Day: December 22, 2005

Categories
Fun

Daddy?

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Last Updated on December 22, 2005 by stlplace

Little kids can be fun. If you don’t have to deal with the diapers and crying stuff. Recently I spent some time with my 7 months old niece. And she was very sweet.

Today I went to Fazoli for lunch. When I was leaving the retraunant, I saw a little girl probablly 2 years old. I said “hi”, and she smiled and and asked her mom “daddy?”. Obviously she is confused me with her real daddy. We all laughed although her mother is slightly embarassed by this. But to me, hey little girl, you made my day.

Categories
Business China Saint Louis

Got my car back

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Last Updated on December 22, 2005 by stlplace

Got my car back this morning. This time they called me at 8:20 AM and told me it’s ready. The noise problem was caused by an idle pulley used for A/C. Ironically when I was in Rolla I did research on the V-ribbed accessory belt drive. That pulley is a part of the accessory drive. I did have a feeling something was wrong with the drive but I did not have the courage to open it and see it myself. So much for my mechanical engineering backgound. When I picked up the car, I compained the miscommunication problem yesterday. The service rep agreed a $20 discount. And he even pulled my car over (like valet). It seems I got “BMW or Lexus” treatment this time. I have a friend who recently got a BMW 525i and I will check with him about his BMW service experience.

The good thing is, I got my car and my freedom. I was a little upset just because “without a car for one night”. I know I am spoiled being in the States for more than 8 years. My Accounting class instructor once said “we take too many things for granted over here in the States”. I agree. My fellow American graduate student commented “people here can get upset waiting in McDonald for 5 minutes, they don’t know many people in Africa are starving”. I appreciate those comments very much. I know in China the customer service is definitely not at the US level yet (it’s catching up). I think that’s why “Chatea” and “Ctrip” alike are so popular because they make customer happy. I remember Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban once said “treat your customers like they owned you”. If I have a business one day, I will do exactly that.