Monday, December 3, 2012 – Cocoa

            …starting to have the beginnings of cabin fever.  Hair is growing longer and out of control, feel lethargic, groceries dwindling, firewood and ammunition running out…Whoa…

            Here’s how not to treat customers if you want to stay in business:

            This morning after breakfast we decided it was time to start thinking about making a reservation for some transportation to the airport for our flight home next Thursday.  So Bob had to go up to the office and while he was up there he got some recommendations for transportation services from, Ken, the nice marina manager.   I volunteered to call and get some information on rates, etc.  The first company I called was very nice and gave me a quote, and I said I would call back – he was obviously disappointed that I was shopping around, but, hey, that’s the way it works.   So the next company I called, I asked them how much would it be to take us from Cocoa to the Orlando Airport, and was told $50.00.  WOW!  That was $25 less than the previous guy!  So I asked to make a reservation, and then she asks me exactly where we would need to be picked up, and when I said the marina, all of a sudden the price went up to $80.00!  I said, “WHAT?!”  And then was given some non-sensical explanation of their rate schedule from different places and this was their rate from our location.  Aaarrgghhh and “yikes”.  So obviously I called the other guy back, and he said no problem, but he doesn’t know we are at the marina, and no one knows anything about a cat yet!  He happened to be on the road, and asked me to call him back in two hours to finalize the times, etc.

            Later that afternoon –

             Also when Bob went up to the marina office earlier he got a recommendation for a mechanic to do some work on the boat like change the oil, impellers, engine zincs, etc.  So Bob calls the guy, who sounds very nice on the phone, and he says he will stop by our boat on his way home from work this afternoon to see what we actually need done.  He says he will come by around 4:00 p.m.  Great.

            In the meantime, we decide to go for a walk (no excuses or procrastinations this time).  We come back to the boat, have lunch, and it’s about 1:30 p.m.  We play cards and basically goof off, and then this nice couple comes by the boat to see our Grand Banks.  They are on a sailboat that draws 6½ feet (yikes).  They have come all the way down from Connecticut and had to do a couple runs out in the ocean!!  Anyway, they are looking to go over to the “dark side”, and we informed them that the dark side was really pretty good!  They have a cat on board, and the guys did the “check out the engine” thing, and we chatted for quite a while (actually had quite a laugh about the hardware store in town), and traded “boat cards”.  We finally said our good-byes, and hoped we would see them again somewhere along the way farther south, and it’s about 3:30 p.m.  So Bob and I go up on the flybridge to watch other boats coming in for the night, and after awhile it’s 4:30 p.m. and no mechanic yet.  I play a puzzle, Bob gets a phone call from a friend, we watch more boats, and it’s 5:00 and no mechanic.  I say, “Let’s play cards – that’ll get him here.”  So we play a card game, and at 5:30 p.m. Bob calls him.  No answer – just an answering machine.  We give up.

            What is it??  Does it take a genius to figure out how to make a phone call and let a customer know that you can’t make the appointed time?  I don’t get it, but I guess it just wasn’t our day for customer service.

            Oh, by the way, we got back in touch with the first shuttle service guy, and he was very appreciative and said the cat would be no problem.  I will be letting the marina office know who to recommend for transportation service in the future.

            Several boat owners have decorated their boats with Christmas lights, so after dinner Bob and I took a walk around the docks to look at the lights.  I tried to take some pictures, but I don’t think they came out very good.  Actually, without a tripod and night settings, they came out awful.  I will post them just so you get the idea.  Don’t be too disappointed…Well, you'll have to wait till tomorrow - they were so bad, I couldn't get them to load!!