Tales of Hoffman

Wing and Things

Gosh, Darnit. I think the New York Times might even be starting to get the hang of this whole "Blog" thing. Where else, I ask you, can you Frank Bruni, the NYT food critic, writing a review of Hooters?

While you are there, take a look at some of his other entries too. It's all very cool "behind the scenes" stuff that a restaurant/food aficianado like me can really....sink their teeth into. (Sorry about that).

1-800-Flowers is Broken...

...on Valentine's Day!

I ordered some tulips for my wife today -- same day delivery. (OK, one second. Yes, I waited till the last minute. Yes, I should have thought ahead. But, I ordered at 8am and nothing on the site gave me any indication that delivery today was not possible). The flowers never arrived, at least as of 8pm.

So, I call the customer support line. First 4 times, I dutifully speak the 15 character order number into the phone and wait, only to be transferred to....a busy signal. The next two times I scream "Operator!" into the phone until I get offered a connection to some help, only to be connected to...a busy signal.

Next time, I try to tell the system that I don't have an order number (I'll try anything at this point). It then connects me to a recording that says (and very nicely, I might add), "All our operators are currently helping other customers..." This is where I expect to hear, "Please hold for our next operator." But I don't hear that. I hear...

"Goodbye."

Goodbye? Goodbye! Goodbye?!

Yes, "Goodbye...click." I'm gone.

Hmmmmmmmm. Maybe I should check to see if they have an online support mechanism. Score! Yes, they do. OK, I am king of all I survey on this Internets thing. I've discovered the secret society of 800 Flowers support; available only to those masters of the universe who are smart enough to click the "Customer Support" link on their exclusive, one-of-a-kind confirmation email.

For the record, here's where I ended up. A screen that I like to call "Three Frames of Hell."

(click for full size)

By the way, for those that can't make it out...the text cut off at the very bottom there reads "You are number (661) in queue"

Nice. Broken.

First post from the Land of Sprint

OK, Sprint wants me to be an Ambassador. So, even before I get the phone, I decide to go to the Sprint site and see if I can get the super cool, fast access EV-DO service at my home.

Sprint, tell me, how is this useful? (Click on image for full size. And once you do....no, you can't zoom in any more than this...)

Hey Mark. THIS is broken.

Hoffman Named Ambassador to....Sprint?

I got an email today from Sprint inviting me into their Ambassador program. Apparently they are inviting bloggers (I was about to say "select bloggers," but I realized that any group of bloggers that includes me can't possibly be "select" in any way.) to try out their new EV-DO service along with a Samsung phone for free for 6 months in exchange for some "feedback."

Of course, my first thought was that if I went to the website link in the email I would be sending my bank account information to every corner of Nigeria, but after a quick check around the Internet it seemed to check out as legit.

So, if Sprint (and Samsung) has the guts to let a fairly random group of bloggers post the good, bad and ugly of their service, well then, who am I to argue. So, I'll be posting my experiences here since that's clearly what they want. I will try to remind you that I'm getting this stuff for free every now and then so you can take that into account when you read my feedback. Next task is to find out how much this would cost me if I walked into a Sprint Store. There's no way I can really judge this thing without a real feel for how much it would otherwise be taking out of my pocket.

Let's see.