Customer Service

Never thought I'd see the day when "Jiffy Lube" became a place dearly missed.

I had to take our Honda in for an oil change the other day, and despite making an appointment in advance with the dealer's service, they had no record of me on file when I arrived. Then a one-hour promised wait turned into three. TO CHANGE MY OIL. I lost half my day, and paid 150 bucks for the privilege. Hungary has taken huge strides in the past decade towards implementing quality levels of customer service, but that sure wasn't on display yesterday. It was the perfect storm of ineptitude. Throw in the ripped up roads currently being fixed, and, all told with my driving to and from the dealer, I spent 5+ hours on my friggin' OIL CHANGE!

The road construction is another irritating issue. In a normal setting, minor roadwork would be conducted overnight, when traffic is least, thus minimizing the delays to commuters during the day. Not in Hungary! THe fixation with the 8-5 schedule is at play even here, meaning even road crews work bankers' hours. You can imagine what this does to commutes. Mind-bogglingly inept! THey'd get much more work accomplished, in a much quicker timeframe, and without inconveniencing thousands of morning commuters, by simply WORKING FROM 10pm -6am. NOPE.

But I digress from my otherwise happy existence in Hungary. The kids are doing well in school, we are getting rain, and I'm getting ready to open another country this Monday, meaning I'll get to spend a lot more time in Romania. Hired new employees to service the new market, and my staff has been awesome in getting this launch ready. Life's good.

And today we celebrate my youngest's birthday! Happy 7th!