cruise America did not have a motorhome available and that they would call us when they knew more. I wondered why they couldn't at least tow this motorhome so that we could get on with our day. But they told us to wait. At 11:30 they called and said that they were able to get a hold of a tow company and they they would get there after they were done towing another vehicle.
It had been a long morning already. We had sat in this cold RV all morning. Gutrun and Ralph had missed the first session of conference. I called my mom and asked if I could borrow her car to take Gutrun around shopping while we were waiting. My dad met me at Taco Bell to drop off the car.
Gutrun and I went to all the typical stores that Noreen and Gutrun like to visit when they are in town. We hit Seagull Book, Big Lots, Thrift Town, Dollar Tree, ect. I can understand Seagull Book, but I don't understand their facination with Thrift Town.
After shopping we headed back to Taco Bell. The motorhome was gone. We hightailed it to Cruise America.
Ralph was there moving their stuff from the broken down motorhome to the replacement motorhome. The first thing Gutrun noticed was how dirty the replacement motorhome was. I was embarrrassed that such a company was representing America. The man at Cruise America told him that he couldn't go until he signed something. When I got there, they said he didn't need to sign anything and that they could be on their way. I pointed out the terrible customer service they had received. The tow truck driver said they could have called him last night. But he did not get a call till 11:30 AM that morning. So I wonder just what Cruise America was doing all that time that we were sitting in a cold motorhome.
By the time Ralph and Gutrun had moved everything over to the replacement motorhome, they had missed the second session of General Conference. I asked what they wanted to do and they said they wanted to come to my house.
Now let me just preface this. I am 32 weeks pregnant. It has been the worst pregnancy ever. I am exhausted and I have just used the last of my energy to help them get a replacement motorhome. Not to mention the amount of energy it takes to translate between English and German. Don had been home with the kids. I knew the house is a mess and I knew that Germans expect a clean house. I was ready to go home and just crash. But I love Gutrun and Ralph and so I told them to come home with me.
When I walked in the door, I surveyed the house and realized how drity it really was. I profusely appologized and began cleaning. Gutrun started making piles of things for me to put away. Ralph said that he always let the house go when Gutrun wasn't home. But I didn't really believe him because I know the German culture. I spent the rest of the night cleaning every part of the house that I thought they might see.
Gutrun wanted to wash some clothes. Those that know me, know that laundry is my Achilles heel. I have been known to hire people to come and fold laundry once a week. I just wash it and leave it on the laundry table. I was horrified to take her downstairs. When she saw, the first thing she said was, "What should we do about this room." I quickly began folding laundry and putting it away.
When I wasn't cleaning, I was folding laundry. Every room Gutrun went in, she would say, "And what should we do about this room." It would not have been a big deal if I wasn't already exhausted and not feeling very well.
Don and Ralph decided to go to the priesthood session. Even though Ralph doesn't really speak English, he can understand it. In Germany, many people have gotten used to listening to a lot of the LDS Church talks in English. There is not always a German translation.
When Don and Ralph came home, Don took Gutrun to WalMart. Ralph cornered me and started telling me all the things I am doing wrong as a mother. I think me favorite was him telling me that Zander should be potty trained by now. He explained that at age one they would put their children in underwear and tights. Then when they would have an accident, they had to take off the tights and underwear themselves and wash them in the sink. I thought that was a cruel manner to teach potty training. But what do I know? I was told that I don't discipline my children enough. Which they, by the way, were angels that night.
After the Priesthood session Don wanted me to translate so he could really talk with them. Translating would have been fine if it had been for any other person. But Don always says stupid things and expects me to translate them. He wanted me to mention the gay major, President Bush rubbing the German President's shoulders, and any other garbage he could come up with. It was almost to much to bear.
Ten-Thirty came and I finally had to dismiss myself to go to bed. Thus went my Saturday, set aside for watching and pondering conference, but instead turned to uncontrollable choas thanks to Cruise America.
I called my brother and asked if he could go there and make sure that Cruise America came and towed them to an RV park for the night. Darin went there and waited. Cruise America sent a tow truck, but the truck wasn't big enough to tow the motorhome. They said that another tow truck would be there in 20 minutes. They waited and waited, but no one came. They called Cruise America again and they said to call back at 7:30 in the morning and they would make sure to take care of them. My brother went home and Gutrun and Ralph spent a cold night in Taco Bell's parking lot.
Saturday morning I drove there to meet them at 7:30 in the morning. I gave Noreen and Igrid my car and told them to go to General Conference. I called Cruise America and they said that they don't open until 9:00 and that we would have to wait until then. So there we waited, in the cold RV, for Cruise America to come. At 9:00 we called again and they said that the local Cruise America did not have a motorhome available and that they would call us when they knew more. I wondered why they couldn't at least tow this motorhome so that we could get on with our day. But they told us to wait. At 11:30 they called and said that they were able to get a hold of a tow company and they they would get there after they were done towing another vehicle.
It had been a long morning already. We had sat in this cold RV all morning. Gutrun and Ralph had missed the first session of conference. I called my mom and asked if I could borrow her car to take Gutrun around shopping while we were waiting. My dad met me at Taco Bell to drop off the car.
Gutrun and I went to all the typical stores that Noreen and Gutrun like to visit when they are in town. We hit Seagull Book, Big Lots, Thrift Town, Dollar Tree, ect. I can understand Seagull Book, but I don't understand their facination with Thrift Town.
After shopping we headed back to Taco Bell. The motorhome was gone. We hightailed it to Cruise America.
Ralph was there moving their stuff from the broken down motorhome to the replacement motorhome. The first thing Gutrun noticed was how dirty the replacement motorhome was. I was embarrrassed that such a company was representing America. The man at Cruise America told him that he couldn't go until he signed something. When I got there, they said he didn't need to sign anything and that they could be on their way. I pointed out the terrible customer service they had received. The tow truck driver said they could have called him last night. But he did not get a call till 11:30 AM that morning. So I wonder just what Cruise America was doing all that time that we were sitting in a cold motorhome.
By the time Ralph and Gutrun had moved everything over to the replacement motorhome, they had missed the second session of General Conference. I asked what they wanted to do and they said they wanted to come to my house.
Now let me just preface this. I am 32 weeks pregnant. It has been the worst pregnancy ever. I am exhausted and I have just used the last of my energy to help them get a replacement motorhome. Not to mention the amount of energy it takes to translate between English and German. Don had been home with the kids. I knew the house is a mess and I knew that Germans expect a clean house. I was ready to go home and just crash. But I love Gutrun and Ralph and so I told them to come home with me.
When I walked in the door, I surveyed the house and realized how drity it really was. I profusely appologized and began cleaning. Gutrun started making piles of things for me to put away. Ralph said that he always let the house go when Gutrun wasn't home. But I didn't really believe him because I know the German culture. I spent the rest of the night cleaning every part of the house that I thought they might see.
Gutrun wanted to wash some clothes. Those that know me, know that laundry is my Achilles heel. I have been known to hire people to come and fold laundry once a week. I just wash it and leave it on the laundry table. I was horrified to take her downstairs. When she saw, the first thing she said was, "What should we do about this room." I quickly began folding laundry and putting it away.
When I wasn't cleaning, I was folding laundry. Every room Gutrun went in, she would say, "And what should we do about this room." It would not have been a big deal if I wasn't already exhausted and not feeling very well.
Don and Ralph decided to go to the priesthood session. Even though Ralph doesn't really speak English, he can understand it. In Germany, many people have gotten used to listening to a lot of the LDS Church talks in English. There is not always a German translation.
When Don and Ralph came home, Don took Gutrun to WalMart. Ralph cornered me and started telling me all the things I am doing wrong as a mother. I think me favorite was him telling me that Zander should be potty trained by now. He explained that at age one they would put their children in underwear and tights. Then when they would have an accident, they had to take off the tights and underwear themselves and wash them in the sink. I thought that was a cruel manner to teach potty training. But what do I know? I was told that I don't discipline my children enough. Which they, by the way, were angels that night.
After the Priesthood session Don wanted me to translate so he could really talk with them. Translating would have been fine if it had been for any other person. But Don always says stupid things and expects me to translate them. He wanted me to mention the gay major, President Bush rubbing the German President's shoulders, and any other garbage he could come up with. It was almost to much to bear.
Ten-Thirty came and I finally had to dismiss myself to go to bed. Thus went my Saturday, set aside for watching and pondering conference, but instead turned to uncontrollable choas thanks to Cruise America.
