Tag Archives: Amazon

Sweet Service Award goes to Woolworths Dash, Sour Service Award goes to Takealot

The Sweet Service Award goes to Woolworths Dash, which is a most amazing order and delivery service, surpassing Checkers Sixty/60, mainly because it does not surprise one with out of stocks as does Checkers. Today I received a new feature – the name of the packer, and the stages of packing and delivery completed, the delivery arriving punctually in the one hour period requested. It has changed my life, as I don’t have to lug my shopping bags up the steps from my garage, nor tolerate mainly unsatisfactory service at the tills.

The Sour Service Award goes to TakeaLot, for yet another delivery disaster, the worst to date. I had ordered a new Bosch citrus juicer, and was promised next day delivery, a surprise given the deliveries taking a week or longer of late. It was scheduled for a Saturday, and I stayed at home all day, waiting for it. I received two sms messages, notifying me of my delivery being out on the road and that it would reach me before 17h00. At 16h54 I was notified that the delivery was not made as I had not been contactable, yet I was at home, and I had not received a call or message from the driver. I contacted the company and had to postpone the delivery to the next Monday, worried that the same could happen again. Fortunately I checked the Tafelberg website, and saw that they stocked exactly the same juicer, but for R100 cheaper. I had to request permission from Takealot to cancel my order – yes, and finally received a credit for the paid-for juicer. Another order earlier this week arrived after 19h00, and only because I saw a missed call from the driver. Takealot should brush up its service, given that Amazon is on the horizon!

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog. Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at chrisvonulmenstein [at] gmail.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog.

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog

Tel +27 082 55 11 323

Twitter:@Ulmenstein

Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein, My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide, Camps Bay Clean, WhaleTales Blog

Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide @campsbayclean @whaletalesblog

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 86 of Level 1, 15 December 2020.

 

Tuesday 15 December 2020, Day 86 of Level 1, Day 265 of Lockdown😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a sunny day, at 21 C, with a South Easter building up, getting us ready for 10 days or more of wind; for being taken a step closer to my promising Horoscope for today, when a headhunter for a (different) German Amazon job did a telephonic interview with me; for the honour of being invited to join the international Tourist Guiding committee of my Canadian Tour Operator, having our first Skype meeting on Saturday; for a good walk through Camps Bay, with barely any litter; for a quick call with Jenny Stephens; for a winetasting followed by a cocktail tasting at Utopia, so happy to hear that they are fully booked tonight, so much so that Vivian Warby and I couldn’t get a table for tonight, booking for next week instead; for dancing to Kfm’s Dansdag; and for being happy and healthy. Continue reading →

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 77 of Level 3, 16 August 2020.

 

Sunday 16 August 2020, Day 77 of Level 3, after 66 days of Levels 5 and 4 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for my warm bed on this very cold evening, and having my cat kids on the bed with me; for the sunshine day, making the 13C day feel warm in the sun when I went for a combined walk in Bakoven and Camps Bay, saying hi to the Bootlegger manager, with a catch up chat; for a day of laughter and eating with Jennifer Morris and her David, at Peppertree Café this morning and at Mozambik this evening; for such beautiful quietness in my building 🙏; for being calm and relaxed; and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 68 of Level 3, 7 August 2020.

Friday 7 August 2020, Day 68 of Level 3, after 66 days of Levels 5 and 4 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for the most fabulous day, starting with the perfect sunny day, forecast at 17C but in the 20sC for sure, a taste of summer again; for a busy morning, not having slept as much as I should but being very happy today just from the sunshine plus more; for meeting Vivian Warby for tea and a croissant 🥐 at Maison J, not having seen each other since Lockdown, so much catching up to do; for having a crown made, made in the dentist rooms with a 3D laser, taking 12 minutes, technically unbelievable; for finding a pair of walking shorts I was looking for at Sportsman’s Warehouse, with less good service than I usually receive at The Point Branch; for picking up some more poppy seed bagels at Kleinsky’s; for meeting Bryce Shapiro at Latitude Café to tackle my Amazon problem, but we needed to contact an Apple Wizz friend of his, to understand the Browser problem we are experiencing in the application process, my phone software and Browsers all being up to date; for selling my house in Hermanus Yipee Yay ❤️; for meeting with Lisa Hayden, coming to fetch a slice of the cheese cake which I kept for her; for a cat food bulk pack pet food shop at Pick n Pay; for dancing to Kfm 💃; for bumping into Tidal Pool swimmer Dave Talbot at the Pool on my walk, his first swim in more than 4 months, what a fabulous hug 💙; and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙

My Blogpost today was the Sweet & Sour Service Awards, which went to Maison J and Telkom, respectively.

Sweet Service Award goes to Maison J; Sour Service Award goes to Telkom!

Vivian and I went to Caprice for tea, but the service was so slack that we left and went to Maison J.

It’s hard to summarize the drama of the five-year journey of getting my former Hermanus guest house sold. It was sold on an auction to a person who turned out to live in my house without paying occupational rent, who used my property to store furniture and other belongings from another house, stole the geysers, aircons, safes etc so that he could reduce the purchase price, didn’t once provide guarantees for the balance of the payment due, took us to court when we tried to sell the company owning the property to another person, and had himself registered as the only person allowed to buy the property, but never paying for it in the five years, finally buying a house elsewhere, and out of some bizarre spite still hung on to my sale until we threatened him with court action. A horrid notorious Hermanus man. 🥵🥵🥵🥵

And then by luck or was it meant to be, I didn’t just gain a Tourist Guide qualification as a result of the course I took, but I also met the lovely and kind Johan Prins, who heard my Hermanus tragedy, connected me to a property developer there, and the rest is history! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Today was the three year anniversary of starting a dental journey with my dentist Dr Wim de Beer in the Waterfront, having implants done, and recently the crown after a root canal. I also had to have a tooth extracted today, a tough job to get the molar out with all sorts of ‘pliers’, but finally it was out. I needed to take a pain killer when I got home and buy a course of antibiotics. Kfm, Dave Talbot, Tidal Pool, camps bay, sea Point, There were some service issues with the receptionist which I fed back to the dentist, and he promised that he is addressing them. So I gained a brand new tooth today, and lost an old unnecessary one.

The Red Bus started operating again today, only doing so on weekends initially. So sad to see a Bo-Kaap landmark Batavia Café announce its closure on Instagram.

Loved my long chat with Jenny Stephens this evening ❤️❤️❤️.

SA Corona Status: 545476cases 9909 deaths 😷😢

FitBit 15000 steps 11 km 👣

Lovemylife❤️

The Corona Virus Lockdown (Level 5), announced by our President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier to commence on 27 March and to continue until 16 April, subsequently extended to 30 April, lowered to Level 4 from 1 May, and lowered to Level 3 from 1 June, is an unprecedented event in my lifetime. I am posting my daily Facebook post to journal this Corona Lockdown Journey, perhaps to serve as material for a future Book.

About Chris von Ulmenstein

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein