Hip-hop, don't stop!!

We recently had the pleasure of attending a free hip-hop concert at the Overature Center in Madison, WI.  Here's what happens when people really put thought into what makes a concert scene work for kids and parents:  It was Awesome!!

This free concert was set in a carpeted rotunda area, safe for kids to crawl around in.  There was food, coffee and clearly marked bathrooms.  The organizers of the concert gave a great intro explaining where everything was located, so all the kids would feel comfortable.   The concert, featuring music by Milwaukee hip hop artists, The Figureheads, was fun, empowering for kids, and at a very comfortable volume.

This is how it is done.  We look forward to many future concerts here.  We will also be eagerly awaiting future chances to get our groove on with the Figureheads!

Red Roof Out

Sometimes we end up staying in hotels we are not very familiar with, especially because we travel with our dog, and this limits our options.

We recently stayed in a Red Roof Inn, and found ourselves perplexed by their fee structure.  They are an expensive hotel for us, a step in cost above the La Quintas we frequent.  But, we were left with few options in the Albany area, so we went in knowing we'd be paying a bit more.

Maybe we expected to get a bit more too.


We were disappointed.  In addition to giving us a room that was poorly cleaned, when we left they tacked on a charge for having a safe in our room, even though we never used the safe.  It's little hthings like this which push us over.  We don't mind paying more for quality.  We mind paying more for less.


If we land in the Albany area again, we'll seek different accommodations. 

Pah-Pow!

Mr. Steinhafel-

I have been following the story of Target's contributions to the Minnesota Governor's Race.  I read your message at Pressroom.target.com.

Your company's decision to contribute to MN Forward is disappointing, to say the least.  I find it hard to believe that you cannot see the duplicity of claiming to support the gay community, or women's rights, and then making a contribution supporting political candidates that are endorsed by MN Forward.  It is shocking to us, who have long noted Target's social conscience.  It is not just your employees that are saddened to hear this news.  I cannot in good conscience continue to shop at your store until you reverse this decision.  I urge you to call MN Forward and ask for your money back.  There are many ways Target can use its corporate muscle to help create jobs and improve the business environment without getting involved in these social issues.  

You need to rethink, not just contributions in the future, but this one as well.

As soon as I see the announcement that you have withdrawn the contribution, I will head out to one of the three Target stores located within a few miles of my home.

Swim with the Fishes

We had quite an experience at the Rainforest Cafe recently.  We'd gone down to Chicago and stopped in Schaumburg to go IKEA, and went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch.  Jack and Avery were very impressed with all the live fish circulating in huge tanks all around us.  Though the mechanical gorilla was a bit terrifying for our youngest.

It is quite a process to get a table at this place, but we were seated without too long delay, and checked out the menu.  Veggie burgers are $12?!?!  And they don't even include fires.  All kids menu items are also a la carte.  Well, okay.  It's not like we come here all the time, we're all tired.  We adults order our veggie burgers, and they arrive within the twenty minutes that our server had said was the likely wait time.  But the twelve dollar burgers are cold and mushy, like baby food.  After a bite or two, in a rare move for us, we decide that it is inedible.  

We flag down the server to tell her this, and she apologizes, and brings out the manager.

The manager hears our complaint and says: "Well, those are handmade here, so that's how they come out."

What!?!?!

The Manager's explanation is that since they are hand-made, they taste terrible?!?  And are therefore cold???  Aren't handmade foods supposed to taste BETTER than factory made?  We were amazed that the manager made NO ATTEMPT to say the veggie burger shouldn't normally taste like that, no attempt to suggest that if it were redone, it would come out better.  He took the price of the burgers off our bill, but gave us ZERO reason to think that if we came back to the Rainforest Cafe, we would have a better experience.

It is shocking that this passes for customer service at this chain.

The kids enjoyed their meals of spaghetti with sauce and chicken fingers with fries.  But it is not an inexpensive meal.

The Toaster Sketch

Hard to believe this really happened.  It is John Cleese and Michael Palin away from being hilarious:

Dear Wal-Mart Managment :

I would like to express my unhappiness and disappointment stemming from a recent trip to your Walmart Supercenter # 3857, located at 2151 Royal Avenue, in Monona, Wisconsin.

I went to your store on Sunday, July 11, 2010 with the seemingly simple task of returning a $29.99 Hamilton Beach toaster oven which I had purchased a few days earlier (on June 27th).  The toaster didn't work correctly, and so I wanted to return it.  I have just moved, so I had accidentally thrown out the box and accompanying papers, but I had my receipt, so I figured everything would work out fine.  I have never had a problem returning any recent purchase to any store I have shopped in, provided I had the receipt with me.

And yet, Wal-Mart managed to make this simple task a frustrating and difficult process.

I was told that since I didn't have the manual with me, I couldn't make the return.  The employee explained that she needed both a bar code to scan and the paper manual in order to complete the transaction.  She suggested that she could use the bar code off another toaster oven of the same model, if I could go get one from the shelf.  But she would need supervisor's approval to do the return since I didn't have the manual.   

I told her I thought that was ridiculous, since I had the receipt, but that she should call her supervisor while I went with my daughter to find the toaster oven on the shelf.  When I returned with the product, the clerk informed that her manager said I could do an exchange, but I couldn't get a refund without the paper manual.  

I told her that was unacceptable.  Why would I want a new copy of the same device, if the one I bought a week ago doesn't work?   She said she could get the supervisor to come down to the counter to explain it to me.

The supervisor arrived, and told me the same thing: I could get a new copy of the malfunctioning appliance.  They would take the manual out of the new one and keep it with the one I was returning.  I explained to her also, that I didn't want another Hamilton Beach Toaster Oven, as the one I had didn't work correctly.  You would sell me an item without the manual?  I was unwilling to accept that as a solution.  

Then the supervisor said she could arrange for me to receive store credit.  I also found this an unacceptable response.  After all this time, the best the supervisor could offer was store credit, when I had a receipt?  Unbelievable.

I asked her to call her supervisor, she walked off saying she would.  I never saw or heard from her again.

While we waited for a possible response, another supervisor happened on the scene.  The first clerk again explained the problem:  I wanted to return an item without the paper manual, but I had a receipt.  The second supervisor said: "It's our policy that you need all the paperwork that comes in the box."  I began reading out-loud the "Wal-Mart Returns Policy" poster hanging on the wall behind her. (http://www.walmart.com/cp/Returns-Policy/538459#37440 )  It stated quite clearly that items could be returned within 90 days, provided the receipt was present.  None of the exceptions listed pertained to small appliances, nor did any of the exceptions mention needing the paper manual.

This second supervisor walked out of the room, without another word to me.  She did not return. 

Shortly after that, a store manager arrived, perhaps called by the first supervisor.

He heard the explanation from the Returns desk employee, and said, "You should do the refund."  She said she would do so, but explained that this was contrary to her training.  

It is simply unbelievable that you have policies in place designed to complicate a simple return.  I also find it hard to believe that your managers and supervisors are all so powerless or disinterested, or both as to let a customer remain in such an unsatisfied state.  I can't imagine another store where not one but TWO supervisors would walk away from an unhappy customer without saying another word, without coming back to see if my problem was resolved, without caring one way or another how it turned out.  This is what passes for customer service in your store?  I find it appalling.

Why would anyone want to shop in your store when they are treated this way?  Is it by treating people with such little concern that Wal-Mart became the successful retailer that it is today?  

I look forward to your response.  Is this typical for Wal-Mart customer service?  Is this how you train your supervisors to help people?  As this was one of my first experiences at Wal-Mart, your response will help me determine if I shall continue shopping with you.

Is this seat taken?

Our family frequents the La Quinta Inn when we travel. They are the most dog friendly chain that we have come across. There is no additional fee for our pup and no deposit required.

La Quinta serves a free breakfast for guests. Generous seating is always available, but it has been our experience that finding a high chair is like striking gold; it just doesn't happen often at all. Why on earth would a hotel exclude a high chair from the seating options? It is not an expensive purchase. I wouldn't think it would impact any insurance policy since the hotel allows children. The lack of highchairs seems to be a ridiculous oversight across the chain.

But don't think that La Quinta is the only commercial enterprise offender. Dear Starbucks has a similar problem. Though Starbucks is even odder in practice. Our recent trip to a Bloomfield, NJ location revealed that the entire store only offered one highchair for patrons. One highchair? Do you offer one seat for adults to share? Of course not. Adults have generous seating options from the wooden wipe clean seats to the comfy cushioned chairs. But our small children get to wiggle on our laps as we look enviously on at the one parent that snagged the only available highchair. I'd like to say that this experience was unique to this specific location but that is not the case. Many starbucks only offer only the one highchair.

~Special Follow Up~

Before we were able to post this entry, we got a call from Morgan, Manager of La Quinta in Fairfield. It seems that the email I sent through the www.lq.com site complaining about the lack of highchairs reached an actual human being with common sense! Morgan apologized profusely and said that a few highchairs were being purchased today!!! He attempted to explain bizarre policy that doesn't make the various individual La Quinta Hotels account for high chairs on site. I won't even bore you with the bizarreness of the further explanation. Since I won't be back to the Fairfield La Quinta anytime soon, I will have to trust in Morgan and his dedication to righting the wrong. But high fives all around to what appears to be excellent customer service follow up for La Quinta Inns & Suites!

We also received an email from Starbucks in regard to the follow up to our experience that we sent via email on the corporate site. They claim that they are looking into the highchair issue. They also stated that free drink coupons were on route to our address as a way to welcome us back to their stores.

It was a day of good customer service follow up!

And this is what we look for.  We know that not everyday is a company's best day, and that mistakes happen.  We don't demand perfection.  Our question is: What does a company do about a problem when we bring it to their attention?

Both Starbucks and La Quinta made an effort to fix the problem.  Kudos to both!!

Wrapped up in books

A child-friendly shopping experience we can't say enough about is Book Sales, specifically the Keene Public Library sale.

Our home is overflowing with books new and old. But that doesn't stop us from enjoying a book sale. And our absolute favorite type of sale is the set price per bag of books. This usually doesn't happen until the final day of a sale but we've never been disappointed by the leftovers. And our children love being handed a large bag that they can fill with absolutely any book they want.

Good old Keene Public Library offers a $5 per bag day on the final day of their Fall and Spring book sale. They even give you a bonus bag for free! The workers of Keene Public Library practice common sense and realize that all of the remaining books will have to be put into storage~ and who wants to do that work? And ultimately, a book in someone's hand is worth more than a book languishing on a shelf. We happily left the last Keene sale with 4 enormous bags of books and a giant box of a children's collection of 10 volumes with just $15 given out of pocket. Kudos to you, Keene Public Library!

A second Scoop of Friendlys

Our journeys recently offered us another chance to test out the Friendly's Menu.

The last time we visited them, it didn't work out very well. Friendly's uses a splashy, complicated, multi-tiered menu for kids, that appears to be deliberately designed to trick parents into spending more than they might have originally thought when heading out for lunch. So after our last visit, we called them, and told them so. The customer service operator apologized for our poor experience, and sent us a small gift card to make up for our troubles. She said they change the menus often, and she'd send our comments to the design team, so maybe our next visit would be a happier one.

Well, the follow up visit was better. Not fabulous, but more along the lines of what you'd expect. They had, indeed, changed the children's menu and it was slightly easier to follow along. We still don't understand why you need to give kids a choice to sort of "super size" their meals with different desserts. It is just plain confusing. But I suppose we should throw out some sort of kudos to Friendly's for attempting to simplify their previously horrendous menu with a less messy update.

As always, the offerings at Friendly's for vegetarians are abysmal.

can't touch this

www.springfieldmuseums.org

Our family decided to explore the Springfield museum quadrangle this past weekend. We took the two hour car ride down; excited to run around in the Dr. Seuss sculpture garden and peruse the different museums. As parents, we new that the sculpture garden would be a necessary accent to the museum experience. As interested in art and exploration as our children are at a young age, they still want to run & play for the bulk of the day. Just heading to a quiet and reserved art museum wouldn't be the best outing.

We arrived and quickly found the free parking lot that is steps from the central entrance where you purchase passes for ALL of the museums at one price. The entrance fee is a little steep, but they do offer an AAA discount and children under 2 are free. Since you buy your tickets in the Science Museum, we explored it first.

We started at the bottom level which is devoted to displays of aquatic life (real and fake) and to amphibians. Our kids loved this level! We had perfect timing and got to witness a Bearded Dragon being fed live crickets. One room had tons of drawers filled with fossils, skins, etc. that could be pulled out and examined. Jack would have happily stayed in this room all day just opening and shutting the drawers; nirvana for a 15 month old baby! The rest of the museum was devoted to old school stuffed animal exhibits and shiny gemstones that were enoyable to view. And before we left for our next spot, we picked up a few small items in the well stocked gift shop.

It was nearing an early lunch time at this point. Perfect timing to spill out into the sunshine and the Dr. Seuss sculpture garden. Or so we thought. The very first thing that caught our eye was a sign in the grass declaring "Please don't climb on the sculptures." Really? We didn't take this as a good omen. What sick mind creates a Dr. Seuss sculpture garden for families only to dictate that you can look but you can't touch? Since the grass was still damp, we sat on a rock patio that held The Lorax sculpture in the very middle. And as we snacked, we watched the crab-apple guard glaring at us to ensure we were keeping a good distance from the art. Sheesh!

After we snacked, we checked out the rest of the sculptures. All were quite lovely. The main piece had a wide bronze walkway down its middle. But were you allowed to walk upon it? Of course not. And do kids understand this rule? Of course not. The experience was absolutely muted by this ridiculous no climbing rule. Imagine if the much beloved Alice in Wonderland sculpture found within Central Park in NYC had such a rule! I have cherished memories of climbing all over that sculpture and having conversations with the various bronze characters as I touched the shiny metal.

"A favorite of children, the mushrooms and figures have become smooth and polished over the years as pint-sized feet have climbed over them to the top of this 11 foot structure while using their tiny fingers to grab hold of Alice’s hand or the Hare’s ears for support." - Central Park 2000 This is what we were looking forward to. This is the experience we drove down to have. It's not what we got.

Sculptures are inherently tactile, outdoor sculpture gardens even moreso. To set up a children's themed garden and then tell them not to touch it, made the trip very unsatisfying.

A new direction

www.stopandshop.com

We were loyal customers of Shaw's Supermarket until last weekend. Not wanting to ignore the strike at Shaw's distribution center, we decided to do our weekly shopping at the Stop and Shop in Milford. Boy, are we glad we stumbled into this store!

Stop and shop has a brand new way of food shopping that we adore. Upon entry, you scan your loyalty card at a large display of scanner guns. Once your card is processed, a scanner lights up for you to take. Game on! Now, as you walk through the store making your selections, you scan the item and bag it right in your cart. The scanner logs your groceries, tracks the prices, and offers coupons not advertised. If you make an error, simply remove the item from your cart and from your scanner log. When you are done shopping, you go to the check out line, enter your scanner, and suddenly every item you purchased rings up with the cashier. You can then hand over additional coupons and the cashier will enter them for you as the scanner can't read paper coupons. You pay and out you go! Perfection!

How much fun will shopping be for our technology loving 8 year old when we let her control the scanning? No more begging to be left out of the boring grocery run! And I should also mention that prices were cheaper on a lot of every day items. A can of soup at Shaw's is typically $2.19 for the brand I purchase. At Stop and Shop, the price was $1.79. That's a savings that can't be ignored!

At at our local (Milford) Stop and Shop, the customer service was also shockingly fabulous! A shout out to the young stock-boy who saw us questioning the price of an item. He recognized a chance to pitch his store positively and he went for it. He is the sole reason we are now Stop and Shop customers. At that moment, we had no idea this scanning system was in place as we had walked right by the display. This young man was so friendly and so thorough in his explanations that we went right back to the display and got our scanner. When we passed him a second time, he waved and asked if we were enjoying the experience. Well done! And our cashier was patient as we stumbled through the new check out process with the help of her kind guidance.

Nice work, Stop and Shop! We look forward to exploring this new relationship.

That's mighty fine pie

Perhaps we're just weird, but we like true customer service. In fact, we expect it. Unfortunately, in this day of phone trees and automated responses, it doesn't occur often. Today we experienced the best and the worst of it at the Home and Garden Show in Durham.

We might as well get the icky out of the way first.

Many people working at the trade shows we've attended recently seem to not understand why they are there. Let us (gently) remind you: give out samples, talk up your company, maybe make a sale... Overall, create a positive impression for potential new customers.

Speaking to the creepy older gentleman representing Wick-It Cool Candles who felt it okay to smear scented candle wax all over my hand while commenting on Victoria's Secret and attempting to massage my digits. Could it get any worse? No sale. And to the incredibly crabby lady with the flavored dips, if you want to increase your customer base, I would highly recommend you ditch the desire to critique the amount of free samples people are consuming and to absolutely rethink negative comments on attendees' kids. Not smart.

But some vendors get it, and they get it right. Simply, they are friendly. They smile and give some information about their company. They know that samples that aren't given away represent missed customers. They know that families with children present are families consisting of future customers. We leave their booths happy. We like them and we follow up on their companies.

For instance: the lady in the Cabot Cheese booth (www.cabotcheese.coop) who happily offered all of her cheese flavors to our family and was smitten by our son Jack, offering him a job with the company (in eighteen years or so...) And the people from Lakonia Olives (www.lakoniagreekproducts.com) who quickly explained their company history and offered fine samples of their olives and oils.

But far an above the pack, we loved our interactions with Saffie's Neighborhood Bakery (www.nhbakery.com).

Greg and Kathryn offered samples of several types of delicious Whoopie Pies to our whole family. Want another taste? Fine. When we came back to buy a few pies for the road, Greg gave us an extra Woopie Pie, since Ophelia kept giving her samples to Jack. And Kathryn gave Avery a gigantic cookie-- just because. We are officially huge fans of Saffie's. Thanks for their great service and attention at the show. Kudos to these folk who recognize their customer base and roll out the red carpet.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

Study: Lead Poisoning Could Lurk in Spices

We are a family that loves to cook from scratch. We aren't afraid to try new things and we take pride in having children that love a wide array of foods. My husband Thom is a chef, which doesn't hurt! Thom can whip up a fabulous meal from a limited supply of ingredients grabbed from the pantry. It is amazing to watch and to eat!

You can imagine our horror when we stumbled upon this recent news report linked above. The most frustrating aspect is that we can't find one single link that breaks down the risk by specific spice. Reports seem focused on ethnicity, such as "Indian or Mexican spices," rather than "oregano," or "basil." Are we to throw out each and every one of our powdered spices? Have we unknowingly exposed our entire family to lead and should we have everyone tested immediately? We use heavy amounts of spices in our daily creation of meals so this is not just unfounded panic.

We found this article on-line, meaning: it's not a 'space' issue that limited the report form having enough details to be useful. Instead, it included just enough information to incite fear, but few facts that might help alleviate it. Where indeed is the link to a list of the spices tested? Or references to the name brands? Are only imported spices at risk, so we could be safe with 'grown in the USA' labels? We get none of this information.

What about spices that are mixed into other products and then sold? We have, for example a jar of "Kitchens of India Onion and Yogurt Cooking Sauce: Dehli Dum Aloo" in the fridge, made with spices imported from Kolkata, India. What is the lead risk there? Or is that product 'safe' because it is in another form, and maybe was inspected by the FDA?

The article mentions Chili Powder as coming up at high lead levels. So what happens when I go to Taco Bell and have burrito? Is that safe?

Who knows? Our article at TIME.com tells us none of this.

So TIME Magazine, welcome to your place on our S.ugar H.oney I.ced T.ea List.


But TIME is not the only one.

And try to make sense of this:
"Currently the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety of food products imported into the U.S., does not have specific guidelines for screening lead in dried products like spices. That's because the FDA feels there is no safe level of lead in dried products, since studies have not yet established that lead exposure doesn't lead to adverse health effects."

Ummm. What??

So let me get this straight: The FDA says no level of lead is safe in food products. So instead of setting the 'pass' level at zero parts per billion, for example; they decided not to test it at all?

That's like taking the speedometer out of your car, and then arguing that you can't be given a speeding citation because you don't know how fast you were going.

So, FDA, we are looking at you. And this is not our Happy Face.

Everywhere we go, the kids wanna rock!

And then there's people who get things right, who listen to customers and improve their offering.

Boston Rock-n-Romp really has made some good changes.

We went to Rock-N-Romp about two years ago, and it didn't work out. The event was held in a Boston bar, the thinking at the time being that parents needed a chance to get out into a space where they could get their rock on, and to try to create a regular rock show, but with tweaks that made it more kid-friendly. So the bands didn't swear, and there were activities for the kids. One band even let all the kids come onto the stage and play or sing with them for a while. It was a good show, a good try. But it was still wicked loud, as club shows tend to be. Our kids didn't enjoy it very much.

After the event we told the organizers that we thought it was too loud. Could the music be turned down, or maybe it could be held in a place where there was more opportunity to escape the noise, if needed. And I guess we weren't the only ones who had this critique.

So the latest show took a lot of this into consideration.

It was held at a new venue-- an armory with a huge main room, including a big balcony area that was sort of out of the way, but in view of the stage. And the room was set up to create these two pockets of quiet off to the side of the stage. So people could head there, still see and hear the band, but not be in the real sound zone.

It worked out really well. Our kids had a great time, and are wondering when the next show is. So our hat's off to the Boston Rock-n-Romp!

www.myspace.com/rocknrompboston

Can I get that on the side?

Why is it nearly impossible to get a healthy, size appropriate, stress-free kids' meal when you go out to eat? Add to that mix a need for vegetarian choices and life gets very interesting when dining out with the kiddums.

Recently, we had two unique dining experiences.

The first at a Friendly's (www.friendlys.com). This chain has a laminated kids' menu. Open it and prepare for a visual assault. I have a Bachelor's degree and my husband has a Master's degree. Neither of us could figure out the Friendly's kids' menu! After much confusing discussion with two different employees, we were told that Friendly's offers two options for your kids: either a "typical" child meal or a "larger" sized child meal. I suppose sort of like "super sizing" your choice. Once you make a selection on size, you are locked into a path for entree, sides, and dessert. Of course, none of this is clear.

The idea of a kids' menu should be that you can hand it to your child and they can pick anything from the menu. It should be easy to understand. It should have simple pricing, so that the child can make their empowered selection, even if they aren't yet able to add yet... It should make things simpler. If the employees don't understand it, why would your customers?

We ended up paying extra to get Avery the dessert she wanted, which was pictured on the menu, but not part of 'her' meal....

Then, on a different day, we went to a Pizzeria Uno (www.unos.com). Though their kids' menu has a much nicer layout, only certain meals come with an option of side choices for free. Everything else, including the kid's drink and dessert, is an extra fee! What is the appeal of a kids' menu when you don't end up saving a significant amount of money? Pizzeria Uno charged us $1.75 for a kid sized lemonade. Seriously? The chain couldn't roll that into the cost of the meal?