DHL Responds

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 17, 2006

Timing is everything. Thursday I joined the people bìtçhìng about DHL and Friday I came home to find a letter responding to my November 17 complaint.

It’s long and wordy, but Deborah Laehu, Customer Relations Specialist says she is “deeply disturbed” by the company’s failure to perform as expected. She says Executive Management in the Norwalk, CT facility has been advised and an investigation will be conducted. She adds “The results will determine the level of disciplinary action needed and what additional training these employees need” blah, blah, blah.

But what about DHL’s role in our not receiving play tickets in a timely manner? Since the fault is clearly their’s and not American Express’s, how will they make good to the customer?

They won’t.

“DHL only considers compensation for actual loss or damage of the goods in the shipment.” So, since they didn’t lose or damage the tickets, just merely screwed up in their timely delivery, they feel they’re off the hook.

There’s no effort here to make the consumer feel their business is desired. Additionally, it wouldn’t have taken much to provide us with some tangible evidence they want us back. Instead, I should take comfort in knowing their minimum wage driver will be better trained the next time.

Of course, given a choice, there won’t be a next time.

Forthcoming Events

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 15, 2006

Here’s something a little unusual.

The book is still being written, let alone edited and approved, but AVPGalaxy today posted an interview with me regarding Predator: Flesh & Blood.

Meantime, Mike and I will be in a better position to discuss the book, and everything else under the sun, at Farpoint this February. They just finalized their guest list which I will share:

From Firefly/Serenity and The 4400 – SUMMER GLAU

From Star Trek: First Contact and SciFi Channel’s Dune and Children of Dune – Alice Krige

From Battlestar Galactica – Richard Hatch

Producer of Star Trek II, III, IV and V – Harve Bennett

Peter David – Author
Kathleen David – Editor and Puppeteer
NEW CD Premiere Party with The Boogie Knights
Marc Okrand
Prometheus Radio Theatre
Bob Greenberger – Editor
Howie Weinstein – Author
Michael Jan Friedman – Author
Keith RA DeCandido – Author
Luna-C
Terri Osborne – Author
Web Episode Premiere from Starship Farragut
Newest Web Episdoe from New Voyages
Lolita Fatjo – Production Coordinator, ST:DS9 and Voyager

Jumping on the DHL Bandwagon

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 14, 2006

Must be something in the air. Or a company that’s not really well run.

This morning I noticed a mild rant from Keith DeCandido regarding DHL’s spotty performance.

This afternoon, I found my buddy Dayton Ward also commenting on DHL’s inability to do the job right.

Which reminded me of a letter I sent to DHL on November 17 and have yet to hear back from them. Allow me to share the particulars:

DHL Express
Office of the President
Attn: Hans Hickler
1144 West Washington Street
Tempe AZ 85281

Dear Mr. Hickler,

I am taking the drastic step of going right to the top to express my frustration and dismay at the botched local service I have received as well as unmet promises.

This all began back in September when DHL handled the delivery for American Express’ theatre ticket promotion. Here’s the tracking information from your website:

Tracking results detail for 17782503351 Help

Delivered on 9/19/2006 4:02 pm
Delivered to Residence Door
Signed for by LD LOF -D GREENBERGER

Date and Time Status Location
9/19/2006 4:02 pm Shipment delivered. South Norwalk, CT
9:06 am With delivery courier.
9/18/2006 5:34 pm Delivery Attempted.
Please Call 1-888-273-8876. South Norwalk, CT
9/15/2006 5:12 pm Delivery Attempted.
Please Call 1-888-273-8876. South Norwalk, CT
9/14/2006 3:15 pm Delivery Attempted.
Please Call 1-888-273-8876. South Norwalk, CT
9/13/2006 11:58 am Delivery Attempted.
Please Call 1-888-273-8876. South Norwalk, CT
9/12/2006 11:42 am Delivery Attempted.
Will attempt again next business day. South Norwalk, CT
8:44 am Arrived at DHL facility. South Norwalk, CT
2:15 am Transit through sort facility. Wilmington, OH
9/11/2006 6:28 pm Departing origin. Downtown Houston, TX
2:58 pm Picked Up by DHL. Shipper’s Door

I called Customer Service to complain about the botched work and was assured that I would hear something from back from DHL. By October 11, hearing nothing, I dropped a note through your website:

I continue to await a call or letter or apology from the corporate offices
or the Norwalk, CT delivery facility for the mishandling of my package
which resulted in my not receiving American Express’ promotional play
tickets in a timely manner. When I spoke with Customer Service after
finally receiving the tickets (5 days late), I was assured I’d hear from
someone.

That same day I received the following reply:

Dear Robert Greenberger,

Thank you for contacting DHL.

I apologize this happened to you. Please be assured this is not indicative of DHL’s service. We appreciate your business and value you as a customer.

Thank you for using DHL Express.

Fred
Customer Service
DHL Worldwide Express

To which I wrote back:

Fred,

Surely, you don’t find this a sufficient resolution.

American Express trusted you to have my theatre tickets delivered by September 12. According to your own records, that was the first attempted delivery. Your driver did not bother to hang a tag for our signature until Monday the 18th, meaning I did not receive my tickets until the 19th. The play was on the 15th.

Your driver and system failures meant my wife and I were deprived our evening out, it cost American Express money for a delivery that failed to be made as promised.

DHL’s customer service promised to be in touch and has not.

Your entire system has broken down and failed and all you can do is say you’re sorry. I expect more than that.
–
Bob

And then silence.

Today, I contacted Customer Service and a lovely lady named Rose assured me a letter to this address was my next recourse. As you can see from the above, a number of miscues have aggravated a bad situation and made it worse.

I look forward to hearing back in writing or by phone to explain the driver’s incompetence and DHL’s inability to honor its promise to contact a customer. Some tangible gesture to replace the missing evening out is also in order, I would think.

And the silence from DHL continues while the complaints seem to multiply.

This Looks Like a Job For…

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 13, 2006

Normally, I don’t take a lot of internet quizzes but when I saw Keith DeCandido wind up as Green Lantern (one of my all-time favorite heroes), this looked too good to pass up and boy did the answer surprise me.

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 75% Green Lantern 75% Spider-Man 60% Supergirl 52% The Flash 50% Robin 47% Batman 45% Iron Man 45% Wonder Woman 32% Hulk 30% Catwoman 30%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

First Review

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 12, 2006

Steven H. Silver at Tangent On Line has a review up for the contents of the April cover-dated issue of Analog. The short fiction review site is new to me but apparently covers all print matter and is fed advance material from the publishers.

I now know, for example, that Michael A. Burstein and I share the issue with the following authors:

“Trial by Fire” by Shane Tourtellotte
“Don’t Kill the Messenger” by Kim Zimring
“As You Know, Bob” by John G. Hemry
“Crackers” by Jerry Oltion
“Things That Aren’t” by Michael A. Burstein & Robert Greenberger

The review is positive although not overly critical; you more or less get the vibe from his description. Interestingly, like editor Stanley Schmidt, he sees the sequel potential in the story, something that initially eluded the two authors. We are still kicking ideas around and just need to focus on it, I think.

Getting the Job Done

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 11, 2006

“We’re going to stay in Iraq to get the job done. This business about graceful exit just simply has no realism to it whatsoever.”
–George W. Bush

“There is one thing I’m not going to do. I am not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete,” Bush said in a speech at the University of Latvia.

So here’s the question that is currently on my mind:

What is the job and by what measure can it said to be done? What is the mission and when will it be deemed “accomplished”?

Initially, American forces invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein’s regime and secure the weapons mass destruction before they were unleashed on the innocent.

OK, we toppled Hussein (first the statue, then him) and then discovered we were lied to: there were no WMD.

Then, sometime after Bush stood in front of the “Mission Accomplished” flag, we were told the job was to bring Democracy to the Middle East, starting in Iraq.

Now, that’s a much taller order, especially if the people have democracy shoved down their throats and choke on it as seems to be happening currently.

As has happened these last six years, we’re being given vagaries and are being asked to support the Administration. All along, any time people have sought specifics, we’re being told we’re not being patriots or some such blather.

But really, since the President has chosen to use “get the job done” as his latest mantra, I haven’t heard anyone really ask exactly what the job is and how we’re expected to complete it.

You ask me, the job always should have been (once we got there and realized the original reason was bogus), to rebuild infrastructure so the people of Iraq can function. Instead, we’re only going to leave them maybe a quarter of the clinics and hospitals we promised them; they have fewer hours of secure electricity than before, the water and sanitation systems are a mess and they’re barely pumping pre-invasion quantities of oil.

The insurgents and the like are dead set on shooting each other than we should stop trying to quell the violence and just set about building electric plants, sewage treatment plants and the like. The people are more likely going to embrace those improvements to their lives and protects those structures, easing some of the sectarian bloodshed. Most people want to just quietly live their lives, educate their children and be left alone. Giving them water, light and freedom should be enough.

But right now, we have such an ill-defined mission in the Middle East that we’ll never bring the troops home because the job, as it stands now, will never be done. We need to start asking for a definition and then hold the President to it.

Week in Review

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 8, 2006

Sometime when I wasn’t looking, politics took hold on a larger part of my life. Three days this week wound up being political in addition to work and other stuff.

Monday night we had the Democratic Town Committee’s final meeting of the year and much of the district leaders’ meeting was devoted to the 2007 campaign and beyond. After all, we need to figure out who’s not running for re-election soon so we can begin canvassing to find people to fill the slate in addition to getting everything properly aligned by our July convention. Additionally, last month’s election changed the town charter so our top of the ticket candidates are now running for four year terms. That changes the nature of our fund raising and expenditures which is also complicated by new campaign finance laws that kick in January 1.

One good thing that came out of it is that we’re all in agreement that this might free up the money we need for a permanent base of operations. We’re also in agreement that creating manuals for how the different aspects of the DTC works is long overdue (and it wasn’t even my idea.

Tuesday night we met with our constituents in District 8. It was sparsely attended (okay, there were six plus a boy scout earning a badge), but those who came wanted information and we spent a healthy 90 minutes tackling a variety of issues. I thought it was a worthwhile expenditure of time and effort.

Thursday, I bolted work a little early and made it to my first Leadership meeting. Essentially, the Committee chairs, the Moderator, the Majority and Deputy Majority leader all meet with the First Selectman to review the month’s RTM agenda. We are brought up to speed on what other bodies have done that before motions come before the body as well as find out who will be presenting on topics. Sure, we also cover some of the back room politics in town, but that’s a given. I found it interesting and hope I’ll be able to do this more in the future. It also gave me pause as I slowly come to the realization that I am being counted on more and more by my party and need to adjust some of my thinking and expectations to properly serve. All very fascinating

Meantime, it’s also been a productive week in other areas of my life. Leah Wilson, my kind editor at BenBella, gave me my final editorial notes on my Grey’s Anatomy essay and just today gave me the thumb’s up. She and I also began talking about an essay in a forthcoming collection so I need to think up new ideas. I also received word contracts were mailed out on my next Star Trek eBook project which is unusually efficient for Pocket Books. The revised outline for the project-that-can’t-be-discussed is with the publisher.

That gives me the weekend to get back to researching for a proposal that has sat half-done for months and I really want to finish before the next big project eats into my time.

Beyond that, there’s Christmas to reckon with and our trip to Cairo looms ever larger as we now have begun finalizing our itinerary and have begun figuring out what to pack (and Kate sends us lists of even more things we need to bring her.

Hope the week has been good to you and the weekend is even better.

Improved Spirits

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 5, 2006

Maybe it’s the season.

Maybe it’s because it is no longer November.

Whatever the reason, I’m feeling pretty good right about now. I put so much pressure on myself to get things done in November that December is exactly as I had hoped: manageably busy.

With the first draft Predator novel done, I have been able to concentrate on other things one at a time. And my projects are politely waiting their turn in line. As the first draft was completed, I had time to proof the Analog short story followed by the Grey’s Anatomy essay rewrite followed by a thoroughly revised outline for a project I really hope to be able to discuss soon followed by receiving galleys to my Webslinger essay. (Actually, they sent me a PDF of the whole book so I’m enjoying reading what my pals and others have to say about Spidey and can heartily recommend this to one and all.)

And, after some technical delays, my interview with Greg Cox about writing the novelization to Infinite Crisis just got put up at The Pulse.

In the government realm, we had a very productive District Leaders meeting at the Democratic Town Committee last night. With the town voting to shift several terms from two to four years, it changes how we need to expend funds, which might give us a chance to do some things we need like open a permanent headquarters. We also had some treats at the meeting to celebrate the season. Tonight, my RTM district will meet with the public (hope someone other than Deb attends)

At home, Deb has finished her final and final project for her Java class and is nearing completion on yet another knitting project so her mood is equally improving. We’re almost done prepping the Christmas cards for mailing, the gift shopping is like 90% complete and all the shipping has been done. The tree has been bought, some of the decorations have gone up and we’re not stressing ourselves over the schedule or details.

All of the above has certainly contributed to a lightened spirit and improved outlook on life.

The Good Side to Local Politics

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 4, 2006

Last week I was lamenting that a proposed ordinance that might benefit the town needed work. Before the evening meeting ended, fixing the ordinance was turned into an Us vs. Them political football that soured me a bit on Town Government.

Last night went a long way to restoring that sense of pride we should be feeling when doing good for the town.

The Democratic Town Committee hosted its annual Sullivan Award event and for the tenth year, state and local luminaries gathered to bestow the award on Michael Tetreau. Mike’s a great guy, known around town for his work with Pop Warner football and being president of the local Realtors’ association. Beyond that, Mike has been involved in town politics for years, serving on the DTC, the RTM and currently the Board of Finance. His strength is the ability to get everyone focused on the key issues and leave the rest of the çráp behind. He served brilliantly on a sub-committee that shed much needed light on how the town’s systems failed to properly file for construction reimbursements from the state. We’re better off for his and the sub-committee’s efforts.

That’s serving the Public Good.

At the event, Mike was showered with proclamations, gifts, hugs and many kind words. The rest of us got to chat in a relaxed setting with mediocre food that passed for an early dinner. As you would expect at such a function, all the major government leaders got their say and fortunately, no one hogged the spotlight and things moved along.

I buttonholed our Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, to lobby him on one of my pet peeves – not something you get to do most days. I got a chance to speak with several of the town’s representatives to the state legislature and also got a chance to chat with fellow DTC and RTM folk without the pressure of following an agenda. As a result, I got to actually talk to them as people. I even got to meet a few significant others reminding us all that there is a life beyond the politics.

Tuesday night, the good government continues as the District 8 RTM reps meet with interested constituents. We haven’t tried this before and with the election season behind us, we can have a discussion without agendas or expectations – a real chance to hear what might be on peoples’ minds. That is, presuming anyone attends.

Bob the Freelancer Update

Posted by Bob Greenberger on December 1, 2006

Two weeks ago, I was feeling incredible pressure to get things done. Slowly but surely, things have been progressing and I’m hitting my deadlines, both real and self-imposed.

As I catch my breath before wading into the Holiday preparations, I figured it was time to provide an update. It’s a busy looking load but actually manageable given what is due and when:

Completed and Awaiting Publication

Cutting Edge Careers: Artificial Intelligence (Rosen)
“Things that Aren’t”, Analog Magazine, February 2007
In the News: Suicide Bombers (Rosen)
“Troubleshooting”, Star Trek: Corps of Engineers (Pocket eBook)

Delivered to Editor and Awaiting Edits or Proofs

14 essays in You Said What? (William Morrow), saw edited ms., awaiting galleys
“Ghost Hunting” in untitled Phantom anthology (Moonstone Books); King Features approved, awaiting copy edited ms.
“Steel and Chrome” in untitled BattleTech anthology; editor indicates project back on line, may see a contract and editorial notes soon
Essay for untitled Wonder Woman collection (BenBella Books); awaiting copy edited ms.
Essay for Webslinger – Spider-Man collection – copy edited ms. back to editor
Media tie-in comic book – script in, awaiting approval before announcing
“Winter in Fairfield”, Fairfield Magazine

Writing Projects

“Only the Best for Cristina Yang” — essay for BenBella Grey’s Anatomy collection – revised draft submitted to BenBella, awaiting feedback
“Things That Aren’t”-sequel — Michael A. Burstein has begun putting together plot notes
Actionopolis novel – currently being written
Predator: Flesh and Blood – first draft completed, second draft underway
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows Book Five – outline now with Paramount for approval, ms. due July 1.
Back Issue: Round table discussion about Star Trek comic books via e-mail; first draft done.
Media tie-in novel – first pitch nixed, researching to try again
Media tie-in book – Publisher investigating license
Media tie-in book 2 – Revised outline being submitted December 4, awaiting approval before discussing
Original novel – revising proposal
Non-Fiction book collaboration – prepping outline and sample chapter

Editing Projects

With the addition of Jim McLaughlin as Platinum Studios’ new editor-in-chief, my services are no longer required. This makes total sense, to be honest. Jim has taken a hard look at their active projects and felt they could all be handled in house so I’m being paid for my time and I’m wishing my old pal good luck.