So much for being on the ball and being efficient.
I took this afternoon off from work to proactively get some car maintenance done - oil change, 71,250-mile service check up, fix the air conditioning for the summer months, and check the tires because of low tire pressure.
Instead, what I actually did was drop my car off at the dealership, risk my life walking across Route 2 twice, and waste a perfectly good PTO day by sitting on my couch for three-plus hours waiting for a phone call.
Let me rewind a bit. (Sorry if this is a bit erratic. I am still heated.)
Last week, I made an car service appointment for 1 p.m. this afternoon for a list of reasons...all minor. Today, I show up 30 minutes early and was told that someone would contact me within the hour regarding some of the questions that I had.
Because the dealership is within view from my deck, I decided to walk home by way of Papa Gino's for lunch. I figured that by the time I got home and changed, someone would call me and I would have a better idea of the time I would be without a car and the upcoming damage to my checking account. That is not what happened. Not at all.
Instead, I walked to Papa Gino's, got myself a sandwich, risked my life crossing Route 2, watched three and a half hours of television on my couch, called the dealership for a status update, and, when not hearing back as promised, decided to just walk back and figure out what the heck was going on.
"Someone will check on your car and will get back to you right away" actually means "They are never going to call you at the number that you provided. Good luck, sister!"
At quarter of 5 p.m., I walk into the dealership and approach the service office. I say "I'm just checking on the status of my car" to which the girl who helped me at 1 p.m. simply looks at her associate and lets him flounder.
He responds with "I called you hours ago and left you a message." I respond with "no, I got no message from you." He says "well, I called you at your 401 number." Please keep in mind that my 401 telephone number is at my desk at work, and it is not listed as my primary telephone number on any paperwork, anywhere.
At that point, the girl comes over to his side of the office, points at the number that I have listed as my primary contact number and advises that he should've called the cell phone number. I'm not sure why it was his responsibility to call me after I dealt with her earlier that afternoon and I requested that she call me back at 3 p.m.
"Oh, the 413 threw me off," meaning my cell phone area code. Ugh.
When I called the dealership and spoke to the receptionist at approximately 3 p.m., she advised that someone would get right back to me and even confirmed which telephone number they should call back. I'm not quite sure why this was a question or an issue.
He begins to list off what they completed on my car and what still needs fixing. It was the same list that I had given to them to check out for me. Unfortunately, because they weren't able to get ahold of me, they fixed none of those outstanding issues causing me to need to schedule another appointment. What a mess.
Does no one else have a cell phone number with an area code different from where they live currently? I can't believe that I'm the only one.
Long live 413.
