It is what it is. I signed a contract stating i understood the requirements on my end to uphold the lifetime warranty for the engine and transmission in my car. One of those requirements is getting my car serviced at the dealership every 5,000 miles. Knowing this, they prefer to see all the walk-ins before the appointments because it is not as if we have the option to get mad about it and go elsewhere. So, depending on how many walk-ins there are, even though i have a pre-existing appointment, my oil changes that i drive two cities over to receive always take between 3 and 4.5 hours. An oil change. I know, i know, i could do it much faster with a pan, some tools, and youtube, but i signed the contract so there’s no sense in pondering it too much. It is what it is. Known for their faulty transmissions, its not as if im going to let that warranty go. So, instead, i asked my sister about this “uber thing”. Perhaps, if i couldnt make the oil change happen in a timely manner, i could at least have a day trip around san antonio for some food and shopping. Of course, the only place i wanted to go was Yummi’s. The uber drivers tried to convince me there were closer or better sushi places but nobody ever will because i am absolutely enamored with Yummi’s and their sushi tastes amazing! So, i downloaded the app and ordered an uber driver. To my surprise it took him 3 minutes to arrive, there is a little car icon on the map that is the exact make, model, and color of the real car, you can read your driver’s customer rating ahead of time, it gives you his name and license plate, and you can see the little icon of the car moving towards you on the map until it converges with the dot where you are standing. You pre-pay in the app on your phone and it doesnt ask you if you want to tip until after the ride, so you get to decide in private (i did tip but i appreciate them not looking at me while i do, i dont want to feel pressured). When the driver arrived i checked the license plate and waited until they said my name to get in the car. I also had a customer rating in mind that if the driver had below that rating i would cancel the ride, and it was pretty close to perfect. I tipped the first uber driver a little more than the second because he provided good conversation while the second one got me from point A to point B really well but didnt say much. I was thrilled with both drivers level of professionalism and their driving skills so i tipped them both. I rode in a lexus on the way there and a tesla on the way back. The great thing about the uber app is it provided an option to share your gps tracking of the car you ordered with 2 friends. That means if you get kidnapped or murdered, they know where to start searching for you because they can watch your route on their phones. I selected this as a precaution because im used to being in control of my own vehicle and not getting in cars with strangers. You never know. I went to my favorite sushi restaurant where i always get take out when i go to san antonio. To my surprise, if you go in and sit down they serve the rolls to you on a piece of slate. Fancy! Im pretty much a simple person. Im not hard to please. If you leave me with 2 super (means topped with fish roe) california rolls in a dimly lit room with classical guitar music playing in the background i am having an excellent afternoon. The waiter asked me if i needed anything. I told him no i was all set. I told him we dont have sushi in the town where i reside (and we really dont have GOOD sushi in the neighboring towns) and so while i was in the city i had to get my sushi fix. He made sure i was set with water and lemon, soy sauce, ginger, and wasabi, and then left me alone until i had finished the sushi, which took me a while because i was savoring every bite and listening to the beautiful classical guitar music. As an introvert, i really just wanted to he alone with my sushi. The fact that he skipped the whole obligatory social interaction of “how is everything? Are you enjoying your food? Can i get you anything else?” While asking the boisterous family across the room those questions, told me that he could accurately read a room. They wanted check-ins and convo. I wanted peace and tranquility with my long awaited sushi. He understood the assignment and i tipped him accordingly. 🙂 after my delightful lunch of sushi and my escape into solitude and classical guitar music, i walked across the street to a shopping center. There was a hobby lobby there. I found a thousand and one things i thought i needed. Every project i had ever started since high school, i was now convinced i needed to take up again and finish. As the hours ticked on i had fun browsing and considering the possibilities. Then i got real and took everything out of the basket that was not a realistic now-themed purchase. I ended up with some sea shells, a back pack, and a lunch bag. All of the yarn, the weaving crafts, the build things out of wood kits, glass beads, and wreath making materials went back on the shelves. I reminded myself that while this was an entertaining few hours, none of that stuff was actually going to get done in reality.
I called it as time to go when i found myself putting a christmas tree in the basket (i put it back). It was time to get out of hobby lobby and see if i could make it back to the hill country with any cash in pocket. The uber driver picked me up and drove me back to the car dealership without incident. Though i remain wary of the service as anyone smart should be, and aware the more frequently i use it the more likely i am to get a bad experience sandwiched in the middle of good ones, in the circumstances I am in i find it much more preferable to sitting in a cramped freezing fluorescent lit room with uncomfortable chairs and no outlets for plugging in devices as well as a tv stuck on a news loop. As i waited for them to produce my car i tried desperately to describe to my sister how the tiny image of the uber car on the phone screen matched exactly what it looked like in real life and how it moved towards me on the map in real time like some kind of modern wizardry. My sister texted back, “Welcome to the 21st century.”
They asked me in 4 different ways if there was anything they could change about the service i received to make the customer experience better. I mentioned the 4.5 hour wait time but i highly doubt mine is the first feedback they’ve gotten about this and if it hasnt changed their minds about what they’re doing and the way they’re doing it between my last visit and now, its not likely to change in the future. It is what it is. I might as well get sushi out of it.