Why It’s so Hard to Get My Order Right

Living in Arizona means living with a large population of immigrants. Especially Mexican immigrants. Now I have no problems whatsoever with people coming over here to improve their quality of life and to send money home to their family every month. I think that is one of the noblest things a person can do, risk everything of themselves to provide for the ones they love. I don’t even have a problem with the ones who come over here illegally.

America doesn’t make it very easy to receive green cards, and some people cannot wait through the entire application process before coming over. To the people who can make it over here safely, good for you. Welcome to America!

The Problem

The one thing I do have a problem with is the fact that people who immigrate to the US and take jobs where their main duty is to talk to other people and they do not speak or comprehend much English. Maybe my bigger problem is with the people who hire them to work at the counter, or work the drive thru, answer the phones, or anything else that requires spoken English and comprehension. When I go to a fast food restaurant, I want to be able to tell the people on the receiving end what I want without having to repeat it multiple times just for them to get the order wrong anyway.

My Questions

Does it pay less to have a different position within that company where you do not have to have conversations with the customer? Why would the manager think that is good for business at all to let them be on the front line of it all? If they want to employ these people, then can’t they at least provide them with English classes? I happen to think that’s a great investment for an employer. Train them, help them out, and in return be rewarded with that employees loyalty.

Blame The Companies

Unfortunately, I don’t think any major companies really give a crap about their employees or level of customer service. They throw anyone they can into these positions hoping to save a buck or two, even if the person is far from qualified. If that person ends up being under qualified, they throw them out and bring in the next guy. No wonder why every time I go to the same restaurant, the faces are completely different.

It is true that a few companies do care about their customer service levels, but a lot more don’t. It makes me wonder what really happens to those “Give Us Your Feedback” cards they let you fill out…I have a feeling they get tossed with the leftover fries come closing time.

The Situation

It’s easy to point out these problems, but I imagine that it is a lot different when you view this from someone in this situation. Being new to the country, it is most likely very hard to find positions you are qualified for. I am planning on traveling a lot next year and hope to work to support myself during the trip. So I may just find myself in this same situation.

However, if I get a job in a country where English is not the national language, I will try not to get a job where I have to speak to people. The last thing I would ever want is to be in Italy, working in a Pub or Restaurant and not be able to understand what my customers want. I understand that my options are either:

a) learn the language beforehand

b) do not apply for that job.

But who knows, it may not be that easy. But I will find out, sooner or later.

Anyone else been in a similar situation? If so, feel free to leave a comment.

So a few weeks ago, I decided to go online and setup a new checking and savings account. I ended up going with Bank of America since they are almost everywhere, plus I have a loan through them so I wanted to use automatic bill pay.

Anyways, I created the account online and everything went smoothly. I received a new debit card in the mail and activated it as soon as I could. The savings account showed up shortly after, and I was surprised at how easy it all was. The only thing I had to do on paper was sign a form they mailed me and return it to them.

The Problem

The problem I had was when I decided to start using direct deposit to that account from work. I wanted to send some money to my old account, and some to my new account.

So I logged on to my work website, updated all of the information I needed to, and submitted it. I even called Bank of America to get my routing number since I did not receive any checks with that information on it.

Payday came up this past Friday, and my stub showed that some of the money was deposited to my old account and the rest was sent to my new Bank of America account. So far, so good I thought. But I was totally wrong.

The money that was sent to my Bank of America account just straight up vanished. It wasn’t in my account, and it sure wasn’t in my old account. So I got on the phone with my HR department here at work, and asked them about it. They said they would call me back shortly with a resolution.

About 30 minutes later, someone called me back and said everything went through from their side. The paycheck was successfully sent out as planned and I should just give it some to see if it shows up by the end of the day.

End of the Day

Friday came to an end at work, so I took off and headed home. Once I got home I logged on to my account again and still, no money to be found. I called up Bank of America, but could not get someone on the phone to save my life. Voice machine after voice machine, I just kept getting put on hold listening to some crappy ass music.

I thought I would trick them by calling one of the Bank of America’s right by my house. But guess what? Even that number gets redirected back to the same 800 number I had tried calling previously. Once again back to the crappy ass music.

Time To Go To The Bank

After I got sick of all that, I decided to physically go to a Bank of America to talk to someone. So I walked in and gave the teller my information. After a few minutes of silence, the guy responds and says he doesn’t see an account for me anywhere.

I told him I knew for a fact I did and showed him my debit card. I told him it was rather new, and that I just logged into it a few minutes earlier. He then started looking some more but still did not find anything. He turned to me and said:

What State Are You From?

This was the question he asked me after looking for my account the second time. “Arizona”, I told him. “Seriously, where else would I be from, I am standing right here.” He asked me about logging in online and asked what state I had to choose from the drop down menu. Once again I told him Arizona, and that my street address on the current account was also from Arizona.

The Problem Was…

The teller finally found my account, but said it was registered in Virginia! I told him it wasn’t, and that I had never even been to Virginia. As it turns out, any account opened over the internet automatically get registered as a Virginia account. I thought this was the stupidest thing I had ever heard.

When signing up for an account, it even asks you which state you bank in along with your zip code. So from now on, I have to use an out-of-state deposit form to cash checks there. And If I want to move it over to an Arizona account, I have to completely redo the whole account. UGH!!!

What About The Direct Deposit?

As it turns out, the routing number was for an Arizona account. Apparently I have to route my money to Virginia now which takes a different routing number. The thing that really bothered me, was the fact that I called Bank of America and specifically asked which routing number I needed for my account. They asked me what state I was from and I told them Arizona. How was I supposed to know my account was listed under Virginia?

Plus now I am stuck trying to figure out where a good portion of my paycheck went. Not exactly something I want to spend doing with my free time…

My advice, go with Discover for credit cards. They blow Bank of America away.

Today I spent some time catching up on other bloggers posts since it has been awhile. It is always nice to see what other people are up to. One of the blogs I was visiting was TysBlog.com and he has had a lot of good posts lately. I encourage everyone to check out his Top Affiliate Challenge audition video (vote it a 10!).

Another thing thought caught my eye, was a website called MagMyPic.com, that creates magazine covers from your digital images. Check out this cover I created:

And here is another one I created entirely from scratch using one of my pictures from Hawaii and Photoshop:

Speaking of Hawaii, another blog I visited this morning was TheHawaiianLife, which is always interesting to read. The centipede post today makes me glad I left Hawaii, that thing is sick looking.

Well there you have it, a little blog love for some of my favorite bloggers. Stay tuned this week for some new and exciting posts here at Life of Justin.

Sitting on the internet today, I came across a website that tells you when you are going to die. Of course it isn’t accurate or guranteed but it still opened my eyes. You can check it out at DeathClock.com

I have around 2,320,130,354 seconds to live as I am writing this post. My day of death will come on November 16th, 2081. I guess I have some time left to figure things out. Maybe by then I will actually find my dream job and where I want to live.

Watching the timer tick really makes you think about how life is still pretty short. Every second I sit here is gone forever.

Anyways, I am going on a sabbatical this weekend and hope to come back with some brand new insights, posts, and opinions.

Stay tuned…

First off, cheers to everyone that survived the work week. I think we only had a few causalities this week. It was a long one but I have managed to make it through the week. I showed up an hour late for work today and no one noticed. So that is always a plus. Plus we have a picnic today so I can stuff my face and continue on my path to 300 pounds. Only 123 pounds to go, just kidding.

Things are going to get worse this afternoon though. I am going to the dentist today to get my teeth drilled. I am not very happy because I am getting 3 cavities filled…ugh!!! I guess drinking tons of soda and beer really does hurt your teeth, eh o well.

So, once again, I will give you some reasons on why I hate something. This time is it going to the dentist:

1. The Music

First off, I hate the music in the waiting room. If I recall they played “You Dropped A Bomb On Me” by the Gap Band followed by Wham last time I was in there. Get with the times people, it is 2008! Quit playing Now That’s What I Call Music like you bought it yesterday.

2. The Smell

I hate the smell of the place because it spells like toothpaste. There is nothing worse than that feeling you get when you walk in the door and are instantly hit with the smell. My stomach already hurts.

3. The People

The people in the waiting room are always annoying and the kids seem to never stop crying. I don’t blame them though, it is a scary place.

4. The Magazines

The magazines are old as can be. I think I read about the Packers winning the Super Bowl last time and that was in 1996.

5. The Sounds

Ugh, there is nothing worse than the sound of drilling. It makes me cringe just thinking about it.

It is just not a happy place for me. I would rather go just about anywhere on Earth, except Jack in Box, That place straight up blows. “We don’t make it ’til you order it” my ass! They must be psychic because they made it 5 hours before I even walked in the front door.

So wish me luck, hopefully I will pull through and survive this operation. I have a feeling I will be getting pretty drunk tonight if my teeth are hurting. There is nothing worse than having a numb mouth and sounding like a complete tool when you try and talk. That should be interesting.

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting post, so do not miss it for the World. If you do, you will cry yourself to sleep.