How the Pioneer Woman Saved my Computer

I know that most of you are already huge fans of the Pioneer Woman's blog. If you have not discovered it yet, I apologize in advance for you needing to quit your job and park in front of your computer for 3 years while you catch up on the adventures of Ree.

My friend Kim alerted me that Austin was a stop on her book signing tour, thank goodness, so we braved fording the river, driving on one way streets, and standing in line to go see this amazing woman.

And amazing she was. Teeny, sweet, funny woman with an adorable accent. She's a real gal, not a practiced celebrity, and we loved her. She spoke for a few minutes, and then the signing began. Kim was nice enough to stand in line for for me, since the signing was on a school night and I wake up at 4:30 every day.

If you got your book signed, she gave you a sassy T-shirt. And lookie - the Marlboro Man signed it!! And yes, it says Lyndia, but hey - close enough! Look how freaking adorable this is!!


And the cookbook is amazing! I can't wait to try her cheesy olive bread and the cinnamon rolls that apparently make people do things like relinquish their citizenship and shave their heads. So I hear.

Something quite fascinating happened while we were waiting. It was a Pioneer Woman Miracle.

We were crammed into Book People like sardines. Hundreds of nice women, cheek to jowl. While we were waiting I told Kim the saga of my computer. My desktop computer is completely dead, which is part of the reason I've been posting less frequently. I ordered a new Dell. They shipped me the keyboard and mouse, but for some reason, had the wrong zip code on the shipment of the CPU. I got an email notifying me of this and asking me to correct it. I did, but did not get a response.

I called.

I held for 5 hours. I was transferred 8 times. As soon as I told each person the story, I was transferred. Absolutely the most maddening consumer experience I've ever had, and I've been a customer of BOTH AT&T AND Verizon.

At the end, a guy in India tells me I have to contact FedEx directly, which I know is not true. He says that's all he can tell me. I call FedEx just for my own amusement, and they of course tell me that only Dell can change the shipping info.

I call back. I tell them I want a supervisor. Of course, they can only put you in the queue - there's no such thing as direct escalation. Their live chat doesn't include live chat for order problems either. I'm furious. This company is in the town I live in and I can't talk to an intelligent human. I hold for 45 more minutes, and then I'm disconnected. At this point, I decide the computer can just go back to the factory and I will buy a Mac.

However, when I'm done telling the story to Kim, a woman who is sitting behind me asks for my phone number. She says she works for Dell and gives me the name of a person that will call me the following morning. She does not work in a division remotely related to customer service or my order, but she decided to help. It's people like this that make things work in the world. It's sad that she is covered up by layers of terrible customer disservice, because she is an ideal employee.

Sure enough, the next morning, the person she said would call me, called me. She contacted FedEx and corrected the order so the CPU would not be returned to the factory. She conferenced me with a person who would babysit it until I received it.

I have not received it yet, but three real, nice people who know how to solve problems got, and stayed, involved. Hopefully I will eventually receive it.

Amazing that this woman just happened to be sitting behind us at an event I didn't even know about and wouldn't have but for Kim. Amazing that she listened to my story in her free time, cared about it, and did something about it.

Amazing that the Pioneer Woman may, in fact, be responsible for getting me my new computer.

Thanks Ree. Love ya.

xo,

Lydia

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