More Continental Misery.

Filed under: Rants

Colgan Air: Not our fault!

What a disgusting stance by Colgan Air… and a follow up to my recent post on Continental.  Again, all the more reason to boycott both Continental AND Colgan.

Airline blames Buffalo-area crash on crew – CNN.com.

Filed under: Rants

Sexist: You need to check your bag at the counter.

I am all about supporting the underdog. I like to shop locally, and I like to support my independent retailer. I try to encourage my students to do the same: stay away from the big box corporate retail shops, and patronize the mom and pop on the corner, or the mom and pop on the internet.

I do have one big pet peeve that will send me a-runnin’ from a local shop: The bag check policy.

Right around the corner from my house, is Talking Leaves a great independent bookseller, they have an incredible range of titles, and very knowledgeable sales staff. I never shop there. Ever. Why? Because within 2 seconds of entering the store, some 19 year old is screaming at me with increasing belligerence: Sir? SIR! You NEED to check your bag at the counter.

Let’s dissect that statement:

Sir? Sir!= Increasing shades of panic, and decreasing shades of respect.

You NEED= I need not do anything. You might like for me to, but ultimately it is my decision.

to check your bag= If I were a woman and this were my purse, would we be having this conversation?

at the counter.= OK, Ms./Mr. 19-year-old. Are you ready to take personal responsibility for every item that is in this bag? While it may make you feel more secure that I’m not going to lift a 99¢ trinket from your store, it really doesn’t make me feel secure that anyone could walk by your cashwrap and walk off with $500 worth of electronics, credit cards, and important papers that I carry with me.

The policy is absurd. Yesterday, I was shopping at Hyatt’s, a local art supply store, where the same situation replayed itself. I walked by two female workers, both of which greeted me, and asked if there was anything they could help with. No mention of my bag. Then after about 20 minutes, I was approached by a male worker that indigently indicated that I was in the wrong by carrying my bag with me, further, it would HAVE TO BE checked at the counter. I politely handed the chap the few items I had selected for purchase, and suggested that if I were female, and this were a purse, that he would never dream to have this conversation with me. Moreover, I explained, if that was his policy, I would gladly take my business elsewhere.

I mean, REALLY. While it’s likely that people can and do steal. I don’t… and frankly, if I did, I fancy that I’d go for the big ticket items, a $75,000 Cartier watch, a stack of $1,000 notes off the counter of my local bank, maybe I’d even stoop for a nice Hermes tie. I wouldn’t think it worth my time, energy, or potential damage to my character to pinch a $2.99 paperback or a 49¢ paint brush. Unfortunately, retailers seem to have difficulty putting this in perspective. In offending me and operating by a panicked “what if” policy, they’ve lost a customer for life, and a significant dent of my associated business (students, colleagues, family, all of you reading this, etc.) I hope, to them, it’s worth it. I might suggest to all the small retailers out there: the man purse is growing in popularity. Deal with it, or ignore it at your peril.

Filed under: Consumerism, Personal, Rants, Shopping

Continental

This past February, a Continental Connection commuter airplane (flight 3407) crashed just outside of my hometown, Buffalo, NY in Clarence.

That night I was crawling in to bed, and I thought to check CNN.com, and across the top of the page it said “Breaking News: Plane Crash in Buffalo, NY.” Much of the night was spent watching CNN coverage (which was picked up from our local affiliates, WKBW and WIVB). Much of the following week, in fact, was spent watching the inescapable coverage of the crash, like this article in the New York Times (from which, I borrowed the above image.)

Everyone on board the plane, the moms and dads, sisters and brothers, and the pilots died. One of the three people in the house hit by the plane also died, and their lives were forever changed.

The crash freaked me out a little bit, but not so much that I wouldn’t get on an airplane again… but enough to pay greater attention to what’s going on in the sky. Until that point, I was a reasonably frequent Continental passenger. I had a Continental Airlines Master Card through Chase that accumulated miles in my Continental Airlines One Pass (frequent flyer) account.

Since then, the NTSB has investigated the crash, and held public hearings on the crash. The outcome, which, to my surprise, was released relatively quickly and in reasonably plain language: the pilots were undertrained, under qualified, underpaid (something like $12,000 a year) and severely overworked. So 52 people died a horrible death, not because the plane malfunctioned, not because ice rendered the aircraft inoperable, but because the pilots lacked experience, and the company that hired them (Colgan Air, through a contract with Continental) was willing to take the risk and look the other way?

The preliminary outcome of the hearings upset me. It simply didn’t make sense that the person flying my plane—with whom I entrust my life—is making less than the teenage kid serving me tacos at the local fast food place? How could this be the case? Yet, shockingly, it IS the case.

So earlier this summer, I decided to take some action. I called Chase to cancel my Continental MasterCard. I explained my reasoning, and the call-center in the operator from the Philippines clearly had no idea what I was talking about, but was glad to close down the card. Though I had hoped to make some sort of statement in so doing, my efforts clearly fell on uninformed ears. So, I wrote a letter to the chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines. I explained my reservations, and explained why I felt it wasn’t possible for me to fly Continental in the future.

Much to my surprise, about a week later, I received a letter back. The letter acknowledged my concerns (again, a surprise) and explained Continental’s stellar (according to them) safety record, and noted that they hoped to welcome me back as a customer in the near future.

While this was going on, my sister in law from Alaska mentioned that she had been on a flight from Buffalo to Newark (the same route as the doomed 3407) and that Continental had stationed extra pilots in the cabin “to answer questions” and “address concerns” that the passengers may have had. Interesting PR strategy, especially considering it was nearly 6 months after the crash.

Despite my “stand”, I still continued to receive mailings from Continental regarding my OnePass account. Early this fall, I called Continental One Pass to cancel my account, and to donate my remaining miles to charity. The conversation went something like this (after all the menu options and initial blah blah):

Me: Hello, I’d like to cancel my Continental One Pass account.

CSR: Oh, well I’m sorry to hear that. May I have your name and One Pass account number please?

Me: Albert Bitterman, JEXX06.

CSR: Well thank you, Mr. Bitterman. I’m sorry to hear that you’d like to close your Contential Airlines One Pass account. Would you mind if I ask why you’d like to close it?

Me: Do you really want to know?

CSR: Certainly! You’re a valued customer of Continental Airlines, Mr. Bitterman, and we would love to keep you as a customer.

So I launched in to this diatribe about the crash, and how the pilots were untrained, and how I felt that it was unconscionable that Continental allowed such a terrible accident to occur.

CSR: Well, Mr. Bitterman (i.e., insert customer name here), I certainly hear your concerns. I might remind you, however, that the flight was not operated by Continental, but by Colgan Air. Moreover, (yes, she actually said, moreover) Continental has had a stellar safety record over the past 30 years. I do wish you’d give Continental Airlines another chance.

? Was this woman serious? Did she really believe what she was saying?

Me: Regardless, Jane, the flight flew under the Continental banner. If Continental could spend the money to brand the plane, they could certainly spend the time to ensure that the flight crew was trained properly.

Silence.

Me: Moreover, Jane, this isn’t an “unfortunate incident”, people are dead. 52 people are dead. Those people were my neighbors, and friends of friends, Jane. They were people that died. They’re dead and never coming back. If one of them was your sister, would you be sitting there reading me some corporate script?

More Silence.

After a long awkward pause, finally:

SRC: No, I wouldn’t. I’m sorry. I understand your decision fully, and will process the request. Again, I’m sorry.

She was really upset sounding.

So anyhow, I would like to think that over the last 9 months, Colgan, flying for Continental would have fixed this problem, retrained their pilots, or replaced some of the inexperienced pilots with more experienced ones. Today, I was driving in to work, and I drove under the flight approach for the Buffalo airport. I noticed this plane, incoming, really crooked, it’s wings were not level to the ground, but instead, at about a 30º pitch, left wing really close to the ground, right wing in the air. It didn’t look right. It wasn’t snowing, or even windy. It was a little Continental Connection plane, just like the one that crashed. I saw the plane touch down, less crooked, but still crooked, and it moved quickly out of sight. I didn’t hear any boom, but I bet it was a less than pleasant touchdown for the people on board. The message was clear to me: Continental has the money to pay for PR, and extra pilots, but the bottom line is the bottom line, and it’s likely the pilots were underpaid and overworked… and that little has changed.

I feel like my personal boycott was the right decision, and I’m gladly sticking to it.

Filed under: Consumerism, Corporate Issues, Personal, Rants

Lake Effect Snow For WNY – News- msnbc.com

Am I in a fucking time warp?  Do I live in Buffalo?

This article appeared on MSNBC, courtesy of our local affiliate WKBW.

Lake Effect Snow For WNY – News- msnbc.com

Judging from the image and the story, one would think we have feet of snow on the ground.  We don’t have any.  Way to make a story where there is absolutely no story, and way to maintain that external brand of a snow covered Buffalo.

Filed under: Buffalo, Place Branding, Rants

Pothole brigade leaves some work unfinished : City & Region : The Buffalo News

Outrage.  Story in a nutshell: City of Buffalo workers fill potholes on major thoroughfare.  Workers (shock of shocks) do a shoddy job. Amateur photographer snaps pictures of the work as it’s “completed”.  Buffalo News publishes story.  Mayoral administration disavows all responsibility and claims this is an “isolated incident” and the worker is one of their “best.” This is how our city is managed.  It’s bullshit, and the mayor’s staff is a bunch of complacent bureaucrats and liars.  Let me tell you something… I live in the city, and this ain’t no isolated incident.  It’s the way the city does business day in and day out, only this time they got caught.  Buck up Byron, and call out the guy that did shoddy work… and while this goes on, these are the people we want to manage our parks?!

Shout out to JoAnne McNamara for the image.  Good work, and quick thinking JoAnne.  A reminder to the city administration, you can run, but you can’t hide from the omnipresent lens of a cell phone camera.

Pothole brigade leaves some work unfinished : City & Region : The Buffalo News.

Filed under: Buffalo, Rants

Olmsted Parks: Up a Tree | City | Buffalo Rising

Alternative title for this post:  Why Byron Brown is a slimy career politician.

This is Byron Brown politics at its worst, and I’m SHOCKED it hasn’t gotten more press. There was a VERY QUIET article in the Buffalo News about a month ago asking for residents to call 311 to voice their opinion about the takeover, and I bet that very few people have done so. I’m also shocked at how the Olmstead Conservancy is playing victim rather than taking it to the streets. Both sides are handling this poorly. Here’s the facts as I see them:

The city had 80-some years to manage the parks, and at the point the county/Olmstead took over, the parks were in gross disrepair, neglected, and forgotten. The bureaucracy (like every city bureaucracy) that ran the parks was (again, like every city bureaucracy) bloated, corrupt, and ineffective. The Olmstead Conservancy is a grass roots effort that has raised MILLIONS in private grant money to sustain the parks. This is something the city NEVER did and really doesn’t have the resources to do. If we allow this to happen, we’re kissing that money… and our parks goodbye.

That begs the question, why? Why would Byron do this? Because it’s a bullied play for low hanging fruit in the political machine that runs this city. Nothing is going to happen unless people make a stink, and my guess everyone is too preoccupied with the Bills playing in Toronto and other VERY important issues to make the time to voice their opposition. I truly hope the citizens of Buffalo prove me wrong.

Olmsted Parks: Up a Tree | City | Buffalo Rising.

Filed under: Buffalo, Rants

FCC Takes Aim at Verizon Wireless.

It’s about time.  I mean, really.  Here’s my two cents:

For the most part, Verizon Wireless is OK… but that’s it, it’s just OK.  I don’t love them as a company.  In my opinion, VZ has the best network of any of the major carriers, hands down.  Calls aren’t dropped, call quality is pretty good, coverage is unmatched, and service outages rarely happen (2 in 12 years of VZ service, by my count.)  All that is good.

However, the rest is lackluster, at best.  Here’s a laundry list of what I hate about VZ:

The logo.  It’s visually offensive and meaningless, and hopelessly uncool.

The stores.  What’s with giving each representative an 18″ clearance at the counter.  When I visit the store, I can smell the breath of the customer next to me, we’re so close.  I hate that. I also hate the Red, Black, and Blue store interiors.  Again, visually offensive and hyper-male.  Cool if you’re a headbanger in the 1970s living in your parents’ basement.  Not cool if you’re a tech-savvy telcom company in the 21st century.  How about pink, orange, or aqua instead?

The website.  Is just horrible.  Information design is non existent, and codes abound.  Even though I can access information, I’m really not sure what AC400 FREEDOM PLAN 6/04 means.  Especially because it isn’t spelled out anywhere on the site.

Voicemail.  I hate the voice, I hate having to put in a password, and I hate having to pay for it.  I dumped VZ voicemail for YouMail (excellent) and then for Google Voice (even better).  Haven’t regretted it for a second.

Obsession with ZIP Codes.  I hate having to put my ZIP code in every time I sign in to the VZ site.  Is this some kind of identity theft prevention thing?  Don’t they already know my ZIP code?  Can’t they guestimate my location from my IP address instead?  So annoying.

Pricing. Is really convoluted, and I hate it.  I wish they just had a flat rate: $69.99 for all you can use. They’re doing it with data, so why not with voice?

Phones.  Until recently, VZ phones sucked, and everyone knew it.  I changed my tune on this after I was lucky enough to link up with the HTC Eris.

Customer Service.  All over the map.  It really depends on which call center you get.  The Rochester, NY call center is the absolute worst.  They make arguing a sport.  The North Dakota call center is the best.  I think it’s because they were trained by Alltel.

Texting.  20¢ a text is absurd.  Make it free.

Lack of excitement.  Corporate is not cool.  Build some buzz.

Payback.  How about a free month of service here and there?  Rewards for your better customers?  It’d sure be nice to know you like having us around.

Check out the letter from the FCC to Verizon Wireless here.

FCC questions Verizon’s early termination fees • The Register.

Filed under: Branding, Consumerism, Corporate Issues, Rants, Shopping

Senate rejects gay-marriage bill : The Buffalo News

What makes this story interesting isn’t the story itself, but the comments below.  The readers of The Buffalo News are usually a pretty suburban conservative bunch, and the comments usually reflect a conservative Rush Limbaugh-inspired hate for all things not white, “middle” class, overweight, and suburban.  This time around, I’ve been proved wrong, and in less than a half hour after the story posted, 10 pages of comments from Western New Yorkers laregely demonstrate what the state senate failed to recognize: that it’s unjust and unfair.  Goes to show, that even if the conservative suburbanites in Buffalo are saying this… how out of touch the state senators are.  Remember that next time you hit up the polling station on election day.

Senate rejects gay-marriage bill : Home: The Buffalo News.

Filed under: Buffalo, Personal, Rants

U.S. journalist says she was delayed at border, questioned about speech – The Globe and Mail

 

U.S. journalist says she was delayed at border, questioned about speech – The Globe and Mail.

 

Filed under: American Studies, Rants, Social Justice