Soaking in Samsara

Customer Service Accolades - Denver Golf

Karyn German — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:19:51 -0700

I believe that the best indicator of good customer service is how a service organization deals with a problem. I am much more likely to remember the organization that gracefully recovers from a customer service snafu over the organization that provides consistently adequate service. My customer service success story this week is Denver Golf Administration, a division of Denver Parks and Recreation.

I have played in a competitive golf league for over 10 years, the last 5 years being at Kennedy Golf Course in Southeast Denver. Earlier this year, we were experiencing increasing delays in the start of guaranteed tee times, resulting in play that lasted until well into the evening. The pace of play was also very slow and nothing is more frustrating to an avid golfer than having to wait and wait and wait on every shot and every hole.

I wrote an email explaining the situation to the Director of the Denver Golf administrative office. He responded to me immediately and the very next week, we were thrilled with the service. We were able to start on time and play at a nice brisk pace that brought us into the clubhouse before sundown. Not only were we pleased with the fact that the situation had been rectified, but also with the gracious nature of the staff at Kennedy.

Herbaltini Recipe

Karyn German — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:47:02 -0700

A few folks have inquired, so I figured I would blog the recipe - thanks to my friend, Lindy, for sharing. The recipe sounds a little odd, but I assure you that it tastes out of this world. The gin, herbs and fresh juices blend together very well.

For: 1 1/2 quarts; 8 to 12 servings

24 fresh mint sprigs (4 in. ea.), rinsed
12 fresh rosemary sprigs (3 in. ea.), rinsed
3/4 cup superfine sugar
2 oranges (6 oz. ea.), chilled, rinsed, and quartered
2 1/4 cups gin, chilled in the freezer
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 7 limes), chilled
1 1/2 cups soda water, chilled
Fresh mint leaves, rinsed

1. In a 2 1/2- to 3-quart pitcher, combine mint sprigs, rosemary sprigs, and sugar. With a long-handled wooden spoon, muddle (or crush) the herbs and sugar together. Squeeze juice from orange quarters into pitcher, then drop peels in. Press a few times with spoon to release oil from orange peels. Stir in gin, lime juice, and 1/2 cup ice water. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Serve (see step 2), or cover and chill up to 4 hours (see notes). If using martini glasses, chill in freezer.

2. To serve, slowly pour chilled soda water into the pitcher, down the side. Stir gently to blend. Pour through a strainer into chilled martini glasses or ice-filled glasses. Float a mint leave on top of each. Serve immediately.

Grateful to be an American Bumper Stickers

Karyn German — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:48:24 -0700

Per a previous post, I decided to order custom bumper stickers with the phrase "Grateful to be an American". I ordered five of them, two for our cars, and three others that I will donate to the first three requestors. No, I won't ship them, so you would need to get them from me personally.

Let's start a new kind of patriotism - more about gratitude and appreciation than pride and arrogance.

My Naivety about Health Insurance

Karyn German — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:17:26 -0700

I have been very forunate my entire life in regards to health insurance. Through my employment or that of my husband, I have always had pretty decent coverage for both preventative and major medical care. I abstractly know that healthcare (or lack there of in many cases) is a hot button political issue and a very, very difficult problem to solve.

Bob was recently reviewing a health plan from a national retailer. The out-of-pocket expense for the "elite" plan came out to be about $85/month for an individual. Not bad, eh? Well, let's look at the specifics. If he used the entire maximum benefit for basic doctor's visits and basic medical procedures, he would be in the hole for the year. But, wait, isn't the purpose for more catastropic events? The coverage for hospital stays, emergency care, more expensive procedures (e.g. MRI) is abysmal. Our out-of-pocket for any major surgery would be in the 10's of thousands of dollars as they cover a maximim of $1000. So, it is a lousy plan if you don't get sick or injury and a lousy plan if you do. But, the retailer can proudly proclaim they provide health insurance! Ironically, the provider they use is called The American Worker plan.

To the contrary, a certain major recreational equipment retailer provides comprehensive health insurance through Aetna, which is similar in benefits to my own.

This was a very valuable experience for me to see up-close and personal what so many people struggle with everyday. It also brings me back to some of my values which might have been compromised by some of my more persuasive friends. Good timing.

Comcast Part 2 - The Best Part

Karyn German — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:07:59 -0700

I forgot to mention in the previous post that I got a tweet from a Comcast customer care person when he/she saw my tweets about my customer support experience. Very cool!

Comcast Customer Service - Actually Quite Good

Karyn German — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:01:13 -0700

A few weeks ago, I began experiencing connectivity problems with my high-speed cable service. I won't bore you with the details, but after repeated calls to technical support, the decision was made to send out a technician. The combination of my Apple Airport base station, a Vista laptop, and the Comcast-supplied cable model turned out to be perplexing. This configuration had been working beautifully for 2 months and then just konked out on me. While the technician was not able to resolve the wireless connectivity issues, there were some very positive aspects to the service:

The phone technicians (all but one), were very polite.
I was given a one-hour window to wait for the technician and he got there 1/2 hour in to that window.
He tried his best working for over an hour.
He didn't charge me!
Had he charged me, it would have only been $20.

Everyone complains about the cable company, so it seemed fitting to offer a more positive spin on the company.

Philanthropy 2.0

Karyn German — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:54:17 -0700

About a month agao, I had the honor of joining the board of the Entrepreneur's Foundation of Colorado (EFCo). EFCo has a very simple and effective model...venture-backed companies may donate 1% of their Series A equity to be held until a liquidity event. At that time, the money generated is used to fund local community foundations. But, there is more to it. Member companies have resources available to them to engender a spirit of philanthopy and giving throughout the entire organization. I am excited to start working on this endeavor within NewsGator in the coming months.

I'm twittering

Karyn German — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:23:28 -0700

I really hate to admit this, but I am a bit addicted. I found myself repeatedly checking the web version of Twitter yesterday afternoon from my iPhone to see what folks were up to.

If you want to follow me (that phrase still creeps me out), I'm at www.twitter.com/karlgco. Which reminds me, I had a dream last night about a guy that got a key to my house and I was freaking out until we could get the locks changed. I don't think that dream was random.

Empathy

Karyn German — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:19:46 -0700

Some of my close friends and co-workers know that last week was a rollercoaster of emotions as we had a kitty health scare. Our Ragdoll cats are now over 7 months old and they were visiting the vet last Monday for the rite of passage known as neutering. Their blood work showed a slight elevation in relation to kidney disease, so the vet wanted to do a urinalysis and possible ultrasound before proceeding with the surgery. When Bob called with the news, I went in to an emotional tailspin. Of course, I had to search online and find sad stories about purebred cats dying very young from Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), a congenital condition.

I managed to pull myself together (after bawling in my office) and engage in a practice that has been very useful for me in the past. This practice involves taking in all the sadness and dispair of those who are experiencing a similar emotion. This practice connects you to others and can generate profound compassion as opposed to creating isolation and self absorption. Within an hour, I was still sad, but I was calmer and ready to deal with the outcome.

The outcome turned out to be a good one. Their urinalysis was fine, but we did proceed with the ultrasound just to be safe. And just to generously part with $700. The boys has a clean bill of health and can go in for their "surgery" this Wednesday.

Thanks so much to everyone who was concerned and kind during our week of angst.

Grateful to be an American

Karyn German — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:25:50 -0700

I've always been intrigued by the phrase "Proud to be an American". My buddy John recently wrote a post in which he makes this claim and I know he is sincere in his love and pride for this country....I very much admire that about he and his lovely better half (for realz) Ginger.

I am a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen who tries to live a decent and ethical life. But, I have never served in the military (wish now that I had) and I have never contributed to public service. Thus, I can only say that I am profoundly grateful to be an American. You will never hear me say that I am moving to Canada just because I don't like the result of an election. I'm sure there are wonderful people there - including my in-laws - but, no thanks. The resources and opportunities we are blessed with in this country, though far from perfect, should be appreciated.

So, gratitude before pride for me. Maybe I can get my own bumper sticker...