For the past few days I have had bouts of lightheadedness, to the point of setting on the floor until it passes. I don't understand the reasons for it, only that it has happened. Earlier tonight I had an english class at the local community college location. On my way home it hit again, and has yet to subside some three hours later. My vitals are all normal, but still I have this dizziness. I have had vertigo before, but this doesn't feel the same. vertigo feels like it is in the ear. This feels like it's in my head.
Realizing that I have a chronic illness makes it more confusing. The Sarcoidosis in my lungs has kicked up lately, after my pulmonologist started playing with my medications. An immunosupressant drug he started me on gave me dangerous side effects, and ever since then things just haven't felt "right." I stopped that medication two weeks ago, but I am having unusual symptoms that I don't think I can contribute to the drug changes.
All this sounds very melodramatic, but the purpose of this post is the realization that unless an ambulance drags me in to the emergency room, the doctors in Las Vegas haven't a clue how to deal with my illness. My pulmonologist finally referred me to UCLA two weeks age, stating that he has done all he can for me, and now I must see someone with more experience with Sarcoidosis. I made my appointment with UCLA. Their first available is in four months! Therein lies the rub.
Medical care in las Vegas feels like a sick joke, pun intended. When I need to wait four months to see a physician in another state because the doctors here can't understand my disease enough to recommend treatment, there's something wrong. Waiting a third of a year in and of itself is ridiculous. Medical care in this city is more medical careless. People die every day here from conditions that are misdiagnosed, untreated, or just plain improperly diagnosed or treated. For as much as I don't want to be a statistic, I must realize that this in probably one of the worst places to have a chronic, rare illness, as each doctor gets a new set of the same tests, basically starting over with each new visit. That is after you wait for months to even get seen.
I don't know what will happen with this current problem, which seems to include my vision and tinnitus in my ears, but I am certain that an E/R trip would yield no results, and would just be a waste of time.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Zales Hails
Finally today I heard from Zales Corporate Customer Service. The representative was very polite, and offered us a $500 credit towards a replacement ring (from their selections) or a $200 cash refund. The missing Tanzanite was a $2000 stone, trillion cut. What they have offered is an insult. We were given a take it or leave it option.
On Monday we will be presenting this situation to our attorney for legal advice. I am amazed at how easy it is to be taken advantage of in today's society. Two months ago a company in China gained access to my checking account, removing several thousand dollars before my bank brought it to my attention. At least the banks customer service refunded the money. Their customer service is still in working order.
As a business owner I understand the value of standing behind my product. I grew up in an age when your word was your bond, and deals were made on a handshake. Although society in general cannot function without rules and protocols, I will still operate my business and personal transactions on the age-old premises that my word is my bond and a handshake is irreversible. In the end, how I governed my life is how I will be remembered.
On Monday we will be presenting this situation to our attorney for legal advice. I am amazed at how easy it is to be taken advantage of in today's society. Two months ago a company in China gained access to my checking account, removing several thousand dollars before my bank brought it to my attention. At least the banks customer service refunded the money. Their customer service is still in working order.
As a business owner I understand the value of standing behind my product. I grew up in an age when your word was your bond, and deals were made on a handshake. Although society in general cannot function without rules and protocols, I will still operate my business and personal transactions on the age-old premises that my word is my bond and a handshake is irreversible. In the end, how I governed my life is how I will be remembered.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Zales Fails
While on our fifth anniversary cruise a year ago January, I purchased a trillion Tanzanite ring for my wife at a jewelry wholesaler in Grand Cayman. A month ago the stone fell out. We found the tanzanite stone and I took it to Zales to have it repaired. They charged me $75 to remount the stone. Four days later, the stone was gone, and this time we could NOT find it!
I took the ring back to Zales with my receipt, just to hear that they are not responsible once the ring leaves the store. They stated that they had never had a stone fall out, and didn't even have a protocol for this type of incident. I told them that they need to replace the stone with one of similar size, clarity and value ($2000). After three days, the store manager called me to inform me that the stone was actually a fake tanzanite, per the jeweler that did the work on the remounting. Felt like the fox guarding the hen house...
Zales store manager told me to leave the store, or she would call mall security. There was no apology, no admittance of responsibility, no recourse, and no way to prove that the stone was fake, except for the word of the person that did the shoddy job of remounting it.
Now we are out the stone and anniversary ring, and Zales has refused to respond to my complaint left on their website.
I am at a loss to understand how we, as Americans, have fallen to such a low that we actually don't expect customer service anymore. We assume that companies won't stand behind their work, and as a consequence, we aren't surprised when they don't. Zales was wrong for not properly mounting the stone. It stayed in the mount exactly four days, then fell out. We scoured the house looking for it, but to no avail. It doesn't matter whether the stone is real, fake, or Amethist (which is what they told us the stone really was, and wrote it on the receipt). Whatever stone they mounted in the ring, it should still be there. The store manager told me that she has no way of knowing how we treated the ring once we left the store with the remount. Just a note, my wife is disabled, and spends most of her time in bed, with the exception of occasionally walking the dog. They made it sound as if she was working heavy construction and the stone fell out as a result of unnecessary roughness.
Zales Fails in my book, and I am on a mission to make sure as many people as I can reach knows that Zales does not stand behind their work. There is no concept of customer service, and they will leave you high and dry, just like they did my wife and I. Be careful with Zales, because you too may get burned!
I took the ring back to Zales with my receipt, just to hear that they are not responsible once the ring leaves the store. They stated that they had never had a stone fall out, and didn't even have a protocol for this type of incident. I told them that they need to replace the stone with one of similar size, clarity and value ($2000). After three days, the store manager called me to inform me that the stone was actually a fake tanzanite, per the jeweler that did the work on the remounting. Felt like the fox guarding the hen house...
Zales store manager told me to leave the store, or she would call mall security. There was no apology, no admittance of responsibility, no recourse, and no way to prove that the stone was fake, except for the word of the person that did the shoddy job of remounting it.
Now we are out the stone and anniversary ring, and Zales has refused to respond to my complaint left on their website.
I am at a loss to understand how we, as Americans, have fallen to such a low that we actually don't expect customer service anymore. We assume that companies won't stand behind their work, and as a consequence, we aren't surprised when they don't. Zales was wrong for not properly mounting the stone. It stayed in the mount exactly four days, then fell out. We scoured the house looking for it, but to no avail. It doesn't matter whether the stone is real, fake, or Amethist (which is what they told us the stone really was, and wrote it on the receipt). Whatever stone they mounted in the ring, it should still be there. The store manager told me that she has no way of knowing how we treated the ring once we left the store with the remount. Just a note, my wife is disabled, and spends most of her time in bed, with the exception of occasionally walking the dog. They made it sound as if she was working heavy construction and the stone fell out as a result of unnecessary roughness.
Zales Fails in my book, and I am on a mission to make sure as many people as I can reach knows that Zales does not stand behind their work. There is no concept of customer service, and they will leave you high and dry, just like they did my wife and I. Be careful with Zales, because you too may get burned!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)